Michael Showalter

Standup comedian, writer, actor, and director Michael Showalter got his big break in 1993 when the MTV network began airing the half-hour sketch comedy television show The State. Showalter, a New Jersey native, became a founding member of the State comedy group while he was attending New York University. He stuck with the State as he transferred and eventually graduated from Brown University. Short films that the group made for MTV turned into an offer for a series that would run for two years before the CBS network picked it up. After one strange Halloween special with specia...