David Wain

David Wain was born on August 1, 1969, in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He attended New York University (NYU) where he studied film, graduating in 1991. During his time at NYU, he became a founding member of The New Group, a sketch comedy troupe that later became known as The State. This group led to their self-titled MTV sketch comedy show, “The State,” which aired from 1993 to 1995. Wain co-created and co-starred in the series, directing many of its sketches.

Following “The State,” Wain continued to develop his career, often collaborating with his former troupe members. In 1997, he co-founded the comedy trio Stella with Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter, which evolved from a nightclub show into a series of web shorts and a Comedy Central series by 2005. His directorial debut in feature films was the indie comedy “Wet Hot American Summer” in 2001, which he also co-wrote and co-produced with Michael Showalter. This film later inspired two Netflix mini-series, “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” (2015) and “Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later” (2017), which he co-wrote and directed.

Wain has directed a total of five feature films, with “Role Models” (2008) being his most commercially successful. Other notable directorial credits include “The Ten” (2007), “Wanderlust” (2012), “They Came Together” (2014), and “A Futile and Stupid Gesture” (2018), a biopic about National Lampoon founder Doug Kenney. He has also served as an executive producer for the Emmy-winning series “Childrens Hospital” (2008–2016) and its spin-offs, “Newsreaders” (2013–2015) and “Medical Police” (2020), further solidifying his position in sketch and absurdist comedy. As an actor, he has appeared in many of his own projects, including a recurring role as Rabbi Jewy McJewJew on “Childrens Hospital” and Yaron in the “Wet Hot American Summer” Netflix series, while also contributing voice work to animated shows like “Superjail!” and “Bob’s Burgers.”