NYU Talk - 1 Mar 2005

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On March 1, 2005, The Brothers Chaps appeared at a talk at New York University. They showed many things including a Sample of Style sequel, a new game, and Puppet Homestar Runner touring around New York.

Transcript

Below are the transcripts of the segments recorded by Tom:

In the Lobby

{Matt and Mike are standing at a table before the presentation. Matt is holding a puppet Homestar and talks while Mike signs his autograph and sketches characters. Many fans begin to gather around to watch them as they answer questions.}

MOTHER OF A FAN: So you guys will be talking about the whole phenomena?

MATT CHAPMAN: I guess. I mean, yeah. We'll just be doing this kind of thing. We brought a bunch of stuff to show that's not on the website and things like that. And it will all be on the website at some point or on maybe another DVD or...yeah. But yeah, when we went out today, with the puppet, we shot some stuff around campus - so we'll show that.

A FAN: Did you already film that?

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, yeah. Ryan is our video guy - he's upstairs editing it right now actually. He'll burn a DVD of the show.

A FAN: Cool. How did you get They Might Be Giants...

MATT CHAPMAN: They just emailed us. John Linnell just emailed us a while back. I guess at first we just like sent each other some free stuff...[indecipherable mention of shirts]...and then they were just like, "If you guys ever want to collaborate, just let us know and just-"

A FAN: Does Strong Bad have genitals on his boxing gloves?

MATT CHAPMAN: Those are his - They're his hands. Like so he doesn't have fingers - He can't take them off or he'd just be cutting his hands off. He's more of a masked, dressed creature. That's why his mouth is really the place where your mouth would go in and then there's a wrestling mask. {Matt uses his hands to demonstrate} It's like, you know if he was wearing a wrestling mask and boxing gloves and fell into a vat of radioactive goo and in turn then that melted it in to one.

MOTHER OF A FAN: So how did you guys start with this?

MATT CHAPMAN: Uh-

MIKE CHAPMAN: We were just doing it for fun five years ago.

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah. And uh-

A FAN: It's based loosely on the children's book, right?

MATT CHAPMAN: Well yeah. Well, loosely the term "children's book"-

MIKE CHAPMAN: We just made like ten copies at Kinko's-

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, and Mike and our friend Craig and it was just Homestar and Pom-Pom and The Cheat and Strong Bad {pause} and then after that just started around messing around with Flash and then...mostly out of demand from people started selling t-shirts and then pretty soon our dad was like, "You guys can probably quit your jobs"-

MOTHER OF A FAN: And so that supports your-

{Matt answers while he signs an autograph}

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah. So that's all we do is..is is-

MIKE CHAPMAN: He used to be a retired accountant.

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, so our dad's like...it helps to have a retired accountant for a dad.

A FAN: Where did The Cheat come from? Like ... was he just a Pokémon all along?

{Mike and Matt laugh}

MATT CHAPMAN: It was, uh, it was supposed to a... I hadn't heard of Pokémon 'cause it was '96 when we first drew The Cheat and he was more sort of this kinda to be this "sluggy" thing. Uh and uh and, yeah, then he ended up we first saw our first peek of Pikachu we were like, "Aww, geez".

A FAN: That's what they all say.

{Matt leans down to sign an autograph. There is silence for a while}

A FAN: How do you guys divvy up the like production stuff?

MIKE CHAPMAN: It's pretty much fifty-fifty. Like, when we'll write it together. And once Matt's recording the voices I'll be in starting the animation and once he's done with the voices then we kinda just split the scenes up fifty-fifty.

A FAN: Do you guys still record on paper first?

MIKE CHAPMAN: No. We kinda just do it on the fly. We don't have time for that. When it's Sunday night at five in the afternoon we don't have time for storyboards.

A FAN: You do The Cheat, right? The voice.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Yeah, when The Cheat makes cartoons I do all that- bad impressions of the characters.

MATT CHAPMAN: (to Mike) You don't have the gloves in your pocket, do you, anymore?

MIKE CHAPMAN: I don't. No.

MATT CHAPMAN: {hands an autographed poster to a fan} Um, that's for you.

A FAN: Thanks.

{Matt gets out his cell phone as he turns to face Mike. He is going to speak with a manager about an issue regarding a ticket shortage. Matt then hands his brother the phone and Mike steps away.}

A FAN: So you guys do this full time, like nothing else?

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, for almost like two and a half years now, I guess? We've been doing it. Mike did freelance...flash stuff and I worked for an Internet company and then we were able to just quit and do this for fun. Pretty awesome, yeah.

A FAN: Have you guys toured anywhere else?

MATT CHAPMAN: We've only done this a couple of other times...so, I went to Florida State University and so we went there and talked. And uh, and then we went to, we got to the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Which ruled. So cool we had never been to Canada at all.

A FAN: They love wrestle man in Canada.

MIKE CHAPMAN: What?

A FAN: They love wrestle man in Canada.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Yeah exactly.

{A fan shows Matt his Messenger Bag}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {pointing at the bag} Oh, wow. And you've got the patches and everything. Awesome.

FAN WITH MESSENGER BAG: This is, I think, the most apropos use of the patches.

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, hell yeah, that's great. {he points at the bag again} Nice work.

FAN WITH MESSENGER BAG: This nice thing that unzips here, you don't even see the, uh, all the crazy Frankenstein stitching.

MATT CHAPMAN: Right, yeah, exactly. {laughs}

FAN WITH MESSENGER BAG: I was wondering what the purpose of that thing was when I first got the bag-

MATT CHAPMAN: So you could sew stuff on. Right. And it still looks good.

FAN WITH MESSENGER BAG: {off-screen} I don't know why but these two always give me a craving for nachos.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Really?

MATT CHAPMAN: {laughs} He's gotta little south-

FAN WITH MESSENGER BAG: He goes, "Eh Steve!"

MATT CHAPMAN: -southwestern flair to him. That's funny because, uh, a friend of mine drew this, uh, it was from my wife and I's like wedding present. He like drew us this portrait with these weird versions of the Homestar characters and then the human version of Eh Steve he drew was this this guy with like- he looked like a flamenco dancer...guy he drew him, this like Latino guy and which was pretty cool.

A FAN: Am I the only person who wants-

MATT CHAPMAN: wants what?

A FAN: ...little girl merchandise? [indecipherable]

MATT CHAPMAN: I'll tell my sister that. Yeah, uh. Like she knows that it's on the web and like she's been to like- What? {interrupted by group laughter} But she knows that like. I don't know, that she knows that like a lot a lot of people have seen it and like it and stuff. And so it's like I don't know - Merchandise on her would screw her up even worse. We're like afraid that we've done irreparable damage to her.

A FAN: Where's Missy?

MIKE CHAPMAN: She will be...coming down here. She was taking a nap.

MATT CHAPMAN: (To a fan off-screen who thanked him) Yeah totally, man. Thanks for making the hike.

A FAN: We were unable to get tickets

MATT CHAPMAN: Oh you guys can't get in either? Oh, I'm sorry. Are you doing school here?

A FAN: No. [indecipherable] We just found out about this.

MATT CHAPMAN: (In response) Oh you were just visiting up here?

A FAN: [indecipherable]

MATT CHAPMAN: Oh, you live here.

A FAN: We're from Washington College and we watched the first Strong Bad Email like five years ago.

MIKE CHAPMAN: No way! That ruled! That was awesome, that's like right when we first started. I was actually living up here when I started.

A FAN: What about all the great work you did on tv?

MIKE CHAPMAN: They came to us. We were on Pulse twice and then they came to us and then I guess they canceled that show. And then 'The Screensavers' came to us.

A FAN: The new format of 'The Screensavers' was good. You were- it was a lot of fun.

MIKE CHAPMAN: I actually hadn't seen 'The Screensavers' for a while. It worked out ok but it was crazy. We were just filming that live upstairs with a webcam and [ran] down stairs because we have TiVo and rewind to see how it went.

A FAN: The world premiere of the Strong Bad puppet.

MIKE CHAPMAN: That's right.

A FAN: My friend and I have been debating. Are you really gonna make a Peasant's Quest movie?

MIKE CHAPMAN: We did.

MATT CHAPMAN: No, uh yeah. That was just- that was a joke. If we had-

MIKE CHAPMAN: Enough work days

MATT CHAPMAN: -could freeze time and like have a ton of money then we probably would. It would probably be a lot of fun.

A FAN: Can I get a quick picture of you guys if I get behind you?

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah totally. {draws characters on posters} We haven't drawn our characters in years. {Stands up and holds the Homestar Runner puppet}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {looks off-camera and sees his wife} Hey! What's up? {introducing tone} Missy Palmer, everyone.

{Camera pans left to show Missy Palmer. She approaches the table and the camera pans up to the ceiling briefly. Matt continues to listen and talk to fans and Missy and Mike talk in a low voice. Mike returns to signing autographs as Missy sits by herself behind them. Unimportant dialogue intentionally omitted.}

The Presentation

Before The Introduction

MATT CHAPMAN: [I want the] All-in-One Installer off my machine. Every time I turn it on, it reinstalls this one printer.

{group laughter}

MATT CHAPMAN: And I'm really sick of it.

{Mike suggests something indecipherable}

MATT CHAPMAN: {responding to Mike} Well you see I did that once and it just got it rid of the printer all together. And I need the printer. I don't want to do that every time.

A FAN IN THE AUDIENCE: Do you want help now or do you want it later?

MATT CHAPMAN: No, really not now would be good.

{group laughter}

MATT CHAPMAN: Thanks, though.

A FAN IN THE AUDIENCE: I look at it after the show-

{The computer screen changes to a DVD menu, signaling the start of the presentation.}

{group applause}

MATT CHAPMAN: Our video guy Ryan made this in like the last hour, he made this. Which is pretty awesome.

{Mike quickly plugs in a microphone and it causes a loud buzz sound}

MATT CHAPMAN: I didn't do that.

{group laughter}

Introduction

MIKE CHAPMAN: Hi everybody.

THE AUDIENCE: Hi!

MIKE CHAPMAN: I'm Mike Chapman and this is my brother, he's called Matt Chapman.

MATT CHAPMAN: We are the two chief executive officers of the Thorax Corporation LLC. Comma comma period.

Sample Of Style Too

MIKE CHAPMAN: Our little slave is running downstairs editing together and burning onto DVD right now. He's supposed to be done, but's he's not. So, he will run up here and give it to us and we'll show it at that time... But, in the meantime, we have some other stuff to show you that you may or may not have seen. Matt? Tell them what we did.

MATT CHAPMAN: We haven't even seen this yet. Have we?

MIKE CHAPMAN: No we haven't.

MATT CHAPMAN: So I don't think you have seen it.

MIKE CHAPMAN: As a precursor, we made a DVD a few months ago and there was some bonus stuff on it. One of bonus things was a little background information on how we did the sounds and how Matt did all the voices.

MATT CHAPMAN: Behind the scenes.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Uh, behind the scenes, yes. For the website. And so if you saw that, this is sort of the "follow-up" to that. So...

MATT CHAPMAN: Here, here goes. {He says something to Mike and he whispers back}

{Video begins to play showing Mike in a red shirt with white text}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Hi {dodges a roll of duct tape thrown at him} I'm Mike Chapman. People all the time coming up to me on the street and asking me, "Mike, how do you do the animation for your characters on homestarrunner.com?" I tell them...you guys, we're about to go film something with the character Strong Bad being animated and I will show you how, to answer your question. Come on! {gestures with his hand}

{Cut to next scene where Matt is wearing an off-white mask currently flipped up on his head and he is wearing a "motion capture" suit. Behind him is a solid green screen}

MIKE CHAPMAN: All right, we're set.

MATT CHAPMAN: We're ready to go. {As he says this, Matt flips down the mask he is wearing, which is textured like Strong Bad's face} Let's do this. {He begins to wave his arms as the camera zooms out}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Rolling! {Matt makes motions in his suit} That's good.

{Cut to scene where Matt and Mike are sitting down holding video game controllers}

MATT CHAPMAN: You know, so a lot of people think it is just straight-up Flash animation. Which is—

MIKE CHAPMAN: —A lot more advanced than that.

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, which is far from the truth. Far from it.

{Cut. Matt continues to animate his body}

MATT CHAPMAN: Gotta limber up... {more quickly} Gotta limber up. Ohh...surprising.

{Cut. Matt is on the left and he lifts up his mask}

MATT CHAPMAN: {To Mike, further right} Tell them how it's done. {starts laughing, hits Mike's shoulder}

{Cut. Matt's face is now obscured by the mask. Mike's back faces the camera}

MATT CHAPMAN: So tell them some more, Mike.

{Matt waves his arms as Mike suddenly turns to face the camera.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {gesturing to the suit} This is our motion capture suit. {Matt gradually lifts up the mask} On it, we have ping pong balls that are all the time sending out electronic messages {Matt laughs} through blue tooth reactors into the air, then they bounce off this pretty green wall which is represented and sent to the computer here. {As he is saying this, camera pans to show a laptop computer showing an image of Strong Bad}

{Video cuts to show a divided screen. On the left, Strong Bad is waving his arms up and down. On the right, Matt is waving his arms in an irregular pattern}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {offscreen} K, now, Homestar's on your left, Homestar's on your left. Good. Good. Good.

{Cut to previous shot with Matt on the left and Mike on the right}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Each ping pong ball represents one spectrum of blue tooth wireless mobility. {As he says this, Matt laughs and bends forward}

{Cut to show Matt close to the laptop}

MATT CHAPMAN: {profoundly} You can talk to the suit, Mike.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Well, {taking a closer look} these ping pong balls {pauses, gestures with his hands} {Matt stares at him at the verge of laughter}

{Cut to show Matt with the mask flipped down. He continues to wave his arms about and then lifts up the mask.}

{Cut to show Matt sitting down and drinking a bottle of water}

RYAN STERRITT: {offscreen} How did the shooting go today?

MATT CHAPMAN: {drinks more and then lowers bottle} Rough.

{Cut to the green screen room. Mike is in front of the camera and Matt is behind him closer to the screen, cowering on the floor.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Don't do that again! {throws ball at Matt}

MATT CHAPMAN: Oww!

{Cut to show previous shot with Matt sitting down}

MATT CHAPMAN: {puts bottle on table} Overall I think we got some good stuff. We got some good stuff. Strong Bad, ahhhhh {wiggles his fingers disapprovingly} But, you know. Homestar {reaffirming grin}

{Cut to show close up of Mike sitting at the desk with the laptop. An image of Strong Bad waving his arms up and down is displayed.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {looking to the right at Matt (offscreen)} Keep it up, we just got a few more sec— {The right arm of Strong Bad's image flickers and then disappears entirely. His left arm continues to move up and down} Whoa, hey hey hey hey. Hold on, hold on.

MATT CHAPMAN: What?

MIKE CHAPMAN: We lost an arm.

MATT CHAPMAN: What?

MIKE CHAPMAN: We lost an arm.

MATT CHAPMAN: {denyingly} No.

MIKE CHAPMAN: One of his arms is— {he gets up from the desk} One of his arms came off. {Camera pans to the right to show Matt making motions. His face is obscured by the mask.}

MATT CHAPMAN: I got it! I got it!

MIKE CHAPMAN: Hey hey. {he taps on the mask} Wake up!

MATT CHAPMAN: Ahh! Ahh! I got it!

MIKE CHAPMAN: {lifting up the mask} One of your arms came off. What happened?

MATT CHAPMAN: {stretches out his arms and examines them} They look good to me.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Take a closer look. They don't look good to me.

{Matt studies his left arm and starts to grin.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {grabs Matt's right arm and holds it up} What is this? What are these? {rips the irregular balls off of Matt's arm} This is the problem right here. {repeatedly hitting the two balls together as Matt grins}

{Matt puts his mask down}

MIKE CHAPMAN: These are— {laughs, lifts up the mask} These are wiffle golf balls. We need ping pong balls.

MATT CHAPMAN: {pointing to the balls on his suit} These— I got—

MIKE CHAPMAN: Table tennis balls. It's an Olympic sport.

MATT CHAPMAN: {assuredly} I got ping pong balls.

MIKE CHAPMAN: No, yeah, on everywhere else except for this part. That's why his arm disappeared. {holds the wiffle balls} These things have holes all over them. Looks like a mouse chewed through these things.

{Quick camera cut}

MATT CHAPMAN: Table tennis. What you said.

MIKE CHAPMAN: These are practice golf balls. And so it doesn't go as a far-

MATT CHAPMAN: {interrupts} Guy from the sports place said.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Yeah but these aren't gonna work, though. The guy from the sports place isn't a technological genius like us. And what needs to be done is to make me look like liquid like animation.

MATT CHAPMAN: {rubs his nose} Look, you- {his mask falls down on its own} You want to try on this suit? Hmm? For a day?

{Camera cuts to show Matt sitting on the floor next to the wall}

MATT CHAPMAN: Look. I do what I do because I love this job. That sounds like somebody's a little angry. {awkward pause}

{Cut to scene where Matt and Mike are sitting down holding video game controllers}

MATT CHAPMAN: You know, doing this with my brother.

{Camera cuts to show Matt sitting at the desk with the laptop. He flips the mask down}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Careful {comes over and grabs Matt's shoulder} Get up, that's my chair. Get up, that's my chair.

MATT CHAPMAN: Oww. {he abruptly gets out of the chair}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Get up, that's my chair. Get up, that's my chair. {sits down}

{Cut to show Matt waiving his arms in front of the green screen again}

MATT CHAPMAN: Uh yeah, itchy man. Focization. Art of focization itchy man {he continues to move arms about in various poses until he flips down his mask and faces the floor}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {offscreen} Off the form there, ichy mayo. {Matt gets up}

{Cut to earlier scene where Mike is preaching Matt about the wiffle golf balls}

MATT CHAPMAN: I didn't buy those.

MIKE CHAPMAN: I told you to go pick up some lunch and some ping pong balls and some duct tape.

MATT CHAPMAN: I did.

MIKE CHAPMAN: You didn't get lunch. {looks to the balls in his hand} And you got these.

MATT CHAPMAN: {grins and puts arms at his hips} I got me lunch.

{After a short pause, camera cuts to show Ryan Sterritt sitting at a computer when Matt enters the door}

MATT CHAPMAN: Hey.

RYAN STERRITT: {turns his head to face Matt} Yeah?

MATT CHAPMAN: Hey, uh. {whispering} Can I talk to you for a second?

RYAN STERRITT: Yeah, come on in.

MATT CHAPMAN: {approaches Ryan} Uh, remember the other day I, uh, asked you to go get, go get some ping pong balls for the...motion capture suit.

RYAN STERRITT: {nodding head} Yes.

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, um, I got in a lot of trouble. {Camera zooms in to clearly show the wiffle golf ball package Matt is holding in his hands} These aren't, these are wiffle golf balls. This one has holes. And I guess that does - we can't get good data.

RYAN STERRITT: The guy at the furniture store said these were ping pong balls.

MATT CHAPMAN: {belittling} The furniture store? You got these... {holds package up} They sell...wiffle golf balls?

RYAN STERRITT: Yes...{moves his head incoherently}

{Matt starts to crack up as the camera cuts to show him in front of the green screen. He taps his feet back and forth and then he lowers his mask. Camera cuts again to previous scene in the computer room with Ryan.}

MATT CHAPMAN: He's a little steamed right now. So, if you could go ahead and... take the blame for all of this, that would be— that would be great.

RYAN STERRITT: He's out of line.

MATT CHAPMAN: Yea, exactly. Cool. Thanks man. {drops the wiffle ball package in Ryan's lap}

RYAN STERRITT: {picks up the package, examines one of the balls}

{Cut to Mike sitting at the laptop with Matt in front of the green screen.}

MATT CHAPMAN: {holding the end of a cord that is attached to his suit} I need you to plug this in.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Plug... this? {grabs the cord unsurely}

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Where does this go?

MATT CHAPMAN: That's our main input.

MIKE CHAPMAN: This— I don't have a plug this big. This is—

MATT CHAPMAN: In the back.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Mm, {sticks the end of the cord behind the computer, humoring} There we go.

MATT CHAPMAN: {laughs}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {humoring} We're all set. Okay.

MATT CHAPMAN: All right. {Pulls the other end of the cord out of his pocket} I mean, this is supposed to be—

MIKE CHAPMAN: {humoring} Do your thing.

MATT CHAPMAN: —tucked in my pocket anyhow. {Cut. Matt is walking down the hallway toward the computer room}

MATT CHAPMAN: Mike, did you uh, make that cartoon funny yet?

{Cut. Mike is at the computer, watching an animated Strong Bad running.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: That's good, keep going, keep going. {screen pans toward Matt in front of the green screen, doing running motions.} Good, good. Little bit more move your arms, little bit more of your arms. {Matt waves arms wider} And... yea. Turn your uh, head towards the front. And down, good. Bubs' Concession Stand, just about to pass, {Matt looks and points to his left} very good, point, yeah, yup. Here comes The Stick. Watch out for The Stick. {Matt jumps}

{Cut. Mike is sitting at the computer. Matt is standing in front of the green screen. Matt no longer has a Strong Bad mask, and is holding Puppet Marshie behind his back.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Alright, uh so for this scene, we, there's gonna be, there's gonna be a lot of quick, action.

MATT CHAPMAN: Okay.

MIKE CHAPMAN: {hands matt a ping pong ball} And um, maybe you can put this back on yourself. Um, all the, kind of martial arts moves, you know any hapedo, or I-peo, or {simultaneous unintelligible words.}

{Cut. Matt has Puppet Marshie in his right hand and a black mask with a ping pong ball is covering his face. Matt does random martial arts motions.}

{Cut.}

MATT CHAPMAN: Do you have a problem?

MIKE CHAPMAN: {gestures to Matt} This is motion capture Matt. It's my new friend, motion capture Matt!

{Cut. Matt has Puppet Marshie back in his right hand and a black mask with a ping pong ball is covering his face. Matt does random martial arts motions again.}

{Cut. Matt is standing in front of a doorway with Puppet Marshie on his hand.}

MATT CHAPMAN: {Mock-imitating Mike Chapman} I'm Mike Chapman, and I don't know anything about my website. People ask me about it and I don't know what to say. {Throws Puppet Marshie to the ground. Walks offscreen waving arms wildly}

{Cut. Matt and Mike are sitting in chairs against the wall. Matt is inspecting his motion capture suit}

MATT CHAPMAN: {unintelligible} -What are you thinking?

MIKE CHAPMAN: I'm just letting- reminding you that we have a deadline. And that person over there thought it was funny.

{Camera pans to somebody at a computer, then back to the Chapmans}

MATT CHAPMAN: {unintelligible whispering} -right place- {unintelligible. Matt and Mike get up and walk out of the room}

{Cut. Matt is standing in front of the green screen}

MATT CHAPMAN: Oops, we're out of time. You may be asking, "How do you animate the Homestar Runner character?" Well, I've got an answer for you: {holds up black underwear with two ping pong balls attached} You don't want to know!

{Screen cuts to background of Puppet Homestar. Audience applauds. Matt walks back onstage.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: That's the first time we've ever saw that. {unintelligible}

MATT CHAPMAN: I just thought that you did a fantastic job. Uh, so that's how we animate our website. {laughter}

Peasant's Quest Video & More

MIKE CHAPMAN: The last couple of years, we've been trying to do something for halftime at the Super Bowl. We've never gotten around to it and this year we planned far enough in advance to do that. So, in addition to doing that, we thought we'd make it file that was thirteen times bigger than any other file we've ever made. Put it up at halftime of the Super Bowl and tell everyone to check it. So, it didn't go, you know, the first, maybe two or three people got to see it okay. But anyway, so it's a big full-motion like three minute fake movie trailer for this video game that we made called Peasant's Quest. And, we made that. Do you guys want to see that or just the bonus stuff?

AUDIENCE: Show it!

MIKE CHAPMAN: OK. We'll show it, but nobody's seen it this big before.

{Full Screen Peasant's Quest Trailer plays.}

MATT CHAPMAN: So, we actually have a couple of the cast members of the Peasant's Quest trailer in the house tonight. My lovely wife Jackie and my lovely friend Matt Gribbon. Sit up! They refuse to stand up. Matt expertly played two different guys; Mendelev and Dongolev.

{audience laughs.}

MATT CHAPMAN: Amazingly. And Jackie sat in our tool shed and played the peasant lady with the baby.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Should we show them the puppet thing?

This section of the page is incomplete. You can help the Homestar Runner Wiki by expanding it.

Puppet Homestar Answers Questions

PUPPET HOMESTAR: I...{audience laughter}...that was just answered, I'm-- I am telekinetic. I'm telekinetic. And it's just a cartoon, and you shouldn't worry about it and... all that. Yes?

A FAN: Did any other chara--

PUPPET HOMESTAR: Alan...

A FAN: Yes.

PUPPET HOMESTAR: ...with an "I"...

A FAN: Did any other characters come?

PUPPET HOMESTAR: Um... I'm the only one that fits in a duffel bag. {audience laughter} Strong Bad's too big. We need to make like a custom... carrying case. {audience laughter} And get some roadies. He's like a Marshall stack, that guy. {audience laughter} Um... what's the status... quo, you guys?

{Pause.}

PUPPET HOMESTAR: 8 minutes of it? Am I funny? {unintelligible} ...okay. Sounds like we've got something to show ya's -- that we shot today, on campus, here in New York... on campus. {audience laughter} I'm gonna... go. {Puppet Homestar is put back in his bag} Ow! Ow! Now I'm there. {audience laughter}

{unintelligible noise.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: So, we took the puppet out --

{audience applauds. Projector screen shows "WinDVD 4" splash screen.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: That was my brother, Matt. So, we shot some puppet stuff today. And normally we have a little more time, but Ryan was able to put something together, but it crapped out burning the last little bit. So Matt, we have to stop it after me and Homestar are talking to Garfield...

MATT CHAPMAN: What happens when I don't stop it before then?

MIKE CHAPMAN: Matt, it just isn't funny. So, we'll see how this goes. It's like eight minutes. It's the Homestar puppet and the rhinoceros shark-toothed bubs...toy. Uh oh, the DVD's not working. Maybe Ryan? That's cool, though. These people are cool with that, right?

MATT CHAPMAN: Craig, do you have your iPod?

MIKE CHAPMAN: I have my iPod in my pocket, does that count? {unintelligible}

MATT CHAPMAN: {sarcastically} We go off without a hitch here at homestarrunner.com

MIKE CHAPMAN: Things run smoothly!

MATT CHAPMAN: Does anyone have any questions while we wait for me and Mike?

MIKE CHAPMAN: Questions are always fun.

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, they take up a lot of time. {pointing} Yes, sir. Stand up so everyone can see and hear.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: {standing} In 100 emails, the easter egg with the Limozeen members. Limozeen was congratulating Strong Bad on his 100th. Who were those four guys?

MATT CHAPMAN: They were me, and me, and me, and me. {audience laughter} I put on a black leotard, and taped some ping pong balls to it. Put a blonde wig on and Ryan took me into four dudes. It's pretty awesome. Uh no, so we've got--it's in our office we just painted. Craig was in town. Craig Zobel- Stand up, Craig Zobel. Craig Zobel invented Homestar Runner with Mike back in 1996.

MIKE CHAPMAN: It's true.

{audience applauds}

MATT CHAPMAN: And I stole it from him.

MIKE CHAPMAN: He's what Coach Z is named after.

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, Bill Cramer is in the back. Bill, give him a high five. Bill would call him Coach Zobel, and that's where Coach Z came from. So we just steal things our friends say and sell t-shirts with them on them. {audience laughter} That's not true.

MIKE CHAPMAN: And then we put our friends on the guest list to something like this and reward them for it.

MATT CHAPMAN: I hope they don't get angry.

{Technical difficulties continue and the brothers talk back and forth about what to show next. They decide to show a preview for the Stinkoman 20X6 game.}

Future Game Preview - Stinkoman 20X6

MIKE CHAPMAN: We're working on a new game for our website homestarrunner.com and the game stars the character "Stinkoman". He used to be called "Stinkoman K".

{There is a delay while the brothers attempt to get the computer's sound to work.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: This has some good music that our friend Jonathan made. He makes some games, but he also does some of the music for us.

{The projection screen shows the start screen of the game. The opening cutscenes are shown and Matt provides the voice of Stinkoman. He then proceeds to demo Level 1.1. On Level 1.2, Stinkoman is freefalling with multiple Mr. Ubbers and Clowders around him.}

MATT CHAPMAN: So this level's not completed yet. But obviously he's punching giant raindrops and clouds with propellers on them. {audience laughter} So that'll be posted on the website. {applause} Jonathan was supposed to be here and he got really sick so he wanted to apologize to everyone that he couldn't show you guys that. John is very talented. He made Trogdor and Peasant's Quest.

Flash animation clips

{The presentation screen shows windows explorer. Open is a folder with about 40 files inside it.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: I've got a bunch of stuff on here that I put on here. {pause} Okay, so when Matt and I and Ryan went to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada last year, we had a - Matt and I challenged each other to make a cartoon on the plane. Here are two playing cartoons. Mildly amusing. This is mine. This is all this is.

{A refrigerator on a beach is shown with two sheets of paper stuck on with yellow magnets. Grass in the lower left corner moves in the breeze.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: The notes read "Kids, I'm on vacation. -Dad. P.S. I don't know where mom is."

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Is that grass in the corner?

MIKE CHAPMAN: Yeah, I spent all my time on the grass. That's probably why it's not very good. And here's Matt's.

{A dark yellow rectange with rounded-off corners appears. Inside on the top is the chemical formula "O₂". Also inside is a silhouette of a man on the right. On the left is an oxygen mask with a mouth on the bottom. Mike provides the voices to both.}

MASK: what is up, my dog?

SILHOUETTE: na'an. just loungin.

MASK: sweet, sweet. goin over to merbeck's tonight?

SILHOUETTE: dunno.

MASK: sweet, sweet.

SILHOUETTE: i really hate your girlfriend, man.

{Now on screen we see a man looking out an airplane window. Moments later a fish swims by.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {reading text} check it out, there are fish out there. {pause} stupid fish.

{audience laughter}

MIKE CHAPMAN: I made a cartoon last night in my hotel room. And since I don't do the voices and stuff, I didn't have much to work with. So it's thirty seconds long

{Mike reads the opening credits of An Open Forum as it plays.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: And that's it. That's all I could muster. {audience applause}

MATT CHAPMAN: Why don'tcha make cartoons like that for our website? That doesn't look like anything on our website.

MIKE CHAPMAN: We could show 'em Coach Z "These peoples try to fade me" video?

MATT CHAPMAN: Uh, we put out a CD a year ago, and there's a data track on it, you can put quicktime movies.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Lotsa people like Jonathan that haven't seen it.

MATT CHAPMAN: So, we wanted it to be exclusive so we never put it on our website. It so tempting, like some weeks when we don't have anything. And it's like "well, we have that whole Coach Z thing". But we wanna keep it exclusive.

MIKE CHAPMAN: So here's the Coach Z video.

{These peoples try to fade me video plays. Applause follows.}

MATT CHAPMAN: As director, The Cheat has rather sloppy Flash skills.

{Mike opens the application Macromedia Flash 5. From there he opens a graphic of Nibbles.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Check this out. So I'm just going to show them...Nibbles! Look, it's the mini marshmallow version of Marshie. He's sort of a Nermal to Marshie's Garfield. He's much cuter than Marshie.

MATT CHAPMAN: {voice of Marshie} I wanna eat him!

MIKE CHAPMAN: Marshie hates him.

MATT CHAPMAN: {voice of Marshie} I hate that little thing! He's trying to take my job!

{Mike then opens a Flash file with Homestar Runner made of Lego blocks}

This section of the page is incomplete. You can help the Homestar Runner Wiki by expanding it.

After the Presentation

PURPLEFACE: I'm from Murfreesboro, by the way. And I wanted you to know that because of you, none of my friends here in New York can pronounce the name of my hometown correctly. It's always MurFREESboro.

MATT CHAPMAN: Wow. We never actually thought of people living there.

This section of the page is incomplete. You can help the Homestar Runner Wiki by expanding it.

Brief Summary and Random Facts

The organizers of the event had no idea how popular the event would be, and only booked a room which held about 50 students. The tickets quickly sold out when made available to the students at their student ticket center. Unfortunately, the Brothers Chaps were unaware of the ticketing/seating situation, and mentioned the appearance on their website. People inundated the site, one family of four driving from Virginia to NYC that day, only to find no tickets available. Fans holding signs outside the center were offering cash in trade for tickets. Matt and Mike sat downstairs in the lobby of NYU's Kimmel Student Center signing autographs and talking to fans. At least on two separate occasions, Matt was willing to talk on people's cell phones as Strong Bad and/or Homestar.
Matt and Mike aren't much for introductions; they opted to start by showing off an early cut of a humorous sequel to "Sample of Style" (on the DVD) where The Brothers Chaps told how they made the characters move (a "how do you animate the characters" answer). They parodied the "motion capture" greenscreen and ping-pong-ball setup, much like that used for Gollum in Lord of the Rings. This was an early cut; a complete version of "Sample of Style Too" was later released on Disc Four of the DVD set.
They also showed the Peasant's Quest Trailer, followed by a special feature where they simply played video of Matt fixing the hair of his fake wig. Later, they showed some footage that took shots from the video and removes each special effect one at a time. These were both included on the DVD Everything Else, Volume 1, as Your Hair is Messed Up and Here's How We Made It.
They showed an old planned feature that never happened where Bubs shows a bunch of Bazooka Joe comics, mostly making fun of the fact that they rarely had punchlines. This later became Bubslegum Comics.
They showed Coach Z's "These peoples try to fade me" video, a secret on the CD.
The results of their "lets animate a cartoon on the plane!" competition. Mike made one with a fridge on a beach with some really well-animated grass here and there. There were some notes on it written from a father to his kids. The other cartoon made by Matt took some of the flight safety card drawing and animated them, including one where an airbag and a passenger have a conversation, and another where a passenger about to exit out the emergency door look out the window to see fish swimming by.
They explained the origins of the Homestar Puppet and the Bubs With Growling Teeth and a Horn doll (later renamed Shark-Tooth Bubs); both were samples sent by a Chinese company.
A funny puppet short with Homestar traveling around the NYU Area, parts of which were released on Disc Four of the DVD set as Puppets on the Road.
They showed off a preview for the then-unreleased game, Stinkoman 20X6. It parodies the original NES MegaMan games.
While there, Matt as the Homestar puppet devised amusing nicknames for some of the more interactive audience members. Some are mentioned in the transcripts: "Alan with an I" in reference to a male student named Alain (pronounced Alan) who received an autograph before the presentation, "Doo-rag" for a male student wearing a bandana on his head, and "Purpleface" for a female student who removed her purple NYU sweatshirt (the school's color) to reveal another purple NYU t-shirt beneath.
Also in attendance were some of The Brothers' Chaps closest friends, including Craig Zobel, Ryan Sterritt, Matt's wife Jackie Chapman, and Missy Palmer. Missy fielded questions in character as Marzipan as well. The Brothers Chaps introduced them to the crowd individually.

Photos

NYU Intro	"Bubs' Dumb Bubblegum Comics"	"Processing" the data	A new game - 'Stinkoman 20X6'
Original Trogador	Matt's "Scientific" animation suit	Rain drops keep falling on our heads...	Hotel Room Animation - An Open Forum
An autograph for Purpleface.	An autographed promotional poster.