Complete with a PowerPoint slideshow of childhood memories from summer camp and clips of his cameos in television shows like “Law and Order,” the writer of the 2001 cult classic about a Jewish summer camp, “Wet Hot American Summer,” spoke to an audience packed full of UW-Madison fans Wednesday night.
Writer, actor and comedian Michael Showalter made fans double over at an event sponsored by the Jewish Cultural Collective and Hillel.
Probably best known for his role as Coop in “Wet Hot” and as a third of the sketch comedy trio in the Comedy Central show, “Stella,” Showalter focused heavily on his experiences at Jewish summer camp, where he said he “discovered hip-hop,” thus validating his and his friends’ views of themselves as “badass.”
However, his musical tastes have not changed for years, he said, playing the audience a mix of music “he’s not afraid to admit he likes anymore,” the likes of which included Dave Matthews Band, Christina Aguilera and Creed.
After presenting his photographic amalgam of childhood memories and showing the audience some Microsoft Paint Smurfs he has been drawing lately, he took questions from fans.
When asked where the idea of Gene—the neurotic, antisocial cook in “Wet Hot”—originated, Showalter said, “Every summer camp I ever went to had an angry Vietnam vet cooking the food.”
“That’s Vince,” Showalter recalled. “Don’t go near him.”
Showalter met Michael Ian Black and David Wayne, his “Stella” co-stars, in college, where they formed a comedy group that eventually became “The State,” a show that aired on MTV from 1993 to ’95.
As of this point, there is going to be no “next” season of “Stella,” Showalter said of the show which became a television adaptation in 2005, but he, Black and the cast of “Wet Hot” are considering a “10 years later” feature film of “Wet Hot” or possibly a sequel.
“We work really hard during the summer to attract speakers that we think students will benefit from,” said UW-Madison junior and chair of the JCC Andrew Rubin, adding that the speakers are paid.
Showalter was the third speaker of four in JCC’s and Hillel’s Fall 2006 Major Event Series.
