Kenny Hotz
A gleefully antagonistic comedic mind who turned humiliating competitions with his best friend into a cult television phenomenon.
Born 1967 (age 59)·Canadian comedy writer and television personality·Birthday: May 3·Generation X
Biography
Kenny Hotz built a career on the beautifully petty art of losing with style. Alongside his perpetually exasperated foil, Spencer Rice, he created 'Kenny vs. Spenny,' a reality show that was less about competition and more about the slow-motion unraveling of a friendship under absurd duress. The show's genius lay in its simple premise—two men compete in a challenge, the loser endures a humiliation—and its complex, real-life dynamic of manipulation and resentment. Hotz's persona as the scheming, amoral id to Spenny's principled superego felt authentically corrosive and hilariously watchable. His sensibilities, sharpened by a stint writing for 'South Park,' infused his later projects like 'Testees' with a similarly dark, satirical edge. More than just a provocateur, Hotz is a student of cringe, documenting the lengths people will go to avoid saying 'I lose.'
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Kenny was born in 1967, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Kenny Was Born
The biggest hits of 1967
#1 Movie
The Jungle Book
Best Picture
In the Heat of the Night
#1 TV Show
The Andy Griffith Show
Kenny's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1967Born
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1972Started school
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1980Became a teenager
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1983Could drive
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1985Could vote
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1988Turned 21
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1997Turned 30
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 40
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 50
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 59 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Co-created, starred in, and often directed the cult comedy series 'Kenny vs. Spenny,' which ran for six seasons.
- Served as a staff writer for the seminal animated series 'South Park' during its eighth and ninth seasons.
- Created and wrote the FX comedy series 'Testees,' about human guinea pigs in a medical testing facility.
- Co-directed the music video for deadmau5's song 'Monophobia.'
Did You Know?
He sold his own feces as art, titled 'Artist's Shit,' in a parody of a similar work by Piero Manzoni.
He is an avid photographer and has published books of his photography.
His early film 'Pitch' was a mockumentary about trying to sell a screenplay in Hollywood.
“I'm not a loser. I'm a winner who knows how to lose.”
