Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

EP 334 - Welcome to the Stupidpocalypse with Brittlestar

Nov 23, 2023

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Mark interviews social media funny man Brittlestar (Stewart Reynolds) about his creative work and his new book Welcome to the Stupidpocalypse: Survival Tips for the Dumbageddon.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, welcomes a new patron, and offers a word from this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by Mark's movie trivia guides to Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Die Hard.

In their conversation, Mark and Stewart talk about:

Where the name "Brittlestar" came from
Stewart's background as a musician and how he incorporates that into the parody music his does as part of his video skits
How the music he now does for social media posts has broadly opened up the various styles and genres he can play and play with
Stewart always writing stuff since he was a kid
The way the book came from a series of topics that he wanted to riff on but which might not work as well for a video
Being a fan of music and television and videos and trying to produce content from the perspective of the audience and of things he would like to see
Beginning to do social media content back in 2013
Some of the early viral videos including the "Put Your Finger on the Screen" series and "Summer is Not Over"
How Stewart, his wife Shannon, and their two sons were all involved in the creation of their social media content, and how Disney and that social media business came along in the nick of time to save them
The KFC-branded "Explaining Canada Day to Americans" video that rec'd more than 10 million views than that year's most popular Nike video
The process of how they create these videos, often based on a concept and a punch-line with a bit of winging it
Getting into writing specific scripts for these skits about five years ago, which led into the monologue-style videos
Why their living room is often dubbed the place where ideas go to die
The "The Morning Show Thing" show that Stewart and Shannon started in 2015 - which is returning again in a slightly differen format
Having to convince Shannon to come out in front of the camera
Stewart's new book WELCOME TO THE STUPIDPOCALYPSE: Survival Tips for the Dumbageddon
Some of the differences between writing essays that were 1000 words verses a one and a half minute video
The irreverence that Stewart was able to inject into the text of the book
Being contacted by a literary agency that asked if Stewart was interested in writing a book
The constant mistake humans make in compartmentalizing themselves into boxes such as "left wing" or "right wing" and how we get hung up on those things
The foreword (written by Ryan Reynolds), the middleword (written by Mary Trump) and the afterword (written by Colin Mochrie) which was partially inspired by something Eric Idle put on the cover of one of his books
Stewart's thoughts on the digital umbilical chord
A strategy for dealing with trolls online
The two times in the past ten years of being on social media where responding to negative comments actually worked out okay
Stewart's theory that Canadian cuisine is a defiance
Advice that Stewart would offer to other creatives: "Don't make art for artists."
And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on the unique opportunity to chat with someone who has inspired you and Stewart's advice about not making art for other artists, but rather for the specific consumers of your product.

Links of Interest:

Brittlestar, a.k.a. Stewart Reynolds, is a bespectacled every-dad who has become a popular online media personality over the past decade. Every week, hundreds of thousands of people watch his videos on various social media channels. Some of Brittlestar’s followers include Henry Winkler, Ryan Reynolds, Ken Jeong, Rex Chapman, Yvette Nicole Brown, and many other politicians and journalists. Brittlestar videos have been viewed more than a combined 600 million times, allowing him to gain a global fanbase, attend speaking engagements all over North America, receive an invitation to the White House, and engage in collaborations with celebrities such as Gordon Ramsay, Alan Thicke, and the Property Brothers.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0