Seven years. Hundreds of on-air bumps. Hundreds of songs and jingles. Thousands of hours performing live on camera. [adult swim] was a creative playground where i wore many hats.
on-air bump creator
Only a handful of people have ever created the “bumps” - interstitial messages, usually white text on black - that air during commercial breaks. even fewer managed to get several hundred on the air. watch below for a sampling of dumb thoughts i had at my desk that were later consumed by millions of late-night viewers.
Brand Voice Bumps
Mike Lazzo, creator of adult swim, once told me, “funny is good. interesting is better.” Ferrets in sweaters is both imo.
Pop Culture Bumps
Sorry Bey, I’m better now.
Pandemic Bumps
Lemonade from chaos. Particularly proud of this batch, especially the ones where my girls helped out.
promos and smalls writer & performer
I collaborated on various bits of ephemera: promos, animated “smalls”, and other oddities.
Promo for Rick and Morty’s Jerry’s Game for Adult Swim Games. Dumb simplicity mirroring the game itself.
Turned an answer given by the creators and stars of Rick and Morty into an opera. Hired singers and everything. Why? Because Mike Lazzo challenged me, so I orchestrated music around their word-for-word answer to a nerdy question.
Written by Dave Hughes. Animated by Daniela Sherer. Music written and performed me and Mason Brown
Wrote a stirring theme song for our website. Video by Dave Bonawits
Promo for adult swim games
Stealth marketing for Rick and Morty. (There’s an episode where Jerry joins an ad agency to sell apples.)
[adult swim] digital copywriter
From 2014 -2021 I handled all writing duties for Adult Swim Digital including homepage, show pages, clips, loglines and metadata, collection copy (for SEO purposes) and messaging on the mobile app. This role included standard tune-in and promotional content, as well as strange creative detours tied to whatever nonsense we were up to during a given week.
404/error page stories
Early on I pitched deviating from our typical 404/error page to something more interesting. So I crafted a short story about a man walking in a bar. My bosses liked it; and over the years I swapped in other dark tales. Adult Swim fans flocked to Reddit to discuss the meaning of these stumbled-across stories. I received a merit award in part based on the ingenuity of turning an afterthought into something creative and compelling.
social media copywriter
From 2014-15 I supplied nearly all promotional copy for Facebook. Starting in 2017 I joined the Twitter writing team, focusing on more conversational and potentially shareable content. From our social media channels I promoted a Letter to the Editor feature on our website where I answered fan questions (sometimes poorly).
ADULT SWIM STREAMS
Adult Swim Streams created live, interactive programming every weekday from 2014 to 2020. I worked on a number of shows, most notably FishCenter and Stupid Morning Bullshit.
Fishcenter Live Songwriter
Fishcenter was a mock-game show centered on the Williams Street fish tank. I recorded hundreds of bits of music – parodies, jingles, and originals – based on the personalities and activities of the fish. The songs proved popular, gaining fans and even inspiring cover versions sent to the show.
“Fish Who Died”
A great blight struck the tank killing many of our beloved fish. In their memory I reworked an old Jim Carroll punk song and created what Mike Lazzo, former head of Adult Swim, called my greatest achievement. Video by Tynan Humphrey.
I've released several volumes of work-related music on Bandcamp.
COMMENTATOR AND SOUNDMAN
SMB was our daily irreverent look at pop culture. I helped host Sally Skinner gather stories, pitched pranks and stunts, ran the soundboard, and provided on-camera commentary for nearly a thousand shows. The experience sharpened my writing and performance skills and bolstered my confidence in front of an audience.
Adult Swim App Copywriter & Customer Service
I provided app descriptions and updates across Google Play, Apple, Roku, and Amazon. In 2018 I took over customer service duties, replying directly to reviews. Even while troubleshooting – and weathering complaints – I answered with style, gaining fans in the process.
A representative exchange:
