blog: videos

ANIMATION: Real True Actual Stories of America

Here’s something neat! I was contacted by Audible.co.uk and asked if I’d like to help promote the new book by historian and memoirist Bill Bryson, One Summer: America 1927. TURNS OUT it’s a really interesting book filled with factoids and stories about the personalities and social movements of the 1920s — Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh, Al Capone, Al Jolson, and many others whose names are less familiar to us now.

Audible allowed me to, uh, loosely interpret some of the moments in the book to create a series of six animated videos! The first casts Babe Ruth & Calvin Coolidge as odd-couple roommates. The second is about good ol’ Henry Ford.

I’ll post the others in the coming days. Check out the videos, I hope you like them! We had a lot of fun making them.

Toronto Roll-a-Sketches! And THIS WEEKEND: Maker Faire!

Here are a couple of the many Roll-a-Sketches I did in Toronto last week! Thanks to everyone who came by the table, it was a great reminder of why I do that show every year. Everybody’s so nice and it’s such a neat environment for art and friends!

ICE CREAM + KNIGHT: (click pics for bigger)

OSTRICH + AIRPLANE + CAVEMAN + HELICOPTER:

RHINO + ICE CREAM + CAVEMAN + COWBOY:

CACTUS + TOASTER:

Would you like a Roll-a-Sketch of your very own?? THIS WEEKEND I will be returning to the Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo! The show is Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19.

I’ll have a booth in the Bazaar Bizarre section, right next to my old pal Chris Yates (handmade puzzle crafter extraordinaire).

BONUS VIDEOS: The last time I was at Maker Faire, two years ago, I recorded a video journal of the drive up and back! Full of HIGH DRAMA and BURRITOS and THE TERRIFYING SPECTER OF FATIGUE. If you’ve ever wanted to see a lot of me in sunglasses, YOU’RE IN LUCK.

I re-watched these videos tonight and the whole thing seems like just yesterday. But it was TWO YEARS AGO. I don’t even KNOW.

Video: Just DO stuff.

Our Kickstarter is over! We ended up doing pretty okay. Thanks to all who participated! Here is a video I recorded yesterday as a sort of wrap-up and reflection. I talk about taking risks and putting things out there in the world, and I hope it inspires you a little. Mike, my friend operating the camera, called it my “TED Talk.” It’s not a subject I’ve never talked about before, but I think it bears repeating once in a while. I have to remind myself, periodically.

Also I was interviewed by Matthew Lesko, the guy from the infomercials who wears a suit covered in question marks. So I decided, for the interview, to wear a suit covered in exclamation points.

If you missed the Kickstarter, we have a PayPal-powered pre-order page for the game up now! I’ve already started receiving some of the special webcomics-artist bonus cards and they’re great. So excited to get this thing out there!!

LOS ANGELES READERS: I have an improv show tonight (Friday) at M.i.’s Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica! 7 PM!

Videos: Machine of Death FATE BLITZ

Over the weekend I posted some ARCHIVAL VIDEO of Kris Straub and I talking about our ongoing Machine of Death card game Kickstarter. Basically we recorded a bunch of stuff in advance to cover any possible eventualities that might occur once we launched the campaign.

Here they are for your edification! Video 1 / Video 2 / Video 3

I also posted a new infographic to the MOD Kickstarter to try and clarify all the cool stuff that everyone will be getting as rewards! That and some other videos and nonsense are right here.