TVSquad

Last year, after multiple recommendations from my English friends, I got around to watching a few episodes of The IT Crowd. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to all the wild hype generated by my buddies, but something did stick in my mind... The crazy-haired, nasal Moss character, played by Richard Ayoade. There was something wonderfully weird about him and, since I was so intrigued by his strange voice, I decided to look him up. Well, as it turns out, his usual voice is really that weird and nasal, which just made him a million times more better in my mind. In fact, Ayoade's the only cast member who has been carried over from the original version of The IT Crowd to the American adaptation, reprising his role as Moss.

Later, I saw him in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, which I enjoyed immensely. Somehow, Ayoade's performance as Dean Leaner/Thornton Reed managed to top the strangeness of Moss, and my appreciation for the man grew ten-fold. I also watched the great Nativity rock opera AD/BC, and Ayoade's musical numbers as Joseph Christ made me laugh until I bled from the eyes. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but Ayoade was pretty hilarious.

Plus, back in the day, Ayoade was a part of the legendary Cambridge Footlights crew, where he did various projects with The Daily Show's resident Englishman, John Oliver. Although I have yet to find video of their two-person routines, YouTube has an interesting mockumentary that Ayoade, Oliver, and a few other Cambridge Footlights folks made together.

I think once the new IT Crowd kicks off in the States, Ayoade will get a huge following of American fans. Mark my words, after only a few episodes, every man, woman, and child in the States will want that damn voice.