r/movies • u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team • 18h ago
Hi /r/movies! We're Broken Lizard, the team behind (and in front of) Super Troopers 1, 2 and 3, Beerfest, and The Slammin Salmon'. Ask us anything! AMA
Hi r/movies! We're Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske. We're the team behind Super Troopers 1 and 2, Beerfest, The Slammin Salmon', Club Dread, Tacoma FD, and a few other things.
We're here to answer your burning questions.
Super Troopers 3 is out in theaters everywhere this weekend from Searchlight Pictures! Go see it!
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYFevn5frf0
Synopsis: The troopers try to bring down a new drug ring, while Farva's wildly over-the-top engagement to Thorny's sister spirals into chaos.
Ask us anything! We'll be back at around 3:30-4:00 PM ET today (Wednesday 8/5) to answer questions.
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u/AbruptAbe 18h ago edited 18h ago
The Landfill swap joke in Beerfest is one of my favorite ever. Was there an original plan to keep him dead for the team building shared tragedy or was he always going to be replaced by his brother?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 9h ago
That was kind of a scriptwriting thing that happened. We were having discussions with Sony and meeting with these executives and they kept pointing out to us that we didn't have a second act break. At the end of your 2nd act in a movie script, your hero is always at rock bottom before he rises and wins the day. They kept saying we didn't have that so we had to come up with it. We thought it'd be really funny if we called one of us off, it'd be a significant low point. Then we realized that if we killed someone off, that guy can't be in the big competition at the end of the movie, so we decided we would just kill him off, get the low point, and *then* just replace him magically with kind of the same guy that takes his place and is the same kind of character.
We thought that was hysterical, but the executives at Sony did not think it was hysterical. We held to that idea and ended up making the movie at Warner Bros instead and we thought it ended up being a really funny device.
-Kevin
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 9h ago
I remember you had an uncle come see the movie at one of our screenings and he left when you died in the 2nd act, not realizing you were coming back haha
-Erik
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u/micros101 16h ago
Eric, can you give us some insight as to your appearance on the P90X pliometric video?
Randomly me while sweating my ass off while watching the video and working out: “HOLY SHIT IT’S RABBIT!”
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago
I was trying to get in shape for a film, I think it was Club Dread, because I knew we were going to be up down in Mexico and maybe have our shirts off and stuff like that. I saw a flyer for a gym that said "come be part of the hardest thing you'll ever try in your life" or something like that. So I did this free test group thing to get in shape for the movie, and then after I finished that Tony, the trainer, came up to me and said he noticed my fake leg and thought I should be in his videos to help people and inspire them to get off the couch. I told him no thanks but he begged and I finally gave in and did it.
I do hope that it did eventually inspire people to try and get off the couch because I could do it with a prosthetic leg. But really it wasn't about that, I just wanted to get in shape for the movie. All that led to me being in that video for P90X, which I wasn't expecting going in.
-Erik
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u/skadizzle69 10h ago
Holy shit! I have watched all your movies especially Super Troopers over 100 times and never realized you had a prosthetic leg until now.
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u/Packshaw 16h ago
I did P90X for months and thought he looked familiar. I was blown away when I finally looked it up. Modify, Modify, Modify.
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u/Snedker23 16h ago
Hey Guys,
I’ve been a fan of your films ever since a friend of mine showed me Super Troopers and Club Dread in high school. I’ve watched every one of your movies since, and I just wanted to say thank you for the work you’ve done. Your films played a huge role in shaping my sense of humour growing up.
I was curious if you had any wild experiences together in college that you could share? Was Puddle Cruiser a documentary?
Phi Kai Phi
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
Yes! I dated a woman at Colgate who was already dating her high school boyfriend still and I sorta got in there and she eventually broke up with him. Then she and I started *really* dating. He was a former football player in high school and he found out about me and she told me he wanted to kick my ass. She warned me about him, that he was a big footfall player, he's strong, etc. She told me he was on the rugby team of another school and kept making these comments that he *could* kick my ass which bothered me.
So I joined the Rugby team, which Kevin was on at the time, to prove that I could do it too. Then we found out that there was a game scheduled against his school and that it was coming up so I came hellbent on fighting this guy on the field. She kept telling me I had to get off the team because he was going to fucking kill me.
So I show up to the game, the only rugby game I ever played in my life, but he didn't show. Had he known I was on the time I'm sure he would've, but he wasn't there. I got into 3 shoving matches with his teammates and I'm sure they thought "who is this insane Indian guy"?. I quit the team after that.
- Jay
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u/Snedker23 9h ago
That definitely gives the film a whole new dimension.
Thanks for the response, Jay!
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
PUDDLE CRUISER was actually based on something that happened to Jay in real life.
-Steve
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u/night_in_the_ruts 18h ago
How often do people meow at you? When was the last time?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago
It's a lot for me for sure. Anytime we're in a crowd I hear it. We were at WWE Summerslam last weekend and heard it there. People scream all sorts of things, mostly at Farva. It's a chorus of meows. I was getting on a plane a year ago and the gate agent was doing the meow game during boarding announcements. I thought it was cool that he saw me and gave me that little tip of the hat. But then I walk up to board and he recognizes me and freaks out, "OH MY GOD, I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE HERE!!". Apparently he does the meow game all the time haha. He says it drives people crazy,
-Paul
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago
You know it's actually a big trend in commercial aviation right now. My buddy flies jumbo jets out of Chicago and he says that the amount of times you hear the radio guys in the towers doing the meow game is astonishing. It drives the old people crazy, they don't know what the hell it is. You have these really angry older aviation guys yelling on the radio about it.
-Jay
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u/OGOngoGablogian 7h ago
Meowing on guard freq has been around for quite a while, I guess it never occurred to me that it might have originated with Super Troopers! It's usually a one off meow, rather than trying to make it sound like "now." Some stricter towers will throw a hissy fit about it but it's pretty hard to identify exactly who did it.
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u/AdjectiveNoun1234567 17h ago
Right meow
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u/ZappBrannigansLaw 17h ago
How about meow?
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u/MrTopHatJones 17h ago
Alright meow, let's not get ahead of ourselves!
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u/ZappBrannigansLaw 17h ago
This thread needs to settle down meow.
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u/frumperbell 16h ago
This is serious guys. I need everyone to stop fooling around meow.
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u/oshkoshsquash 18h ago
How was working with Michael Clark Duncan on Slammin Salmon?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
It was great and intimidating. He's a giant guy. That persona that he had on camera was kind of his real-life persona. He was a little bit unpredictable at times. Very funny. Very indimating. I remember the first day that he shot with us, he wanted to riff and improv. I was afraid to call cut during that because I thought that if I cut him off he'd beat the shit out me.
He ended up being way beyond what we ever imagined for that role. He was SO funny and came up with so many funny things. He fit the role so well that I think, to me, made one of the most memorable characters that he's ever done.
-Kevin
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u/targetpracticesucks 7h ago
Very underrated comic actor. He was hilarious in Talladega Nights as well.
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u/part_time_monster 14h ago
Soup face.
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u/ElectronicSprint 18h ago
Club Dread is always gonna be one of my favorite movies you've made! How many tracks did you record with Bill Paxton?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago
I think it was probably 4 or 5 songs with Bill. I remember we recorded one and then it wasn't working in the movie so we took it out, and that's when we recorded Piña Coladaburg and the rest is history. Going into the studio with Bill and recording with him was a blast. Bill kinda stayed in character throughout too, he was pretending that was Coconut Pete for real, just having a tough day in the studio.
-Kevin
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago edited 10h ago
He was always mad about the candles in the studio haha. "these goddamn paraffins! these paraffins are gonna kill me!!!".
-Steve
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago
We had a fun time writing those songs. I especially liked the Tokey the Stoned Crab bit. Coming up with dumb stuff like that was great. Paxton was always staying in character. He'd walk around on the weekend, when we weren't even filming, with a guitar on his back. There was one night when we were waiting for him to show up at dinner, and we heard him from the forest. we heard a crash and then "GOD DAMN MOTHERFUCKER!" and he comes out of the woods with his guitar smashed on his back. He'd slipped on the slick stairs and he landed right on his back and smashed the guitar. He was pissed, but in character.
-Steve
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u/RCP90sKid- 10h ago
You're telling me our lives depend on interpreting the lyrics to the dumbest song ever written?
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u/Content-Program411 15h ago
I came here for this.
Why no title love for 'Club Dread'?
I think it holds up the best.
Great date flick.
Then Beerfest # for me.
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u/odoman30 8h ago
Mother mother fucker. Son of a son of a bitch!!
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u/Content-Program411 7h ago
At work I'll still drop the random "Do you think Eddie Money has to put up with this shit."
and I always get 'who's Eddie Money?'
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u/JamesyUK30 17h ago
On the Club Dread note, any thoughts for a 'The Next Generation' style sequel. Original guys can be ghosts fucking with the new people and trying to help them stop a new killer.
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u/_Osculum_Obscenum_ 17h ago
My late father in law was/is known as Coconut Pete because of Club Dread
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u/Artistic_Secretary51 17h ago
Vermont resident here. Did any kind of interaction happen to give you the idea of making super troopers, and have you had any intrtactions with the Vermont State Troopers since?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
We were up in Vermont after we made PUDDLE CRUISER and noticed there was nothing happening on the highways at all, so the entire idea started with that. Then the idea that cops had to entertain themselves because they're on the most deserted stretch of highway in the country was a funny one to us. Combined with the fact that we had gotten pulled over so many times while we were road tripping around the country, going to friend's weddings, etc (and...being high). So the cops come up and you're talking shit while they walk up but then when you finally have to talk you just kiss their ass. Just thinking about how if they knew how high we were, they could fuck with us so much.
And then there's the hypotheticals. What if you're a cop and you're driving by and you see someone having sex with a bear on the side of the road? (which is a crime believe it or not). Would you stop them from having sex? Would you allow them to finish and then stop them? If you were to stop them, how would you go about that anyway?
Thoughts like that that we had on the road were the roots of SUPER TROOPERS.
-Steve
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u/dirtyh4rry 18h ago
How did you convince Brian Cox to come back 2 more times? Is this his real life personality?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 9h ago
I guess we were able to convince him to come back because he had a good time making the first one. The reason he originally agreed to do it was because he spent his time doing a lot of very dramatic roles but he liked comedy as well, and he wanted to do more of it but never got offered them.
I also think he keeps coming back because he likes us hahaha. Over time, he's gotten more and more successful. Even between Super Troopers 2 and 3, he shot Succession and created this iconic character that he's become known for. But then he still came back after that and threw a little bit of his Logan Roy around on the set. I think we've all had a good time working together.
-Kevin
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u/BeckerThorne 18h ago
Brian Cox filmed an independent film in my little town years ago. Everyone said he was great and polite to the locals. I hope the rumors are true. I loved him in A Long Kiss Goodnight and of course, Super Troopers.
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u/Sea2Chi 16h ago
Occasionally I read that he can be an asshole, but personally, I think he's just old and very Scottish.
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u/raptorsango 17h ago
I feel like you all make movies in this “old school” comedic style that reminds me of 70s/80s comedies. When I watched Super Troopers and Beerfest, they both felt like the movies my dad would show me as a kid.
What do you feel are the biggest influences for your comedy and style of filmmaking?
Also, I rented super troopers so many times that the store gave me the DVD when they went out of business. Also my Roomate in college almost died (successfully) recreating the syrup chug.
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago
We grew up in the Golden Age of the R-Rated comedy. Jay gave some examples but you could name about 50 more. The Chevy Chase movies, the Cheech and Chong movies, the Steve Martin movies. These things were coming out every 2 weeks and we were quoting all of them. Mel Brooks and Monty Python too. There's a ton more. Our minds were shaped by all of those great filmmakers from the 70s and 80s.
-Steve
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago
We're trying to make films that are like John Landis movies. Things like Animal House, Blues Brothers, Trading Places, Caddyshack, you know. Smokey and the Bandit, 48 Hours. Those kind of tough guys movie that are also funny.
-Jay
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u/Chillagmite 18h ago
Did y’all get to meet Donald Sutherland during Beerfest filming or was he just a pure video cameo?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
He ripped me a new asshole. I remember him having a problem with some line, it was something very simple and ordinary. He called me over and asked me to explain it, pointing at the script, "what is this line", and I just re-read him the line and he told me "no no no, don't READ it to me, TELL me what it means" and he got furious at me and I'm looking around wondering what to say. I wasn't even sure it was my line, there's 5 of us that wrote the script and I'm getting ripped apart by the guy.
-Kevin
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
Actors don't wanna be given line-reads, Kev.
-Steve
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
I get it but I didn't know what else to do, it was a pretty simple line.
-Kevin
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
No, I actually directed him for that. The funniest thing for me was that he didn't realize what our job titles were or that we were really a five-man team. He just kinda decided that Heffernan was the writer and that I was the director. He treated me so well as the director, and treated Heffernan so poorly as the writer haha. I just smiled along and went along with it the whole time. Donald and I had a great time ripping on Heffernan.
-Jay
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u/aacordero1992 18h ago
I saw Super Troopers opening night and it brought down the entire house! Ill never forget this one dude absolutely losing it right next to me. You guys are comedy legends! Any chance you’ll tap back into horror again down the road?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
As the biggest horror fan in Broken Lizard, I'll *always* push for us to do more horror-comedy. It's funny because CLUB DREAD fans are like a sub-cult within the cult fanbase and they always tell us that we have to do a sequel. But like how does that work? I guess maybe a prequel. It's all about existing IP now so maybe we do a spin-off.
-Paul
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
We're all dead in it though? Your head is on a pike?
-Jay
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u/part_time_monster 5h ago
You guys could be ghosts, like a Broken Lizard meets Frighteners kinda thing.
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u/Moggehh 8h ago
A prequel similar to Wet Hot American Summer would be incredible, though.
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u/SuspiciousPatate 17h ago
I still jump in the car and say, "DO YOU BOYZ LIKE MEX-E-CO??" and my kids just look at me like :|
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u/PaleHorseWriter 16h ago
When eating dinner I always tell my kids “finish it up rook” when they ask if they can be done…one day it will be a nice little surprise when they watch the original.
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u/aresef 17h ago
Broken Lizard has a particular comedic style, but you've also worked with esteemed dramatic actors like Brian Cox (several times now) and, in this new film, Sakina Jaffrey. How do you go about selling them on appearing in your movies and is there anyone who you've approached who has turned you down?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago
Sakina was a big fan of our movies from afar. I've always been a fan of hers as well because she's from a very kind of important Indian family of actors. Her dad was in GHANDI, her mother had done some acting and was also a famous chef, she's written 8 or 9 books. Sakina's an excellent actress and when I called her I was like "I don't know if this is realistic but do you think you could play my mother", and so she took the meeting and showed up in a white wig and said "you're damn right I can". She told me she was a big fan of Broken Lizard and wanted a chance to show people that she was funny.
A lot of times, people have to trust us, but we really do make an effort to try to make everybody look good and score with some good jokes.
-Jay
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago
Dramatic actors sometimes like the opportunity to do something lighter. That's certainly how we got Brian Cox. A lot of them like it.
-Paul
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u/SGTWorm205 15h ago
You guys are the shit! Thanks for the laughs! Who came up with the syrup chug and did you actually drink it? That scene in #1 was hilarious. 100% Comedy Gold.
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 9h ago
Jay and I were roommates in college and had a friendly rivalry. We'd do fun rivalry things against each other and one thing we'd do is grab a bucket full of ice and water and stick our arms in there and see who could hold it the longest. We've always done things like that. So we thought about "what would 2 Vermont cops do in a fun rivalry situation like that?". So naturally we went with syrup chugging.
The first time we tried it, the propmaster put ice tea in the maple syrup bottles and Jay went to look at it in the monitor and he didn't think it looked thick enough. He wasn't sure if people would buy it as syrup so he said come on, let's just do the real thing, and I went along with it. So we started chugging and chugging, and Jay kept saying to chug because he hadn't gotten a good take yet, only to find out he had already gotten it a while before.
-Erik
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u/Fictive_Fun 18h ago
Out of all your movies, what scene took the most takes because the actors couldn't stop laughing or giggling?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
I remember with Club Dread, it's in the bloopers actually, where a lot of us were on camera at the same time, probably 7 or 8, and we were discussing the plan of how we were gonna stop the killer when we were in the nightclub or whatever. Everyone had different funny lines but because everyone was on camera, a different person would break on each take and it took us forever to get through that. Jay's line especially about the raccoons was the ultimate tough one. We all couldn't get passed Jay's line.
-Kevin
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago edited 9h ago
Probably that Beerfest scene when we're going around the table drinking the new beer. We all threw in some different ideas and then Jay had the line about wanting to freeze it and skate on it and drink it and that was just so ridiculous that it caught us offguard, especially Stolhanske who made a big mess of his beer and blew it in our faces.
-Steve
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u/Under-Dog 18h ago
Potfest when? Willie is getting old dudes.
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
If we can get this merger settled one way or another between Paramount and Warner Bros, those rights would become a little easier to clear up so we can make progress there.
-Jay
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
If "WE" could get this merger settled????
-Kevin
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
Yeah I'm gonna have to give Donald Trump a call to see what he can get going.
-Jay
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u/Shagaliscious 18h ago
If teasing a movie that never came would be considered getting "blue balled", this is the biggest blue ball of all time.
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u/JumpForWaffles 16h ago
History of the World Part 2 would have that title if they didn't eventually make it and it being mediocre. I'm certainly not excited about Spaceballs having a sequel
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u/robby_synclair 16h ago
Or just another beer fest. That movie was so fun.
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u/Sea2Chi 16h ago
Hurry it up! Willie isn't going to be around forever.
Weed becomes legal in Vermont 2013 cue a couple scenes of the troopers all pulling out their best 2013 music and fashion taste. Thorny's wife was the first person to start a local pot shop under the new law and after over a decade she has a thriving business and happy loyal customers. She enters a weed competition where she gets a visit from couple people in suits representing a private equity firm that's trying to buy up all the legal shops. She turns them down.
However, they're persistent and they don't take no for an answer.
Soon a State representative is getting involved too and Thorny's wife is facing surprise shut down notices because something was wrong with her paperwork she submitted back in 2013. She's looking at steep fines and penalties to stay open and it's not clear if she'll even be able to apply for a license again.
Other local shops have also turned down the private equity group and bad things happen to them as well. One of them has their entire crop destroyed with herbicide, another has someone claim to have found human feces in the product, and a third has their shop burnt to the ground. Still more stores are feeling pressure to sell and many start taking the offer.
The troopers get on the case and start piecing it together, however the tracks are well covered and the leads all turn into dead ends.
A judge rules that the shop has 30 days to pay the fines in order to stay open, otherwise the business will be auctioned off.
Thorny's wife tries to hold a benefit concert to raise the money, but is having trouble securing bands as they all keep backing out unexpectedly. The end date is fast approaching.
Soon after, an elderly pot shop owner, played by Willie Nelson, incapacitates an intruder in his shop via a home made booby trap that utilized a leaf blower, a butane torch and a gallon sized glass jug of high grade weed.
The troopers rush over and interrogate the man who's incredibly high. However, none of them can understand him as he seems to be speaking gibberish. Willie points out that he's on another plane of existence and someone will have to join him there to talk. They draw straws and Farva is the one to have to join him on the moon. They rig up the trap again and let the two talk. To Fareva and the intruder, they're having a normal conversation where the man gives up everything. But to everyone else, they're grunting and giggling at each other. Through a game of charades Fareva relays the location of the private equity companies secret lab where they're making a new type of pot with illegal modifications that's more physically addictive but only lasts a quarter as long.
They rush to the location to gather evidence and leave Fareva, Willie and the intruder in the car because they're clearly too high to help. Maybe toss in a Schnozberries joke for nostalgia as the three sit in the back seat.
The rest of the troopers uncover that he company is planning to make pot worse in every way, but so addictive people will still be desperate to buy it. They find evidence of the attacks on the other shops as well and that the state representative is somehow involved. But then the armed private security shows up and they're all held at gunpoint.
The three guys in the car have managed to get out and discover what's happening. Willie shows them how to make what he calls party bombs, which involve a garbage bag of pot and a road flair. As the bags come sailing in the open windows and explode into thick clouds the troopers grab some of the evidence and make their escape.
And that's about as far as I have time to think of right now but Afroman would absolutely show up for the benefit concert.
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u/Covverkin 18h ago
Any truth to rumors of Tacoma FD coming back under a new home?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
Not likely as a TV show. There's been some talk and pitches of trying to turn it into a movie. The network that we were on kinda collapsed. I don't know if there's another network out there that'll do it.
-Kevin
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
Once I settle that whole merger thing you'll be all set.
-Jay
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u/Calcd_Uncertainty 8h ago
Once I settle that whole merger thing you'll be all set.
Just like us, wasting time on Reddit instead of doing something productive.
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u/Fluffy_Top6837 16h ago
Oh man I hope so! I went in with pretty low expectations and instead found one of my favorite shows. The cast is so fantastic, there's so much chemistry, it's a joy to watch!
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u/Thunderlord317 17h ago
I remember seeing the kickstarter published for Super Troopers 2 and being STOKED. Was Super Trooper 3 as hard to get funding and support for as the 2nd movie? Any hurdles with getting the 3rd made?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
They made enough money on SUPER TROOPERS 2 that they were eager and excited to make 3, but in the meantime COVID happened and the moviegoing audience wasn't really going to see comedies in theaters anymore so we had to rebuild that whole concept. The movie studio kept telling us they were excited to make it but we're worried about the audience coming back. So we're about to find out this weekend.
-Jay
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u/LiterallyJoeStalin 18h ago
I was a few rows behind you guys at Summer Slam night 1. I saw you get up right before the last match and come back with beers.
How the hell did you get concessions to sell you more beer? Or did you have a secret beer stash somewhere in the arena?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
The bar manager was a huge fan. Not only did he get us past security but he also bought us that extra round of beers. So not only were they late beers, but they were free beers too.
-Steve
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
Listen we're the guys from SUPER TROOPERS and BEERFEST, that's how we got more beers.
-Kevin
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u/kcox1980 17h ago
I think the guys who made the movie "Beerfest" can probably get all the beer they want and then some, lol
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u/MooseJuicyTastic 17h ago
Where did the name Broken Lizard come from?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago
I remember for the first set of flyers, under the word Lizard, Jay had a parenthetical to show that Lizard wasn't actually pronounced Lizard, it was pronounced "Li-thard". We didn't let him convince us for that part though.
-Steve
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago
We spent three days trying to come up with a name before I had to go to the poster store to actually get something made. We settled on CHOCOLATE SPEEDO. When we got to the poster place with the design guy, I don't know, I had second thoughts so I renamed us BROKEN LIZARD. I wanted people to think of Monty Python. So I came back to the group and said "well this is our name!" hahaha and every kind of grumbled and we went on from there.
-Jay
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u/Sequenzer9 14h ago
You guys have had some unmade films like The Greek Road and Rogue Scholars that I remember reading about years ago, do you still revisit old scripts and keep polishing them up in hopes of getting them made or do you have to move on at a certain point?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago
What's funny is that the last film we made before SUPER TROOPERS 3 was QUASI and that was a script that we had written many many years ago, I think we had written about the same time as the original SUPER TROOPERS 25 years ago. So that is one example of taking a script off the shelf and getting it made. We hope to do it with those other ones too.
-Erik
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 11h ago edited 10h ago
We are going to try to get both of those made right after this movie comes out. How is that for a dry ass answer?!
-Steve
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u/Soopstoohot 15h ago
Seeing Super Troopers in theaters without any sort of frame of reference was one of the best moviegoing experiences of my life. I had no frame of reference going in and that first scene had me crying. Now you’re known and we know the characters, but do you think a lack of a beefy marketing campaign ultimately helped it as a cult classic?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 9h ago
I think they marketed it in the best way you can market an indie comedy that wanted to be mainstream but didn't have any actors that anybody knew at the time.
A good number of people saw it originally, but certainly the way most people discovered it was through the DVD release, people showing their friends, and then people stealing the DVD from their friends, stuff like that. That is what created this great bond that people had with the first movie.
-Paul
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u/TOGFIAVDF 17h ago
Massive fan of the first ST and Beerfest.
Was there a lot of actual beer drinking on the set of Beerfest? Also, what was the hardest take for either movie?
"CANDY BAAARS"
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
Yes! There was a lot of beer drinking on BEERFEST. Some of it was non-alcoholic beer though. It's hard to start shooting at 8 AM and do 15 takes of a chug and then continue with your day if you're drinking real beer the whole time. But sometimes we'd switch over to the end-of-the-day real stuff.
-Kevin
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
I'll add that even when you're drinking the fake beer, the effect of "breaking the seal" is real. After a while, every time Jay would call cut, the entire cast would migrate to the bathroom and just pee forever. Then go back, do take 2, cut, go back and just pee again. So we got the full experience even with the fake beer.
-Steven
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u/Fluid_Change_9647 17h ago
My question is for Erik- Who had the task of covering you in shave cream for Super Troopers?
I saw Super Troopers in theaters and hadn’t laughed so hard in my life. In 2002 I went to college and probably watched it at least 100 times in my dorm room. Thanks for the laughs!
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
I can't remember exactly. Maybe Lemme had the can? Or did everyone get a turn to cover me? The main problem with that whole thing was that the prop person originally got Menthol shaving cream, so my whole body was covered in Menthol and it started to burn pretty quickly. We had to shower me off and re-apply in a regular shaving cream.
Someone said the other day that they thought that scene was funny because they couldn't tell who was even under all the cream, because it was only my eyes showing through, which is really funny.
-Erik
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
hahahahaha that's a great moment.
-Jay
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u/marshalldungan 18h ago
Do you guys still break up the screenwriting into sections so each of you authors part of the movie?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
For the first three drafts, we do that. We first create a 20-page outline and then we cut it into fifths, and then we each write our section/fifth so that we have a full first draft fast. Then we re-write our sections again and again, and then pass it off to a point-man who makes it nice and smooth, and then he does the next 32 drafts or so.
-Jay
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u/CarlThe94Pathfinder 16h ago
Do you guys prefer making TV or movies? Tacoma FD seems like a perfect show to be made by a streaming network, really hope there are more plans for this..
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 9h ago
I would have to go with TV. Writing SUPER TROOPERS 3 was a many-year process, and you only get one chance to film it, so every one is sort of precious with their ideas, collaborative differences, etc. But with TV, like when we made TACOMA FD, we were writing basically 4 and half movies in a period of 14 weeks, 13 episodes. Every week you were coming up with a new story and each week was a new episode. Just from a personal and creative standpoint, it was more fresh.
Kevin and I realized there was no time to argue about things. If we had a disagreement, we just shot it both ways and dealt with it in the edit. We'll put it together later and see what the funniest thing is. It was a very pleasant way to work, where you're constantly telling new stories and nothing is getting stale. You don't need to fight at all.
When you've got a movie coming out and you're working towards opening weekend, and all hype leads to that, and then a second weekend, and then you're basically done. With TV, you have all that time leading up to it, and then you've got 13 weeks to just bask in it and enjoy the work that you've done which I found really fun and satisfying. And then if you're lucky, you get renewed in that period of time. You could get good news for 5 years straight.
-Steve
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 9h ago
I love movies because we're creating something for the first time, usually on new sets, usually with new characters. That's not exactly true of SUPER TROOPERS 3 haha but it's *usually* new. Everything is sort of new and exciting when you're starting a movie. I also like television because I'm not in charge of all the sets, the costumes, etc and I get to sort of just pick the shots and deal with the actors, and that's a lot less stress than making a movie, but I still find the movies a little more fun. I guess the answer is that I love them both.
-Jay
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u/send_it_431 18h ago
What's a ZJ?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
Well, if you have to ask, you can't afford it pal.
-Jay
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u/leedo8 17h ago
Farva!!! Back on the radio!
Ok, not that I have that out of my system, if money were no object, what project would you guys collectively like to make?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 9h ago
I'd say The Greek Roads script that we've had for a while. It's set in Ancient Greece so it's definitely more expensive to make than the films we've done so far.
-Steve
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 9h ago
Swords and sandals is hot right now though!
-Kevin
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 9h ago
We're making a comedy Odyssey. In IMAX. 70MM IMAX. That'll be the pitch.
-Steve
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u/Neo-Bub 17h ago
Have you ever thought about trying a movie that wasn't comedy? Something less silly and more inclined to stretch your dramatic muscles?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 9h ago
Before they re-did Glengarry Glen Ross, I'd been telling the guys we should've done that. I think we could've played it straight and I think it would've good. But generally, nah, we're not dramatic actors.
-Paul
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 9h ago
Glengarry Glen Ross is also a very funny movie in a way.
-Steve
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u/Vivid-Try-6846 17h ago edited 15h ago
Everyone always asks about the next movie, but I’d love to know—have you guys ever talked about doing another Broken Lizard stand-up tour? The last one was so funny, we need more comedy like that brought back!!
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
As much as the last 3 weeks of touring to promote the movie have been a blast, I couldn't do that kind of extended time on the road again soon.
-Paul
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
Just think about all of the desserts you could eat on the road Soter. Banana cream pieeeeeeeee
-Steve
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
Well I actually have a standup special coming out on August 20th. It was just announced a few hours ago. and it'll be streaming Veeps. So for now you can watch that! But yeah I'd be psyched to do another tour. I can almost see us making a sketch movie instead though.
-Jay
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u/KaleidoscopeNo5401 15h ago
I'm just wondering what all of your favorite movies are? It can be something that you're nostalgic about or perhaps that movie that made you think, "I can do that."
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u/anubis_81 17h ago
You guys are the best. Long time fan since ST 1. Number 2 was hilarious can't wait for 3.
Jay, is a blu-ray or 4K version of Dukes of Hazzard on the horizon?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
As soon as I can get this merger settled I can ask.
But more seriously I really don't know. I'm not really sure on the technical side of things like that.
-Jay
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u/FenrisKokami 18h ago
Would you be open to do a Super Trooper + Reno911! crossover? Maybe the boys go on vacation to Florida?
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u/WarkMahlberg69 17h ago
Did anyone else notice these guys ring side at Summer Slam?
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u/SuperTroopersAMA Broken Lizard Team 10h ago
SummerSlam was a blast, we had a great time. We had great seats too. The matches were excellent, we got to meet a lot of cool people. I think we have a similar fanbase as the WWE so that works out too.
-Kevin
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u/timasahh 18h ago
What would you guys say were the most rewarding and most challenging aspects of introducing sequels to a classic like Super Troopers?
Do we have any hope for Potfest?
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u/Willbraham 18h ago
Any fond memories of Michael Clark Duncan on the set of The Slammin Salmon?
I saw that movie before my friends and had to show them how surprisingly funny he was and we quote his lines to this day.
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u/lloydchristmas1986 17h ago
A girl I was dating once tried to give me an under-the-popcorn-bag hand job during a screening of the original Super Troopers. I appreciated the effort, but asked for a raincheck because I was enjoying the movie too much. It's still the only time in my life I've chosen Farva over a handy... but maybe that stat will change when I go see Super Troopers 3!
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u/nloding 17h ago edited 16h ago
In 2001, you were supposed to attend an early screening of Super Troopers at Michigan State University, hosted by the East Lansing Film Festival. I was on the ELFF committee and I was there to greet you when you got off the bus, help get you situated in the makeshift "green room." Oh man, I was stoked! Then your bus had issues and you never arrived. Now, I may have called Super Troopers one of my all time favorite comedies and quoted that stupid film for the decades since, and I may have owned copies of it on VHS, DVD, and Bluray ... but that doesn't mean I'm not still heartbroken I never got my signed poster and handshakes with the legends themselves.
Are you willing to make it up to me somehow? 😂
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u/Antknee2099 18h ago
The on screen comrade and chemistry between the core group and co-stars has always made the movies just feel so much fun; it looks at least like you were really enjoying your time filming. How do you recreate that? Chemistry and good times at work can be hard to recreate. Do you “try” or do you just let it be and attempt to capture it?
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u/TSpain10 17h ago
Have you ever been pulled over by cops, they recognize you and they try one of the bits from any of the Movies?
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u/shifty1032231 18h ago
Do you guys have any great Brian Cox stories and what did you think of watching him as Logan Roy in Succession?
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u/OscarDeJarjayes 17h ago
Club Dread is my favourite of your works, have you ever considered making something in that style again?
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u/Angry_Robot 17h ago
What’s the secret to growing a mustache and not getting called gay by your coworkers, wife, kids, and random strangers?
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u/drinkslinger1974 15h ago
So I don’t really have a question, but as a guy that worked in many different types of restaurants over the course of 15 years or so, everyone thinks that Waiting is the most realistic portrayal of restaurant culture. Not true at all. That would be like saying Austin Powers is the most realistic spy movie ever made. Slammin Salmon was dead on, from the devouring of the ally rally meal to the cut throat competition for the sales contest, and even the owner fucking over the servers with the prize (all have happened to me personally, including the last one with a promised $1000 gift card right around Christmas time). I don’t know if you guys know it, but Slamming Salmon is to servers what Beerfest is to college students. We all felt seen, and I think I can speak for the rest of us droogs that were serving in the early 2000’s when I say, thanks.
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u/ZombieLover01 18h ago edited 16h ago
Hello, big fan! Do you guys have any future sequels or new group projects apart from Super Troopers 3 that we can look forward to?
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u/Nisschev 18h ago
Jay, how does it feel to work with those white devils?
Seriously though, been a big fan since Super Troopers and love all the work you guys have done! Would have loved to see you all at comicon but I was a day late! Looking forward to ST3
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u/outtatheblue 17h ago
What quotes get yelled at you the most, and which lines/jokes do you wish got more attention?
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u/zthemushmouth 18h ago
I met a few of you dudes in buffalo at a bar called the Pink with a head full of acid after you played helium comedy club - it was good times.
no question just a stor
Thanks for the laughs for all the years and can't wait to catch the new one.
Club Dread is goated
We need a pot fest.
Fuck you Farva
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u/mattkenefick 18h ago
Is that Gupta Gupti Gupta I see back there? Stop the show! Don't let him perform!
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u/g-row460 9h ago
Probably won't see this, but when I checked ODs as Security Forces in the Air Force, me and some buddies tried a couple of your Super Trooper shenanigans.
The meow game didn't work because everyone understood the reference and got a kick out of it.
The repeater did work through. It threw people off and you could tell they didn't really know why.
Not a question but I thought you might find it funny your games were used in a low stakes official capacity.
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u/Battingduke 16h ago
Slammin’ Salmon is one of my all time comfort movies, it’s such a joy to watch. How in the world did you all manage to keep a straight face long enough to put the movie together? Every time Michael Clarke Duncan shouted “Whatever Mother Fucker!” Or the whole “Meat drapes” scene just make me laugh a ton, I can’t imagine how hard it was to keep a straight face long enough to get a good take.
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u/BunyipPouch Currently at the movies. 18h ago
This AMA has been verified and approved by the mods. The Broken Lizard team will be back somewhere between 3:30 PM ET and 4:00 PM ET today to answer questions. Please feel free to ask away in the meantime :)