Ask a Ninja

Ask a Ninja

Hosting	The Ninja
Debut	November 2005
Genre	Comedy
Website	askaninja.com

Ask A Ninja is a series of comedy videos about the image of ninja in popular culture available in podcast and vodcast form, as well as in mov and wmv file formats. Only two episodes of the series were released in 2009, seven months apart.

In December 2007, television industry trade magazine TelevisionWeek (www.tvweek.com) reported that Ask a Ninja creators Kent Nichols and Doug Sarine made about $100,000 a month in ad revenue and income from merchandising and licensing from the show.^[1] In January 2007 Forbes listed The Ninja as one of the top "Fictional Celebrities" on the web.^[2]

Overview

The series, created by Los Angeles improvisational comedians Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine, features a ninja who answers e-mails from "viewers" (a similar format to Ask Zorbak and Strong Bad Email, which was an influence on Ask A Ninja's creators according to Kent Nichols).^[3] According to an interview,^[4] Ask A Ninja was originally supposed to be an animated show about two Ninjas living in Orange County.

Podcast

The episodes feature constant and erratic camera-angle changes, as well as enthusiastic and wild hand gestures by the Ninja. Each episode usually ranges from four to seven minutes, usually ending with Ninja's signature remark to each questioner: "I look forward to killing you soon!" New episodes had been released bi-weekly during the height of the podcast's popularity. Starting with Episode 23, "Ninternships", the behind-the-scenes-team decided to have sponsors for their episodes.

Although episodes 1 to 16 are answered by Ninja in front of a featureless blue background, the action sometimes goes to other places, such as inside a car or another house. Episodes after the "Ninja Omnibus" episode use the Ninja edited onto a red circle gradient background, and episodes after the "BBQ" episode changed to blue.

The episodes start with the song "I Am Ninja", performed by The Neu Tickles and written by satirist Brently Heilbron.

Re-launch

On October 4, 2010 the web series returned to re-launch as a daily series with new videos each week day. The new lineup will feature an experimental sketch show along with a weekly wrap up show (Ask A Ninja Weekly Wrap) and a showcase of emerging web shows that the Ninja likes. Web series producer Brett Register, creator of The Crew (webseries), A Good Knight's Quest and Craig & The Werewolf, was hired on as the new day-to-day producer-director for Ask a Ninja.^[5]

Advertising and other appearances

Ask A Ninja has widespread popular appeal, and has appeared in numerous media outlets.

Douglas Sarine was once asked to report as a guest film critic on National Public Radio's show, All Things Considered; his review there of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is classified as a special delivery episode.^[6] In a 5-10 minute piece Ask A Ninja interviewed Blades of Glory stars Will Ferrell and Jon Heder for which he asked a series of movie related questions. At the end of the interview he ice skates circles around Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton.^[7] One notable episode was shot in the MythBusters warehouse with Jamie and Adam, where he disputed the theory of gravity, but when asked for proof, claimed he would have to perform a move in which he would simultaneously pull out both their brains.^[8]

At the end of older episodes, the Ninja advertised the Ninja-Mart Store, where viewers may buy "Ask A Ninja"-related merchandise. More recent episodes have ended with Ninja advertising Ask A Ninja's first DVD release in the style of HeadOn commercials. He's also advertised The Simpsons Game as well as Doritos. Ask a Ninja also started hosting their videos with CastFire's video hosting service,^[9] likely to add to their monetization strategy.

Recently, Nichols and Sarine appeared as commentators on VH1's Best Week Ever. The Ninja, however, does not appear with them. The Ninja appears alongside Margaret Cho in Liam Kyle Sullivan's "Let Me Borrow That Top" music video. The Ninja has also appeared as a judge on Yahoo's talent-show contest.

On the 11 April 2007 episode of The Showbiz Show, the Ninja, in a pre-recorded segment, provided a short review of the first episode of the final season of The Sopranos.

Jessica Lee Rose appeared with Ninja in an episode called "Jessica Lee Rose" to celebrate his series' 50th episode anniversary and to comment on the death of lonelygirl15. Vodcast Bikini News featured an extensive interview with Nichols (against the familiar Ask A Ninja background) discussing the origins of the show.^[10]

Day of the Ninja Involvement

Since 2006, Ask a Ninja has been involved in organizing and coordinating events for the annual Day of the Ninja, December 5.

On December 5, 2006, the ninja made his first live onstage appearance at the Ask a Ninja DVD Release Party, where he played the guitar after opening act The Neu Tickles.^[11] Ask A Ninja made his second live stage appearance at the El Rey Theatre on December 5, 2007 with Patton Oswalt and Hard 'n Phirm.^[12] On December 5, 2007, The Ninja guest starred on Attack of the Show alongside Olivia Munn on G4 while Kevin was on the road hosting live from people's homes.

Other releases

• The DVD of Ask A Ninja was released on December 5, 2006. In addition to 30 episodes of Ask A Ninja, it includes commentaries, Easter eggs and bonus shorts.^[13]
• Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine have written an Ask A Ninja book (The Ninja Handbook: This Book Looks Forward to Killing You Soon).^[14]
• Ask A Ninja has also been released to Xbox Live Marketplace

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 29 "BBQ" December 22, 2006 30 "Ninja Omnideuce" January 3, 2007 31 "TechNINlogy" January 12, 2007 32 "Ninja Dates" January 24, 2007 33 "Hidey's Disease" February 3, 2007 34 "The Bloody's" February 8, 2007 35 "Ninja Poetry" February 16, 2007 36 "Clubs" March 2, 2007 37 "Last Words" March 10, 2007 38 "College Tips" March 22, 2007 39 "Mirrors" April 12, 2007 40 "Scene Kids" May 4, 2007 41 "Film Ninjoir" May 10, 2007 42 "Ninja Sayings" May 18, 2007 43 "Ninja Names" June 1, 2007 44 "Commas" June 8, 2007 45 "Omnitrois" June 15, 2007 46 "UFC" June 29, 2007 47 "Ninja Movie Pitch" July 19, 2007 48 "Ninja Recipes" July 26, 2007 49 "Ninja Lifespan" August 24, 2007 50 "Jessica Lee Rose" August 31, 2007 51 "Randominja" September 6, 2007 52 "Ninja Baby Sitters" September 13, 2007 53 "Bob's Destiny" September 19, 2007 54 "Vakilltions" September 26, 2007 55 "Celebrity Weapons" October 3, 2007 56 "Back in the Day" October 10, 2007 57 "Ninjazines" October 25, 2007 58 "Sameness" November 1, 2007 59 "OmniJeff" November 15, 2007

Episode Title Released 60 "OmniWorld" November 29, 2007 61 "OmniPresent" December 7, 2007 62 "Terminal Paper" January 25, 2008 63 "Datinjas" January 31, 2008 64 "Ninja Theme Songs" February 8, 2008 65 "Ninja Floor Plans" February 15, 2008 66 "Ninja Comebacks" February 23, 2008 67 "Extra Time" March 21, 2008 68 "Legendary Weapons" March 27, 2008 69 "Most Fatal Thing" April 10, 2008 70 "Omnibutt" April 24, 2008 71 "Dos and Don'ts" May 9, 2008 72 "Ninterview" May 16, 2008 73 "Major Ninja" May 30, 2008 74 "Ninja Moves" May 30, 2008 75 "Oh Brother" May 30, 2008 76 "Ninjas Vs. Crazy People" May 31, 2008 77 "Ninjenglish" June 27, 2008 78 "Ninjalympics" July 29, 2008 79 "Ninja Hangouts" August 22, 2008 80 "OmniOmni Part 1" August 29, 2008 81 "OmniOmni Part 2" September 8, 2008 82 "Ninja Book Club" September 19, 2008 83 "Super Light" October 27, 2008 84 "Question 84" December 4, 2008 85 "Question 85" December 15, 2008 86 "Question 86" April 29, 2009 87 "Question 87" October 12, 2010 88 "Question 88" October 19, 2010 89 "Question 89" October 26, 2010 90 "Ninja Beards" November 2, 2010 91 "Question 91" November 9, 2010 92 "NASA" November 16, 2010 93 "Black Friday" November 23, 2010 94 "Yo Mama" November 30, 2010 95 "Nature's Ninjas" December 7, 2010 96 "Atlantis" December 14, 2010 97 "Santa" December 24, 2010 98 "Question 98" December 28, 2010 99 "Question 99" January 4, 2011 100 "Theme Song" January 11, 2011 101 "That Glow" January 26, 2011 102 "Ninjatives" January 26, 2011 103 "Baby Proof" February 2, 2011 104 "Question 104" February 11, 2011 105 "Call of Duty Vs. Halo" February 22, 2011 106 "Ninja Birthday" March 1, 2011 107 "Train'd" March 8, 2011 108 "Smoke Bomb!" March 15, 2011 109 "Question 109" March 22, 2011 110 "Musical Instruments" March 29, 2011 111 "Question 111" April 5, 2011 112 "Reality TV" April 12, 2011 113 "Ninja Grandma" April 19, 2011 114 "Dead Necks" April 26, 2011 115 "Question 115" May 3, 2011 116 "The Environment" May 10, 2011 117 "Weakness" May 17, 2011

Special deliveries

Number Title Released SD 1 "What is Podcasting?" March 7, 2006 SD 2 "Doogtoons.com Asks A Ninja 1" April 12, 2006 SD 3 "Doogtoons.com Asks A Ninja 2" May 6, 2006 SD 4 "Net Neutrality" May 11, 2006 SD 5 "Doogtoons.com Asks A Ninja 3" May 17, 2006 SD 6 "Doogtoons.com Asks A Ninja - Ninjas and The Matrix" June 2, 2006 SD 7 "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Review" July 7, 2006 SD 7.5 "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" May 25, 2007 SD 8 "Doogtoons.com Asks A Ninja - Star Wars" July 30, 2006 SD 9 "AKON Weapons Policy" August 28, 2006 SD 10 "Pop!Tech" October 26, 2006 SD 11 Ninja Day" November 30, 2006 SD 12 "The Ninja's First Live Appearance" December 12, 2006 SD 13 "SXSW 10 Years" March 17, 2007 SD 14 Blades of Glory" March 27, 2007

Number Title Released SD 15 Mythbustin' Out All Over" April 25, 2007 SD 15.5 Robot Jamie" June 21, 2007 SD 16 "Global Warming" July 7, 2007 SD 17 "Writer's Strike" November 10, 2007 SD 18 "A Very Ninja Christmas Pt. 1" December 13, 2007 SD 19 "A Very Ninja Christmas Pt. 2" December 23, 2007 SD 20 "Future Of Online Video" May 22, 2008 SD 21 "AskANinjaBook.com Shout Out" September 2, 2008 SD 22 "The Ninja Handbook, Audiobook Part 1" September 8, 2008 SD 23 "The Ninja Handbook, Audiobook Part 2" September 25, 2008 SD 24 "Ninjas Helping Pirates" March 5, 2009 SD 25 "Tooling on Superheroes" March 27, 2009 SD 26 "Tweetbomb NIN/JA" April 3, 2009 SD 27 "TED (United Tunnels of America)" April 22, 2009 SD 28 "Ninja Assassin View" November 23, 2009 SD 29 "Ninja Xmas 2009" December 10, 2009

See also

• Real Ultimate Power
• YouTube celebrities

References

^[2]

1. ^ Online Fame Easy; Ads Harder To Get - 8 December 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2008 (The show's two creators can be seen in episode seventy-three, "Modern Major Ninja").
2. ^ ^{a b} Ewalt, David M. (2007), "In Pictures: Fictional Stars", Forbes.com, http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/23/web-celeb-fictional-tech-media_cx_de_06webceleb_0123fictional_slides_2.html?thisSpeed=15000, retrieved 2009-12-07 
3. ^ "Interview with Amber MacArthur on Webnation". 2007-03-29. http://www.citynews.ca/blogs/webnation_9277.aspx. Retrieved 2007-06-13. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Bikini News - Episode 52: The AskANinja Interview. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
5. ^ ‘Ask A Ninja’ Coming Back Strong, Hires Brett Register | Tubefilter News - 2 September 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
6. ^ 'Pirates' Any Good? Ask a Ninja, If You Dare | NPR.org
7. ^ Video: Ask a Ninja Interviews Will Ferrell and Jon Heder | Beyond Hollywood
8. ^ MythBusters: Ask a Ninja | Discovery Channel
9. ^ Ask a Ninja: Now Powered by Castfire - 18 May 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
10. ^ Episode 52: The AskANinja Interview - Channel: BikiniNews on LiveVideo.com
11. ^ Ask A Ninja DVD Release PartyBRING DANNY BACK TO WIKIPEDIA | Laughing Squid
12. ^ MySpace.com - Ask A Ninja - WEST HOLLYWOOD, California - www.myspace.com/askaninja
13. ^ Ask A Ninja - Ninja Update - 15 August 2006. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
14. ^ 'Ask a Ninja' duo signs book deal| Variety.

External links

• Official website
• Podcast interview with Kent Nichols and Ben Stiller (Feb. 22, 2006 - 11min.48sec. 5.47MB) (Businessweek.com)
• Interview with Kent Nichols about the origins and success of Ask A Ninja on Bikini News Podcast
• Video interview of Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine by Zadi Diaz of EPIC FU, weekly web show that covers online pop culture (October 14, 2008)