Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'?
| Hey Ash Whatcha Playin'? | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Video game sketch comedy |
| Created by | Anthony Burch Ashly Burch |
| Starring | Ashly Burch Anthony Burch David Burch Ashley Davis |
| Opening theme | "The Massacre" by Fantomenk |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 125 (+ 11 specials) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Anthony Burch Ashly Burch Justin Yngelmo |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 1–3 minutes |
| Distributor |
Destructoid (2008–2009) GameTrailers (2009–2013) Independent (2013–present) |
| Release | |
| Original release | May 29, 2008 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'? (HAWP) is an independently produced series of short comedy videos created by siblings Anthony Burch and Ashly Burch. The series utilizes surreal humor and comical sibling rivalry to examine the themes, industry trends, and societal impact of video games, with each episode typically focusing on a single game. HAWP was hosted on Destructoid for its first year of production, and syndicated to GameTrailers until 2013, and has since became independently distributed. As of December 2013[update], the series has received 19,541,899 views. The series is currently airing its fifth season.
Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'? was conceived during the summer of 2008, while Ashly and Anthony Burch still lived at home with their parents in Phoenix, Arizona. Anthony Burch was a game reviewer at Destructoid, his Rev Rant video features expressing his opinions of tropes commonly seen in contemporary games. Having established an audience on the website, he posted the first HAWP episode on May 28, 2008. The siblings collaborated over the course of the summer to produce one episode per week, playing mildly exaggerated versions of themselves: Anthony utilizing his deadpan, fast-spoken, strongly opinionated nature, and Ashly exhibiting mild psychosis as she antagonizes him both verbally and physically. Over time, as the siblings fine-tuned the comedy and timing of the show, these aspects have come to define their characters.
Discussing the genesis of the series, Anthony states:
Ash and I got the idea for HAWP during the summer; our total lack of shit to do meant we could film an episode every week, and subsequently get the Destructoid community to acknowledge our presence through sheer force of quantity. It would have been easy for Destructoid to forget about us if we'd just filmed an episode every month, or something.
Ashly Burch describes the nature of their collaboration:
It was incredibly fun. Anthony and I had never really collaborated in that way, just the two of us, before, and I really enjoyed it. Looking back on those first episodes, I think they pale in comparison to the quality of the ones in our current season — i.e., there are less dead-baby jokes — but I like reviewing them occasionally to see what worked in them. Primarily, it's the dynamic we managed to establish between me and Anthony that I liked the best.
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