Derrick Comedy

Derrick Comedy consisted of Dominic Dierkes, DC Pierson, and Donald Glover.[6] Derrick's director was Dan Eckman, and their producer was Meggie McFadden.[7][8]

The members of Derrick Comedy met at New York University while performing for the sketch comedy group Hammerkatz NYU[9] and directing Wicked Wicked Hammerkatz.[10][11]

They chose the name "Derrick" for Derrick Comedy because it was another name that started with the letter "D" other than their first names Donald, Dominic, or Dan.[12]

Even though they are all experienced improvisers trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, all of Derrick's videos are tightly scripted.

Some of their videos include: "New Bike," in which a boy hires an assassin to kill his parents because they failed to buy him a new bicycle;[13] "Opposite Day," in which an office changes Fridays from "Casual Friday" to "Opposite Day," likely in response to the boss's wife's infidelity; "Girls Are Not To Be Trusted", in which a film student makes a series of movies chewing out his girlfriend; "National Spelling Bee", in which every contestant in a spelling bee was told to spell the word "niggerfaggot"; "Bro Rape: A Newsline Investigative Report", in which a news report showcases an imagined dilemma called "Bro Rape" in which preppie, partying young men; "bros" utilize Family Guy, Jack Johnson, and Ultimate Frisbee to sexually assault other bros. Part of the video is a parody of To Catch a Predator as the reporter posed as a "bro" to lure unsuspecting "bro" rapists.[14]

The group's last video sketch posted on their YouTube channel was titled "Thomas Jefferson" in which a news report presents the fact that Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson is still alive and proceeds to have an exclusive interview with him. The video has over 700 thousand views and was posted on May 26, 2010.[15] It was released to promote their movie, Mystery Team, being released on DVD.[16]

Donald Glover used to be on the writing staff for 30 Rock. He also played Troy Barnes on the NBC sitcom Community from 2009 to 2014.[17] He was discovered and offered the part of Troy after series creator Dan Harmon attended a showing of Mystery Team.[18][19] In 2016, Glover is the creator, director, and star of the critically acclaimed, Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning series, Atlanta (TV series). Glover has appeared in films such as Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), and The Lion King (2019). Glover raps and sings under the stage name Childish Gambino, having made three albums: Camp, Because the Internet, and most recently, "Awaken, My Love!".[20] In 2018, Glover released the song and music video for "This Is America", which debuted at number-one on the Hot 100. The song was nominated and won four Grammy Awards at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Music Video. Overall, he has twelve total Grammy Award nominations with five wins.

Dominic Dierkes has made a cameo appearance on a video released by The Onion on a fictional World of Warcraft expansion titled The World of World of Warcraft, where he praises the game's "realism" such as calling an in-game internet service provider. In the video, his name is Kyle Dierkes. He and fellow Derrick member DC Pierson also appeared in the CH: LIVE video series for CollegeHumor.[21][22] Dierkes was a staff writer for the animated show Allen Gregory created by and starring Jonah Hill.

DC Pierson has published a novel entitled The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To.[23] He hosted New York University's Ultra Violet Live Talent Competition in 2010[24] Pierson also appeared in a 2012 Allstate Insurance commercial. Both Dierkes and Pierson also appeared in the Showtime series Weeds.

A then-unknown Ellie Kemper, a friend of the group, appeared in the 2007 video Blowjob Girl with Pierson. In a 2010 interview by The A.V. Club, Kemper stated she did not like the video when it went viral.[25] She played the receptionist Erin Hannon in the NBC comedy series The Office (2009–2013) and the leading role in the Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2019), for which she has received two Emmy Award nominations.

Bobby Moynihan, who appeared in several sketches as well as Mystery Team, went on to Saturday Night Live where he was a cast member from 2008 to 2017.

In January 2008, the group announced that they were taking a break from making internet videos while they worked on their first full-length feature film entitled Mystery Team, a comedy involving a childish trio of senior high school students solving a serious crime.

Mystery Team premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and was released in the United States on August 28, 2009 by Roadside Attractions. Mystery Team was later released on DVD on May 25, 2010. They also released a Mystery Team EP performed by Glover as Childish Gambino featuring six tracks such as, "The Stand" and "Get Like Me".[26] The film grossed $89,442 in the United States.[27] The budget for the film came from their YouTube video sketches and producing online commercials for Clearasil.[28]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 58% based on 19 reviews, and an average rating of 5.4/10.[29] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[30]

• Derrick Comedy
• DC Pierson's blog
• Checkout - A Film by Dan Eckman
• Derrick Comedy Interview with Supernegro.com
• Derrick Comedy at Youtube.com