Mongo Nation

Our top 5 clips from the cult classic sketch comedy show

By Jeremy Azevedo

In just 3 short seasons, MTV’s The State established itself as one of the most influential sketch comedy series of all time, and kick-started the careers of some of the most successful comedy actors, writers and directors of our generation.

From Thomas Lennon and David Wain to Michael Showalter and Kerri Kenny-Silver, the original cast of The State reads like closing credits of nearly every good comedy in the last few years (that wasn’t produced by Apatow). Despite all this, fans have waited over a decade for The State to be available on DVD, even paying obscene amounts of money on eBay for the one shitty VHS compilation that MTV releases years ago. The reasoning behind the excruciatingly long wait has to do with music rights or some such bullcrap, but the fact remains that the the wait is now officially over. So you can stop sending those 400 page manifestos to MTV now.

The irreverent humor exhibited by The State was hugely influential on comedians and humorists in the 90s and beyond, as it stood as an (actually funny) alternative to the more structured comedic formula established by dead horse-beating shows like SNL. Probably no one was sitting around wondering what you would do with $240 worth of pudding, but The State was more than happy to tell you what they would do with it… Or what goes on in the sub-molecular world of teenage hormones… Or how to catch a Muppet in the wild, or what to do when your mailman stops delivering mail, and starts delivering delicious tacos. Fans of Reno 911, Stella, I Love You Man, Hot Wet American Summer, Drop Dead Gorgeous and all the dozens of projects that have been produced by this comedy collective over the years should take this opportunity to revisit the genesis of The State’s particular brand of offbeat humor.

In order to show rather than tell that these sketches hold up just as well today as they did ten years ago (because these skits all sound batshit crazy on paper), we’ve compiled a collection of five of our favorite clips from the show. Check ‘em out and be sure to pre-order your copy of The State on DVD, available July 14!

Betty’s Pancake House

Put a bag on your head and hop on the ugly bus to Betty’s No Good Clothes and Pancake House!

The Barry Lutz Show

America’s foremost primate zoologist feels “research” is such a restrictive term and he prefers, “Monkey Torture.”

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An interview with the director of “Role Models”

By Jeremy Azevedo

“Role Models” was easily one of the better comedies of 2008, if not the best. It may not have had the kind of publicity that overrated, Apatow produced comedies like “Pineapple Express” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” had, but it certainly had more laughs in it.

Much of this had to do with the excellent performances by Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott, but the lion’s share of credit most likely goes to writer/director (and former State alum) David Wain.

While not a formula comedy by any means, “Role Models” is was quite a bit more traditional in style than much of David Wain’s previous work (His last two films were “The 10” and “Hot Wet American Summer”). David tells us that this is because he came on around the third draft of the script, adding his (and co-writers Paul Rudd and Ken Marino’s) signature style to the pre-existing story. David’s irreverent sense of humor ultimately transformed what was in danger of being a class-A “bro-down” into a smart and funny picture that lends itself well to repeated viewings.

One of the best things about “Role Models” is the memorable performance by Christopher Mintz-Plasse as a young, hopelessly dorky Live Action Role Player named Auggie. There was some worry on Wain’s part that Mintz-Plasse might be difficult to separate from his instantly typecasting role as McLovin in “SuperBad”.

“There was definitely some concern there”, said Wain. “Christopher had only done the one other film before this, and the character was pretty iconic. But this character of Auggie was really so different… I mean they were both nerdy, but in totally different ways. And I related to him, you know, as a kid. As an adult I related more to Danny (Paul Rudd’s character) but as a kid, definitely Auggie.”

Another young star, Bobb’e J. Thompson, posed a different kind of problem for the director:

“We were limited in some of the things we could have Bobb’e say and do. He had someone there with him at all times to make sure we were within certain guidelines. Specifically, we couldn’t have him say or do anything overtly sexual, though he could talk about boobies and say “fuck” a lot.”

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