Jerry Trainor, the man behind the “iCarly” character Spencer Shay, joined students for a kooky evening at Coffman Union on Tuesday, hosted by the University of Minnesota’s Student Unions and Activities.
The student body was not shy of their love for the former “iCarly” star — hundreds formed a line stretching from Starbucks on Coffman Union’s main floor all the way to the Great Hall. When Trainor graced the stage, the night finally commenced. He incited roaring laughter and shared on-set stories from “iCarly,” ”Donnie Darko” and “Drake and Josh.”
Even though Trainor said his role on “iCarly” left him typecast, he did not mind playing the goofball. In fact, he seemed happy to play into it. He riled up the crowd by taking absurd shapes on the stage, committing wholeheartedly to the bit and sometimes, partaking in a little mockery.
Though jesting, Trainor seemed to become increasingly unimpressed by his stage counterpart and interviewer. At one point, Trainor beckoned her to hand over the clipboard, calling her questions insane.
“Speaking of those people, do you have a favorite memory with them?” the interviewer asked Trainor.
“With whom? Any human. With any human? Is that a question right now? Do you have a favorite memory with anybody I’ve ever met? Claire? Is that your, is that the question?” Trainor asked.
Still, they endured with each other for another 90 minutes.
To the audience’s delight, Trainor said he still maintains a close relationship with his “iCarly” co-star Miranda Cosgrove, who played his little sister Carly Shay. To him, Cosgrove is akin to a real-life little sister.
“She’s very funny. I have to listen to her dating stories, which are just nightmarish,” Trainor said. “And she asks for my advice, and then she never takes them.”
When questioning passed over to the audience, all hell broke loose.
At one point, after an impromptu mini-performance of iCarly’s theme song, “Leave It All To Me,” a brave inquirer asked Trainor if he had ever felt a thick Latina.
Tranior was happy to oblige whatever wishes the crowd requested. He signed arms, took selfies and learned TikTok dances on stage.
In the end, Trainor departed with deep gratitude. Despite touring at a handful of other Universities, he confided in the group that he gets emotional every time.
“I love you guys. I’m proud that the characters matter. I never thought they would. I didn’t think they would in the moment,” Trainor said. “I took it for granted, and this just makes my day.”
Tristan
Mar 30, 2026 at 4:16 pm
I’m not sure why we’re bashing the interviewer who is a college student and likely not as experienced as a professional interviewer. An article like this would destroy their confidence, would much rather just hear a report about the event. Author should be more considerate when developing these articles.
Jack
Mar 30, 2026 at 11:36 am
This article completely ignores the context of a single question that Claire asked Jerry. The conversation leading up to that question was about his specific costars. To audience members, it was obvious who they were talking about and that Jerry was making a joke.
As with all interviews and Q&A sessions that SUA hosts, Jerry received and approved all questions ahead of time. If he had a problem with them (them referring to the questions, since apparently MN Daily cannot effectively infer what pronouns are referring to), the onus to raise concerns about any questions was on him and his team to communicate that to the team hosting the event. They would have then made the appropriate changes.
Calling her questions insane was a joke. His profession is comedic and he brought that to the Q&A. To any attendee, it is clear that Isabella Mordon Wheeldon has conveniently excluded much context of this event to create drama where there is none at the expense of a fellow student.