So yesterday I had the History of Animation course at SVA, and in it we watched a documentary about vaudeville theater. After listening to my peers' reactions, I got my idea for my response paper and I think it turned out pretty well!


Vaudeville, Unlike Elvis, Isn’t Dead

As a relatively young, 21st century, media-savvy student, watching the pop culture of a society long past is at times like peering into another world, or in some cases the visions of a deranged lunatic out of touch with any form of social and artistic progression. It’s easy to scoff and deride the amusement derived from the acts featured in vaudeville, thinking, “how on Earth did people find this tripe amusing?” This kind of hindsight is actually an example of dramatic irony; while people in our times fancy themselves as consumers of elite or more refined entertainment than those of the early 20th century, the reality is that many of us in contemporary times partake of things that are just as exploitative and artistically hollow on a regular basis. The base and “lowbrow” culture of yesteryear has merely been transposed into a new format for a new generation.

Watching cats sneeze on camera and laughing at people hitting their crotches on handrails on YouTube is the modern vaudeville, the pop-culture sensation du jour where just about anybody can get up and perform in front of a mass audience. The primary difference here is that there is no livelihood being earned from this activity, but rather it satisfies a psychological need for attention and validation, as well as supporting parasocial behavior. Another key difference is rather than fostering a local community or regionalized culture as shows rose and fell depending on the tastes of the region they were able to travel to and perform in, the modern audience is comprised of myriad social groups and fans rather than exclusively by physical location.

As long as an easily-amused audience that seeks escapism with no concerns for artistic merit or quality exists, the spiritual successors of vaudeville will thrive.

ART SCHOOL IS AWESOME. I CAN'T BELIEVE DRAWING ALL DAY COUNTS AS SCHOOL.

( HERE ARE SOME SAMPLES FROM TODAY'S QUICK DRAWINGS. YUS! )

This made me laugh.



Barney Frank owns.

I'm gonna be one stylin' dude.



Oh yeah.

Well, fuck it all, gonna eat crow and jump in.

http://twitter.com/rymagnusson

Work has had me so busy that I haven't had a chance to really communicate with my friends very much, even online.

I cannot help but wonder if my ENTIRELY RATIONAL AND NOT EGOTISTICAL OR CONTRARIAN IN ANY WAY AT ALL ACRIMONIOUS HATRED for Twitter is also an ingredient of my inability to communicate with those around me, and adapt to the way my generation has chosen to express itself.

Maybe I'm a media hipster and didn't realize it. Does this mean I'll have to buy a keffiyeh now?

I haven't had a day off in a few weeks, meaning I haven't been able to be that social in my day-to-day real life. This of course leads me to be annoyingly chatty with people when I get the chance because all the retarded bullshit in my mind needs to have some kind of release upon unsuspecting victims.

And we should all try to have a hand in decreasing the suffering in the world, so please feel free to let me know when I'm being a bit too much, so I know to give people space.

I really need to learn to be less neurotic and socially needy, honestly. Sometimes, I just wish I could find the switch that could turn myself off.

All these 9-hour shifts in a row are really tiring me the fuck out. I haven't had an evening to myself for a while now. Additionally, by the time I do get home, everyone is down for the count, so socially it's been really low-key.

This isn't doing my comic aspirations any good.

I can't wait for the iPhone launch mania to die down.

Here is a teaser of some basic concept art I've been drawing on the subway rides to and from work.




Yaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy...

Maybe someday I'll be a master at something.

IT'S RYAN IS THE WORST POKÉMON TRAINER EVER TIME!






YAAAAAY!

INSOMNIA + POKÉMON =

Microbe CHIMECHO is the best!








Yes, I have problems.

So, I decided to sign up for 3 courses this summer, now that I no longer work on the Venture Bros.

The aim here was to address what I felt were my biggest weaknesses: color and inking. I also felt that it would always be a good idea to get a refresher in perspective. Hopefully they'll work out in my favor.

The 2nd kid was actually one of my friends back then.

My career in comics will likely end faster than it began.



I gave the donkey a Vänsterpartiet pin. :3

This time I take on Answer Rat, the anthropomorphic rat that delivers conservative platitudes while enacting various day-to-day situations.



Yeah I'm totally taking down the medium of comics, one person at a time yo.

You know who sucks?

Chuck Asay.





Hey.

I hate Ted Rall!



I AM SUBTLE. THIS IS ME BEING SUBTLE.

Because today is kuniopt's birthday, and because I can never resist the opportunity to make a joke at someone's expense, I decided to make an image of an adorable character he created named Cosmin.

D'AWWWWW

Adorable.

This happened to me very early in my Apple career. And it was disturbing.

More boring as shit art from me? OKAY!

I have been accepted to the traditional animation program at the School of Visual Arts!

Just got my acceptance letter tonight.

And because people will otherwise miss this entry, MORE BORING ART FROM ME.