SEATTLE — A live comedy show based on a cult classic television program is coming to Seattle’s Moore Theatre.
“The State: On Tour” reunites the large cast of 1990’s MTV show “The State.”
The sketch comedy show marked the beginning for actors and writers like Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black, Kerri Kenney-Silver, and Thomas Lennon.
Along with several of his castmates, Lennon went on to create and star in “Reno 911!”
Entertainment reporter Kim Holcomb talked to him about the upcoming show.
HOLCOMB: "Do you wear the Lieutenant Dangle short shorts around the house, or is that strictly for ‘Reno 911?’”
LENNON: “I could run and go get them right now - I have a couple of pairs handy."
HOLCOMB: "For most of us, having four friends from 30 years ago would be a big victory."
LENNON: "Before we had the show on MTV which started in '92, we'd already been together for four years as a comedy group at NYU. I don't think we really could have predicted that, let alone the friendships that have lasted for 35 years. But we do fight a lot - we're like The Eagles. (laughter) You know, it's not the headiest sketch comedy there ever was. But it's actually, weirdly, a very serious group of people."
HOLCOMB: "You guys added Seattle (to your tour.) Is that just because our audiences are awesome?”
LENNON: “Apparently, yes, because Seattle also nearly sold out in like two days."
HOLCOMB: "My kids are teenagers now and they're into all things '90s. That's what's cool right now.”
LENNON: “That's back now?”
HOLCOMB: “Yeah, '90s are back - have you seen the jeans?”
LENNON: “I have - so I guess ‘Stranger Things’ got us back through the '80s, and then Kate Bush, and now we're going to get shoved back into the '90s.”
HOLCOMB: “So, ‘The State’ is right where it should be, I feel like. What should people expect in the stage show version?"
LENNON: "All of us now in our early '50s, I don't know why we picked this point in our lives to do the biggest, hardest, most over-the-top stage show we've ever done. So, it's a huge production for some reason. I think the show's very fun if you know the characters. I've also had people come who have no idea what anything from ‘The State’ is, and I still think it's an incredibly fun show. It's a nice mix of old characters in hit sketches, but a lot of old characters in new sketches which I think is pretty fun. I feel like we're coming out trying to make new fans right now. Seattle and ‘The State,’ I bet, our sense of humor - the Venn Diagram is more of a circle. I feel like we're going to get along really well."
Tickets are still available for “The State On Tour.” It plays The Moore Theatre Wednesday, November 29 at 8 p.m.
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