Stuart Ashen

Stuart Ashen

Ashen on the set of Ashens and The Quest For The Game Child
Born Stuart Clive Ashen
16 December 1976
Norwich, Norfolk, England
Education PhD in Psychology
Occupation Actor, YouTube reviewer, animator
Years active 2003–present

Internet information

Web alias(es) Ashens, Dr Ashen
Web hosting service(s) YouTube, ChannelFlip, That Guy with the Glasses
Signature phrase Hello!, Nought To Three Sad Onions
Website
www.ashens.com

Stuart Clive Ashen (born 16 December 1976), commonly known by his online alias Ashens /ˈæʃənz/, is a British reviewer of various (usually poor quality) products, comedian, animator and actor.

Early life

Ashen is from Heartsease Estate, Norwich and attended Heartsease High School.[1] He previously worked for PC World and Norwich Union.[1]

Career

Ashen made his first television appearance on a 2008 episode of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, where he played a cameo role as Mr Noseybonk, a character from the 80's BBC children's show Jigsaw.[2]

Ashen guest starred on The Armstrong and Miller Show for their "The Node" segment in October 2009.[3]

In 2010, Ashen created the series Ashen's Tech Dump for BBC Online Comedy.[4] In 2011 Ashens co-starred alongside Karen Hayley in another BBC Online Comedy series Back Space.[5] In 2012 he starred as himself in The Proxy, a sci-fi webseries produced by ChannelFlip in partnership with Dell Alienware.[6][7] The series took eight days to film, consists of 10 episodes and won a Marketing Week "Engage Award" in the "Gaming and Entertainment" section.[8]

Ashen released the book Fifty-Thousand Shades of Grey on 23 September 2012; it parodies the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey.[9]

In 2013, Ashen, along with Emma Blackery, Dan Howell (danisnotonfire) and Phil Lester (AmazingPhil), starred as a contestant in a re-make of the 1980s TV show Knightmare during the YouTube Geek Week event.[10][11][12][13]

As of April 2015 Ashen has produced over 440 videos, has over 750k subscribers to his primary YouTube channel Ashens, and over 165 million video views.[10][14] His secondary channel, used mainly for DVD-extra style clips, has over 200k subscribers and 22 million views.[15] In addition to his own channels he has also produced videos for other YouTube channels, which include "The Multiverse", a geek themed channel controlled by ChannelFlip.[16]

Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild

Ashen wrote and starred in Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild, a feature film released in August 2013, for YouTube's "Geek Week".[16][17] The film also stars Warwick Davis and Robert Llewellyn, and was produced by the multi-channel network ChannelFlip,[10][16] in association with The Multiverse. The film was partially paid for through crowdfunding website Indiegogo with contributions totalling US$73,690 at the end of the month, which comprised 41% of the US$180,000 budget.[16][18][19][20] As of May 2014 it has been viewed over half a million times on YouTube. A remastered and slightly extended edition of the movie was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 14 July 2014.

Personal life

Ashen was born, and currently lives in Norwich, England.[10][6]

Filmography

Web series

Year Title Role Note(s)
2010 Ashen's Tech Dump Himself, lead role Five episodes over two series
2011 Back Space Himself Six episodes
2012 The Proxy Himself, lead role Ten episodes
2013-2014 Ideas Men Himself Nine episodes over two series plus Series One and Two Bloopers
2013 Knightmare Himself, dungeoneer Special online one-off episode

Television

Year Title Role Note(s)
2008 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe Mr Noseybonk Cameo appearance, one episode
2009 The Armstrong and Miller Show Himself Guest star, one episode
2015 Newsnight Himself Interviewee, one episode

Film

Year Title Role Note(s)
2013 Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild Himself, lead role Co-writer

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Briscoe, Kim (12 November 2014). "YouTube success helped Stuart to realise his film-making dream". Norwich Evening News. Archant. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Nick Akerman (2009-05-31). "Stuart Ashen Interview - feature at Thunderbolt". Thunderboltgames.com. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
  3. ↑ "Comedy - The Armstrong and Miller Show - The Node: Gadgets (featuring Ashens)". BBC. 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  4. ↑ Thair, David (2010-09-17). "Comedy Blog: Ashens returns to the Tech Dump". BBC. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  5. ↑ "BBC - Back Space". 2014-05-16.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kate, Laura (2012-05-19). "Interview with Stuart Ashens". MCM Buzz. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  7. ↑ "ChannelFlip makes 10-part sci-fi series with IT giant Dell". Televisual.com. 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  8. ↑ "Engage Awards: The magnificent winners". Marketing Week. 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  9. ↑ "Fifty-Thousand Shades of Grey by SC Ashen". Fifty Shades of Grey Parodies. 2013-01-14. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 McGuinness, Ross (2013-08-02). "The Knightmare begins again as YouTube launches its own Geek Week". Metro. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  11. ↑ Edwards, Luke (2013-08-09). "10 amazing YouTube Geek Week videos you can't afford to miss". Stuff. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  12. ↑ Woollaston, Victoria (2013-07-24). "Knightmare returns on YouTube: Google films one-off special of cult children's TV show". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  13. ↑ Dredge, Stuart (2013-08-05). "Knightmare remake launches for YouTube Geek Week – watch it here". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  14. ↑ "Ashens about page". YouTube. 2006-02-23. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  15. ↑ "ExtraAshens about page". YouTube. 2011-09-15. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 "YouTube Geek Week movie premiere online". SFX. 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  17. ↑ Collins, Katie (2013-07-25). "In depth: 90s gameshow Knightmare reborn for YouTube, may spawn new TV series (Wired UK)". Wired. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  18. ↑ "Interview with Robert Llewellyn". WUWO Magazine. 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  19. ↑ "Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild". Sci-fi London. 2013-08-09. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  20. ↑ "Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild". Indiegogo. 2013-04-07. Retrieved 2014-05-19.

External links