The State

The State is a comedy group from the early 90s that have produced most of my favorite comedic material of all time. If the name doesn't look familiar then you might know their other projects; Stella, Role Models, Reno 911!, The Ten, Wet Hot American Summer, and Michael & Michael Have Issues to name a few.

This past summer the influential tv show of the same name finally got a release and if you get a chance to watch it in any capacity i highly recommend it.



After the show ended, its members went on to form different projects, one of which being Stella. Starting as a stand-up troupe that made hilarious short films, they are probably best remembered for the short lived show on Comedy Central (you can watch the entire series of Hulu). This Tuesday they have a brand-new live stand up DVD coming out and it looks great. Check out a clip;



For me Stella is special, not just for the humor but also for the time in which I saw it. I checked it out probably because the dude from "I Love the 80s" was in it but after seeing the first episode I was hooked. My friends and I gathered each week to see this explosive brand of humor that I had never seen or even thought of before. It was brilliant.

They also introduced me and much of the world to "alternative" comedy (for lack of a better term) and a great new group of actors including Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis and Elizabeth Banks.

Here's some additional projects/media to check out from the crew;

You can see all of the Stella Shorts at college humor.
http://www.collegehumor.com/user:398

New Interview with David Wain. It goes into just how the State formed and made it to MTV, how he came to work with Paul Rudd, and his role in the DVDs production.
http://www.avclub.com/articles/david-wain,31483/

Michael Showalter's internet "talk show" The Michael Showalter Showalter.
http://www.collegehumor.com/tag:michaelshowalter

David wain's Internet show Wainy Days which features guest stars from Jonah Hill to Rashida Jones.
http://www.mydamnchannel.com/Wainy_Days/Season_1/1Shelly_388.aspx

You can stream both Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter's comedy albums on Lala.com
http://www.lala.com/#album/360569445187453484

David Wain's first film that he made before The State even formed. It made it all the way to Sundance and did the festival circuit when he was still in High School.
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2007/08/david_wains_aisle_six_investig.html