If you spent your college days worshipping Wet Hot American Summer, odds are you also obsessed over Stella. Comics Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black, and David Wain formed the comedy group following their run with MTV’s The State, and they’d often perform shows at New York City jazz clubs like Fez.
Part of their stage show included a number of short films that they recorded from 1998 to 2004, and featured a handful of guests like Sam Rockwell, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, and Bradley Cooper. Eventually, these videos surfaced online, garnered a cult following, and landed them a short-lived series on Comedy Central.
Since then, the three have obviously gone on to do bigger things, namely successful turns behind the camera, though they’ve often returned to the troupe, mostly for one-off gigs. However, not since 2008’s “Birthday” have they released a proper short, and that all changes today with their first video in almost a decade, appropriately titled, “Rip Van Winkle”.
As expected, the guys are back in a small room, wearing suits, and making all kinds of esoteric references to pop culture relics that’ll leave you Googling and giggling. One great “hoot” involves Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life” and a middling discussion on the math that falls between the years 1997 and 2017. How else do you explain where they’ve been?
Watch it above and then peruse Stella’s greatest hits below — preferably with some pizza.
