Stellar

May 22, 2003 6:35 PM

Have you heard of Stella? This comedy trio has been doing nightclub shows in NYC and across the country since 1997, and they were involved with MTV's the State before that. Perhaps you've seen one of the members somewhere else: Michael Showalter as Lionel Prichard in Signs, Michael Ian Black as the host of Spy TV or as Phil Stubbs on Ed, or David Wain as the director of Wet Hot American Summer(Black and Showalter are in the movie). Together they have put together several video shorts available here. I highly recommend Bored, Whiffleball, and David's Cousin. College Reunion, Christmas Caroling, and Turkey Hunting are also hilarious, if you share their off the wall, perverse sense of humor. None of them are safe for work. Enjoy!
posted by insomnyuk (16 comments total)

Awesome post. I hadn't heard of them, but Michel Ian Black is among my favorite TV actors. We call him JBJ around the house.
posted by cachilders at 6:43 PM on May 22, 2003

I used to sit and drool waiting for new episodes on heavy.com back when I still had a membership. I haven't visited heavy in ages and always assumed the stella archives were for members only and never checked. Thanks for the post, I can now assault my roommates with forcing them to watch these!
posted by loukas_c at 6:50 PM on May 22, 2003

Johnny Blue Jeans!
posted by stew560 at 7:01 PM on May 22, 2003

if your sense of humor is dragging on the floor behind you, these guys are hilarious!

no seriously, shock value is still funny. i promise.
posted by Satapher at 7:06 PM on May 22, 2003

Wet Hot American Summer is classic just for the DVD extras alone. one of the most hilarious movies of our times, imho.
posted by lotsofno at 7:58 PM on May 22, 2003

We just rented that one (Showalter also co-wrote it), and I can certainly endorse the "hilarious" assessment. But it's also reeeeally scattershot. They'll try absolutely anything for a joke, and about ever other time they landed on their asses (for me, anyway). But every other other time I was laughing myself sick.
posted by soyjoy at 9:42 PM on May 22, 2003

Wow, to each his own. Wet Hot American Summer was one of the few movies I've actually walked out of. Couldn't stand it, and I wasn't alone.
posted by Fofer at 10:06 PM on May 22, 2003

I saw them in the city a few years ago. Definitely not to be missed. Especially David Wain fellating a shotgun in Turkey Hunting.
posted by dr_dank at 6:03 AM on May 23, 2003

Warning: the Searching For Santa short is NSFW!
posted by evening at 6:37 AM on May 23, 2003

I used to love those guys when they were on the State. Some of my favorites were:
Louie "I'm gonna dip my balls in it"
Barry and Levon "Awwwwww Yeaahhhh"
Doug "I'm outta Heeeeeerreee"
The seamonkeys skit


I haven't really liked anything they've done since then. Wet Hot American summer was alright. It's like that really funny comedy that you never laugh at.
posted by LouieLoco at 6:41 AM on May 23, 2003

Here's a bonanza of old clips from The State - my personal favorites are the Inbred Brothers.
posted by sparky at 7:11 AM on May 23, 2003

Funny thing I just saw on another web site that quoted the state, when they were making fun of Aquaman.

Superman:
Right! Batman, Robin, you find some way to block future transmissions.
Wonder Woman, you stop Dr. Spiker and find out what he knows.
Flash, you run to the Andes mountains and GET THOSE PLANTS.
I'll go stop the missiles that have already been launched.
Aquaman, you go...Talk to some FISH!
Everyone: AHAHAHAHA!
posted by LouieLoco at 7:23 AM on May 23, 2003

Thanks for the link, insomnyuk. I can't wait to look at these when I'm not at work. I loved The State. Still haven't seen Wet Hot American Summer, though.

By the way, Michael Ian Black also played the beloved Pets.com sock puppet!
posted by Songdog at 8:13 AM on May 23, 2003

Wet Hot American Summer was one of the few movies I've actually walked out of.

See, your mistake was going to see it in a theater. When it came out, I said "this will be a good one... to rent." I recommend the approach for hit-or-miss movies like this. The bar is lower, you can be more physically comfortable, you can drink beer while watching, and you're unlikely to walk out. Where you gonna go? The kitchen?
posted by soyjoy at 8:34 AM on May 23, 2003

Anybody else having troubles downloading the clips?
posted by Hildago at 2:37 PM on May 23, 2003

Yeah, sometimes the server gets too busy (for some reason the files are hosted on FHM), I usually try and get them at times other than peak usage hours.
posted by insomnyuk at 11:20 PM on May 23, 2003