Get to know BriTANick, two of 'SNL's new crop of writers

It's not often that I wake up on a weekday with a yelp of excitement, but the announcement of Saturday Night Live's new writers made me do just that. Among the list, which includes Zack Bornstein, Joanna Bradley, Anna Drezen, Kristen Bartlett and Julio Torres were two names I've had an eye on for years: Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney, known online as YouTube sketch comedians BriTANick.

Kocher and McElhaney come from Atlanta, but this isn't a Lonely Island origin story (at least, not entirely). The duo met at summer camp, but things didn't magically click until they moved over 800 miles away to New York University and enrolled in NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

In 2007, they embarked upon what was, at the time, a revolutionary and promising venture: They started making videos.

BriTANick's sketches have been of Saturday Night Live caliber for years, distinguished by a sense of humor slightly off SNL's mainstream rhythm. But that cheekily intelligent off-kilter vibe elevates their work immensely, with works like the short film "Eagles are Turning People Into Horses" and "The 9 Ways to Treat a Woman" (one of them involves animated squirrels). They know their voice, and have known it for a decade.

If BriTANick wasn't immediately propelled to online and offline stardom for the videos alone, it's because Kocher and McElhaney were hard at work beyond that. They were regulars at the UCB (like fellow SNL writer newcomers Bradley, Drezen and Bartlett), performing their own sets or appearing with other comics, including videos with Rachel Bloom and performances at Broad City Live!

For a fan on the internet, waiting months or years between videos can be excruciating, especially when vloggers and other high-profile YouTubers post weekly at a minimum. Since the duo moved to L.A., the videos are even fewer and further between, with over two years between "The Foul Line" and "Sexy Pool Party."

In 2012, they gained a crucial fan in Joss Whedon, who later cast the pair as the bumbling watchmen in Much Ado About Nothing. As a team, Kocher and McElhaney also wrote for Fox's shortlived The Goodwin Games and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

SNL is known for highlighting rising stars of the comedy community, and their hiring declares these writers as seasoned improvisers and sketch artists.

The seven newcomers join newly promoted head writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, who will lead Season 42. The season premiere of Saturday Night Live will be Oct. 1.