The Rus' (Slavic: Русь, Swedish: Rus, Greek: Ῥῶς) were a group of Varangians (according to the so-called Normanist theory, these were Vikings, predominantly from the modern-day area of Sweden). According to the Primary Chronicle of Rus, compiled in about 1113 AD, the Rus had relocated from the Baltic region ("from over the sea"), first to northeastern Europe, creating an early polity which finally came under the leadership of Rurik. Later, Rurik's relative Oleg captured Kiev, founding Kievan Rus. The descendants of Rurik were the ruling dynasty of Rus (after 862), the successor principalities of Galicia-Volhynia (after 1199), Chernigov, Vladimir-Suzdal, Grand Duchy of Moscow, and the founders of the Tsardom of Russia.

Their name survives in the designation Rospigg, a person from the coastal area of Uppland, Sweden, called Roslagen, literally "the land of rowing", and the cognates Russians, Rusyns and Ruthenians, giving their name to the land of Rus', as well as the ethnonym of its majority East Slavic population. Today, the Swedes are still designated in Finnish and Estonian as the Ruotsalaiset and the Rootslased, respectively.

Jonathan "Jon" Lajoie (born August 21, 1980) is a Canadian comedian, actor, rapper, singer, musician and Internet celebrity from Montreal, Quebec.

Lajoie was born in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada and raised in Montreal, Quebec. His father is French-Canadian and his mother is English-Canadian. He graduated from Dawson College's theatre program in 2001. Since 2003, he has acted as an English-Canadian musician named Thomas Edison in Radio-Canada's French-Canadian sitcom L'auberge du chien noir.

Jon Lajoie began his career as a comedian in 2007. Lajoie's performance included music, skits, and some stand-up comedy. Jon Lajoie has also released 2 studio albums.

Lajoie currently has a role in the FX Network TV show called The League as Taco MacArthur, a perpetually stoned and unemployed musician. Lajoie performs his song "The Birthday Song" and "Vaginal Hubris" in two episodes of the first season. Throughout the series, Lajoie performs songs written specifically for the show.

Jon Lajoie filmed an episode of Comedy Central Presents on November 7, 2009. It premiered on March 5, 2010. The same special aired uncensored as part of Comedy Central's Secret Stash on June 6 at 1:30 AM (EST). The special featured the world premiere of the video for his song "Pop Song".

Ian Joseph Somerhalder (born December 8, 1978) is an American actor and model, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.

Somerhalder was born and raised in Covington, Louisiana, the son of Edna, a massage therapist, and Robert Somerhalder, an independent building contractor. Raised Catholic, he attended St. Paul's, a private Catholic school in Covington. He embarked on a modeling career from age 10 to 13, and by the age of 17 he decided to go into acting.

In the summer of 2000, Somerhalder starred in the short-lived WB series Young Americans, a spin-off of Dawson's Creek. He played Hamilton Fleming, the son of the dean of a prestigious boarding school. In 2002, Somerhalder played bisexual character Paul Denton in Roger Avary's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel, The Rules of Attraction, alongside James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, and Jessica Biel.

In 2004, Somerhalder scored his breakthrough role when he played Boone Carlyle in the hit TV show Lost. Despite his character's death in the twentieth episode of the first season, Somerhalder returned to the role of Boone for seven more episodes between 2005 and 2010, including the series finale. Somerhalder was the first actor to be cast in a role for the series and the first character to die.

Timothy David "Tim" Minchin (born 7 October 1975 in Northampton, England) is an Australian-British comedian, actor, and musician.

Tim Minchin is best known for his musical comedy, which has featured in six CDs, three DVDs and a number of live comedy shows which he has performed internationally. He has also appeared on television in Australia, Britain and the United States. After growing up in Perth, Western Australia, he attended the University of Western Australia and WAAPA before moving to Melbourne in 2002. His breakout show, "Dark Side", launched him into the public eye, achieving critical success at the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Minchin has a background in theatre and has appeared in various stage productions, in addition to some small acting roles on Australian TV. A documentary film about Minchin, Rock N Roll Nerd (directed by Rhian Skirving), was released theatrically in 2008 and broadcast by ABC1 in 2009. He is the co-writer of the Olivier Award winning hit musical Matilda the Musical, based on the Roald Dahl book Matilda.

George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, actor and writer/author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums.

Carlin was noted for his black humor as well as his thoughts on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and various taboo subjects. Carlin and his "Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine were central to the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, in which a narrow 5–4 decision by the justices affirmed the government's power to regulate indecent material on the public airwaves.

The first of his fourteen stand-up comedy specials for HBO was filmed in 1977. In 1988, the 1990s and 2000s, Carlin's routines focused on socio-cultural criticism of modern American society. He often commented on contemporary political issues in the United States and satirized the excesses of American culture. His final HBO special, It's Bad for Ya, was filmed less than four months before his death.