Mike Chapman

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Revision as of 20:42, 22 July 2023

Teeg Dougland in the flesh! (In the sock cap!)

Michael "Mike" Raymond Chapman (born September 20, 1973) is one half of homestarrunner.com creative duo The Brothers Chaps. Alongside younger brother Matt Chapman, he serves as one of the principal creators of the Homestar Runner body of work.

Career

Education

Raised in Georgia, Mike attended Dunwoody High School along with his brother. Mike studied Fine Art at the University of Georgia, earning a degree in photography. As of 2006, the physical degree was still rolled up in the cardboard tube it was mailed in.^[ff] Mike enrolled at a postgrad Master's photography program at Louisiana State University; realizing his esoteric approach meant he "didn't have the desire or the skills to be a commercial photographer", he dropped out of the program in 1999.^[tlc] Returning to Georgia, he and Matt began sharing an apartment together.

Mike's other artistic pursuits were largely unschooled, he has been described as "a self-taught graphic designer/animator/illustrator/writer/musician".^[ff] Before focusing full-time on Homestar Runner, Mike did graphic/web/flash design work.^[ls]

Homestar Runner

"Scruffy old brother and a flaming peasant", at PAX

In June 1996, Mike and his friend Craig Zobel co-wrote The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest. A short picture book parodying children's stories, about ten to fifteen copies of the book were made and distributed among friends.

When learning about the creative possibilities of Flash, Mike and Matt chose Homestar Runner as the subject to use when teaching themselves the program.

Characters

From Sample of Style:

I'm Mike Chapman from homestarrunner.com. People are all the time asking me "Mike, how do you do those stupid voices for your dumb animal characters?" and I say "I'm Mike! Matt does the voices!"

Although Matt is the primary voice actor for the site's characters, a few secondary figures are portrayed by Mike. Pom Pom's "voice" is a sound clip of Mike blowing bubbles into milk. Mike voices the Powered by The Cheat iterations of characters, impersonating Matt's voice intentionally poorly; he uses similar voices for characters like Shark-Tooth Bubs and Craig. In cheat talk, Mike substitutes as Strong Sad's voice.^[i]

Teeg Dougland resembles Mike, who provides his voice.

Other characters voiced by Mike include:

• The announcer in Where's the Cheat?, and announcer #2 in Strong Bad Sings.
• Blue Laser Babies
• The Knight
• The Worm
• Teeg Dougland
• Strong Sad in cheat talk
• That Time of Year narrator
• The Exact Same

Mike portrays the following characters via photo or video appearances:

• Videlectrix Programmer Number Two
• Dolph Hauldhagen
• Dave Olafstenston of Taranchula
• Thy Dungeonman

Music

Mike b/w beard

Mike is a songwriter and vocalist, and plays bass guitar, synthesizers, and Synthcart. He has performed music as a member of sloshy both on the site and in live performances.

Outside of Homestar Runner, Matt has released music as part of groups 3-Dee, Hi-Score, and Air-Sea Dolphin.

Favorite Music

In a 2003 interview, Mike provided his top 5 favorite albums (in no particular order):

• Tom Waits — Rain Dogs
• Modern Lovers — The Modern Lovers
• Beastie Boys — Paul's Boutique
• Mudhoney — Superfuzz Bigmuff
• Built to Spill — Ultimate Alternative Wavers

Mike has also expressed interest in The Glands, The Flaming Lips, Will Oldham, and Outkast.

Personal Life

Brothers Mike, Matt, and Donnie (L-R)

Mike is the second-youngest of Don and Harriet Chapman's five children. Eldest brother Donnie is occasionally cited as a creative influence on The Brothers Chaps, particularly in sharing his interests about older video games or music.

Mike began dating Missy Palmer, voice of Marzipan shortly before the site started in January of 2000.^[pb] They were married February 28, 2004. Their daughter, referred to as the Very, Very Little Girl, was born in 2006 and appeared in Homestar vs. Very, Very Little Girl.

Fun Facts

• His favorite Strong Bad Email is best thing.
• His favorite character is The Homestar Runner.
• Mike was a panel member for the "Beyond Saturday Morning" discussion group at the 2004 Atlanta Film Festival.

See Also

• Matt Chapman
• The Brothers Chaps' Fansite Acknowledgments
• Mike's 2007 birthday card
• Mike Chapman filmography

Referenced interviews

Additional videos and interviews are available at Interviews and Public Appearances and Articles.

• Legion Studios interview, 2002
• Penguin Brothers interview, May 2003
• Tastes Like Chicken interview, June 2003
• The Inkhole interview, July 2004

External Links

• The Brothers Chaps at Wikipedia
• Mike Chapman on IMDb
• Panelist biography from SXSW 2005 (archive link)
• Speaker biography from Flashforward 2006 (archive link)