EllyRox

Now, you might be asking yourself, “What is a StamperTV and why do I care?” I’LL TELL YOU GOD DAMNED WHY. Stamper has been involved with some of my, and probably some of your favorite things. From his days at Newgrounds, where he incidentally was also killed by Ninja Brian in an NSP video filmed at his old house, to becoming the narrator for BattleBlock Theater, and a founding cabin member of SleepyCast Stamper has done nothing short of pissing excellence. He’s also been a guest on the wildly popular Game Grumps live action offshoot TableFlip.

Stamper has his fingers in many delicious creative pies, while most people just have their thumbs up their asses. Now, standing atop the corpses of his many enemies, he has agreed to answer some pointless questions that might be of interest to you, and me!

Philly Geek Girl: How much has working with Newgrounds shaped the work you do now / the way you work?
Stamper: Newgrounds takes up a pretty huge chunk of my life, and I owe a lot to that place. If I boil it all down, I think my most valuable lessons spawned from necessity or opportunity. I was pretty young and inexperienced when I started, but I was keen to do things. My primary duties there revolved around web and graphic design (I still made cartoons from time to time) – but we were a very small team with bigger goals and ideas. I think back and it feels like my hands were on a different project of a different nature on a daily basis. For example, Tom would be making a game, so I’d design a few things. He’d also need music, so I’d give it my best shot. Sure, sometimes I’d fail – but I’d still pick something up along the way. Or, say, we’d want to print t-shirts…never done that before! But we still tried, and we got better and better the more we understood. When Tom was developing Castle Crashers, he needed sound effects. For the whole game. I’d never tackled something that big before (that’s what she said), but I did my best, and I learned a great deal.

I created a lot of stuff during my time at NG. We all did. A lot of stuff never saw the light of day – which isn’t too bad, as a great deal of stuff did. The opportunity to create was always there, and I always learned something, without exception – creating is never pointless, though it sometimes feels that way. Sometimes I view my life as a series of multi-colored progress bars…like a health or magic bar in an RPG. Every time I learn new stuff, the corresponding bar fills up a little more – everything, from cooking eggs to shading a drawing. My time at Newgrounds loaded up most of my bars, for sure; nowadays, all projects big and small are just another day at the office (or at home in my ravioli-stained jammy jams), and when something needs to be done, I can get it done. I feel Newgrounds is responsible for many people with this method of thinking; out of necessity I’ve seen programmers develop games with their own art, music, voice acting…there’s a lot of jack-o-traders out there!

I personally find multimedia creation of every nature fascinating and rewarding, and I’m sure others would feel the same way if they…I dunno, put their Wacom pen down and tried to make a song. Build your bars up! Artists create; they dump their minds into everything they do, and I’ve personally come to love everything from designing a website to voice acting. The Newgrounds gauntlet is responsible for nearly everything I’m capable of today.

And I STILL SUCK AT MOST OF IT, but whatever. Bars.

Also Tom Fulp has the world’s smallest penis – did you know that? I was blown away when he showed me, I was all like…”Whoa dude, where’s your penis?!?” He pulled out a magnifying glass, and I was all like…”Whoa dude, where’s your penis?!?”

PGG: What’s the best prank you’ve ever pulled in the Newgrounds office?
Stamper: I pranked Tom once in an interview, I said something about him having a tiny penis (I can’t remember what I said, but it was pretty funny if I recall).

Oh, OFFICE pranks…that’s tough to say. I don’t remember pulling many pranks. I do recall one…’prank’. I printed out tons of pictures of Tom’s kids and defaced them all with cryptic nonsense and drawings of eyeballs. Oh, I also burned the kid’s eyeballs out with cigarettes. Then I pinned them all up on a wall and went to bed laughing my guts out…I just thought it was the funniest shit ever. When I woke up, I was sober again, and it was no longer funny. I was fully expecting to be ultra-fired…turns out, Tom thought it was funny. What a psycho.

Anyways, a tip: when you’re wasted and think you have great ideas, lock yourself in a room and shut up because THEY AREN’T GREAT IDEAS, EVER. DON’T BELIEVE ME? KEEP A NOTEPAD IN SAID ROOM, WRITE YOUR GENIUS PLANS DOWN, AND READ THEM THE FOLLOWING DAY. EXACTLY. YOU’D HAVE REGRETTED SHITTING IN YOUR NEIGHBOR’S POOL AND LEAVING BEHIND A VICTORIAN DOLL WITH A NOTE PINNED TO IT THAT SAYS “I DID IT.”

PGG: Can you tell us anything about Game4?
Stamper: Game 4 is a lil’ turn-based strategy co-op thingy-bop. It’s a pretty niche market (turn-based strategy, that is) but my partner Dan (Paladin) had a pretty interesting opinion on the matter. He says he doesn’t necessarily care for turn-based strategy games, so he tackled the genre to make one he’d actually enjoy playing, one that’d be accessible and fun. A lot of strategy games are far too complicated for their own good; they become something of a chore to play, let alone get into. Not for everyone, of course – just people like me with short attention spans and tiny walnut brains. Either way, the game is shaping up nicely! As for my involvement, I’m doing a lot of voice work (narrator, voicing the little characters, etc), sound effect stuff, some music here and there…blah blah. This sort of goes back to the initial question – the necessity and opportunity to do these things earlier in my career has put me in a position where I can do them now, if need be. I have fun with it – it shakes things up, keeps things interesting…it’s hard to get bored!

PGG: What’s your process for coming up with voices?
Stamper: As far as voice work goes, it’s tough to say. I’ve said it before – I’m not a voice actor – and people are quick to shut me down. It’s true though! There’s phenomenal voice actors out there with insane range; they can immediately jump from the voice of a teenage girl to an elderly man, start crying on the spot, and scream for hours without throwing their voices out. These are people who make incredible emotional impact using nothing more than their voice – and as they aren’t physically acting, they can’t supplement emotional impact with physical movement. It’s ALL the voice, and it’s all admirable.

I, on the other hand, consider myself more of an entertainer. I merely use voice as a vehicle for jokes and deliveries. I can do the occasional ‘New Yorker’ or something, but I’ve not much in the way of serious range. When doing characters, I tend to think more along the lines of HOW or WHY they’re saying or doing things, vs. simply how they sound. At the end of the day, situations have to be believable, humorous, relatable, frustrating – whatever they need to be. If you can pull that off, you’re gold either way. The bottom line is keeping your audience entertained and invested in the character, which is something even an amateur can do so long as their heart is behind it. I think I answered that question OK. Either that, or I dodged the hell out of it.

PGG: Is the SleepyCabin something you’ve wanted to do for a long time?
Stamper: Not really! It’s just something that formed outta necessity (space, primarily). It all started with the physical studio, and we felt it needed a name. We went through a lot of names. CuddlePile was one…BonerCabin was another. I actually own bonercabin.com – we were seriously considering BonerCabin. Thank God we dodged that mistake. SleepyCabin just sounded…nice. Pleasant. Different. Comforting. This is starting to sound like a commercial for a mattress company. ANYWAY, no – never intended! Life takes you down strange roads, and sometimes things come about organically.

PGG: What video games have influenced you the most?
Stamper: Oh – it’s tough to say. Since I dabble in various forms of multimedia, I draw inspiration from different aspects of many games. Einhänder, for example, has one of the best game soundtracks of all time (in my opinion). It was one of the first times I recognized how valuable music is to a game; how it can drive the game forward and make every moment more exciting and memorable. Parappa the Rapper is a big deal in my eyes as well – it’s visually simple, technically simple, but infinitely charming and well done. Those songs are catchy as hell, too! It’s a good lesson in ‘less is more’, doing something amazing by very simple means. I suppose Parappa did fairly well as a franchise, but I feel it could have done much better state-side. Plus, Parappa is a good role model for kids…I mean, who do kids look up to nowadays? Jimmy Neutron? Fuck Jimmy Neutron and his stupid-ass ice cream hair. SpongeBob? Ok, SpongeBob is cool. I love SpongeBob.

Anyway, I don’t have much in the way of direct game influences. There’s something valuable in nearly every game – be it visual or audial (is audial a word?) – and I draw from all of it. Even if you have no part in creating games, they’re truly an artform, and can be very inspirational in many ways.

Audial is a word, I just looked it up. I never see it written, and never hear anyone use it?

Man, I really love SpongeBob, that show is great. That one episode where they have to paint Mr. Krabs’ house, then that one episode where they learn swear words…oh, I love that one episode where SpongeBob’s stranded in Rock Bottom at that bus stop. OH and the episode where they steal a balloon and run away, that one was good too. Pickles is a classic, also. Wait, and that other episode where the bully wants to kick the shit out of SpongeBob the whole time, OH, and that other episode where SpongeBob wants to get into that bar, but he’s not tough enough? I think it was called The Salty Spittoon. Yeah, Spongebob is my maaan…Patrick’s fucking funny too, that dude has cracked me up harder than professional comedians.
I gotta revisit that series again. Great background noise when you’re working.

PGG: What dream projects would you want to work on?
Stamper: Oh man, that question makes me feel sort of useless now that I think about it. Perhaps I should stop living day-to-day and get myself a few goals!

Man…I really can’t answer this one! I suppose if I was a full time musician, I’d want to release a kick ass album. I dunno. I get bored easily. When I’m tired of designing things, I’ll make a rap song. When I’m tired of that, I’ll start animating a cartoon. When I’m tired of that, I’ll sit inside and fine tune a shepherd’s pie recipe. Then, I’m back in the booth, voice acting up a storm for a pal’s project. There’s something out there for everyone, I suppose – maybe one day I’ll find my calling! Until then, I’ll do whatever I can to pass the days. Keeps my mind busy. When my mind isn’t busy, it tends to swim around in dark places.
Note to self: GET GOAL

PGG: Is there a game that you’d love to a part of?
Stamper: Hmm…I’d love to have a hand in a Devil May Cry game, maybe Bayonetta. Although, God only knows what I could do. I just love those games. Voice a tough-guy character? NOT HAPPENING, my pipes are too innocent to be a bad ass. Perhaps it’s best I leave those titles to the pros – they do great work. I bet I could do a kick ass job on the visual design for their menus and HUD systems though.

Maybe I can voice Parappa 2.0. That’s enough to die happy with!

PGG: I saw you signed someone’s ass at MAGFest, what’s the strangest fan experience you’ve had?
Stamper: I don’t think I’ve had a strangest experience…lots of strange experiences, of course. Awkward people, awkward requests, dudes figuring out where you live…and showing up…but no one experience really stands out in my mind. Plus, if I mentioned the strangest, I’m sure someone would try to trump it one day. I dunno, strange things don’t really stand out to me as much as they should; I just figure the world is an odd place, and human beings are odd creatures. Myself included.

When it comes to kids and teens, weird interactions come with the territory, and that’s totally cool. I was an awkward kid as well, I remember what it was like. Hell, I wouldn’t even have the balls to walk up to somebody I admired and ask them to sign something…I’d be at home playing with my action figures and leaking tears on my breasts. So yeah, I guess my tolerance for weird interactions is through the roof nowadays. Maybe strange shit happens all the time, and I’m just not picking up on it. I’ll hit you up when I get stabbed or shot – should make for a pretty sweet story!

PGG: What’s your favorite kind of adult film?
Stamper: Oh, I like those ones where a lady walks into the room with nothing but a shirt on, then she pulls her butt apart and – HEY WAIT A SECOND, YOU’RE TRYING TO ENTRAP ME WITH NAUGHTY QUESTIONS, NICE TRY BUT I’M TOO SMART TO FALL FOR THIS RUSE!

PGG: Wanna plug anything?
Stamper: Depends on whether she closes her butt or not – dammit LISTEN LADY I’M GETTING SICK OF YOU ENTRAPPING ME WITH THESE SEEDY QUESTIONS. Oh, but seriously…I don’t think so. People know where to find…my projects and releases are all over the damn place. Your intro was pretty damn comprehensive, and the support is always appreciated. Makes me think my life isn’t all that pointless after all!

Take care everyone…and remember: when life gives you lemons, give those shits back and be like “Why the fuck are you giving me lemons for? Now I gotta figure out how to get rid of all these damn lemons. I can’t eat them raw, lemonade gives me heartburn, and I can only garnish so many alcoholic beverages before my liver fails or these lemons rot…so stop with the fucking lemons already. If I WANTED lemons, I’d go to the store and buy some GOD DAMN LEMONS.”

Seriously, if someone – not even life – came up to you with a gift basket full of lemons, you’d be like “Thanks?” – but you’d REALLY be thinking “…what the fuck kind of gift is this?” You wouldn’t SAY that of course, because it’d be rude to question a gift. Personally, I’d accept the basket and smile warmly. I know what’s going on here. Give me a useless gift, huh? Think that’s funny? How funny was it when I showed up at your house with an even BIGGER basket, full of limes? Yeah, enjoy your fucking limes, smart-ass. I hope you throw a lot of Mexican food parties.

So yeah…when life gives you lemons, give that piece of shit some limes…see how he likes it.

Sage advice from Stamper, limes. Well, I don’t know about you kids, but I need a smoke after that one, come back soon and read about more people I think are super cool, or suggest someone you think is super cool and maybe I’ll pester them with questions too!