Teenager of the Year is the brain child of Chicago natives Joe Avella and Tim Racine. The infectious sketch comedy duo has performed at Sketchfest, the Los Angeles Comedy Festival, and the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival. But perhaps the group’s best description comes from the performers themselves: “Teenager of the Year is the best group in Chicago. Better than everyone. Waaay better. In everything. Best group, best band, sports team, restaurant, car wash. Doesn’t matter. We are the best everything. If you don’t get us, it’s your fault. The end.”

To put their awesomeness to the test, we grilled Teenager of the Year on everything from the benefits of social media to the indefinable “je ne sais quoi” that makes Chicago the king of comedic cities. Utilizing a tag-team strategy – and some well-timed puns – the duo soared through the exam with flying colors. Final grade: Awesome.

TCFF: Let’s start by talking about your individual careers, and then Teenager of the Year and how that came into existence. Joe, how did you get your start and what are some of the projects you’re working on right now?

Joe Avella: I started working in independent film and short comedy about five years ago. Some of the shorts I wrote have gained national attention – one was featured last year at South by Southwest, and I won a few local and national film contests. During this time, I wanted to meet other comedians – mostly so I could recruit them to be in my films – so I started performing at the Improv Olympics.

That’s where Tim came into the picture. I was performing in a Second City show, and Tim came to visit one of the other cast members. At the after-party, we had a few beers and ended up hitting it off. I wanted to be a solo performer, but I kind of lied and told Tim I was starting a sketch comedy group. So then, of course, I had to scramble and actually put together a group. The other members eventually dropped out, and it was just me and Tim left. We officially became Teenager of the Year in early 2008.

TCFF: Tim, we attempted to dig up some factoids on your website (www.timracine.com), but were immediately confronted with a long page of bizarre and frightening images. We’d hate to make deductions about your career based on that, so you can explain what that site is all about?

Tim Racine: You described it pretty much how everyone I know has described it. People aren’t sure what to make of it. It’s supposed to be five days’ worth of pictures all focused around a central theme, which basically allows me to tell the same joke five times. The theme last week was about getting pregnant – it was essentially making an off-color joke about how children will ruin your life. Which I don’t necessarily believe! But as far as the Internet goes, you have to be over the top to get anyone to notice you. The website is basically a plea for attention – or help.

TCFF: Describe your act and what audiences can expect from a typical Teenager of the Year show.

Joe: It’s a stream-of-consciousness type of comedy. We strip sketch comedy down to its basic elements. One of the things Tim and I bonded over was that we both thought too much of sketch comedy was stale and repetitive. We wanted to do a live show that throws convention out the window and just write what we think is funny instead. Our show is very high energy – we skip from idea to idea, and feed off each other a lot.

Tim: We wanted to make our act less like a theater show and more like a band performance. Our sketches are our songs. We banter with the audience in between and have room to improvise in our performance. We keep it loose and fun.

TCFF: Fan interaction on social media is a popular trend with performers these days. Teenager of the Year has embraced that technology by answering fan questions on your website – however, in answering the questions, you utilize an interesting formula: 1) mock the fan’s question, 2) post a photo of something awesome (like kiteboarding, or a Camaro) and 3) end with basically telling the fan to shut their trap. How’s that working out with your followers?

Tim: (laughs) It’s worked out great. The funny thing is, after we answered the first question that way, we got way more questions after that. Fans seem to dig it.

TCFF: Who usually answers the questions?

Tim: I do. I’m pretty obsessed with checking the website.

Joe: I couldn’t ignore it more. I get to it maybe once every six months. But if you ever need to contact Tim, just ask a question on the website. He’s all over it.

TCFF: We’ve been asking everyone to weigh in – Team Conan or Team Leno?

Tim: Here’s the thing: We’re not really established in show business yet. We’d like to get on TV one day. And we’ll have whoever will have us, so we hate to choose sides.

Joe: We should just both pick a different team.

Tim: OK.

Joe: Let’s see – I’ll be Team Leno, because that seems like the underdog vote.

Tim: And I’ll be Team Conan.

TCFF: He does seem to be the more popular choice.

Tim: That’s because I’m the hip young one.

Joe: And I am the older one with a car. I love mediocrity, so I’ll stay with Team Leno.

TCFF: Short of the Second City factor or a water supply issue, what is it about Chicago that creates such a breeding ground for comedians?

Joe: What I’ve noticed is that Chicago is not an industry town like New York or LA. Everyone who comes here does it with the purpose of discovering their voice and with a specific goal of launching their career. Most of the showcases here are run by comedians or producers who aren’t getting rich from it, but are sacrificing their time and money to support the comedy scene. Everyone in the Midwest who wants to do comedy migrates here, so you get this great mix of people coming from all over.

Tim: That was a very elegant answer.

Joe: Yes, it was. Can you please note how elegant that was?

TCFF: Let the record show… Tim, do you have any thoughts on Chicago?

Tim: I can only give my own reasons for coming here. It’s like this: When you first come here, without knowing how the comedy scene works, you think, “I’m going to work in Chicago for a while, and then in a few years I’ll be on Saturday Night Live.” And then you quickly realize that that’s not going to happen anytime soon. So then you’re surrounded by all these equally talented people who’ve realized the same thing, and you start doing shows together. You get influenced by all these great future stars around you, and eventually you have loftier aspirations than becoming famous. There seems to be a good emphasis here on artistic integrity.

TCFF: Have either of you visited Traverse City before?

Joe: No, but I looked up pictures online and it appears quite quaint.

Tim: I read the Wikipedia entry. It looks like you’ve got a lot of nice history there.

Joe: I wonder if we’ll have the chance to go cherry-picking.

Tim: Cherry-picking? In winter?

Joe: Skiing maybe? Will we have a chance to ski?

TCFF: There’s a good chance you’ll end up needing to ski from your hotel to the venue. We get snowed in a lot.

Tim: In that case, we can say “Ski you at our show!” and “Ski you later!”

Joe: This is just a taste of the excellent comedy we’ll be offering.

TCFF: Anything you’re looking forward to at the festival?

Tim: I’m really looking forward to seeing Mike Birbiglia.

Joe: Same here. I would like to see every single person who’s performing at the festival, but Birbigs is at the top of both our lists.

TCFF: We offered Whitney Cummings the chance to start a feud with another comedian before the festival started, but she couldn’t settle on anyone. Care to give it a go?

Tim: Hmmm. OK, I’m ready to start this kerfuffle. Listen up other performers! I’m willing to see your shows, and maybe even enjoy them. So, let’s agree that the way we get back at each other is by helping each other along in our careers.

Joe: Yeah, that’ll show them! I am completely behind this.

Teenager of the Year will be performing at the Traverse City Comedy Arts Festival February 19-21 in Traverse City. You can follow Joe Avella and Tim Racine on Twitter at @JoeAvella and @TimRacine, or visit their website at www.teenageroftheyear.org.