Erik Stolhanske Movies
As one of the five principal members of the famed Broken Lizard sketch comedy troupe -- those bad boys responsible for Puddle Cruiser (1996), Super Troopers (2001), Club Dread (2003), and Beerfest (2006) -- Erik Stolhanske is perhaps most notorious as the Lizardian who sodomized an irate grizzly bear onscreen, in Super Troopers. It was actually an artificial bear masquerading as a live specimen, but no matter: that moment of below-the-belt schtick grabbed the audience's attention with both hands and gave Stolhanske an immortal piece of cinematic history as one of the only mainstream actors gutsy enough to go to such lengths for a laugh. Stolhanske was born four months after his fellow Lizardian (and frequent screen director) Jay Chandrasekhar, on August 23, 1968, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After high school graduation, he attended Colgate University, where he met Chandrasekhar, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Kevin Heffernan; the five -- all members of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity -- discovered a shared interest in sketch comedy, and formed a performance troupe that they christened "Charred Goosebeak," which performed frequently onstage, starting in Manhattan in 1991. They later changed their name to "Broken Lizard." The four aforementioned "official" Broken Lizard vehicles followed, along with a fifth "unofficial" outing, 2005's the Chandrasekhar-helmed Dukes of Hazzard, starring Burt Reynolds, Seann William Scott, Johnny Knoxville and Jessica Simpson, alongside Stolhanske and the others in supporting roles. Stolhanske portrayed Freaky Reaky in Puddle, Rabbit in Troopers, Sam in Club Dread, Campus Cop #2 in Hazzard and Todd Wolfhouse in Beerfest.Though Chandrasekhar almost always directs and Heffernan edits on occasion, Stolhanske (like Soter and Lemme) merely acts in and co-writes the features; however, Stolhanske has built something of a career for himself outside of Lizard. He is a key contributor to the upcoming sketch comedy feature The Untitled Onion Movie, from the tongue-in-cheek news source The Onion, that satirical hotbed of deadpan, black-as-coal spins on current events. Along with the other Lizardians, Stolhanske provides a voice to Paul Hernandez's 2005 animated feature Instant Karma, alongside Dom DeLuise, Burt Reynolds and Mira Sorvino. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2009
- R
The Broken Lizard troupe is back with The Slammin' Salmon, a comedy revolving around a restaurant whose former heavyweight champion owner, Cleon Salmon (Michael Clarke Duncan), sets his waitstaff against each other in a competition to see who can win the most tips, with the winner taking home a cash prize and the lowest earner winning a beatdown from the champ. Troupe member Kevin Heffernan makes his directorial debut with the picture, taking over the reigns from Jay Chandrasekhar, who directed all of Lizard's films up till this point. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Clarke Duncan
Two guys used to drinking beer for fun suddenly become fierce competitors in a sort of Lager Olympics in this over-the-top comedy. Todd Wolfhouse (Erik Stolhanske) and his brother Jan (Paul Soter) are from a German-American family but have never visited the Old Country until their grandfather dies and they fly to Germany to scatter his ashes. Todd and Jan arrive during the annual Oktoberfest celebration and accidentally discover a secret competition, "Beerfest," in which the world's leading beer guzzlers determine who can handle the most brew during several days of heated drinking games. Todd and Jan are no slouches when it comes to downing suds and offer to compete, but the German branch of the family, the Von Wolfhausens, scoff at their desire to enter the contest and inform them no mere American could hope to carry away the Beerfest honors. Determined to prove Yanks can swill beer and embarrass themselves just as well as anyone, Todd and Jan bring their most skilled drinking buddies to Germany to defend America's honor on the field of drunken battle and show their German relatives that the family's talent didn't vanish when they crossed the pond. Beerfest was written and directed by Jay Chandrasekhar of the comedy troupe Broken Lizard, and several other Broken Lizard members pop up in the film's cast, as do Will Forte, Mo'nique, Cloris Leachman, and Jürgen Prochnow. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jay Chandrasekhar, Steve Lemme, (more)
The General Lee is back and so are the Duke boys in this big-screen adaptation of the hit TV series, brought to you by Jay Chandrasekhar of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe. Set in the "present day," the story follows Bo (Seann William Scott) and Luke (Johnny Knoxville) as they cruise around Hazzard County and wreck havoc in their classic 1969 Dodge Charger. Together with their scantily clad cousin Daisy (Jessica Simpson) and moonshining Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), the two good old boys battle the corrupt county commissioner Boss Hog (Burt Reynolds) when he and local Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (M.C. Gainey) threaten to take away the family farm. John O'Brien has the lone writer's credit on the film, though additional uncredited rewrites were handled by the Broken Lizard gang. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, (more)
Following up their breakthrough film, 2001's Super Troopers, the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, comprised of Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske, took aim at the horror genre and delivered Club Dread. Starring the five members of the troupe along with Bill Paxton, the film is set at an anything-goes tropical resort for swingers. When a psychotic killer starts offing the guests with a razor sharp machete, it's up to the staff to hide the carnage, lest they lose the business of the unsuspecting surviving guests. As with Super Troopers and the first Broken Lizard film Puddle Cruiser, Chandrasekhar directs. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Paxton, Jay Chandrasekhar, (more)
A handful of state troopers are put in the uncomfortable position of having to actually enforce the law in this high-spirited comedy. Mac (Steve Lemme), Thorny (Jay Chandrasekhar), Foster (Paul Stoter), and Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske) are four Vermont state troopers whose dedication to duty is not exactly an inspiration to law enforcement officers everywhere. Stationed in a small town near the Canadian border, the troopers don't have much to do, so they while away their hours smoking dope and harassing hapless motorists. Their superior officer, Capt. O'Hagan (Brian Cox), likes the boys and they try to keep their more outrageous antics out of his earshot, but they often run afoul of fellow trooper Farva (Kevin Heffernan), who insists on doing things by the book. When Governor Jessman (Lynda Carter) announces massive budget cuts for Vermont law enforcement personnel, things look bad for the troopers and they must quickly prove their worth or they'll be forced to look for real jobs. Appropriately enough, the troopers stumble upon some information regarding a group of marijuana dealers operating along the border; the guys figure this is just the sort of high-profile bust that could save their careers, but the police department of a nearby town gets wind of the troopers' plans. The Earlville police are no friends of the troopers, and they set out to ruin their moment of glory. Super Troopers was written by the five-man comedy troupe Broken Lizard, who also star as the five troopers; the group's leader, Jay Chandrasekhar, directed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, (more)
Grogan (Kevin Heffernan) and Matt (Paul Soter) get caught red-handed stealing food from the college cafeteria, but Felix (Steve Lemme) calmly climbs out a back window and gets away. Later, at a party with his friend, Zach (Jay Chandrasekar), Felix catches sight of Suzanne (Kayren Butler) and is immediately smitten. But not only does Suzanne have Traci (Jamison Selby), her jock boyfriend from home, hanging around, it also turns out that she's defending Felix's moronic friends in the school's case against them. As if this wasn't enough trouble, she's also trying to get them to turn in their unknown accomplice. Zach has his own romantic problems. He's gotten the phone number of a beautiful woman, but she's left out one of the digits, and he's too shy to approach her again, necessitating several hours of dialing wrong numbers. Meanwhile, Suzanne's friend, Emily (Alison Clapp), is being pursued by the kooky campus mailroom worker, Freaky Reaky (Erik Stolhanske). Puddle Cruiser was the first feature from the Colgate University-spawned comedy troupe, Broken Lizard, who produced the film independently. The film was well received at several festivals, including the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, but failed to find a distributor. The troupe took the film on an innovative national college tour, selling tickets and building word-of-mouth. Broken Lizard's follow-up feature, Super Troopers, received a wide theatrical release in 2001. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, (more)
