David Wain

David Wain is an American comedian, writer, actor, and director whose career spans over three decades of cult‑favorite film and television work. Born on August 1 1969 in the suburban community of Shaker Heights, Ohio, he grew up in a Jewish household with parents Nina (née Saul) and Norman Wain, experiences that later informed the summer‑camp setting of his breakout movie Wet Hot American Summer. While studying film at New York University, Wain co‑founded the sketch troupe The New Group, which evolved into the groundbreaking MTV series The State (1993‑1995); he directed many of the show’s off‑beat sketches and honed a collaborative style that would define his later projects. After The State folded, he and fellow alumni Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter formed the comedy trio Stella, producing short films, a Comedy Central series, and a long‑running New York nightclub show that cemented his reputation as an inventive ensemble creator. Wain’s first feature film, the absurdist summer‑camp satire Wet Hot American Summer (2001), assembled a roster of future comedy stars and showcased his talent for blending raunchy humor with affectionate nostalgia. He followed with The Ten (2007), a parody of disaster movies, before achieving broader commercial success with Role Models (2008), a buddy comedy that opened to strong box‑office numbers and critical praise. Subsequent films such as Wanderlust (2012) and They Came Together (2014) reinforced his knack for subverting genre conventions while working repeatedly with collaborators like Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler. In addition to directing, Wain has lent his voice to animated series including Superjail! and Bob’s Burgers, and he created the semi‑autobiographical web series Wainy Days, which ran for five seasons on My Damn Channel. More recently, he revived the Wet Hot American Summer universe on Netflix with First Day of Camp (2015) and Ten Years Later (2017), and he directed the biopic A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018), further proving his versatility across comedy, satire, and historical storytelling. Throughout his career, Wain has remained a staple of collaborative, off‑beat humor, balancing mainstream projects with cult‑favorite experiments that continue to influence a new generation of comedians.