Ask a Ninja
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Ask a Ninja is an award-winning series of comedy videos about the image of ninjas in popular culture available in podcast and vodcast form, as well as in the popular mov and wmv file formats. The first episode was released in November 2005, but production and editing of that initial episode is not as proficient as the episodes from number 2 (January 2006) onwards.
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[edit] Overview
The series, created by Los Angeles improvisational comedians Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine, features a ninja who answers e-mails from "viewers". The ninja (simply known as Ninja) often answers the questions from his character's point of view (that is, with references to killing or murdering). For example, in one question in Episode 2, Ninja alleges that Santa Claus is actually a ninja who kills little children who awake too early on Christmas Day and catch sight of him before he has time to leave. Once Santa is seen, he has to kill as it is part of the ninja code and that is why his coat is red (it is supposedly covered in the blood of unfortunate children who were impatient for their presents and snuck out of bed too early.)
Although most of the episodes are answered by Ninja in a red room, the action sometimes goes to other places, such as inside a car or another house. Episodes after "Ninja Omnibus" use the Ninja edited onto a red circle gradient background. In some episodes, the chair Ninja is sitting on can also be seen.
Ninja is known for his emphatic declarations, as well as his expansive, spontaneous, and often extremely exaggerated hand gestures (helpful in communicating his comedic intent, as one can only see his eyes). Ninja is also fond of using linguistic blends in his speech, particularly those involving the word "ninja" ("ninjelephant," "ninternships," "minjas,"etc.). Video editing is often used for emphasis, such as showing him doing the same throwing motion three times. It is also used to emphasize his mysterious ninja powers, which include the ability to adopt impenetrable disguises, and to make himself microscopically small (Ninjascopic). The episodes also feature constant and erratic camera-angle changes. In Special Delivery 10: "Pop!Tech" the Ninja makes reference to this erratic editing, explaining that during the course of filming each episode he has 14 or 15 ninjas trying to kill him whilst he's filming, so he has to edit all the ninjas out of it so that the episode does not consist solely of thrilling fight sequences.
Each episode usually ranges from two to three minutes, and usually ends with Ninja's signature remark to each questioner: "I look forward to killing you soon!" (or some variation thereof, usually relating to the episode i.e. 'I look forward to playing through you soon!'). A new episode is currently being released almost every week or two. Starting with Episode 23, "Ninternships", the behind-the-scenes-team decided to hold sponsors for their episodes.
Ask a Ninja has proven so popular that he was once asked to report as a guest film critic on National Public Radio's show, All Things Considered. His review on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is classified as a special delivery episode.
As for the ending of every episode, Ninja does his most famous "Three little letters separate Buy, and Die! Ninja Mart Store!" with accompanying hand gestures.
Recently, Kent and Douglas from Ask A Ninja have appeared as commentators on VH1's Best Week Ever. Douglas, who plays the Ninja, appeared unmasked.
[edit] Episodes
| Episode | Title | Released |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Ninja-Mart Store" | November 24, 2005 |
| 2 | "Ninja Santa" | January 5, 2006 |
| 3 | "Ninja Training" | January 6, 2006 |
| 4 | "Hiring A Ninja" | January 8, 2006 |
| 5 | "Ninja Skills" | January 9, 2006 |
| 6 | "Master of Disguise" | January 16, 2006 |
| 7 | "Ninja Grub" | January 18, 2006 |
| 8 | "Roger" | January 25, 2006 |
| 9 | "Ninja Love" | February 1, 2006 |
| 10 | "Ninja Metal" | February 9, 2006 |
| 11 | "Ninja Dogs" | February 14, 2006 |
| 12 | "Ninja Colds" | February 22, 2006 |
| 13 | "Ninjas Hate Clooney" | March 7, 2006 |
| 14 | "Ninja Gifts" | March 8, 2006 |
| 15 | "Deciding Like a Ninja" | March 16, 2006 |
| 16 | "How To Kill a Ninja" | March 24, 2006 |
| 17 | "Ninja Omnibus" | March 31, 2006 |
| 18 | "Minjas" | April 9, 2006 |
| 19 | "Physics" | April 19, 2006 |
| 20 | "KillaCon" | May 1, 2006 |
| 21 | "Revolution Cubed" | May 30, 2006 |
| 22 | "Ninja Excuses" | June 15, 2006 |
| 23 | "Ninternships" | July 5, 2006 |
| 24 | "Thr33" | July 14, 2006 |
| 25 | "Summer Jobs"" | September 1, 2006 |
| 26 | "Least Favorite" | September 6, 2006 |
| 27 | "Standing In Lines" | September 9, 2006 |
| 28 | "Niniature Golf" | October 15, 2006 |
[edit] Special deliveries
The Ninja has also released special episodes that are known as "special deliveries." Special deliveries are usually unrelated to the rest of the episodes, as they do not answer questions asked by real people (an exception of that is the first special delivery, "What is Podcasting?"). The topic of these episodes may vary. Sometimes they are special "interviews" (e.g. "Doogtoons Asks a Ninja"), and other times it advertises a cause (e.g. "Net Neutrality").
| Number | Title | Released |
|---|---|---|
| SD 01 | "What is Podcasting?" | March 7, 2006 |
| SD 02 | "Doogtoons.com Asks a Ninja 1" | April 12, 2006 |
| SD 03 | "Doogtoons.com Asks a Ninja 2" | May 6, 2006 |
| SD 04 | "Net Neutrality" | May 11, 2006 |
| SD 05 | "Doogtoons.com Asks a Ninja 3" | May 17, 2006 |
| SD 06 | "Doogtoons.com Asks a Ninja - Ninjas and the Matrix" | June 2, 2006 |
| SD 07 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Review | July 7, 2006 |
| SD 08 | "Doogtoons.com Asks a Ninja - Star Wars" | July 30, 2006 |
| SD 09 | "AKON Weapons Policy" | August 28, 2006 |
| SD 10 | "Pop!Tech" | October 26, 2006 |
[edit] Trivia
- The first episode is the only one where a green background is visible in a few shots.
- The initial ("pilot") episode is less tightly scripted, the Ninja's mask is bulkier, and his hand movements had not yet been developed as a feature.
- In earlier episodes, up to Episode 7 "Ninja Grub", if you watch closely enough, you can see the Ninja's face through his mask.
- The theme music played during the opening titles is from the song "I M Ninja", by German band The Neu Tickles.
- The actor who plays the Ninja is Douglas Sarine, one of the two members of the Ask-A-Ninja team.
- From Episode 11 onwards, a small clip is added at the end of each episode right after the page that shows the web site address. The Ninja also changes from his generic black garb to a traditional Shinobi Shozoku uniform used by practitioners of ninjutsu.
- According to the creators, a DVD of Ask a Ninja is in production, due for release in November. It will include commentaries, Easter Eggs and bonus shorts.[1]
- In Episode 12 "Ninja Colds" the Ninja makes himself microscopic size, but in Episode 18 "Minjas" he states he can only make himself small enough to hide in a Plen-T pack of gum. However these may be two different ninja skills, shrinking and contortion.
- In Episode 20 "KillaCon" the Ninja states that he currently uses a six-pronged shuriken, but in Special Delivery 3 "Doogtoons.com asks a Ninja 2" he throws an eight-pronged one at Doog. Further complicating the issue, in Episode 12 "Ninja Colds" the Ninja appears dancing to "Saturday Night Fever" holding a four pronged shuriken. However, The Ninja never directly states that he uses six-pronged shurikens, but that making six-pronged shurikens doubles his shuriken productivity.
- In Special Delivery 5 "Doogtoons 3", when the Ninja is meditating and you see the ninja knowledge from top to bottom, it reads: "15000 Licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop", "The meaning of life = I'm a ninja - Ninjas are cool", "Mario's name isn't really Mario, it's Mario Goldstein", "Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A on the left controller", "Drinking a cup of urine a day is not healthy, it's stupid."
- In "Ninja Training" the Ninja does not mention the "ninternships" as a requirement to be a ninja. This is because, as is explained in "Ninternships" and "Ninja Training," one must be born a ninja to be a "full" ninja. Anyone taking a Nintership was not born a ninja and therefore can only be "Ninjaesque", or a "Ninja Wannabe" (a "Ninjannabe"). According to the Ninja, only three people in history have survived the "ninternships" process: Joan of Arc, Benjamin Franklin, and Danny Grant, a kid from Wyoming.
- In Question 17 "Ninja Omnibus", 'Ninja' answers 30 questions in 3:50 minutes, which is 1 question every 7.7 seconds.
- When a question is sent to The Ninja, the following autoreply is sent to the sender:
| The Ninja will read your question carefully and then decide whether or not it's interesting and funny. If it is, he'll answer it and look forward to killing you soon. If it isn't, he'll still kill you, but he won't enjoy it. In the mean time, please go to http://askaninja.com and connect with your fellow ninjas and pirates. Thanks again! -Team Ask A Ninja -PS Help the Ninja out , go buy a T-Shirt at http://ninjamartstore.com! |
- During his review of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest the Ninja revealed that he does not like pirates.
- Kent Nichols was at Vloggercon in June 2006. He jumped into Leo Laporte's podcast TWiT giving information about Ask a Ninja, and a related new show, Hope is Emo.
- Askapirate.com redirects to the Ask a Ninja homepage. This is also true for Askaviking.com.
- www.theinternationalorderofninjas.com redirects to the Ninja Mart Store page.
- Ax A Pirate.com (since askapirate.com was taken), considers itself Ask A Ninja's unofficial Vlog Nemesis.
- In the episode Least Favorite Ninja reveals his nickname used to be "Badger".
- In the episode "Thr33", The Ninja incorrectly attributes the naming of the band Queens of the Stone Age to Dave Grohl. In reality, the bands frontman Josh Homme choose the name after he and fellow band member Nick Oliveri were called it by producer Chris Goss.
- In the episode "Pop!Tech", the Ninja reveals to use a fictional video-editing software named "Final Kill Pro", a reference to Final Cut Pro.
[edit] Fan videos
A number of fan videos have been created, and have been included in the official Ask a Ninja website's download pages.
- "Ninja Bl**ped" by WhiterabbitX, a montage of clips from various Ask a Ninja episodes, made in such a way as to imply the Ninja is using foul language, by bleeping out certain words. It has recently been made private.
- "Ask A Ninja with a Need for Speed" made by tomatoo, simply "Ninja Omnibus" sped up faster than normal.
- "Ninja Hamster Dance" by The White Ninja, a montage of clips from Ask a Ninja episodes with the original audio track replaced by The Hampster Dance (a techno theme with a high-pitched voice singing). The clips selected include many of the Ninja's expansive hand gestures, and arranged so that he appears to be dancing to the music. This has recently been made private.
- "Throwing Stars, Breaking Hearts" by Scott Blaszak, a mashup of askaninja and the lonelygirl15 videos.
[edit] In the media
- Rocketboom report.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- RealUltimatePower's "Official Ninja Webpage" (recommended on askaninja.com)
- Podcast interview with Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine (Feb. 22, 2006 - 11min.48sec. 5.47MB) (Businessweek.com)
- "Introduction on Diggnation" - Episode 36 (Diggnation.net)
- Podcast interview with Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine (July 4, 2006) on Inside the Net with Amber MacArthur - Episode 27 (TWiT.tv)
- Axapirate.com is Ninja's Nemesis Vlog Site
- Day of the Ninja
- Also known as International Creep Like a Ninja Day
