The Story of How Boredom Plus Hulu Can Inspire The Random Artist To Unleash Her Inner Nerdburger
This project began with the discovery of VidiotsOnline, probably the silliest show I've ever seen. Well, to be honest, the story goes back a little further than that. It really began with me being short on shows to binge watch on Hulu. What to watch, what to watch. Oh, hey! Vintage 90's is a category. Might as well put Buffy the Vampire Slayer in my queue for some rainy day that finds me desperate and bored. That day eventually came, and wow. What the blazing bananas have I been missing out on? Buffy is hilarious, campy in all the best ways, endearing, yeah, you all know. You were decades ahead of me on the Buffy Train. But wait, who is that hottie that somehow completely slipped past my radar in the 90's? You guessed it. “The James Marsters Obsession” began.
I had to know if "that guy from Buffy" was in anything else. What can I say that you don't already know. Unless of course you're like me and have been apparently living under a rock for the past 20 years. He's fun to watch! It helps that he's beautiful, sure, but the intensity and the heart he puts into Spike just get me. I says to myself, I says, "He must have been cast in bunches of amazing roles! To IMDb!"
Nope. Nope. Uh-uh. Never heard of it. I'm getting more disappointed as I scroll. Bit parts and impossible to find indie stuff. Sigh. Wait! What?! He was in Smallville? And Torchwood? Who the heck was he? That's not the same guy. Spike is British. Oh crap. I HATED him in Smallville. Oh, no. I couldn't STAND him in Torchwood. Supernatural? That was HIM? Oh, fudge. I've already seen him in other things and hated him. In fact, (I'm so sorry, Mr. Marsters. I'll make it up to you, I swear!) I distinctly remember pointing at him in public after recognizing him as Capt. John and saying (to my undying shame), "I HATE THAT GUY". I know. There's nothing you can say that could make me feel worse.
I decided that I couldn't hate James Marsters any more. I cringed as I plugged in Torchwood. Would I like him in it now? I grimaced as I queued up Supernatural. Would I be able to like Spike from Buffy any more after this? Well, he's still annoying in Torchwood, and in Supernatural he's still an asshat, but now I can appreciate that he's just that good at playing idiots and asshats. You can congratulate Spike for that discovery. Ok, so I like him after all and despite everything. Now what?
This is when I stumbled onto Vidiots. I saw the fourth episode first, the complete episode is up on Youtube. The Spike patented shoulder-dip-swagger-walk made an appearance, and I was hooked. I thought I was watching to ogle a ridiculously good looking older Spike. I was wrong. Halfway through my first episode I realized what I was really watching was two gorgeous men, Hollywood actors, who are BIGGER NERDS THAN ME. I was so delighted, and so intrigued, that I had to start from the beginning. Since then it has been goofy grin hand clappy time whenever I see that a new Vidiots episode has gone live.
This silly show has so many goofy moments, ones that make me laugh, ones that make me cringe, but the ones that stood out to me most were: James's ratty old pajamas (which he lovingly refers to as his Gaming Uniform) making several appearances, and Mark Devine playing a variety of video games - First person shooters, MMORPGs, platformers, VR - doesn't matter. He plays so many and with such gusto. And he always loses. Always.
I had a lot of fun and quite a few laughs bringing Gaming Uniform James and Mark Devine Loses to life. Their journey into existence included sculpting with polymers, painting, sealing, accessory building, sewing, and custom box graphic design. I decided to go with custom FunkoPop! figures. I'd never used a Funko before, previously opting for Mighty Muggs and Munnys. Mighty Muggs sadly no longer sell blanks, and Munnys have a distinctly monkey like aesthetic. Funko's only drawback is the limited surface area, which leaves less room for detail work. I did my best to capture the most distinctive facial features on these Pops with minimal detail.
Those little pants!
The most exciting part of this project was discovering that I could give the stars of the show their own copies. I should say, exciting and terrifying. I often live up to my nerdy good name and am painfully shy. Painfully, woefully, mortifyingly shy. I knew one of two things could happen going into this. A miracle - in which I am sexy, smooth, say all the right things and look stunning doing it - or a travesty - in which I nod waaaay too dramatically, smile with all my teeth, goofy-laugh, forget everything I wanted to say, and act like a nerdburger. I can safely say, after all was said and done, that I leaned more toward total nerdburger travesty. Do-overs aren't a thing. Dammit.
Thankfully, James Marsters and Mark Devine didn't seem to notice. If they did, they probably just assumed that's how I act all the time. (Poop.) Mostly they seemed to be too busy giggling over their FunkoPops. Seeing those two chuckling over their Pops was the most gratified I'd ever felt as an artist, and I couldn't be more pleased that they liked my work.
I'm honored that I was able to not only give the Pops to them in person, but that they had such positive reactions. James and Mark, you are the coolest nerds ever. Your graciousness, kindness, and patience made quite an impression on me, and I'd love to play a video game with you guys any time.