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 Filmmaker, video blogger, actor
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Website www.thetomska.com
YouTube information
Pseudonym TomSka
Channel TomSka
Years active 2006–present
Genre Comedy
Subscribers 4.24 million
(3 December 2016)
Total views 880.7 million
(3 December 2016)
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 13 February 2016.

Thomas James "TomSka" Ridgewell (born 27 June 1990)[2] is an English comedian and YouTube celebrity, best known for Internet video series asdfmovie and Eddsworld.[3] As of March 2016, his YouTube channel has over 4 million subscribers and his videos have garnered over 800 million 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 on which he posted his video creations, including his friend's Eddsworld, and his first 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 God.[7]

YouTube career

A professional YouTuber, Ridgewell earns money from revenue from his videos on the website.[8] 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 nine episodes, the latest having been uploaded on 7 August 2015.[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]

Ridgewell spoke at the VidFest UK London Comic Con in 2014.[17]

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.[18] It features three young characters, Lucy, Ben and Kate, and their various surreal exploits.[19]

DarkSquidge

DarkSquidge is the name of Ridgewell's secondary channel on YouTube. As of December 2016, the channel has over 600,000 subscribers and more than 67 million views.[20] 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,[21] 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.[20]

Other projects

In 2014, Ridgewell, in collaboration with Pixel Spill, created the game KatataK, a side-scrolling shoot 'em up for iOS and Android devices.[22]

In 2015, Ridgewell worked with animator Matt Ley to create Art Is Dead, a comic book based on, and featuring adapted sketches from, his asdfmovie series.[23][24]

Books

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 (2015-08-07), asdfmovie9, retrieved 2016-06-13
  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. "TenEighty at Vidfest UK MCM ComiCon". TenEighty. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  18. DarkSquidge (2015-06-26), I'M NOT AN ANIMATOR, retrieved 2016-06-13
  19. TomSka (2015-01-09), CRASH ZOOM - Movie Massacre, retrieved 2016-06-13
  20. 1 2 "DarkSquidge channel - about section".
  21. "TomSka channel - about section".
  22. "KatataK". www.katatakgame.com. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  23. DarkSquidge (11 September 2015), WE MADE A BOOK (Art is Dead reveal), retrieved 27 February 2016
  24. DarkSquidge (29 October 2015), ART IS DEAD IS OUT!!!, retrieved 27 February 2016
  25. "Art is Dead : The asdf Book". Book Depository.com. Retrieved 12 September 2015.

External links

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