Over two decades ago, comedian Bert Kreischer inspired the Van Wilder movie franchise. He partially describes his connection to Van Wilder in the 2020 Hey Big Boy, in which the Florida native takes the stage shirtless, laughs at his own jokes, and even chugs a beer. Kreischer is a famous American party animal, one who inadvertently gained the attention of filmmakers while attending Florida State University during the late 1990s.
In Hey Big Boy, Kreischer drops numerous movies references, ranging from Anthony Jeselnik. Instead, Kreischer tells stories about his life experience, and incorporates themes like race, gender, and family as comedic hooks.
At 47 years old, Kreischer is well past traditional college age, but remains legend due to a 1997 American Pie star Tara Reid as Gwen Pearson). Interestingly, Kreischer never gave his approval for the movie adaptation, nor did he ever make any money off the film or the other franchise installments, Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj and Van Wilder: Freshman Year.
In 2014, Kreischer told the stand-up comedy only once and then moved to New York City to pursue a career.
After Stone's movie project stalled, the "intellectual property" was sold to National Lampoon and ultimately became National Lampoon's Van Wilder. Kreischer has stated that he'll never sue and also revealed that he once reached out to National Lampoon to discuss the true inspiration for Van Wilder. Bert Kreischer's suspicions were confirmed, and he later expanded about the premise for his comedy in "The Joe Rogan Experience #507," stating that it was all about "wanting to be accepted" and dates all the way back to 1985 when he realized his comedic potential as a 13-year-old.