In the arts, it’s always fascinating to look at the phenomenon of the “scene” — a cluster of creative talents emerging in one place, at one particular time, before shooting off to success on their own separate trajectories.
In 2000s New York alone, you saw multiple examples between music and film. On the music side, you had the convergence of indie artists like The Strokes, Interpol, and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as illustrated in the 2017 book and sequent 2022 documentary Meet Me in the Bathroom. At the same time, on the film side, you saw the rise of artists like Noah Baumbach and Darren Aronofsky who remain some of today’s most prominent. In the world of comedy, there have been many scenes, but one of the most interesting would have to be the group of writer-performers emerging from New York University in the late 1980s who came to be known as The State.
This was a sketch group that saw the rise of countless names familiar to any real comedy fan — from David Wain to Ken Marino, Michael Showalter, Joe Lo Truglio, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Michael Ian Black, Thomas Lennon and more. Largely, comedic multi-hyphenates who have gone on to enduring careers in front of and behind the camera.
Unusually, this is a group that got their own TV series almost fresh out of college, short-lived though it was, first on MTV and then on CBS. Members of The State have been a part of many of the most iconic comedies that have emerged in the decades since — in front of the camera, behind it, or both. The list includes Wet Hot American Summer, Reno 911!, Stella, Children’s Hospital, Search Party, the Night at the Museum franchise, Party Down, and more.
Seeing numerous remembers hit the road for a reunion tour amid the Hollywood strikes of 2023, The State’s story is most comprehensively told in Long Live the State, a documentary from filmmaker Matthew Perniciaro, which is coming off of its premiere at the Tribeca Festival. In the film, members of The State come together to reflect on the highs and lows of making their cult hit series, as well as their enduring legacy in comedy.
With us to unpack this subject on today’s episode of the Comedy Means Business podcast are Wain, Marino, and Lo Truglio — three original members of The State — as well as Perniciaro. Over the course of the conversation, we get into the experience of the reunion tour, learning lessons “through bumps and bruises” of The State’s journey, the best sketches that never made it to air, and how the group would’ve approached their careers if they were starting out in comedy today.
A quick note before listening: Lo Truglio joined us from a hotel lobby in Ireland, where he was attending a family function, so there was a bit of an audio issue there. Apologies. But with that said, you can check out a video clip from the pod above and listen to the full version (which is currently audio-only) below.
The podcast can also be found on Apple, YouTube and Spotify. To receive the pod and newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.
