| Dutch West | |
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 Dutch West Group Shot | |
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Created by |
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Founded |
April 22, 2005 |
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Headquarters |
New York, New York, U. S. |
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Members |
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Years active |
2004-2009 (Until 2012 on Vimeo) |
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Affiliate Websites |
CollegeHumor |
Dutch West was a comedy troupe that made online shorts for various platforms from 2005 to as late as 2012. Members of Dutch West were Sam Reich, Josh Ruben, Matt Moore, Vincent Peone, and Elaine Carroll, most of whom moved on later to CollegeHumor.
The Dutch West Internet Company (originally iTV New York) was created by Sam Reich in 2004 (established officially in 2005[1]) and original content had begun to be uploaded to the site in mid 2005 until early 2007 when there had been a break in content, but later revitalized in conjunction with other websites such as CollegeHumor, Super Deluxe, Budweiser's Bud.tv, and Atom.com, as well as being featured on Comedy Central's Atom TV television series.
The crew also performed live semi-regularly for clubs and theaters including the God Freedom Improv Show at the Identity Lounge, as well as having performed at Caroline's on Broadway and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre several times.
Name[]
Dutch West takes its name from the Dutch West India Company, which, like the English East India Company was a chartered company active in the 17th and 18th centuries who were the first to travel and trade to various lands. As they were in some regard pioneers and created a monopoly on trade in the area, The Dutch West Internet Company can be considered a pioneer of early internet sketch comedy who monopolized the genre. More recently, however, Sam Reich had regarded this comparison as pretentious.
History[]
In the year 2000, while attending summer camp at Boston University Theater Institute, Sam Reich, Josh Ruben, and Elaine Carroll met for the first time — but it wasn't until later that year in the fall that Sam and Elaine began to date or around 2002 that the three had become good friends. As early as late 2003, Sam and Josh discussed bringing a group of friends together to make comedy videos for the internet.
By mid-to-late 2004, Josh had brought in Vincent Peone, a close high school friend[2], and Matt Moore, who he had recently met through the New Actors Workshop, for the project. The name "iTV New York" was initially chosen and some videos had been filmed during this time, but not released due to the group's inability to legally secure the name, as it had been too similar to many other network names (including one owned by the BBC).
The webisode "Apt 1: Old Men and Voiceovers" nearly replicates the real conversation had about this dispute, leading the group to decide on the name "The Dutch West Internet Company".
Website[]
The dutchwest.tv homepage as of September, 2006.
Dutchwest.tv (now defunct) was home of not only original videos, but of other various forms of media including a podcast, news updates, and a community forum which often hosted fan-centered content such as Caption Jam and photoshop contests.
Caption Jam[]
Caption Jam was a semi-regular weekly blog update, consisting of 27 known installments released on the Dutch West forum between late 2005 and March 2007, in which random pictures would be selected for fans to submit a funny, usually out-of-context caption to accompany it. The funniest captions would be chosen for the next update.
The Dutch West Audio Podcast[]
Dutch West released 13* known episodes of a podcast from May to November of 2006, which were typically around 10 minutes in length with discussions of various random topics.
*A W Weekly article from 2006 (not 2005 as the reuploader prepends) mentions there being 14 at the time of its writing.[3]
Catalog of Videos[]
Dutchwest.tv Original Run (2005-2007)[]
- Trailer (May, 2005)
- 1. Ameriwow: Picture, Picture (May, 2005)
- Babysode: Chess Bus Trailer (Jun, 2005)
- Babysode: Whitebox Trailer (Jun, 2005)
- 2. Chess Bus (Jun, 2005)
- 3. Apt. 1: Old Men and Voiceovers (Jun, 2005)
- Babysode: ITV Eulogy (Jun, 2005)
- Whitebox Session: Jessica Delfino (Jun, 2005)
- 4. Nag Rock (Jul, 2005)
- Babysode: Under New Management (Jul, 2005)
- Babysode: Nostro the Moose (Jul, 2005)
- 5. The Duncan Project (Jul, 2005)
- 6. Apt. 2: Dutch West (Jul, 2005)
- Babysode: Taxicab: Extended Edition (or 'More Taxicab') (Jul, 2005)
- 7. American Vikings (Jul, 2005)
- 8. Ameriwow: Shortbox's Shortcomings (Aug, 2005)
- Whitebox Sessions: Robert Reich (Aug, 2005)
- 9. A History of Film (or "Train Leaving Station") (Aug, 2005)
- 10. Ameriwow: September (Sep, 2005)
- Babysode: The HP Pitch (Sep, 2005)
- 11. Apt. 3: Terms and Conditions (Oct, 2005)
- 12. Kindred Horse High (or "Prom") (Oct, 2005)
- Babysode: Water Balloon Fight (Oct, 2005)
- Whitebox Sessions: Jonathan Arons (Nov, 2005)
- Babysode: Claw (Nov, 2005)
- 13. Billy Sue is Not My Lover (Nov, 2005)
- 14. Gina Seeking (Nov, 2005)
- Babysode: Gina Seeking B Roll (Dec, 2005)
- 15. Apt. 4: Christmahanukwanza (Dec, 2005)
- 16. Chimney Sweeps (Jan, 2006)
- 17. Old Men and Leftovers (Jan, 2006)
- Babysode: Old Men and Leftovers B Roll (Feb, 2006)
- Whitebox Sessions: Rachael Yamagata (Feb, 2006)
- Babysode: Ameriwow 360 (Feb, 2006)
- 18. 12-Step Turbo (Feb, 2006)
- 19. Surprise Party (Feb, 2006)
- 20. Pizza Time (March, 2006)
- 21. Street Magic (March, 2006)
- Babysode: Subtle Difference (Apr, 2006)
- Babysode: Natural Born Killers (Apr, 2006)
- Babysode: Timeless Talent (May, 2006)
- Babysode: Rollout Piano (May, 2006)
- 22. Zarnia (Jun, 2006)
- Babysode: Calling on Nature (Uncertain date and chronology but by June 2006)
- Babysode: Army (Jun, 2006)
- Babysode: Germaine Derby (Jul, 2006)
- 23. Saturday Garson: Dino Crooner (Aug, 2006)
- 24. Ameriwow: The Toyota F*ggot (Sep, 2006)
- Babysode: Geico Parody (Oct, 2006)
- Babysode: Goldeneye Theater (Oct, 2006)
- 25. Bigfoot: Child Molester (Nov, 2006)
- Babysode: Geico B-Roll (Dec, 2006)
- Babysode: Bigfoot B-Roll (Dec, 2006)
- Babysode: Goldeneye Theater 2: Christmas Vacation (Dec, 2006)
- 26. Galaxy Sex (Feb, 2007)
- 27. Gay Assassin Redux (Feb, 2007)
Bass Grabbers (2007)[]
Bass Grabbers was a 10-episode mockumentary webseries, released in co-production with Tribeca Enterprises on Bud.tv in 2007. The series follows a washed up English punk-rock band, The Tetanus Rockets (played by Dutch West), who are signed by their manager (played by Dave Hill) to bass fish for the "4th Greatest Sports Network in the World".
Super Deluxe (2007-2008)[]
Partnering with Super Deluxe, a company owned by Turner Broadcasting, Dutch West released the Commercial Break and Robert DeNiro Back in Time series. Josh Ruben considered the latter to be one of his proudest works at the time.
Commercial Break[]
- Dinesta (Oct 1, 2007)
- Booty Call (Oct 15, 2007)
- Goblin Steps (Oct 22, 2007)
- Norm's Lazer Rifles (Nov 5, 2007)
- 911 Coin (Nov 12, 2007)
- Ab Source (Dec 3, 2007)
- Gladiator Mismatch (Dec 10, 2007)
- Taj! (March 17, 2008)
Robert DeNiro Back in Time[]
- Episode One: The Untouchables (March 24, 2008)
- Episode Two: Hide and Seek (April 1, 2008)
- Episode Three: Once Upon A Time In America (April 15, 2008)
Atom.com Short Shorts (2008-2009)[]
The final official iteration of Dutch West was released on the now defunct website Atom.com. These videos were typically about 1 minute in length and had also been aired in full on the "Dutch West Short Shorts" episode of their Comedy Central series Atom TV.
- Guy Makes Out Wearing Baby (Dec 11, 2008)
- Apache Attacks Mom in Kitchen (Dec 17, 2008)
- Old Prospector Finds iPhone (Apr 20, 2009)
- KKK Meeting Goes Wrong (April 22, 2009)
- Father Embarrasses Son (April 27, 2009)
- FBI Birthday Party (April 29, 2009)
- Mary and God Have Sex (May 4, 2009)
- Zombie Dinner (May 6, 2009)
- Slasher Murders (May 11, 2009)
- Mayor Wings It (or ''Mayor Can’t Remember The Names of the Dead'') (May 13, 2009)
- Knight's Piss (May 18, 2009)
- Bikers Socks (May 20, 2009)
- Guy Throws Up (May 25, 2009)
Vimeo (2007-2012)[]
The following videos were posted exclusively to the Dutch West Vimeo account.
- Slasher (Aug 12, 2007)
- Simon's Bar Mitzvah (Aug 12, 2007)
- Backstage Benez (Unclear; By Aug 16, 2007)
- Matt Moore Acting Reel 2008 (Jan 24, 2008)
- Behind the Scenes (Jan 26, 2008)
- Butterfly! (Jul 29, 2008)
- Big Relief Auto (Apr 11, 2009)
- Chastity Thief (Mar 2, 2010)
- Josh Ruben SNL audition (Mar 17, 2010)
- camping (Jun 3, 2010)
- a self portrait by Vincent Peone (Jun 18, 2010)
- sf (Jul 16, 2010)
- J+V (Sep 15, 2010)
- Behind the scenes: Hello My Name Is (Nov 18, 2010)
- Josh Ruben Acting Reel - 2011 (June 22, 2011)
- Gale Beggy on the iPhone 4S (Oct 11, 2011)
- WAYAWAYRND WIND AREN I CUTE! (Oct 30, 2011)
- Josh Ruben Character Reel 2012 (or ''Josh Ruben SNL 1.12.12'') (Jan 13, 2012)
- Untitled (Mar 22, 2012)
- jvfilmsreel (July 20, 2012)
- Sassy (Oct 17, 2012)
- DVA (Oct 17, 2012)
- Sassier (Oct 17, 2012)
- JOSH RUBEN CHARACTER REEL 2013 (Dec 20, 2012)