TomSka

TomSka

TomSka during the Geek Faëries in France in 2016.
Personal information
Born Thomas James Ridgewell
(1990-06-27) 27 June 1990
Essex, England
Nationality British
Occupation Video blogger, filmmaker, director, producer, writer, actor
Website turbopunch.com
YouTube information
Pseudonym TomSka
Channel TomSka
Years active 2006–present
Genre Comedy, action
Subscribers 4.65 million
(June 2017)
Total views 1.01 billion
(July 2017)
Associated acts Eddsworld
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 14 April 2017.

Thomas James "Tom" Ridgewell (born 27 June 1990),[2] better known through his online pseudonym TomSka, is an English YouTube celebrity, writer, producer, director, actor, and filmmaker. He is known for his animated comedy web film series asdfmovie[lower-alpha 1] and webtoons Eddsworld and Crash Zoom.[3] As of July 2017, his YouTube channel has over 4.6 million subscribers and his videos have garnered over 1 billion views.

Early life and education

As a child, Ridgewell began making short films using his parents' video camera. Not long after YouTube was established, Ridgewell created CakeBomb, a website which he posted his video creations, including his friend Edd Gould's Eddsworld, and his viral animated video series asdfmovie. Ridgewell graduated from the University of Lincoln,[4] and while there created a series of unofficial "advertisements" for the university which received millions of views.[5]

He was raised a Jehovah's Witness, but no longer practices this faith.[6] Despite this, he has expressed a belief in a god.[7]

YouTube career

A professional YouTuber, Ridgewell earns money from revenue from his videos on the website.[8] He also has made short films for BBC and Comedy Central. He has been discussed and interviewed in relation to this, especially when the medium of online video was in its infancy.[2][9] He has also appeared as a guest on the BBC's The One Show, and has appeared as a radio and TV guest internationally.[10]

In 2008, Ridgewell released the first installment of asdfmovie, an animated sketch comedy series featuring very short clips of minimally-detailed characters in surreal and occasionally darkly humorous situations. There have been ten episodes, the latest having been uploaded on 1 April 2017.[11]

In 2012, he took charge of the production of Eddsworld after the show's original creator and his friend, Edd Gould, died of leukemia. He left the series in 2016, handing the show over to Edd's family.

In 2013, Ridgewell was featured in YouTube's first "Comedy Week".[12]

He was featured on the cover of Wired UK in February 2013 as part of a feature titled "How YouTube Reinvented the Entertainment Business"[13] and was selected by YouTube as a guest host for its Geek Week series in August.

The BBC announced that Ridgewell will be appearing as a guest presenter on the Dan and Phil show from September 2014 on BBC Radio 1.[14][15][16]

In January 2015, Ridgewell launched a new webtoon, Crash Zoom, on his TomSka channel. It is animated by Ben "Wonchop" Smallman, who also animated some of the asdfmovie episodes.[17] It features three young characters Lucy, Ben, and Cate, in their various surreal exploits.[18]

DarkSquidge

DarkSquidge is the name of Ridgewell's secondary channel on YouTube. As of December 2016, the channel has almost 700,000 subscribers and more than 84 million views.[19] The content that Ridgewell uploads on this channel differs greatly from that of his main channel. While his main channel consists of sketch comedy and animations,[20] DarkSquidge shows behind the scenes footage of TomSka related projects and videos. Ridgewell also engages in social commentary on this platform, covering a range of topics such as mental health, sexual health and body positivity. Vlogging is also a part of this channel. The YouTuber uploads weekly vlogs to the channel dubbed as "Last Week". This channel was created in October 2007.[19]

Other projects

In 2014, Ridgewell, in collaboration with video game developer Pixel Spill Studios, created the game KatataK, a side-scrolling shoot 'em up for iOS and Android devices.[21]

In 2015, Ridgewell worked with animator Matt Ley to create Art is Dead: the asdf book, a comic book based on and featuring adapted sketches from his asdfmovie series.[22][23]

In 2016, TomSka filmed several sketches with the BBC in a trial for a potential sketch show on BBC Three. These sketches were not picked up by the BBC, however, and he later posted the clips on his own YouTube channel.

Books

Notes

  1. ↑ "asdf" pronounced /ˈæzdəf/

References

  1. ↑ ChewingSand (2012-10-03), Hazel and Tom are Professional, retrieved 2016-06-13
  2. 1 2 Fox, Killian; Lewis, Tim (2013-04-06). "YouTube UK: 20 of Britain's most popular online video bloggers". the Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  3. ↑ "Between Comedies, TomSka Also Educates His YouTube Fans - VideoInk". VideoInk. 2014-08-17. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  4. ↑ "Former University of Lincoln students to guest present on Radio 1". Lincolnshire Echo. 2014-08-27. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  5. ↑ "Appointment to view: The University of Lincoln goes viral". www.brandrepublic.com. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  6. ↑ DarkSquidge (2015-10-07), The Day My Faith Died, retrieved 2016-06-13
  7. ↑ DarkSquidge (2013-01-28), 7 Facts About TomSka, retrieved 2016-06-13
  8. ↑ "The Tom Ridgewell show: the 22-year-old making £10,000 a month from". Evening Standard. 2013-03-12. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  9. ↑ reporter, Dan WhitworthNewsbeat technology. "YouTube star TomSka 'makes thousands' every month". Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  10. ↑ thepod96 (2011-11-23), TomSka and Bing on The One Show - BBC One, retrieved 2016-06-13
  11. ↑ TomSka (2017-04-01), asdfmovie10, retrieved 2017-04-02
  12. ↑ "YouTube's Comedy Week shows how much comedy has changed". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  13. ↑ "Talent Tube: how Britain's new YouTube superstars built a global fanbase". WIRED UK. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  14. ↑ "BBC - New youth presenters for Radio 1 - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  15. ↑ Lewis, Tim (2013-04-06). "YouTube superstars: the generation taking on TV – and winning". the Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  16. ↑ "Radio 1 to hire 'YouTube-famous' vloggers to broadcast online". The Independent. 2014-08-22. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  17. ↑ DarkSquidge (2015-06-26), I'M NOT AN ANIMATOR, retrieved 2016-06-13
  18. ↑ TomSka (2015-01-09), CRASH ZOOM - Movie Massacre, retrieved 2016-06-13
  19. 1 2 "DarkSquidge channel - about section".
  20. ↑ "TomSka channel - about section".
  21. ↑ "KatataK". www.katatakgame.com. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  22. ↑ DarkSquidge (11 September 2015), WE MADE A BOOK (Art is Dead reveal), retrieved 27 February 2016
  23. ↑ DarkSquidge (29 October 2015), ART IS DEAD IS OUT!!!, retrieved 27 February 2016
  24. ↑ "Art is Dead : The asdf Book". Book Depository.com. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
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