Michael Showalter

Michael Showalter (born June 17, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, director, writer, and producer. He first achieved recognition as a cast member on MTV's The State, which aired from 1993 to 1995. He and David Wain created the Wet Hot American Summer franchise, with Showalter co-writing and starring in Wet Hot American Summer (2001), and the Netflix series. Showalter wrote and directed The Baxter (2005), in which he starred with Michelle Williams, Justin Theroux, and Elizabeth Banks. Both films featured many of his co-stars from The State, and so do several of his other projects. Showalter is also a co-creator, co-producer, actor, and writer for the TV series Search Party. He directed the 2017 film The Big Sick and the 2021 film The Eyes of Tammy Faye, both of which were critically acclaimed.

Michael Showalter
Michael Showalter at the Montclair Film Festival, May 2015
Pseudonym	Mikey S
Born	(1970-06-17) June 17, 1970 Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Medium	Film, television
Years active	1992–present
Genres	Surreal comedy, improvisational comedy, farce, dark comedy, stand-up comedy, alternative comedy, sketch comedy, anti-humor, cringe comedy, physical comedy, satire / parody
Spouse	Anne Kalin Ellis ​ (m. 2011)​
Children	2

Early life

Showalter was born in Princeton, New Jersey, the son of Elaine Showalter (née Cottler), an author, feminist literary critic, and professor of English, and English Showalter, a Yale-educated professor of 18th century French literature. His father is Episcopalian and his mother is Jewish. He has one older sister, Vinca Showalter LaFleur, a professional speechwriter. He attended Princeton High School. For five years, Showalter shared an apartment with his friend, comedian and actress Andrea Rosen.

Career

Showalter began his undergraduate studies at New York University, where he joined the sketch comedy group The New Group. He transferred to and graduated from Brown University, where he joined the improv comedy troupe IMPROVidence. After he completed college, The New Group changed its name to The State and began creating video shorts for an MTV show called You Wrote It, You Watch It, hosted by Jon Stewart. The comedy troupe then got its own sketch comedy TV series, The State , which aired for two years on MTV.

Showalter has also had several smaller roles in movies and TV shows. He played Ron Parker, the arrogant host of Cheap Seats, on ESPN Classic in the pilot episode. However, after a bookcase fell on Showalter's character, tape librarians (and brothers) Randy and Jason Sklar took over the hosting duties. Showalter spent a brief time as a correspondent on The Daily Show (1996). He is also one half of The Doilies, an acoustic comedy band, in which he sings lead vocals opposite guitarist Zak Orth. In 2005 he wrote, directed and starred in the film The Baxter.

Showalter in 2007

Showalter is the host of The Michael Showalter Showalter, an original Internet series on Collegehumor.com which premiered January 16, 2007. His first guest was comedian Zach Galifianakis. Other guests have included David Cross, Michael Ian Black, Paul Rudd, David Wain, Andy Samberg, Michael Cera, and Mike Birbiglia. In the fall and winter of 2006, Showalter toured the US with frequent collaborator Michael Ian Black. In March 2007 Showalter briefly toured as the opening act for Janeane Garofalo. The Ten reunites him with frequent collaborators from The State.

Showalter signed with JDub Records, a non-profit record label, in June 2007. He released his first stand-up CD titled Sandwiches & Cats in November 2007. He teaches screenwriting at New York University's Graduate Film School.

Showalter teamed up once more with Michael Ian Black in the Comedy Central series Michael and Michael Have Issues, which premiered in July 2009. The show detailed the two Michaels' trials and tribulations as they create a television series. They confirmed the series' cancellation in early 2010.

In an interview with The Rumpus in February 2009, Showalter talked about a memoir he is working on. "I am writing an 'important' memoir about not being able to write an important memoir. It winds up being kind of a novel-length comedic essay on insecurity and procrastination." The book, Mr. Funny Pants, was published in February 2011.

He appeared twice on the NBC drama Law & Order: in the episode "Endurance", which aired on October 18, 2000, and in the episode "Reality Bites", which aired on October 16, 2009.

Showalter also appeared in a series of commercials advertising the Toyota Yaris, starting in late 2011.

In 2013 Showalter and Michael Ian Black launched a podcast called "Topics" in which the duo discuss evergreen topics in a serious manner.

Showalter was a writer on the ABC sitcom Super Fun Night.

In 2014, Showalter co-wrote with David Wain They Came Together. Wain and Showalter then co-wrote the eight-episode Netflix prequel Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp based on the 2001 film with almost the entire cast of the original film returning. Showalter himself appeared as Gerald "Coop" Cooperberg and President Ronald Reagan in the series. The series premiered on July 31, 2015, and was more well received by critics. He also co-wrote and starred in the Netflix sequel Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later which premiered in 2017.

In 2015 his film Hello, My Name Is Doris debuted at SXSW, where it was acquired by Roadside Attractions. It was released in the United States in March 2016, and received critical acclaim.

His 2017 film The Big Sick starred Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter and Ray Romano. It saw a wide theatrical release and had an overwhelmingly positive 98% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Showalter next directed the 2020 film The Lovebirds, starring Kumail Nanjiani of The Big Sick, along with Issa Rae, Anna Camp and Paul Sparks. The film was scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on April 3, 2020, however due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic its theatrical release was cancelled, and it premiered on Netflix on May 22, 2020. In 2021, he signed an overall deal with HBO Max.

On March 18, 2024, it was announced that Showalter would be directing the Amazon MGM holiday comedy, Oh. What. Fun., starring Michelle Pfeiffer.

Personal life

Showalter married Anne Kalin Ellis on January 16, 2011, in New York. The couple has fraternal boy-girl twins, born in 2014.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer
2001	Wet Hot American Summer	No	Co-producer	Yes
2002	Stella shorts	Yes	No	Yes
2005	The Baxter	Yes	No	Yes
2014	They Came Together	No	Yes	Yes
2015	Hello, My Name Is Doris	Yes	Executive	Yes
2017	The Big Sick	Yes	No	No
2020	The Lovebirds	Yes	Executive	No
2021	The Eyes of Tammy Faye	Yes	No	No
2022	Spoiler Alert	Yes	Yes	No
2024	The Idea of You	Yes	Yes	Yes
TBA	Oh. What. Fun.	Yes	Yes	Yes

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Tick	Clifford	Short film
2001	Wet Hot American Summer	Gerald "Coop" Cooperberg / Alan Shemper
	Kissing Jessica Stein	Stephen
2002	Signs	Lionel Prichard
2002	Stella shorts	Michael
	Operation Midnight Climax	Chip
2004	Hair High	Wally	Voice role
2005	The Baxter	Elliot Sherman
2006	Griffin & Phoenix	Terry's Fiancé
2007	The Ten	Police Lt. Flarn Bleern
	Reno 911!: Miami	Paul
2008	Birthday	Michael	Short film
2013	Bum Future	Fred
2014	Two Night Stand	Rick Raines

Television

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Executive Producer	Creator	Notes
1992–1993	You Wrote It, You Watch It	No	Yes	No	No
1993–1995	The State	No	Yes	No	Yes	27 episodes
1995	The State's 43rd Annual All-Star Halloween Special	No	Yes	No	No	TV special
1999	1999 MTV Movie Awards	No	Yes	No	No
	Random Play	No	Uncredited	No	No	Additional writer; 3 episodes
2003–2005	The Wrong Coast	No	Yes	No	No
2005	Stella	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Wrote 10 episodes
2008	The Michael Showalter Showalter	No	No	Yes	Yes
2009	Michael & Michael Have Issues	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Directed 3 episodes
2013	You're Whole	Yes	No	No	No	7 episodes
2013–2014	Super Fun Night	No	Yes	No	No	2 episodes
	Newsreaders	No	Yes	No	No	2 episodes
2015	Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Mini-series
2015–2016	Childrens Hospital	No	Yes	No	No	4 episodes
2016–2018	Love	Yes	No	No	No	3 episodes
2016	Giles Vanderhoot	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	TV movie
2016–2019	Grace and Frankie	Yes	No	No	No	2 episodes
2016–2022	Search Party	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Directed 3 episodes
2017	Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Mini-series
2019	In the Dark	Yes	No	No	No	Episode: "Pilot"
	Ray Romano Right Here, Around the Corner	Yes	No	No	No	TV special documentary
2021	The Shrink Next Door	Yes	No	Yes	No	Directed 4 episodes
2022	The Dropout	Yes	No	Yes	No	Mini-series; Directed 4 episodes
	I Love That for You	Yes	No	Yes	No
2025	Happy Face	Yes	No	Yes	No	Filming
TBA	The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh	Yes	No	Yes	No	Post-production

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992–1993	You Wrote It, You Watch It	Various characters
1993–1995	The State	Various characters	27 episodes
1995	The State's 43rd Annual All-Star Halloween Special	Various characters	TV special
1997	Apartment 2F	Phil	4 episodes
1999	Random Play	Various characters	3 episodes
2000	Buzz Lightyear of Star Command	Plasma Boy (voice)	Episode: "The Plasma Monster"
2000, 2009	Law & Order	Artie Kramer / Allen Gee	2 episodes
2003	Sex and the City	Billy	Episode: "The Post-It Always Sticks Twice"
2004–2006	Cheap Seats	Ron Parker	6 episodes
2005	Stella	Michael	10 episodes
2008	Wainy Days	Landon	Episode: "Molly"
	The Michael Showalter Showalter	Host	10 episodes
2009	Michael & Michael Have Issues	Himself	7 episodes
2012	Late Night with Jimmy Fallon	Gordon Scheer	Uncredited
2013	You're Whole	Dr. Robert Wexler	Episode "Droppin' the 'G'/Ancient Egypt/Puffy Paints"
	Inside Amy Schumer	Steve	Episode: "Bad Decisions"
2014	Bob's Burgers	Ethan (voice)	Episode: "The Kids Rob a Train"
	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Clyde Bryllis	Episode: "Nick Offerman Wears a Green Flannel Shirt & Brown Boots"
2015	Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp	Coop / President Reagan	Mini-series; 8 episodes
	Jammers	Jeremy / Cool Guy / Ol' Drippy (voice)	TV short
	The Grinder	Sandy Malmuth	Episode: "Dedicating This One to the Crew"
2015–2016	Childrens Hospital	Nils Vildervaan	2 episodes
2016	Giles Vanderhoot	Giles Vanderhoot	TV movie
	American Dad!	Mark (voice)	Episode: "Bahama Mama"
2016–2017	Search Party	Max	5 episodes
2017	Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later	Coop / President Reagan	Mini-series; 8 episodes
	9JKL	Walter Michaelson	Episode: "Set Visit"
2018	Sugar Rush	Himself (guest judge)	Episode: "Camp Sugar Rush"

External links

• Official website
• Michael Showalter at IMDb
• April 2008 interview with Paradigm
• Michael Showalter Interviews Human Giant