TomSka

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TomSka
Geek Faëries 2016 - TomSka (cropped).jpg
TomSka during the Geek Faëries in France in 2016
Personal information
BornThomas James Ridgewell
(1990-06-27) 27 June 1990 (age 31)
Essex, England
EducationUniversity of Lincoln
Occupation
  • Filmmaker
  • actor
  • content creator
  • vlogger
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
YouTube information
ChannelsTomSka
TomSka & Friends
Years active2004–present
Genre
  • Comedy
  • sketch comedy
  • action
  • black comedy
  • surreal comedy
  • slapstick
  • adult animation
Subscribers
  • 7.04 million (TomSka)
  • 1.32 million (TomSka & Friends)
Total views
  • 1.8 billion (TomSka)
  • 173.8 million (TomSka & Friends)
Associated acts
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg 100,000 subscribers 2010 (TomSka)
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg 1,000,000 subscribers 2012 (TomSka)[1]
Updated: 9 September 2021

Thomas James Ridgewell (born 27 June 1990),[2] known online as TomSka, is a British filmmaker, actor, content creator, and vlogger. He is known for writing, directing, producing and starring his live-action sketch comedy YouTube videos and animated web-series such as asdfmovie,[a] Eddsworld and Crash Zoom.[3] As of June 2021, his YouTube channel has over 7.98 million subscribers and his videos have garnered over 2.1 billion views.[4]

Early life and education[]

As a child, Ridgewell made short films using his parents' video camera.[5] Shortly after YouTube was established, Ridgewell created CakeBomb,[6] a website where he posted his projects, including his animated web series asdfmovie and his friend Edd Gould's Eddsworld. Ridgewell graduated from the University of Lincoln[7] where he studied Media Production, and whilst studying created a series of unofficial advertisements for the university which received millions of views.[8]

Career[]

As a professional YouTuber, Ridgewell earns money from revenue on his videos on the website.[9][10] He has been discussed and interviewed in relation to this, especially when the medium of online video was in its infancy.[2] He has appeared as a guest on the BBC's The One Show[11] and created short films for Comedy Central.[12]

In October 2007, Ridgewell created a secondary channel called DarkSquidge (currently known as TomSka & Friends).[13] As of June 2021, the channel has over 1.2 million subscribers and over 161 million views.[14] While his main channel consists of sketch comedy and animations, The TomSka & Friends channel shows behind the scenes footage of TomSka related projects and videos, as well as vlogging.[citation needed] Ridgewell also engages in social commentary, covering a range of topics such as mental health,[15] sexual health and body positivity.[16] From April 2016 to February 2018, he uploaded weekly vlogs to the channel in a series named Last Week.[17]

In 2008, Ridgewell released the first episode of asdfmovie,[18] an animated sketch comedy series featuring short clips of minimalist characters in surreal and occasionally darkly humorous situations. The song "Beep Beep I'm a Sheep" by Canadian musician LilDeuceDeuce with vocals by Ridgewell and Gabriel Brown,[19] released alongside asdfmovie10, was featured in the dance rhythm game Just Dance 2018.[20] A book based on the asdfmovie series, titled Art is Dead: the asdf book, was written by Ridgewell, illustrated by Matt Ley and published by Little Brown on 22 October 2015.[21] A second book titled Sam Kills Christmas, written by Ridgewell and Eddie Bowley with illustrations by Dorina Herdewijn, was released on 8 November 2018.[22][23]

In 2012, Ridgewell founded the media production company, TurboPunch Ltd., located in London. He currently works there alongside co-writer Eddie Bowley and video editor Elliot Gough.[24] Ridgewell also became the producer of Eddsworld after the show's creator, Edd Gould, died of leukaemia.[25] He left the series in 2016, relinquishing the show to animator Matt Hargreaves.[25]

In February 2013, Ridgewell was featured on the cover of Wired UK as part of a feature titled "How YouTube Reinvented the Entertainment Business".[26] In May 2013, he was featured in YouTube's first Comedy Week[27] as a guest host for its Geek Week series in August.[28]

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.[29][30] In September 2014, the BBC announced Ridgewell would appear as a guest presenter on the Dan and Phil Show on BBC Radio 1.[31][32][33]

In 2016, Ridgewell filmed several sketches with the BBC for a potential sketch show on BBC Three.[34]

In May 2018, Ridgewell uploaded The Muffin Song, a spin-off song of his asdfmovie series, in collaboration with Schmoyoho. The video has garnered over 200 million views.[35]

In 2019, Ridgewell developed a card game based on asdfmovie in collaboration with Big Potato Games called Muffin Time: The Random Card Game.[36] He raised over £1,000,000 for the game on Kickstarter.[37]

Personal life[]

Ridgewell's twin sister, Amelia, died prenatally after their mother sustained injuries in a car accident.[38]

He was raised a Jehovah's Witness but no longer practices this faith.[39] Despite this, he has expressed belief in a higher power.[38]

Though not primarily a musician by trade, Ridgewell has played bass guitar in multiple videos, including "Guitar Warfare"[40] and "Mine Turtle" as a featured artist with LilDeuceDeuce.[41]

He endorsed the Labour Party in the 2017 United Kingdom general election[42] and expressed his opposition to both Brexit[43] and the Conservative Party.[44]

Books[]

  • Art is Dead: the asdf book (2015, Little Brown Book Group, ISBN 9780751563047)
  • Sam Kills Christmas (2018, Little Brown Book Group, ISBN 0751563056)

Notes[]

  1. ^ "asdf" pronounced /ˈæzdəf/

References[]

  1. ^ ChewingSand (3 October 2012), Hazel and Tom are Professional, retrieved 13 June 2016
  2. ^ a b Lewis, Tim; Fox, Killian; Michael, Lizzi (6 April 2013). "YouTube UK: 20 of Britain's most popular online video bloggers". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  3. ^ Klein, Jessica (17 August 2014). "Between Comedies, TomSka Also Educates His YouTube Fans – VideoInk". VideoInk, Inc. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  4. ^ "TomSka's YouTube Stats". Social Blade. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  5. ^ Clarkson, Stephanie (2015). Vlog It!. United Kingdom: Scholastic UK. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-4071-6512-7.
  6. ^ "CakeBomb". CakeBomb. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  7. ^ Cousins, Rachael (27 August 2014). "Former University of Lincoln students to guest present on Radio 1". Lincolnshire Echo. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  8. ^ Johnson, Sarah (18 August 2011). "Appointment to view: The University of Lincoln goes viral". Campaign. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  9. ^ "The Tom Ridgewell show: the 22-year-old making £10,000 a month from his bedroom on YouTube". Evening Standard. 12 March 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  10. ^ Whitworth, Dan (19 April 2011). "YouTube star TomSka 'makes thousands' every month". Newsbeat. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  11. ^ thepod96 (23 November 2011). "TomSka and Bing on The One Show – BBC One". YouTube. The One Show. BBC.
  12. ^ "YouTube Sensation TomSka Takes Over Comedycentral.co.uk". ViacomCBS. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  13. ^ "DarkSquidge – YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  14. ^ "DarkSquidge's YouTube Stats". Social Blade. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  15. ^ Griffin, Louise (18 February 2019). "TomSka opens up about the dark side of asdfmovie, repairing relationships, and getting a 'real job'". Metro. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  16. ^ THE SEX TALK, retrieved 7 June 2021
  17. ^ O'Dell, Liam (8 September 2017). "TomSka Announces the End of Last Week". TenEighty. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  18. ^ Dillon, Poppy (12 August 2015). "Tom Ridgewell to Release asdf Comic Book". TenEighty. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  19. ^ Melnychuk, Mark (7 April 2017). "Regina musician's latest video racking up millions of views on YouTube". Regina Leader-post. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  20. ^ Sounders, Mike (23 August 2017). "Random time: Beep beep like a sheep in Just Dance 2018". Destructoid. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  21. ^ Dillon, Poppy (12 August 2015). "Tom Ridgewell to Release asdf Comic Book". TenEighty. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  22. ^ Weiss, Geoff (24 September 2018). "U.K. YouTube Vet TomSka Has Written A Kids' Book Called 'Sam Kills Christmas'". Tubefilter. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  23. ^ Griffin, Louise (7 November 2018). "TomSka is ready to 'take down' Christmas with his new book, and we're not mad". Metro. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  24. ^ "TURBOPUNCH LIMITED". Datalog. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  25. ^ a b Gutelle, Sam (23 March 2016). "TomSka's New Documentary Explains How Eddsworld Survived Its Creator's Death". Tubefilter. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  26. ^ Cheshire, Tom (7 February 2013). "Talent Tube: how Britain's new YouTube superstars built a global fanbase". Wired UK. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  27. ^ "YouTube's Comedy Week shows how much comedy has changed". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  28. ^ Vincent, James (25 July 2013). "YouTube Launches 'Geek Week', Nerds Left in the Shade". The Independent. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  29. ^ "KatataK". KatataK. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  30. ^ Saylor, Jacob (29 December 2014). "KatataK Is Now Out for iOS and Android". Gameranx. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  31. ^ "New youth presenters for Radio 1". BBC. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  32. ^ Lewis, Tim (6 April 2013). "YouTube superstars: the generation taking on TV – and winning". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  33. ^ Burrell, Ian (22 August 2014). "Radio 1 to hire 'YouTube-famous' vloggers to broadcast online". The Independent. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  34. ^ Fitzgerald, Claire (3 December 2015). "Tom Ridgewell Working with BBC Comedy". TenEighty. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  35. ^ "TomSka's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile) – Social Blade". Social Blade. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  36. ^ O'Dell, Liam (14 August 2019). "TomSka Announces asdfmovie Card Game". TenEighty. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  37. ^ Hutchins, Robert (16 September 2019). "Big Potato and Turbo Punch join £1m club on Kickstarter with Muffin Time success". ToyNews. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  38. ^ a b DarkSquidge (28 January 2013). "7 Facts About TomSka". YouTube. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  39. ^ DarkSquidge (7 October 2015). "The Day My Faith Died". YouTube. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  40. ^ Page, Justin (20 May 2013). "Guitar Warfare, An Explosive Guitar Battle Between Good and Evil". Laughing Squid. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  41. ^ TomSka (22 June 2012). "MINE TURTLE (asdfmovie song)". YouTube. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  42. ^ 'TomSka' Ridgewell, Thomas (2 June 2017). "Over the past few weeks Corbyn has really won me over – I'll definitely be voting Labour next week". Twitter. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  43. ^ Lawrence, Derek (27 June 2016). "VidCon: TomSka compares Brexit to zombie apocalypse". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  44. ^ 'TomSka' Ridgewell, Thomas (26 November 2019). "Look. I don't want Brexit. I don't want the Tories in power anymore". Twitter. Retrieved 14 September 2020.

External links[]

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