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Originally, this link was titled "Experiences," and had hopes of becoming a section where people would write in and discuss an encounter they may have had with the State. We've gotten two responces so far. Our first responce came from a Mister Nathan Stack. Yes, that's correct: Nathan Stack, as in "Has anybody seen Nathan Stack?" He wrote to Jeff a few years ago telling his story about his encounters with the State. It's quite an interesting story. If by some strange chance you have an interesting story about an encounter with the State, please email us at jeff.peck@usa.net
And here is Nathan's story...
I saw The State literally the first time one of their shows was aired on MTV, which
was around Christmas time 1993. They aired the first show then, but they didn't actually
get into airing shows on a regular basis until a month or two later. But, just from
seeing that one show, I knew that The State was MY kind of comedy, so when it began
airing regularly I began taping it. I still have everything they did on MTV taped,
with the exception of just several skits from the first season.
Sometime during the first season, the "Lunch with The State" skit aired.
MTV's address was actually given out in this skit, so I decided to write Michael
Ian Black a fan letter. I told him that I was a big fan of the show and that in high
school (I was a college freshman at the time) my friends and I had written and videotaped
some skits of our own that resemble the odd humor that The State has.
Michael, being the nice guy he is, wrote me back, saying that maybe someday he'd
be watching me on TV doing my skits. The letter was typed on a typewriter, and at
the end it was signed "Yours in pudding, Michael Ian Black." I was very
flattered and excited that he wrote back to me. But more importantly, this proved
something to me: A member of The State got my mail and responded. So this led to
an even bigger and better idea. The next thing I did was mail the entire cast avideotape
of the skits I had mentioned in my letter to Michael. It was probably about half
an hour worth of our skits.
So during spring break week in 1994, I was being lazy and just hanging around my
house. Then my mom tells me that there's a phone call for me: a woman, and she
sounds very professional. I figured it was probably just the Army trying to recruit
me for the millionth time. But when I answered the phone, the voice on the other
end of the line said, "Hi.This is Kerrie Kenney from The State." I almost
fell on the floor. Her voice sounded exactly like it does on the show, so I knew
this was legit. Kerrie told me that they received the videotape, had watched it
and really enjoyed it. I talked to her for probably 2 or 3 minutes, then she said,
"Would you like to talk to Michael Ian Black?" Naturally I said sure. So
Mike got on the phone and I talked to him for a few minutes. Both of them asked me
a little bit about myself, and I just told them that I was really into the show.
That was such an incredible experience that I was so ortunate to have happen to me.
When I told my friends about it, we got so inspired we filmed some new skits (something
we hadn't done for three years). So after all that went down, I just kept watching
and enjoying the show.
I always watched and taped the shows the very first time they aired, except for one
instance. At the time (this is around the beginning of their third season), MTV was
airing their brand new shows on Monday nights, then repeating the same show on Friday
night of the same week. One particular Monday night I missed the show but didn't
worry because I knew it would air Friday. But, it just so happened that I missed
the most important State show to me ever.
On the Tuesday after that show aired, my younger brother came home from school and
said that everyone at his school was telling him that TheState said my name on the
show the night before. I was kind of baffled, not only because The State wouldn't
just make up a character named Nathan Stack for the heck of it, and because I didn't
really understand the context my name was used in. But on Friday night I finally
got to see the show after a week of unending wondering. It turns out that my name
got put in a prominent line of the "Use My Name in a Skit" sketch -- and
without me even having to ask them to do it, like they said many fans did. Tom Lennon
so boldly declared, "Has anybody seen
Nathan Stack? I can't find him anywhere!" And then Mike Black proceeded to tell
Tom that I was hanging out at the Sherwood Diner in Westport with Destiny Templeton
and "the rest of the gang" (I don't know who any of the other people are
or anything about the Sherwood Diner). But I would like to meet Destiny Templeton
someday. Who knows, she may be my destiny.............................
So anyway, that is the story of "Nathan Stack encounters The State." I
have not been in touch with them (and don't know how to get in touch with them),
but I hope one day that they'll be back on the air all together and just as good
as before. And I hope they'll always remember that fan of theirs who sent a videotape
of his original skits to them.
Note: The Sherwood Diner is about 20 minutes from where Jeff and I live in Trumbull, CT. [Obviously, the diner is in Westport, CT.] Jeff went there once and asked a few people who worked there if they had ever heard of the State, but they didn't know what he was talking about. In November '99, we drove past it once again on the way to see Being John Malkovich, and it looked like it was under renavation. Also, the name has been changed, but I forgot what they changed it to.
- Mike
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