If you’ve been poring over photos and videos of the Easter eggs in the Muppets’ new Disney World attraction, The Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, you’ve already been privy to all sorts of nods to classic Muppet productions, obscure characters, and even nods to the ride’s predecessor, MuppetVision 3D.
Among the many, many Easter eggs is one featuring this non-Muppety guy.
That’s actor and comedian Ken Marino! You may recognize him from Wet Hot American Summer or Party Down or Veronica Mars or Children’s Hospital.
He has good reason for getting his own framed photo in the queue for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. He portrayed the sound technician in the pre-show for the attraction in the pre-Muppet days when it was hosted by some band called Aerosmith. Rather than put up a picture of Steven Tyler, the designers wisely chose to spotlight the non-problematic funnyman.
Marino was also invited back for one of the many videos seen throughout the queue, clearly having much more fun with Kermit than he ever did with Joe Perry.
As a ’90s kid, I was raised by MTV, which meant that I watched the sketch comedy show The State religiously. The show featured 11 cast members, most of whom went on to bigger things including the aforementioned Wet Hot American Summer, Reno 911, and dozens of our favorite movies and TV shows. Marino was an OG member of The State.
Considering how so many of State members have become memorable comedic writers and actors, it was crazy to me that none of them had ever worked with the Muppets. That is, until The Muppets Mayhem when Joe Lo Truglio (who you may recognize as Detective Boyle on Brooklyn Nine-Nine) broke the streak.
Ken Marino’s appearance on this ride cements him as the second member of The State to cross paths with the Muppets, but what if I told you that this wasn’t his first brush with felt??
Back in 2014, we had the honor of working the red carpet premiere of Muppets Most Wanted. I truly have no idea how celebrities are invited or chosen to walk the red carpet, but in addition to the cast, we saw folks like Danny Trejo and Lost‘s Nestor Carbonell. Among those celebs: Ken Marino himself.
You can see us meeting Marino right here:
Okay, but that’s not really the close encounter with Muppets that I wanted to bring up. What I really wanted you to see was a sketch from The State featuring Ken Marino, Michael Showalter, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Todd Holoubek, and David Wain. In this sketch… well, you’ll just have to watch it.
Wow, can you believe they let that guy in an actual Muppet attraction?? Horrifying! And yet… maybe he’s onto something??
Anyway, good on Ken Marino for finding his way from eating Muppets to starring alongside them. And here’s hoping he (and the other members of The State) get more on camera with the Muppets someday. Without ingesting them, of course.
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by Joe Hennes – [email protected]
