I’m going to Australia!

A couple months ago, Kris and I were contacted by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. They offered us an incredible opportunity to visit Austrailia and host a night of amazing music for our fans on the other side of the world. I was against it, because plane rides are scary and this is literally the longest trip you can make in the world. But Kris insists that I broaden my horizons and threatened to kill me if I didn’t accept. So we’re doing THIS now:

VIDEO GAMES UNPLUGGED: SYMPHONY OF LEGENDS
Have you longed to hear awesome music from some of the greatest video games ever, played live by a big orchestra? The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is about to make your dreams come true. This is a world-first presentation of this amazing show featuring Final Fantasy and Secret of Mana, with more games to be announced.

Hosted by Scott Kurtz and Kris Straub of Penny Arcade TV’s Blamimations and the Scott and Kris Show.

Produced in conjunction with Eminence, conducted by Philip Chu and featuring the Concordis Chamber Choir directed by Andrew Hunter.

WHEN: 11 and 12 April 2012
WHERE: Plenary Hall, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
TIME: 7pm

I was just informed at press time that this gets even nuttier. It turns out that Kris and I will be joined during these amazing evenings by none other than Sir Wil Wheaton. Kris, Scott and Wil in Melbourne for two nights of symphony performed video game music. I think I just crapped my pants.

The MSO has extended us the gracious offer of opening pre-sale tickets to our fans in Australia first.

Click here for the exclusive pre-sale tickets to the April 11, 2012 performance (a Wednesday night).
Click here for the exclusive pre-sale tickets to the April 12, 2012 performance (a Thursday night).

We could not feel more honored to be asked to perform by the MSO and get this opportunity to visit Australia. If you’re a fan of Kris and Scott (and Wil) and live on that side of the world, please consider coming. This could be *literally* the only time I’ll ever be on that side of the world.

See you in Melbourne 2012!

I couldn’t resist making a comic strip about this article by Tom Pappalardo in which he posits that the streamlining of technology is making objects less iconic and therefore harder for cartoonists to represent simplistically. Thanks a lot Steve Jobs (and Obama. Why not).

I personally don’t agree. If cartooning is about representing ideas and objects as simply as possible, wouldn’t a natural streamlining of technology make things easier on us as cartoonists? And what kind of cartoonist worth his salt can’t find a way to represent a person reading news, watching TV or talking on the phone?

Let’s use Star Trek as an example. In classic Trek, the Captain communicated with his ship via a walkie-talking looking device he held to his mouth and spoke directly into. It flipped open and chirped and had a physical movement and functionality to it. When Next Generation came along and Picard tapped his chest and started talking to the air did anyone lose track of the story? Who is that bald man talking to? Where is his communicator? Shit, on the ship there is no object at all. There’s a chime and then he starts talking to the air.

Is the whole world going nuts lately? Cartooning is over 100 years old and it’s going to survive shifts in technology and business models. I think that the digital revolution has made cartoonists a little soft. yes the web has made it easier to distribute comics to a mass audience. But the art of cartooning is still really hard. It’s still a decade worth of drawing and writing and self-examining every day to start to become good at it.

I’m sorry it’s hard. I’m sorry that Television sets are now flatter and harder to represent. But your JOB as a cartoonist is to represent and reflect the times in which you as an artist live. That’s the basic tenant of the art form. There are a lot of cartoonists out there whining about how the world is making it impossible for them to be successful. It’s getting laughable.