Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

QC: Behind the Scenes

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jwhouk:
DORA: "The funny thing is, I hate coffee with a passion."

WAYF:
MARIGOLD: Yeah, the fans are usually quite surprised seeing me at conventions, cause by then I'm out of character and I'm not... you know, doing the Marigold thing of shying away and not talking to strangers. I've seen more than a few fans actually stop and stare when I take my glasses off - cause, you know, that's a big part of my character. They also magnify my eyes to make them look huge, by the way. That was Jeph's idea. And without them it's just - hey! She's NORMAL! I get that a lot. Some people act as if they're almost expecting me to be thinner as well. Sorry fans, the glasses do nothing for my weight. That's all my own fault. I promise it's not all pocky though! (laughs)
I do get the occasional creepy fan, but more often than not I'm helping Hannelore fend them off. When I do get creepy fans, they usually want to hug me, usually for inappropriately long periods of time. Didn't take me long to figure out why. (laughs sarcastically) Very subtle, fans.

STEVE: Of course Questionable Content will always have been the place where I got my start. And hey! I might never leave! The great thing about having so many characters is that the set is all very open - you can just come and go as you like, or as Jeph needs you. This means that it doesn't get too crowded on set, but there's always somebody you recognize. Tai, Cosette and I live quite nearby, so we can just drop in infrequently. Some people like actually live quite a long way away, and this makes things a bit difficult - Raven left to go to speech rehab, but the reason it took so long for her to come back is that she was also moving interstate at the time. She and Jeph eventually had to work out a system where he planned for her appearances in advance, and he'd give her a call a week beforehand to let her know when she needed to come down, usually when fan demand was in a spike. And there was a lot of that going on. Doesn't happen to me an awful lot, but I guess that's the price I pay for never flashing myself to an entire bar full of people. (laughs)

MARTEN: I think one of the strengths of the Questionable Content cast and crew is that Jeph screened them all very carefully. You might not believe it, but behind all the characters, there are actually no real mental problems on set, and very importantly, there are no short tempers. Everybody is really just sort of chill with each other. We've actually been incredibly fortunate to have a cast with the chemistry that we do, and no attitude problems. The only problems we do have are minor work ethic problems, like recently Tai showed up completely stoned. But that was alright, Jeph just wrote her being stoned into the script. (laughs) It's just minor problems like that really; Marigold occasionally shows up late, Cosette screws up her lines a lot of the time... actually, to be honest, I used to screw up my lines a lot too.
Of course, since I've been around the longest, I have heaps of dirt to dish on all the characters. But then, they have lots of dirt to dish on me. It's like we're locked in a stalemate of mutually assured blackmail material. The only person I don't really have anything on is Penelope, but she's far too nice to actually do anything about it. Although I'm surprised she's never asked for a raise - we'd be only too happy to give it to her if it meant she wouldn't publish a tell-all memoir. Though - ah, are you going to air that bit? Damn, if she sees this ... I may have just screwed everyone over. Aw geez.

PENELOPE: He said that? Well, he's being an idiot. He knows full well I would never do such a thing. One of the best perks of my position on the crew is retaining the moral high ground!
MARTEN (in the background): What if money was really, really tight?
PENELOPE: No! Not even then! (chuckles)

DORA: You think the break-up was heart-wrenching for you? Imagine how tough it was for me! I mean, well done to Jeph for the storytelling and stuff, but I knew the instant I read my lines that everything framing the break-up was going to look like my fault! And you know, Marten and I get along just fine, but the fans unleashed a torrent of bile in the aftermath, like I personally had ruined everything forever. We had to triple my security detail for the next convention we went to, because up until that point, I'd been receiving death threats. Just wow. It was all really tense on set for a while, cause we had to wait quite a long time for Marten and I to make up, kind of redeem myself in the eyes of the fans. And the week that it eventually happened, it was all really touch and go because Jeph was struggling with some personal issues at the time, and there was an awful lot of radio silence going on. But then again, I think Jeph works best when he's under pressure - the UMass Bros, for example, were introduced at around the same time, and they gave me a really genuine belly laugh when I saw their shtick. Jeph has the power to keep us all going through the dark times.

CLINTON: Yeah, I got a lot of hate from the fans. Presumably because I used to be a fan myself, then I met Hannelore at a convention, and, er... well, long story short, Jeph needed a fanboy character for Hannelore, and I jumped at the opportunity. I mean, literally I jumped around for five minutes saying "I'LL DO IT I'LL DO IT I'LL DO IT!!" Maybe not my most dignified hour, but certainly my happiest. Jeph actually allowed me a lot of creative input on my own lines; "Oh my God can I touch you" was all my idea, completely ad lib, just to get the genuine fan to celebrity reaction. I think it worked really well. So yeah, I think I get a lot of hate because lots of people wish they were in my position. But I do think I legitimately creep Hannelore out sometimes, and that's a shame. I'm sorry, Hannelore.

CRISTI: Working as Jeph's manager means organizing things so that Jeph has enough time to go to conventions and still draw comics every weekday. Being his wife means organizing things so that Jeph has enough time to eat and sleep and still draw comics every weekday. So basically, any aspect of his life that doesn't involve drawing the comic, I am in charge of.
(sprouts devil's horns, black cape) MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA.
Er-hem. Yes. It's, er, wonderful, working with all these people. Great experience. Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Something like that.

YELLING BIRD: I have to do some serious vocal exercises each day to make sure that I don't strain my voice during my characteristic monologues. As a general rule, I also tend to avoid swearing when I'm off duty. Have to be a good role model for the kids, you know. Honestly though, it's kind of cathartic, being able to cut loose every once in a while with the most horrible language I can imagine. Even using the Twitter account - it's a surprisingly great technique for anger management. The truly great thing about it of course, which makes it so effective, is that Yelling Bird has no limits in terms of political correctness. I can just say whatever I want, and everyone who sees it instantly recognizes it as me just doing what I do. So every time I'm feeling frustrated, that's when I post a whole bunch of stuff to Twitter. Oh, and apparently being rude about the characters is a great way to make Jeph laugh, but only if I do it!


Ok, I think I'm finally done now.  :psyduck:

Soulsynger:
JIMBO: I still don't get why Jeph picked me for the role instead of Hugh Laurie who also auditioned for the role of Jim simultaneously. Maybe it has something to do with the accent? Or he wanted someone who DIDN'T actually have a drinking problem in real life like Jimbo does... oh well.
Anyway ... one day this publisher from this really big publishing company walks up to me during a set break and says he likes what I do and he's looking to get my work started off.
And I ask, what work?, all confused. He mentions some of the fictional novel titles from the show, you know, the ones my character writes. And I swear to you he did it with a straight face.
So the coffee in my mouth ends up halfway down his white shirt and over the course of the next ten minutes while someone - I think it was that girl playing Hannelore - runs off to get him a new shirt, we get to talking. He actually thought I DID write all those books. Can you believe it?
So long story short. Jeph and I had to reduce my role to semi-occasional bar-arc appearance because I now actually DO write those books. Almost full time. The first one is set to come out early fall 2012.


(Wow... this IS fun.)

Border Reiver:
Marten:  "The breakup?  Yeah, that was a real tough arc.  first Jeph did it as a real "Death of Col Blake" deal - to keep the emotional impact genuine and real for the us  and the resulting impact on the fans the script for the final frame was kept secret until right before it was needed.  Damn fine writing."

(yes, this is fun.)

WAYF:
HANNELORE: I don't mind the critics, I just wish they'd make up their mind as to whether I'm portraying OCD realistically or not! You have one strip where I'm acting a certain way, and the fans hold it up as a prime example of how OCD actually works, but at the same time, the detractors hold it up as a prime example of how glaringly inaccurate my portrayal of OCD is. I just think, which one is correct? Although it wouldn't bug me so much if the detractors didn't then expand on that argument to conclude that the mental disorders are just a way for the characters to be cutesy and annoying but then hide behind their mental disorders as an excuse. No, that's not how it works at all! I don't think Hannelore even inspires audience sympathy because she's cute, I think she rather gets their sympathy because she's troubled, and people's first instinct is to protect her.
But hey, what do I know? I'm just the actress who plays the character. Please, tell me more about how obsessive compulsive disorder in the comic is nothing more than a tool for cheap laughs.
By the way, I really can end messes. Just in case you had any doubt.

PENELOPE: I'm always being asked what my character's relationship is with Will. I'd say it was a functional one; ever since he got that job there hasn't been an awful lot of insight into how they're getting along, which I suppose means it's going fine! I think the interesting dynamic there is going to be how they interact with people individually; Penelope interacts with people at Coffee of Doom, and Will interacts with people at the Horrible Revelation. I think that's quite neat, actually, because Penelope never drinks, so she'll never have reason to visit the Horrible Revelation. I guess when she does, you'll know something wrong. Or she just wants to wear Victorian-era clothing. Can you imagine Penelope wearing Victorian-era clothing? I can tell you for a fact that Will's poetry has! (laughs)

PUPPETEER: Yeah, I control the movements for Pintsize and Winslow, and all the other Anthro-PCs. It was kind of difficult in the beginning, because the Anthro-PCs aren't supposed to, you know, move like puppets. Jeph made a lot of unreasonable demands of me in the beginning, actually. Firing a laser from the stomach of a puppet was tricky as HELL, and took like 50 takes to get right. I swear, if Marten had messed up his line that day, I'd have killed him. It was stressful. But, you know, it got easier, and Jeph eventually decided to scrap the whole laser thing. We've had other arguments, over the years, but we're on fairly good terms now, I think. Although I have noticed that I'm getting less work recently, and also, Momo now has a human-sized body, so she's now out of my hands altogether... Am I being fired? (looks off camera) Hey, uh, Cristi, can I talk to you for a second?

COSETTE: Yeah, I've been a little lax on showing up lately. Sorry about that! I've been busy with, you know, lots of bit parts here and there... with mixed results if you must know. I auditioned for the part of the unnamed yet very squishable lady in Dinosaur Comics, only to find that QWANTZ operated out of a single office, and was just some guy writing different dialogue for the same scene over and over again. Not my proudest moment, I must admit. I think it was worse that I failed the audition for an extra in Girls With Slingshots. I was completely down with making out with other girls, more so than some of the other applicants, I'll have you know. But when we were doing the takes, my hair kept getting in my eyes and I couldn't see anything that was going on! So after ten - fifteen tries, they just got rid of me. Yeah, that sucked. I guess what I'm trying to say is, yes, I am exactly as disaster prone in the comic as I am in real life. And vice-versa.

MOMO: It was thrilling, getting to be one of the first actors to actually play an Anthro-PC. Jeph's said he wants me to bring a fresh look to the character, you know, a fresh personality. Less of the cartoonish animé which is more Marigold's territory now. I've settled on the wide-eyed, innocent but kind of idealist look, and I think it's working out really well. I'd like to think I've also made Momo a lot more fun-loving than she used to be, which came about as a result of hanging out with Samantha a lot. The trade-off for this new personality, of course, is that I can no longer shoot live eels out of... well, anywhere. I guess I'm not that kind of model. (laughs)

MARTEN: Some time in 2010, money got a little tight, so some of us decided to move in together. Faye and Dora share an apartment a few blocks down from here, Steve and Cosette actually do live together, also fairly close by. Tai actually shares a room with Erin from Girls With Slingshots, so that's kind of an odd mix. Steve and Hannelore actually have this huge place several miles away, which they've shared at times with Raven, Clinton, Hazel from Girls With Slingshots... uh, I'm pretty sure Randall Munroe of XKCD crashed there at some point... or possibly just the guy with the beret. Anyway, Claire's their third housemate at this point, so they're doing alright. Sometimes it's a problem, cause I mean, they can afford it well enough with three people paying the rent, but it's a fair trek from there to work. So sometimes, Hannelore is tired in a comic because she really is that tired in real life, on account of getting up crazy early to be there on time. Me, I'm sharing a flat with Sven. And let me tell you, the fans find out who you're staying with, and they go NUTS with the crazy ships. It didn't help that soon after we moved in together, Jeph gave me the "daaanng, Sven has a GREAT butt" line. Yeah, the fans practically wet themselves over that one. As in, present tense. You remind them of it at any given point, they still go "SQUEE!" I'm not going to demonstrate too much... you really do learn to hate that sound.

PUPPETEER: ... Oh. Oh dear. Um... can we cut this a little short? I, er... I have to go and start planning for the future. Like, immediately.

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