About kennyhotz
Kenneth Joel “Kenny” Hotz (born May 3, 1967) is an international award winning Canadian producer and comedian. He is a former South Park writer, creator/star of the Comedy Central television show Kenny vs. Spenny creator and writer of the FX series Testees and the creator/star of Kenny Hotz’s Triumph of the Will. He is the only Canadian entertainer who has the achievement of creating two television series that have premiered on separate American networks at the same time (FX and Comedy Central). He also has the largest online fan base for a Canadian TV celebrity. He is the co-owner of The Hoxton, a concert venue and the co-owner of the Dog & Bear restaurant in Toronto, Ontario. He is Chair of the Comedy Advisory Board for Banff World Media Festival and an executive consultant at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal.
Hotz was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1967. At the age of 7 years old, Kenny was sent to a film camp where he made his first animated short film, the film was screened for Henry Winkler on his visit to the city in 1974. Hotz attended high school at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute. Throughout his youth Hotz continued making short films and worked in candid and fashion photography, he had been working on various photo essays as a photographer since the age of 13, photographing numerous countries and historic world events. The subjects of his photo essays include Gulf War 1991, Auschwitz, Dachau, Needle Park (Zurich, Switzerland), David Koresh’s Mount Carmel in Waco, and New Years’ in Times Square 2000. In 1999 he came up with the idea to develop a television show in which he and a friend competed in a series of challenges to prove who was the best, which eventually evolved into Kenny vs. Spenny. He graduated from Ryerson University’s media arts program.
At the age of 21, Hotz was the only registered Canadian freelance artist to document the Gulf War in 1991. After returning to Canada Hotz sold his series “life Behind the mask” to various Canadian Museums and Universities, allowing him to fund future projects. In 1994 Hotz completed the award winning comedic short documentary film about the life and death of a foul-mouthed homeless dwarf in Toronto It Don’t Cost Nothin’ to Say Good Morning with his high school friend Spencer Rice. In 1996, he created and starred (with Rice) in the internationally acclaimed 35mm documentary film Pitch that premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 1997. The film had numerous cameos’ including Al Pacino, Samuel Z. Arkoff and Neil Simon. Hotz then moved to Los Angeles with help from Will Smith and his company Overbrook Entertainment to develop television programming. Eventually, Hotz created the concept for Kenny vs. Spenny and began to pitch it to American networks and studios. MTV originally picked up the concept but they passed on the series but USA network did the original pilot “Who can gain the most weight?” which was leaked to ifilm.com and went viral. Kenny commented “It is the original Super Size Me because all I ate was McDonalds for an entire week and filmed it”.
Kenny vs. Spenny was the largest comedy 1st season series order by CBC Television. It went on to be nominated for a 8 Gemini awards and a Rose D’or for best international series. Hotz was a guest with Rice on Jimmy Kimmel, Tom Green’s House Tonight, Carson Daly and Late Night with Conan O’Brien in New York. Hotz notes “Conan asked me to sit next to him”. In 2004, he finished his second feature film titled The Papal Chase, a documentary about Hotz trying to meet the Pope John Paul II. The film is directed by and stars Hotz, and features cameos by The Rolling Stones and Pope Pope John Paul II. Hotz was given a $10,000 prize by a jury when the film won the inaugural Phillip Borsos award for Best Canadian Feature Film in 2004, at the awards Hotz commented, “Now I can make 10 more films”. He also created the concept for the online game “Versusville” for the Kenny vs. Spenny series and was nominated for the Canadian New Media Awards for “Excellence in Gaming”. “Kenny vs. Spenny” is the largest international selling comedy format in Canadian history.
Hotz worked as a consultant on South Park, providing material for “Follow That Egg!” and “Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow”. He also worked as a writer for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1987.
In 2008, He developed a sitcom called Testees for the Fox-owned FX that year, producing 13 shows centering around two roommates who work as guinea pigs for a mediocre product testing facility. The show lasted 13 episodes and started airing in October 2008 on FX and the Canadian-owned Showcase cable channel.
Kenny is Jewish, as evidenced in one episode of Kenny vs. Spenny (“Who Can Eat the Most Meat?”). As he blends up a “meat smoothie,” to which he adds pork, he notes that “my rabbi is going to kill me. He also pretends to sing in his local synagogue choir in “First to Stop Singing Loses” (against the rules of that particular competition) and he mentions it in the “Who Do Old People Like More” episode, where he believes it will help him win. He is fluent in Hebrew, as noted in “Who’s the Better Jew”. However, in an interview, Hotz stated that he is apathetic toward religion and considers himself an atheist.
Kenny was embroiled in a deliberate controversy with the British Columbia Human Rights Commission for his actions in the episode “Who Can Piss Off More People”, where he paid to have a plane fly over Toronto dragging a banner that reads “Jesus Sucks”. Though he claimed his friend Jesus was getting married and it was not directed towards a religion.
Hotz had a cameo in Kevin Smith’s 2008 film Zack and Miri Make A Porno, starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. Kenny made a cameo appearance as a homeless man in the second episode of the Pure Pwnage television series, as well as a cameo in Degrassi Takes Manhattan in 2010. Kenny, in collaboration with Spencer Rice, completed the final episode of Kenny vs. Spenny (“The Kenny vs. Spenny Christmas Special”). He has currently completed his new series Kenny Hotz’s Triumph of the Will, which premiered on July 22, 2011. The series has garnered numerous accolades and the Canadian Comedy Awards recently nominated him the 2012 “comedian of the year”. Hotz is currently working on an a viral ad agency. Hotz recently sold a T-shirt worn in Kenny vs. Spenny for a record $10,200 (U.S.) it was the highest selling article of clothing in north American history as well as the highest selling t-shirt internationally on ebay.com.
Filmography
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1988)[6]
It Don’t Cost Nothin’ to Say Good Morning (1994)
Pitch (1997)
Kenny vs. Spenny (2003–2010)
The Papal Chase (2004)
Elton vs. Simon (2005)
Testees (2008)
Zack and Miri Make A Porno (2008) as Zack #2
South Park – Season 9 (2009)
Pure Pwnage (Cameo as a homeless man) (2010)
Degrassi Takes Manhattan (Cameo as the record peddler) (2010)
Kenny vs. Spenny Christmas Special (2010)
Kenny Hotz’s Triumph of the Will (2011–present)
Awards and nominations
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (1996) – Best Canadian documentary for It Don’t Cost Nothin’ to Say Good Morning
Whistler Film Festival (2004) – Phillip Borsos Award For the Papal Chase (Inaugural Winner)
Gemini Awards (2004) – Gemini for Best Comedy Program or Series for: Kenny vs. Spenny
Brooklyn international film festival (2005) – Audience award (best documentary) for The Papal Chase
Canadian Filmmakers’ Festival (2005) – Audience award (documentary) for The Papal Chase
Vice Magazine (2006) – First Annual Story Awards (Winner)
Gemini Awards (2006) – Gemini for Best Comedy Program or Series for: Kenny vs. Spenny (Nomination)
Gemini Awards (2008) – Gemini for Best Comedy Program or Series for: Kenny vs. Spenny (Nomination)
Gemini Awards (2009) – Gemini for Best Comedy Program or Series for: Testees (Nomination)
Gemini Awards (2009) – Gemini for Best Comedy Writing in a program or Series for: Testees (Nomination)
Gemini Awards (2010) – Gemini for Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series for: Kenny vs. Spenny (Nomination)
Canadian Comedy Awards (2010) – Best Director in a Comedy Program or Series (Winner)[7]
The Rockies (2012) – Best International Comedy Series (Nomination)[8]
Canadian Comedy Awards (2012) – Best Director in a Comedy Program or Series (Nomination)
Canadian Comedy Awards (2012) – Comedy Person of the Year (Nomination)
News and Press Releases
January 12.2012 - The WA Magazine
November 11.2011 - Split Sider
July 29.2011 - Fan Quarterly
July 21.2011 – National Post
June 01.2011 – National Post
January 20.2011- The Hollywood Reporter
December 10.2009 – MacLeans Magazine
October 09.2009 – The Washington Post
October 09.2008 – LA Times
October 06.2008 – News Day
October 02.2008 – Toronto Life Magazine
Aug 02.2008 – Canada.com
July 07.2008 – The Toronto Star
September 27.2007 – Reuters
September 27.2007 – USA Today
March 01.2006 – Canada.com
January 14.2006 – Reality TV Magazine
January 12.2006 – Vice Magazine
November 22.2005 – TV Show on DVD
August 25.2005 – Show Case Canada
July.28.2005 - Orlando Weekly
June 23.2004 – the Stranger
Kenny Hotz 
Celine Dion is probably homosexual too…
Just some overly religious nuts, no need to worry.
I showed those dumbs fucks good, i left then one hell of a comment.
Man, someone beat me to GOD post, FUCK!
Sweet jesus, what a bitch. Not only for what she wrote anout you, but i\’ve been reading around the site and she really is a close-minded twat. Don\’t worry, she\’s just a fucking zealot of the Westboro Baptist Church, you\’ll do fine in the US.
lmao "He is just a vile and disgusting person, maybe even worse then Bill Clinton!" yes because bill clinton really just IS the epitome of a terrible person, forget hitler and Paul Bernardo! sshhhhaaaamme on clinton.PS forget about this cow, she\’s an idiot. all publicity is good publicity! 🙂 (you got her daughter watching, hahahahah)
Ahh Shelley … She is so funny … Don\’t worry it is a satire site of a cartoon republican. Shelley and her firend don`t really exist. I remember reading this somewhere, when i stumble on a linux article on Shelley The Republican .
See you in Hell 🙂
I did a little research and found her email.>>> ShelleyTheRepublican@hotmail.com I have not sent any email, but i have already singed her up for a ton of porn sites!!
I just realize that you may have known about the site being a satire and that i just spoiled the joke. I\’m sorry i tried to edit my comment but can`t figure out how. I hope you can delete my post. If not then i\’m really sorry.
Can`t wait for season 4 …
I just put it on Reddit.com for you, KennyHope this gets around. Shelley is batshit crazy and I think I love her.
U guys gotta read the comments of the article especially the one from "Bagina" which is hilarious. It sounds suspiciously like Kenny.
That was the stupidest shit I\’ve ever read. Though I got kicks out of some of the comments people left her. Who on earth does she think she is saying that crap? "French-Canadian" Ha! She should get her facts straight before she writes something like that. And who openly admits to having their husband beat their child? Shes a fucking retard.
HI Kenny,
I read what Shelley The Republican said, she\’s a stupid jerk and an idiot, and she having her husband abusing their
daughter, punishing her very severely, just because she was watching \’Kenny VS. Spenny\’, knowing it was alot of fun,
that\’s really cruel!! They might even have their daughter taken away from them, because they\’re both crazy! You\’ll do
really, really good here in the U.S., I know you will!! I love \’Kenny VS. Spenny and you\’re lots and lots of fun to watch!!
BTW, I won\’t be able to go up there to Toronto this year (money wise), I\’ll be able to go up there and meet you next year,
we\’ll have alot of fun!! At least we can do email.
Cynthia D.
catsmeow040161@netzero.net
Oh my god, I just checked out that site and left a comment and was really offended and worked up about all the stuff on there. I am so relieved that it is satire, I really thought it must be, who is that dumb? Thank you for sending me on that rollercoaster Kenny, You truly are god
Yeah I came across garbage about a week ago,of course I left a comment (Ummagumma)I\’m not sure if its a joke or what but who cares,but that does not change the fact that your show is still one of the best on tv right now!
wow this lady is asking for donations to keep her website up check this out Donate To ShelleyCost: 0.00 USDDonated: 0.00 USD <—— as you can see she has rotten luck 😀
I submited this to Digg. Here is the URL : http://digg.com/television/The_Freedom_Blog_trying_to_stifle_Kenny_Vs_Spenny_s_freedom. Diggers digg it, nondiggers join and digg. BTW, the comment section of that page is awesome. I hope you are saving these to show your grandchildren Kenny!
Shelley the Republican is whats wrong with those America……… When will Retarded Religious Fanatics wake up……..
haha read this comment its the shit! 😀
Kira June 10th, 2007
10:47 pm
Wow you are a dumb cunt who needs to shut the hell up.
Kenny vs Spenny is the best show on TV and you are a little bitch
whose asshole is too tight for even Spennys tiny peepee to penetrate.
HAVE A NICE DAY
FROM VANCOUVER BRITISH COLUMBIA
(but please… don’t come visit)
HONESTLY WHAT A DUMB FUCKING IDIOT…POSTED MY TWO CENTS UNDER OMG_WOW…
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK MR. HOTZ!!
Ya\’ll are just sick!Don\’t you see that Kenny vs. Spenny is useless crap? Don\’t you see that Kenny is closer to the Devil than anybody else? And I know that Spenny is mildly retarded. How can he treat a retard this way? Many people say that Cannucks are socially responsible people.Kenny, I am on you like white on rice! Mark my words, I will bring you down, I will bring you down to Chinatown!Me and my church group are coming to Toronto in order to protest you eye to eye.Shelley Goodman
Wow kenny i hope ur not gonna take shit from this bitch. Wow you think that ur church is gonna bring a show down from SHOWCASE? Think again matt and trey helped it get into amercia they have a big say on things. IF YOU DONT WANT THE FUCKING SHOW LEAVE IT ALONE AND CANCEL COMEDY CENTRAL FROM UR TV. by the way shelly you are the dumbest fuck i\’ve ever known. Kenny has more friends than your whole church, he will be supported. America can\’t come into canada and protest something, thats just fucked up.
Shelly just beacause you live in america, doesnt mean that its the best country in the world. You aught to be kicked out of america and live in canada. You wouldnt last a day with that reputation of urs. protest. what the fuck are you thinking. you are just wasting your time. Comedy Central and Showcase aren\’t going to shut down a show because shelly is going to come to toronto with her church "army" and protest. Ive never seen a show beeing protested by a church army. i guess when kenny comes out yall r gonna run like the pussies you are. no we are not sick you beat ur fucking child and you call us sick because we watch a SHOW FOR ENTERTAINMENT? man dont even bother comin to toronto ur gonna get ur ass kicked.
To put it plain and simple for you, kenny vs spenny is on showcase, its motto is tv without boarders okay that means that there is no limit to what is shown on showcase. so if you had that channel on your tv it is completley your fault and you should only punish yourself not try to run down the show u stupid, immature, fuck beating parent. dont you realize you are only protesting because your daughter saw the show which is your fault. There is a warning at the start of the show so there is NO WAY u can run down the show… they say it cristal clear and read it out for you, This show contains nudity violence and sexuality viewer discretion is advised. Ok so that means they tell you this show contains so and so, if you dont like it dont watch it we gave you a warning leave us alone, now its on your part to acutally watch the show or not. NOT FUCING PROTESTING WITH A CHURCH, you are wasting your time, why dont u go post more bullshit on ur fucking blog so we can flame u sommore
Geez i hope that Shelley doesn\’t get comedy central or she might accidentally turn it on and then she\’ll have a seizure!
Thank God for you Shelley.
It\’s about time someone take action to get this evil, evil person out of the air. Not only does he make fun and exploit a retarded suppose friend. But he also let the poor guy eat his own poo. I mean how evil can evil be. Somebody has to get the death penalty back in Canada and legislation have to be tighten so that our children are not expose to this kind of evilness.
Anyway thanks for your effort I would certainly check on your site to get info on to when you will go there and I\’ll give you my support.
Hahahahahahahaha nice one Kenny….That fucking chick is way to damn crazy to live is this like a joke that you and Trey are working on cause I wouldn\’t put it past you to catalyze the crazies…. if not i fear for all of us.
Yeah she posted something on there now thats supposely Kenny himself trashing her on MSN,I\’m not sure if it is,anyhow she got owned!
Why the FUCK would somebody come to toronto and protest to cancel ur show. There is no reason. I also know for a fact that Spenny is not actually retarted but he\’s very easy. Man, Shelley, listen up ho cause I got one thing to say. Get Crunk.
Oh and go Kenny.
HE\’S TAKING YOU DOWN WHITE BITCH!
HELLS YA
Okay so Shelley is a fuckin liar.
I was reading her latest crap about Kenny and she says he got ahold of her on MSN. The crap she had put in her stupid blog didn\’t even sound like something Kenny would say (not like I would know what Kenny would sound like on MSN, but still that just didn\’t seem like the Kenny thing to say).
To top things off, I read a comment stating that they doubt the account actually exists, so that sparked an interest in me to see if it did. Sure enough “hotzisgod@hotmail.com” isn’t even a real e-mail address, and if it is, the person doesn’t use MSN Messenger. Anyone with MSN can attempt adding it and it clearly says that the person doesn’t have a “Microsoft Passport” account.
Okay, so I made that e-mail address mine just to show that bitch up. (I can\’t delete my other comment, otherwise I\’d have just said this along side that other crap).
all I can say is that some of the things that come out of that womans mouth left me with the WTF face…. I don\’t understand how people can be soooo fucking dense… I just don\’t get it…. and then when they get the backlash of their stupidity they resort to childish defamation of character….. all I can say Kenny is "she\’s a bitch and who fuckin\’ cares what she has to say…. she\’s prbably gotten more hits off of this then she will ever get for any of her \’american\’ comments will ever get her… we\’ll show her a Canuck, I\’ll go Nova Scotian on her ass :p hahaha…"
Anywaaayyysss… I had my little rant… Can\’t wait for the new season holy shit 🙂
Mucho ❤
"He is just a vile and disgusting person, maybe even worse then Bill Clinton!"*hangs head* Get it right people! Kenny is even worse THAN Bill Clinton. NOT THEN!"I had to ask my husband Steven to beat her with his belt and she is
grounded for the next 6 month. Now you will have plenty of time to read
in the bible." *bwahahaha!* Are you serious?! Can this woman be for real?! Man, she\’s either going to raise a cult leader or a psycho prostitute who eats used condoms.
i think this shelly chick needs to spend less time watching her husband abuse their child, reading her bible, and rather learn how to spell. if kenny or spenny ever ate a bugger [sic] i seemed to have missed it. bugger! as for the oral sex. since when did licking your own butt cheek constitute oral sex. if anything, it\’s the sin of onan.
oh my god kenny, first off i am a huge fan of the show and i love it. it is easily one of the funniest shows on television today. But to the point I actually took some time out of my life to read the garbage that was on that bitches site, she talks about Canadians supporting terrorism and that you are evil and are going straight to hell, mean-while i think the majority of the shit she is saying is pretty much guaranteeing her a seat in hell anyway. I think that if you traced her family history back far enough i think she must be a direct descendant of Hitler himself. But what ever man keep doing what you\’re doing and no matter what don\’t let anyone cancel your show, LONG LIVE KENNY V.S SPENNY, AND LONG LIVE KENNY.continue making god and people like shelly your bitch.
Hey Kenny, we spoke briefly on friday at Lobby. Not sure if you remember or not, my name is Matt. I run a site called 1deal.ca, we pay Canadian Poker players to play poker. We are running a charity event on August 23rd at Montana in TO. We are expecting 500 people and a number of proffessional poker players. We would love to have you come by and maybe you and Spenny can play, maybe even compete who is the better gambler??? it would be great if you could email me or get back to me so we could know if you two were interested. We have currently paid over $120,000 to Canadian Poker players and have over 2000 members.
I am unsure if this is the correct venue to reach you at, if not please let me know how better to contact you.
Matt Kieswetter
Affiliate Manager
1deal.ca
can\’t wait for season 4, and season 3 on dvd
heyy kenny, kenny vs. spenny is the best show ever made on earth…..please keep making epoisdes i love them sooo much…il talk to ya later man
I read this article and found it so hysterical because the dumb bitch can\’t spell, she uses improper grammar, and can barely form sentences. I think it is even funnier that she complains about Kenny vs. Spenny hurting her child due to the content yet she got her husband to "beat" their child. I hate it when people complain about poor role models on television. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. People need to stop spoiling things for others! If this is what a typical God fearing American does, I am proud to be an atheist Canadian who believes in freedom of thought and expression.
You have my support!
xox
-Connie
that bitch gottta dildo up her ass, she needs to loosen up
Why does she even bother to watch the show then … there\’s plenty more television to watch. Besides, Americans have shows that swear and stuff too … Jackass, South Park etc etc.They\’re perhaps, just not as funny.I cant wait to meet Shelly\’s church group when she comes to TO … this will be a riot!
I said it as a comment on her article, and I will say it again here!
Laugh My Fucking Immoral Canadian Ass Off!
Holy Shit lady! white on rice eh? Nice! And we\’re laughing at you and retards of like mind as hard as- if not harder than – the rest of the world!
Kenny I think is the best laugh I have had since last season… Thanks for bringing some sunshine into this shitty day! Love Ya!
Kenny You can\’t please everyone I guess. OH WELL – you please me!! 🙂
and hey! if you need anyone to confirm that you\’re god, I\’m in. Take care Kenny… keep em coming, just to piss off the American sweetheart.