Broken Lizard comedian to close Disability Awareness Month with lecture

Comedian Erik Stolhanske can do on one leg what the rest of Hollywood does on two — including appearing as a workout demonstrator in P90X videos.

Now, as a motivational speaker, he’s channeling P90X creator Tony Horton when Horton says, “I don’t wanna hear no excuses from any ’a you!”

Stolhanske is part of the comedy team Broken Lizard, the group that produced “Super Troopers” and “Beerfest,” and to bring Indiana Disability Awareness Month to a close, Stolhanske is speaking at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Indiana Memorial Union’s Whittenberger Auditorium about his experiences as a disabled comic.

The Indiana Daily Student spoke with Stolhanske about recently completing the script for “Super Troopers 2,” his early experiences with Broken Lizard and the inspirational message he’s trying to send now.

IDS Did you ever have a mindset to brand yourself as a disabled comic?
ERIK STOLHANSKE No. I never came out about my leg until recently. I came out during the P90X video program around 2007. I didn’t want to get pigeonholed in roles that only saw me as being disabled. I never saw myself as disabled, so I didn’t want to come to Hollywood and only get roles for someone who was.

IDS Would you have come out if not for P90X?
STOLHANSKE I think I would’ve come out eventually. This was a good way to inspire people and show that you can do on one leg what most people do on two. I wanted to build up a body of work first to show that it is possible even with an artificial leg.

IDS How did you get started with Broken Lizard?
STOLHANSKE We parodied events on campus, fraternities and professors. I always liked a sketch we had called “Father Tom” where we turned the Catholic priest on campus into a crusading crime fighter. He would stop crimes
of passion.

IDS How did that go over?
STOLHANSKE (Laughs) It was one of our popular sketches. He would be presiding over mass, then fly across campus with a cape flying in the wind and break into a dorm room, and whenever a transgression was about to occur, he’d stop it from happening before coming back and finishing mass.

IDS Did you face any hurdles in Hollywood once you came out as disabled?
STOLHANSKE What was nice was that I worked with a group of guys who knew about my leg. Because I was close friends with Jay (Chandrasekhar), he would always shoot me at a convenient angle or not put me in a compromising scene. He was very easy to work with in collaborating to help me play normal, everyday people. But other people might not have the advantages I had.

IDS How are disabled people depicted in Hollywood?
STOLHANSKE I don’t think you see enough disabled people in film or TV programs. Hollywood often tries to show only the beautiful people, and it would be nice to see a truer reflection of the population of America.

IDS What inspired you to do motivational speaking work?
STOLHANSKE I started getting involved in wounded warrior programs, and I saw a lot of veterans coming back who had lost limbs. It motivated me to start reaching out and talking to people that you can have potential even if you have lost a limb or have a prosthetic. There’s a lot of potential and hope to have a normal life.

IDS What’s the most important thing you try and communicate now?
STOLHANSKE There are possibilities in this world even if you have a perceived limitation. If you set a realistic goal, you can overcome those.