In terms
of presence on the Internet, the name Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (or,
better known by its acronym, SMBC) is one that stands out, being constantly
found in most forums, Reddit threads, and even Facebook posts. A daily webcomic written and drawn by Zach
Weinersmith, SMBC exploded in popularity due to its zany, intelligent,
satirical and sometimes crass humor. As
one of the Internet’s longest running webcomics, Mr. Weinersmith joins other well-known
webcomic titans like Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade and Scott
Kurtz of PvP.
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| Zach Weinersmith |
In 2009,
Zach and his long time friend, James Ashby, created the SMBC Theater, a sketch
comedy channel on YouTube that shared the comic’s social satire and adult
humor. The channel now has almost eighty
thousand subscribers and over 20 million views.
In the following interview, I interview Zach and James about the origins
of the comic and the Theater, their comedic influences, the workings behind the
Theater, and their Internet fame, as well as one major upcoming project from
SMBC Theater. I’d like to thank Zach and
James once again for their time, and ask that everybody check out the comic and
the channel.
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| James Ashby, King of SMBC Theater |
SMBC Comic
How did the comic come about?
Zach Weinersmith: [The comic] started long ago in high
school as a way to write things and make fun of friends. Years later, it became the only way out of a
very shitty job.
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| An example of Zach's more intellectual jokes. |
The art style of the comic has definitely
improved as time has gone on, but remains quite distinct in its simple, yet
effective portrayal of characters. How do you think you have grown as an
artist in the years of drawing SMBC? Have certain shortcuts or computer
programs come out that have made your life easier, or does a daily comic just
make art simpler?
ZW: I'm more of a writer (i.e. my art sucks), but yeah, it's
incrementally improved over time. I recently got a tablet and manga studio 5,
which has been a godsend. I was getting very painful hand cramps for a long
time, and now I can work faster without the pain.
Are there any artists in particular that
have inspired your art style?
ZW: Parking Lot is Full, perhaps.
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| And a bit of social critique. |
Have you ever had to give up on a joke
because you found that you couldn’t draw a character or object, or just
couldn’t figure out how to visualize how the joke would look?
ZW: Not really. If it works in the writing phase, it'll work in
the art, unless you write yourself into a corner or something. Now and then
I've fucked that up. Some things are easy to say and hard to visualize.
How do you keep up doing a daily
comic? How do you keep thinking of material? How do you keep up
your drive and motivation?
ZW: I try to read a lot.
If I'm behaving myself, at least 3-5 books a week, plus some deeper
studies for perspective. I'm very
motivated by the idea that I don't want to have a real job.
The humor of the comic has definitely
evolved over the years as well. Originally starting as one-panel, bait
and switch humor, the comic has definitely become more intelligent, discussing
concepts like philosophy, physics, government, and other topics. What
inspired this change?
ZW: Generally speaking, the comic reflects what I'm currently
interested in. I used to try to just do
gags, but I found that people actually liked some of the more thick stuff now
and then. Since I do dailies, I have a bit of latitude in terms of nerdiness. That is, if today's joke is too in depth, I
can do a joke about boners tomorrow.
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| An example of Zach's "bait and switch" joke style, where the caption betrays the image. |
Do you think the change to the humor was
well received?
ZW: Not by everyone. I
could probably have more readers if I stuck with something, but I think it'd
get boring after a while.
Who has inspired or influenced your
humor?
ZW: Early on, I really liked Glen Baxter and PLiF. I loved the understatement in Dilbert. I don't read too many comics, but in terms of
humor authors, Mark Twain and Stanislaw Lem are awesome.
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| My favorite SMBC comic. |
How do you feel about being one of the
longest lasting, and most influential webcomics on the Internet?
ZW: If there were a cash prize for that, I'd feel great. Honestly, I kind of live in a bubble (on
purpose), so the numbers are a bit abstract to me. It's nice, but it also
offers a temptation to relax a little, which I want to avoid.
Where do you think the comic will go from
here?
ZW: No idea. I've been getting into political theory and some
more advanced (for me) physics lately; oh, and Robert Burns, so maybe something
hideous amalgam of those is coming.
SMBC Theater
Whose idea was it to create the Theater?
Were these ideas that Zach felt he couldn’t properly convey as a comic?
ZW: James and I had wanted to do it for ages, way before the
comic was a "thing." At some point we just barely had the resources
to pull it off, and voila. In terms of
ideas, not really. James and I wrote them together, which already gave them a
different flavor. Plus, comics and sketches are pretty different. In comics
it's very easy to control composition in timing. Video is harder. But, in
video, you have Real Live Humans, which means you can get a lot more out of
expression.
James Ashby: Yeah, we never wanted to try to recreate
the comic. Comics are about a perfect moment captured as well as
possible. Sketches are about pacing and delivery and performance and a
number of intangibles. Zach and I had tried to do some film work in our early
20's when we lived in a bachelor apartment with another friend and Zach's
un-spayed cat, but we didn't have any money or connections. 6 years later
I graduated with an MFA in screenwriting from Carnegie Mellon with some prize
money and Zach had a trickle of income, so we decided to spend it on sketches
instead of health insurance.
Who comes up with ideas for the
sketches? Does it vary? Does the person who came up with the
idea also write it, or have there been times where a person comes up with an
idea, but has someone else write it?
ZW: James and I, 50-50. For a given sketch, it varied a lot.
But, we had a big honkin' list of ideas we'd grind on every 2 weeks.
JA: We've been doing this so long it gets muddy. Zach and
I have written together since we were in our late teens (NO ONE EVER GETS TO
READ THAT STUFF), so at this point it's mostly a tag team sifting for funny
through email. One of us will have an idea for a joke, another will write half
a page on it then pass it off, etc etc. Then we fight for a week about
the last line.
How do you cast each video, given the
pool of talented actors you have? Do some people just play certain
characters well, so they are always cast as such? Like JP Nickel as a
news anchor or creepy dad?
ZW: James can answer this better than I. We *did* have people
who were really good at certain characters, but I think we also tried to vary a
little.
JA: We have a few recurring tropes (JP Nickel as a newscaster
is always funny), but we have an all-volunteer army so there's an availability
factor that comes into play. I never cast anyone I don't feel is right
for a part, but we have some very talented people who can do some really
wonderful work when given a chance to stretch.
You have created a persona for yourselves
in the SMBC Theater canon. For example, James (now the “King of the
Theater”) is portrayed a disheveled, sociopathic, schizophrenic slob. How
do these personas get developed?
ZW: James can answer this better than I. I think early on our personas were sort of
exaggerations of the real us from a few years ago.
JA: Zach and I like to write about the id and jerks because
we're very polite in person, and the ability to say things bluntly is a great
comedic tool. Slobby James and King James can say things that make people
laugh, so we can say interesting things without being boring or pompous.
You also have a new project, a science
fiction series called Starpocalypse, can you give us a hint of what the show is
about and when can we expect to see it?
ZW: This is King James territory.
JA: THIS FALL! It's called Starpocalypse and an AWESOME
team of artists have put in hundreds of hours of work to bring it to our
audience. We're really proud of this dark, weird, crazy space comedy. It could
only have been made through crowd-funding. The major plot thrust: God is
a space alien with a fetish for watching humans fuck and murder each other.
Other topics
It often seems like everyone on the
Internet knows each other, as illustrated by your constant collaborations with
the 5secondfilms crew. How did you all meet?
ZW: King James again.
JA: Michael Rousselet and Kelsey Gunn came to do a cameo for
Starpocalypse and seemed awesome. They invited me to come have a beer
during a 5secondfilms shoot and I met a ton of other awesome people. The
rest is history.
Having an Internet presence like you two
do brings you in contact with not only a lot of fans, but other online creators
as well. How have your experiences been with both groups? Any
horror stories or awesome tales?
ZW: Ha! If I have horror
stories, there's no way I'd tell them. James
knows more about the YouTube/vid community than I do, but the comics community
is pretty tight. Almost everyone who's a
professional knows every other professional.
JA: I've found following the rule of only networking with
people I like and respect has really worked out nicely for me. I'd say we
actually have a very supportive fan base. Some dudes might be a little
awkward when they come to meet us, but Zach and I are kinda awkward. Who's
judging?
Snowflakes
is a comic you both do with your friend Chris Jones, and features a very
different sense of humor than we see in SMBC and SMBC theater. It’s much
more mellow and childlike. How did this comic come about, and how do you keep
it in this more innocent, less racy tone?
ZW: As I recall, Chris Jones and I had recently finished
Captain Stupendous, and wanted a new project. And James and I wanted to work on
a comic together. I think perhaps it was Chris who suggested a kids' comic, but
honestly I don't exactly recall how the final decision was made.
JA: Chris wanted to do a children's comic and had this vision
of kids in an orphanage in the snow. Zach and I developed characters,
then I did story structure, plotting, and character development while Zach
focused on dialogue and Chris made us look way better than we
deserved.
LINKS
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal Comic: http://www.smbc-comics.com
SMBC Theater's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/smbctheater?feature=watch
SMBC Theater's Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/smbctheater
SMBC Theater's Twitter Page: http://www.twitter.com/smbctheater
Zach's Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/ZachWeiner
James's Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/jsandlinashby
Parking Lot is Full: http://plif.courageunfettered.com
Snowflakes Comic: http://www.snowflakescomic.com
