Michaels Ian Black and Showalter on their new show

Michaels Ian Black, left, and Showalter

Photograph: Martin Crook

It’s dark out; Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black are shirtless and taking wild, impotent swings at one another on a suburban front lawn. To be clear: This bout of fruitless fisticuffs takes place on film, it stars their lightly fictionalized alter egos, and it’s the crux of the pilot from their new Comedy Central series, Michael & Michael Have Issues. But the underlying issues are real. Well, semireal.

“It’s a mild distortion,” Black says, comparing the working relationship between the show’s titular characters and his own with Showalter. How mild? “It depends on the day,” he replies dryly.

If the pilot is any indication, some days on the set can get ugly. “Whenever there’s more than one person, decision making requires compromise—and fighting,” says Showalter. “That said, making a decision with two is easier than three; three is easier than 11.” The 11 refers to the large cadre of collaborators in Showalter and Black’s first sketch group, the State, whose influential show ran on MTV for four seasons in the mid-’90s. The three refers to Stella, the still-performing troupe that includes David Wain and recently had a short-lived show on Comedy Central.

But where the antic absurdism of the self-titled Stella may have done a stylized jig over the heads of casual admirers, Michael & Michael probably won’t. It pairs the tightly written, happily sophomoric sketches that helped buoy The State with a looser, behind-the-scenes look at producing the show that will be familiar to anyone who’s seen five minutes of The Office—or, say, the purposed awkwardness of the Michael Showalter Showalter celebrity interview series on College Humor.

Michael & Michael also benefits from the easy chemistry that the pair developed in their days as NYU undergrads and the many productions since. Individually, they’ve written and produced movies (Wet Hot American Summer among them), recorded CDs of stand-up material and played utility roles on TV and in films, but still manage to create together “both as a function of our friendship and a function of geography,” says Black.

That geographic proximity, a lifelong commitment to the East Coast, is one regularly celebrated by local comedy fans. It means fans can not only scoot by the sets but also attend events like the premiere party for Michael & Michael, which takes place at Brooklyn’s Bell House. The night will feature stand-up from Showalter and Black, as well as sets from a number of regular supporting cast members like Kumail Nanjiani and Jessi Klein; at 10:30pm the pilot will screen as it airs on Comedy Central for the first time.

Given the local talent on display, the evening should be a crowd-pleaser. And if not, just take care when passing the flailing, topless Michaels on the way to the train.

Michael & Michael Have Issues premieres on Comedy Central Wed 15 at 10:30pm. Showalter and Black’s premiere party begins 8pm that night at the Bell House.

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