I am Peter Bernard.
I create and write and design and animate the Me Singing series.
Heidi in Australia helped me do
the first one, and she created the voice of Me Singing 209, so I
give her co-creator credit.
I wouldn't normally do that with voice talent, but even my own friends didn't
seem to comprehend the concept behind this series until they saw the first
cartoon finished, therefore I couldn't have done it without Heidi. Once we
made the first one, all the funny people I knew suddenly had their own ideas
for the series. So that's how Heidi earned her co-creator status.
The point of the series is obvious to anyone with a brain, which means it is completely incomprehensible to YouTube viewers and American Idol fans. Rather than laughing at the videos and enjoying them, YouTube viewers write death threats against the characters, confusing them for real people, or critique the singing of the cartoon characters as though it were intended as "real" singing and not comedy. I'm thinking about compiling the most imbecilic and hateful comments and erecting a "Wall of Shame" here on the site so you can all join me in laughing at these idiots, haha. As an example to explain what I mean, I recently saw a "Dread Zeppelin" video on YouTube. DZ was a spoof band that had an Elvis impersonator doing reggae versions of Led Zeppelin songs. On YouTube, it got comments EXACTLY THE SAME as the comments I get but don't clear for the Me Singing cartoons. People wrote in to say that the singer couldn't sing and should therefore be murdered. These people didn't know about Led Zeppelin, they didn't know about Elvis, they didn't even have the ability to recognize it as comedy. They just knew that it was their job as Simon Cowell's stand-in to attack the singer, and their job as a moron to make death threats against entertainers they didn't understand.
Why do I feel that it's okay to directly insult my own viewers here on the Me Singing Cartoons site? Because these people ask questions and make assumptions based on the series which are completely bizarre IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT EVERY VIDEO LINKS BACK TO THIS SITE. They could have come here any time and seen what the actors look like, read interviews with them, and given themselves a chance to get the joke. Instead, they congratulate themselves for making stupid insults based on bizarre fantasies created in their own heads. I could list their names and call for their deaths and they would never know because they're too stupid to even click a link and do their own research.
But enough about my "fans." More about me.
Peter Bernard Timeline
1964-- Born in the Bronx, NY
1970's-- Went to Bronx Science
1980's-- Arts editor of student newspaper at stupid college, then I just worked dayjobs, then I started protesting the government in the East Village.
1990's-- After getting my phone tapped and getting harassed by undercover officers for my work in the underground, I went into children's TV show pitching with John Beach to escape from that world. We developed a concept which later got on the air as "Animaniacs" but we never saw a dime or got credit. The show was partially developed at Jumbo Pictures, before they were owned by Disney. I also worked for a while developing another funny animal idea with Linda Simensky at Nickelodeon but I left after Nick fired the creator of Ren and Stimpy (technically, Linda escorted me out when I told her the show would suck without John K, although to her credit, a year later she sought me out to tell me that I had been correct all along).
More 1990's though early 2000's-- John Beach and I also collaborated with Emmy-winning comedy writer Dave Yazbek and his partner Elliot Weiner back then on a project based on comedy superhero characters which John and I had created. MSN wanted to pay us $3000/week each to write a stupid web cartoon but Yazbek wanted even more money so the deal was scuttled. Disgruntled and completely broke, I went into the underground on purpose, doing a public access show with teenage girl interns that used to follow me around all day and moon over me. I would never appear on the show because I was incredibly shy and still to this day have intense stage fright (I don't mind doing videos on youtube though because nobody watches my youtube vlogs). One of our early fans was a talented kid named Jake who had his own MTV show, and Amy Poehler and Matt Besser used to call in to the show too, leaving weird messages about the Upright Citizens Brigade. Phil Dejean and I both premiered the UCB on our shows the same night in 1996, the first time they were ever on television in New York. After Janeane Garafolo saw them on my show, she called us then started hanging with the UCB, and that helped them get popular enough to get their own show on Comedy Central. By way of thank you, Matt Walsh went around bad-mouthing me, something about black women liking me better than him or something. You're a peach, Matt, love you forever. Later on, I had Bex Schwartz host my show, and she has gone on to be a successful and popular producer/writer at VH1. As far as I know, she hasn't bad-mouthed me yet, ha, and she's in my little secret feature film.
Before Bex, we used to have on Giuliani's political opponents just to bother the Mayor, whom we disliked intensely. During this time, our format was copied on the Metro channel on at least 2 shows. The producer of one of the shows wrote to me and admitted it, even going so far as to ask me for UNPAID ADVICE! Once on the Metro channel, famous "liberal" comedian Mark Mahron stole our bit outright when we would go to the dog run at Tompkins Square and ask people about relationships. He literally went to the same dog run at the same park and asked the same questions. The biggest bite was when Barbara Walters lifted our format, made it older and republican, and renamed it "The View." The format "The View" is based on is one I dubbed, "The girl-gang interview." The theory is, if you get 4 or 5 women together to serve as your hosts, none of them have to actually have any interviewing talent. Just give them a list of 2 or 3 questions each to ask, and the show proceeds smoothly. Make them different types and races and you'll attract a wider audience. She stole our concept completely and continues to profit off it to this day.
21st Century-- I got sick of helping other people get their careers on track while I live in poverty, so I have stopped interviewing people other than my own staff (see our actor interview pages). I only work on my own (animation, machinima or prank-related) projects now or those I'm getting paid to work on. I don't do favors any more. I don't want to be lumped in with any "scene" or clique, and I avoid attending live performances whenever possible. My life is shockingly drama-free since making and sticking to these few simple decisions.
Now tell me, who are YOU?