A Great Write-Up In Advance Of Stella's Philly Show

Three Really Funny Dudes at the Keswick Theater

By John Steele

Updated 10:27 AM EST, Tue, Nov 25, 2008

 

Throughout the history, great comedic troupes have either come in pairs (Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Spade and Farley) or in larger groups, but Wain, Showalter and Black prove easily, prove that three is funny.

All accomplished comedians in their own right, Showalter, Black and Wain combined in 1997 to form "Stella," a comedy troupe that became a mainstay in New York's Greenwich Village. In 2005, the show premiered on Comedy Central. Now, "Stella" is back on stage as their show was originally intended and the trio is bringing the funny this Sunday, November 30, to the Keswick Theater.

After meeting at NYU in 1988, the three friends started the famous comedy troupe "The State." "The State" quickly became a national phenomenon, drawing tours, lofty critical acclaim and an adoring fan base. The sketch troupe became a television show for MTV and is, to this day, considered one of the best things ever to come out of the network.

In 2001, Showalter and Wain released their collaborative film, "Wet Hot American Summer," a cult classic about the last day of summer camp in 1981. The film stars Showalter, Black and Wain along with Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Elizabeth Banks, and many others.

Michael Ian Black has also had his forays into the film world, as a writer/director of the film "Wedding Daze" and the writer on "Run Fatboy Run." He now has a book of essays called "My Custom Van," released earlier this year.

Michael Showalter has a new comedy CD entitled, "Sandwiches and Cats" that is on shelves now and David Wain just finished up "Role Models," a film he co-wrote and directed with Paul Rudd, Shawn William Scott and McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).

Like many great teams, there is something magical and exciting when these guys reunite. After all, with three great comedic minds on stage at once, you will forget about Laurel and Hardy. You will forget about Abbot and Costello. You will be too busy laughing to remember that this is unconventional, random, absurdist humor. All you will remember are the laughs.

Comments

[Jenny]

Aww, well isn't that nice? I anticipte more happy reviews in the near future.

(i will say first, but as soon as it loads i'm sure someone else will have beaten me.)

[Jenny]

(well sonofabitch)

[Muffin MacGuffin]

That's a really great article, but has the writer never heard of the Marx Brothers? Or the Three Stooges?

[Reptar]

Jonas Brothers? HANSON? Legendary things come in threes.

Except Matrix movies, of course.

[Daniel]

Speaking of threes, what about the Marx bros.?

[R]

And lest we forget, the Marx Brothers.

[Jaime]

there were four marx brothers.

poor Zeppo.

[Jaime]

Seriously, no one remembers Zeppo? Poor damn Zeppo. I just want to hug that straight man. Life must have really sucked for him that three out of six posts didn't remember him and three out of three Marx bros references didn't remember him. I'll assume the other three posts didn't reference the Marx bros because they remembered Zeppo. That makes me feel less sad.

Poor Zeppo.

[R]

There were five Marx brothers. Poor Gummo is even more ignored than Zeppo.

There were also five Stooges, if you count Shemp, and Matt Besser's grandfather Joe.

[Tee]

Congrats on the write-up. I hope the tour kicks ass.

[Jaime]

oooh, busted. You are right R. BUT, Gummo never appeared in any movies. He was just their agent. It makes sense no one knows him.

But Zeppo, he was in all the greats: Animal Crackers, Duck Soup, Horsefeathers, Monkey Business, and Coconauts. Still, unremembered. I say again, poor Zeppo.

(still, nice call R :)