Dave Kelly (born
September 5,
1980<ref name="
Dave Kelly Central entry,
9-05-02">
Inaugural Dave Kelly Central entry,
9-05-02, retrieved July 8, 2006.</ref>), sometimes known
pseudonymously as
Shmorky, and
Cave Deli, is a
cartoonist and
animator, known as the creator of several
webcomics and
Flash animations. He first gained
attention as the creator of
Living in Greytown, a
constantly-evolving webcomic under the
Keenspot banner which ran from
2000 to
2002.
Throughout his various projects, Kelly is
known for his
eclecticism; individual works diverge wildly in
media and style, depending on the tone and subject at hand. The
themes of his artwork have ranged from comic and tragic fiction
(
Living in Greytown and its spin-off
Lizard!) to
absurdism ("comic for
girls"
Purple
Pussy, or the now mostly lost
Big Ones), to
satire (
Penny
Arcade parody
Awesome Gamerz), to overt
pornography (
Cave Deli's
Smut) and even
autobiography (the
journal/news source/sketchpad
Dave Kelly Central). In
keeping with this broad range of material, Kelly's art has dabbled
in
parody,
manga,
minimalism,
surrealism, and
realism, created with such media as inks
and paints,
colored pencils, Macromedia Flash, and
MSPaint. It has been
compared to, and certainly
influenced by, that of
Basil Wolverton (see
fifth panel),
John
Kricfalusi and
Robert Crumb.
Kelly has been known to work
for
commission<ref name="
Dave Kelly Central
entry, 4-04-04"> Dave Kelly Central
entry, 4-04-04, retrieved July 8, 2006.</ref>
and as such has produced artistic work for a variety of sources,
both private and public. Most prominently, his work has
been featured on websites such as Something Awful and Albino
Blacksheep.
After the creation of his website Shmorky.com, Kelly claimed that his
pseudonym "Shmorky" came from a man named Shmorrison Kay, "a
real-life animator from the '50s" and his primary inspiration.
Purportedly, one of Kay's few surviving works was a
1950s-era commercial for
Lucky Strike
cigarettes, which Kelly provides on his website.<ref
name="Who is Shmorky?
"> Who is Shmorky?, retrieved July 8,
2006.</ref> Although the story contained logical gaps and
humorous references (such as claims that he was stalked by Kay), several viewers
believed it; Kelly later admitted on Something Awful's forums that
the story was false, "Shmorky" was a fabrication, and that he
himself had created the commercial, a collaboration with Something
Awful employee Josh
Jones ("Colorfinger"). Currently, the Shmorky website
is home to Webcomic Stew,
a series of short comics which
parody and criticize popular webcomics such as PvP, Megatokyo, Ctrl Alt Del, and Wapsi Square.
The
Flash Tub
Kelly currently maintains the Flash Tub feature on the
website Something Awful, which contains his short
flash movies. Other contributors include SA personalities
Lowtax, Fragmaster, Josh Jones (Colorfinger), and
Brian Kendall (GuyGizmo).
The feature is usually updated every one or two weeks.
Popular series include:
'The Jefferson Brothers
- The (mis)adventures of Jeff and Ralph Jefferson
(according to the cartoon, they are two of Thomas Jefferson's
many
illegitimate children) who travel through time. Jeff is
generally shown as rude, selfish, and rather dim-witted, while
Ralph, who often plays the role of the straight man, is more cautious,
happy-go-lucky, and intelligent. Like many of
Kelly's other cartoons, the series is highly violent and most
episodes end with either Jeff or Ralph (or sometimes, both of them)
dying.Platform Hero - The story of a
short-tempered video
game character named Platform Hero. This
cartoon is a parody of the Super Mario series.Letter From The
Internet
- As its name implies, letters and essays found on
the internet, often poorly written and dealing with various
conspiracy theories, which are read aloud and set to an
animation.The Best Of Weekend Web
- Similar to
Letter From The Internet, where SA goons read their favorite
excerpts and posts from past featured Weekend
Web forums.Tub Bites!
- A newer
variety show
series that consists of several short flash pieces combined
together much like the Robot Chicken television program.
This usually includes parodies of various aspects of
internet and pop culture, such as Scientology, Family Guy, John Kricfalusi, Homestar Runner,
Penny Arcade, the Legend of Zelda
cartoon, and even Wikipedia.
Other common themes of the Flash Tub
include fake product advertisements, holiday shorts (such as for
Halloween and
Christmas), and
music videos (often using samples from video game sound
effects).
Notes
<references/>
External
links
Dave Kelly (as
Shmorky) on Something Awful Dave Kelly Central Home page as Shmorky Webcomic Stew IMDB profile
New
Shmorky Themed Blog
Wikis
Search