90's Sketch Comedy Pt. 2

If you stayed up late enough watching re-runs of The Real World on MTV in the mid 90's you may have stumbled across one of two things:

Trippy/Demented/Hilarious animated classics such as


OR

Trippy/Demented/Hilarious comedy classics from

Finding yourself in the first category means you can probably still do a killer Beavis and/or Butthead impersonation and most likely...

...have a thing for older women with elongated bodies who prefer to dress themselves in form-fitting latex.

For those who were lucky enough to find themselves in category #2 you, like myself have probably re-enacted several of The State's off the wall skits to anyone in earshot so as to not let the legend die.

And to those who don't recall any of this, luckily you were born in the era of YouTube.


The State was much more experimental than SNL and more relatable than the Canadian zaniness of the Kids In The Hall, it's work speaks for itself.

To understand the absurdity, let me first offer you a description of "The Audition".


A normal looking guy comes in to audition for a beer commercial in front of two producers. He holds up the can of beer and proceeds to calmly read the lines, when suddenly he changes course...


..."Duhhhh, duhhhh! I'm so dumb, I'm Mr. Dummy, I'm Dummy Butt, I'm so stupid!"

The producers then interrupt him to ask what he is doing, to which he responds, "Just trying something different, that's all". They ask him to try again.


Again he starts out normal, but then breaks into more nonsense, slurring his words as he exclaims, "I love the beer, the beer is my Mommy, hello, Mommy!"

Again he is stopped and asked to leave, but emotionally he asks for one more chance "I know I can nail it".



This time he almost gets through the entire phrase, but suddenly screams, "Ow! My Butt! Duhh! Duhh!" And so it ends.


Such is the nonsense-filled world of The State. Any sense of normalcy is quickly shattered by a completely unrelated and unexpected change of direction.


Another scenario involves a mailman who has decided to deliver tacos instead of the mail. When confronted by one of the home owners the mailman is told,

"I love the tacos, but if I had to choose between the tacos and the mail? I'd have to choose the mail". Somberly the mailman walks off, just as the customer turns turns to see his mailbox scoot away saying matter of factly, "Bye, Bye mailbox".


There's a lot more wackiness to be had, but much of it is a case of "You had to be there".

The State lasted for 2 seasons and then its members went on to such Comedy Central programs as Viva Variety!, STELLA and the very popular Reno 911.

One VHS tape and a book were released in the 90's and there is a DVD set that has been produced but not released by MTV with no formal explanation as to why. Meanwhile individual epdisodes and skits are available for download at various sites.

Fond memories indeed, late nights, crazy crap.