Thomas James Ridgewell (born 27 June 1990), known online as TomSka, is a British YouTuber, filmmaker, comedian, and actor. He is known for writing, directing, producing, and starring in his live-actionsketch comedyYouTube videos and animated web-series such as asdfmovie (/ˈæsdəfmuːvi/AS-dəf-moo-vee), Crash Zoom,[2] and Eddsworld where he both provided the voice and inspired the character of Tom and served as showrunner from 2012 to 2016. As of July 2023[update], his YouTube channel has over 7.22 million subscribers, and his videos have garnered over 2 billion views.[3]
Early life and education
Thomas James Ridgewell was born on 27 June 1990 in Suffolk,[4]England.[5] He was raised in Essex until age 4, followed by Cambridge, as a Jehovah's Witness. As a child, Ridgewell made short films using his parents' video camera.[6] Shortly after YouTube was established, Ridgewell created CakeBomb,[7] a website where he posted his projects, including his animated web series asdfmovie and his friend Edd Gould's Eddsworld. Ridgewell graduated from the University of Lincoln[8] where he studied Media Production, and whilst studying created a series of unofficial advertisements for the university which received millions of views and were also featured on the BBC.[9]
Career
As a professional YouTuber, Ridgewell earns money from revenue from his videos on the website.[10][11] He has been interviewed about this and has had this aspect of his life discussed, especially when the medium of online video was in its infancy.[5] He has appeared as a guest on the BBC's The One Show[12] and created short films for Comedy Central.[13]
In October 2007, Ridgewell created a secondary channel called TomSka & Friends (previously known as DarkSquidge).[14] As of April 2022[update], the channel has over 1.38 million subscribers and over 191 million views.[15] While his main channel consists of sketch comedy and animations, The "TomSka & Friends" channel shows behind-the-scenes footage of TomSka-related projects and videos, as well as vlogging.[16] Ridgewell also engages in social commentary, covering topics like mental health,[17] sexual health, and body positivity.[18] From April 2016 to February 2018, he uploaded weekly vlogs to the channel in a series named Last Week.[19]
In 2012, Ridgewell founded the media production company TurboPunch Ltd., located in London. He currently works there alongside co-writer Eddie Bowley.[20] Ridgewell also became the producer of Eddsworld after the show's creator, Edd Gould, died of leukemia.[21] He left the series in 2016, relinquishing the show to animator Matt Hargreaves.[21]
TomSka in 2013
In February 2013, Ridgewell was featured on the cover of Wired UK as part of a feature titled "How YouTube Reinvented the Entertainment Business".[22] In May 2013, he was featured in YouTube's first Comedy Week[23] as a guest host for its Geek Week series in August.[24]
In 2016, Ridgewell filmed several sketches with the BBC for a potential sketch show on BBC Three.[30]
A book titled Sam Kills Christmas, written by Ridgewell and Eddie Bowley with illustrations by Dorina Herdewijn, was released on 8 November 2018.[31][32]
asdfmovie
In 2008, Ridgewell released the first episode of asdfmovie,[33] an animated sketch comedy series featuring short clips of minimalist characters in surreal and occasionally darkly humorous situations. The "asdf" part of the name originates from the first four characters of the second row of letters on the "QWERTY" keyboard layout. He has since confirmed the backronymautism spectrum disorder friendly movie.[34]
The song "Beep Beep I'm a Sheep" by Canadian musician LilDeuceDeuce with vocals by Ridgewell and Gabriel Brown,[35] released alongside asdfmovie10, was featured in the dance rhythm gameJust Dance 2018.[36] A book based on the asdfmovie series, titled Art is Dead: the asdf book, was written by Ridgewell, illustrated by Matt Ley and published by Little Brown on 22 October 2015.[37]
In May 2018, Ridgewell uploaded "The Muffin Song", a spin-off song of his asdfmovie series, in collaboration with Schmoyoho. As of October 2021[update], the video has garnered over 200 million views.[38]
In 2019, Ridgewell developed a card game based on asdfmovie in collaboration with Big Potato Games called Muffin Time: The Random Card Game.[39] He raised over £1,000,000 for the game on Kickstarter.[40]
Personal life
He was raised a Jehovah's Witness but no longer practices this faith.[41] Despite this, he has expressed belief in a higher power.[42]
Though not primarily a musician by trade, Ridgewell has played bass guitar in multiple videos, including "Guitar Warfare"[43] and "Mine Turtle" as a featured artist with LilDeuceDeuce.[44]
On 26 December 2023, Charlie Belle, his long-term partner, announced via Instagram that they had become engaged.[46][47] Ridgewell later revealed that he had proposed on Christmas day.[47]
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