‘Super Troopers’ star gives inspiring speech to students in our area

Where you can catch his comedy show this weekend

Rachel Ausman by Rachel Ausman

You might recognize Erik Stolhanske from his role as Rabbit in the cult comedy classic Super Troopers (2001).

As a professional comedian the 51-year-old Minneapolis native is used to entertaining audiences, but on Friday in La Crosse Stolhanske was taking on a more serious role.

The “Live! From La Crosse” sketch comedy group brought the comedian to our area to headline Saturday’s show at the Weber Center for the Performing Arts.

But before bringing on the roaring laughter, Stolhanske made his rounds at UW-La Crosse and Viterbo University to talk about growing up without a leg, and actively hiding his prosthetic for fear it would harm his comedy and acting career.

“I always say that everyone has a wooden leg. Mine just happens to be a prosthetic leg, a physical wooden leg. But a lot of people have other wooden legs, it might be mental, emotional, physical,” said Stolhanske. “I try to tell my story to try to give people hope that we can overcome our wooden legs and still find success, whatever that may mean to you.”

Erik Stolhanske will be performing at Live! From La Crosse on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Weber Center for the Performing Arts in La Crosse. Unfortunately if you haven’t bought your ticket already, the show is SOLD OUT .

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