Stuart Ashen

Stuart Ashen
Ashen on the set of Ashens and the Quest for the Game Child
Personal information
Born Stuart Clive Ashen
(1976-12-16) 16 December 1976
Norwich, United Kingdom
Nationality British
Education Doctorate in Psychology [1]
Residence Norwich, United Kingdom
Occupation Actor, YouTube reviewer, Animator
Website www.ashens.com
YouTube information
Also known as Ashens, Dr. Ashen
Channel
Genre
Subscribers 1.3 million+ (ashens)
312,000+ (extraashens)
104,000+ (Barshens)
Total views 395 million+ (ashens)
42 million+ (extraashens)
9.9 million+ (Barshens)
Associated acts Barry Lewis, Daniel Hardcastle, Larry Bundy Jr.
100,000 subscribers 2010
1,000,000 subscribers 2015

Internet information
Web hosting service(s) YouTube, ChannelFlip, That Guy with the Glasses, Twitch.tv
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 15 June 2018.

Stuart Clive Ashen (born 16 December 1976), commonly known by his online alias Ashens (/ˈæʃənz/), is a British comedian, animator, actor and online reviewer of various products, which are usually video games, toys, and food. The items he reviews are often of low quality or are poor knockoffs of well-received or well-known products.

Early life and education

Ashen is from Heartsease Estate, Norwich and attended Heartsease High School.[2] He previously worked for PC World and Norwich Union.[2] He was born in Norwich.[3][4] His mother passed away when he was eight years old.[5]

Career

Ashen made his first television appearance on a 2008 episode of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, where he played a cameo role as Mr. Noseybonk, a character from the 80's BBC children's show Jigsaw.[6]

Ashen guest starred on The Armstrong & Miller Show for their "The Node" segment in October 2009.[7]

In 2010, Ashen created the series Ashen's Tech Dump for BBC Online Comedy.[8] In 2011 Ashens co-starred alongside Karen Hayley in another BBC Online Comedy series Back Space.[9] In 2012 he starred as himself in The Proxy, a sci-fi webseries produced by ChannelFlip in partnership with Dell Alienware.[3][10] The series took eight days to film, consists of 10 episodes and won a Marketing Week "Engage Award" in the "Gaming and Entertainment" section.[11]

Ashen released the book Fifty-Thousand Shades of Grey on 23 September 2012; it parodies the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey.[12] The title is literal, as the book simply consists of the phrase "Shades of Grey" repeated 50,000 times.

In 2013, Ashen, along with Emma Blackery, Dan Howell (danisnotonfire) and Phil Lester (AmazingPhil), starred as a contestant in a re-make of the 1980s TV show Knightmare during the YouTube Geek Week event.[4][13][14][15]

As of July 2018, Ashen has produced over 710 videos, has over 1.3 million subscribers to his primary YouTube channel Ashens and over 352 million video views.[4][16] His secondary channel, used mainly for DVD extra-style clips, along with an annual look with Daniel "NerdCubed" Hardcastle at a series of children's Advent calendars throughout December, has over 300,000 subscribers and over 37 million video views.[17] In addition to his own channels he has also produced videos for other YouTube channels, which included "The Multiverse", a geek-themed channel controlled by ChannelFlip.[18]

Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild

Ashen wrote and starred in Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild, a feature film released in August 2013, for YouTube's "Geek Week".[18][19] The film also stars Warwick Davis and Robert Llewellyn, and was produced by the multi-channel network ChannelFlip,[4][18] in association with The Multiverse. The film was partially paid for through crowdfunding website Indiegogo with contributions totalling US$73,690 at the end of the month, which comprised 41% of the US$180,000 budget.[18][20][21][22] As of June 2016 it has been viewed over a million times on YouTube. A remastered and slightly extended edition of the movie was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 14 July 2014. On 2 July 2018, the full film was released on his YouTube channel. In 2016, Ashen confirmed a sequel to the movie at a fan screening.[23] The sequel, Ashens and the Polybius Heist, is currently being crowdfunded.[24]

Published works

In November 2015 Ashen released the book Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of, a collection of textual reviews of poor retro games, released through the Unbound crowdfunding platform.[25][26] The book reached its funding target in 12 hours.

On 24 February 2017 Ashen announced a sequel to Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of, titled Attack of the Flickering Skeletons: More Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of, again through Unbound, was released on 2 November 2017.[27]

Personal life

Ashen currently lives in Norwich, United Kingdom.[3][4]

Bibliography

Year Title Notes
2012 Fifty-Thousand Shades of Grey Parody of Fifty Shades of Grey
2015 Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of
2017 Attack of the Flickering Skeletons: More Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of sequel to Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of

Filmography

Web series

Year Title Role Note(s)
2010 Ashen's Tech Dump Himself, lead role Four episodes over two series
2011 Back Space Himself Six episodes
2012 The Proxy Himself, lead role Ten episodes
2013–2014 Ideas Men Himself Nine episodes over two series plus Series One and Two Bloopers
2013 Knightmare Himself, dungeoneer Special online one-off episode
2013 Geek Week Special Himself Single episode, panelist

Television

Year Title Role Note(s)
2008 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe Mr Noseybonk Cameo appearance, one episode
2009 The Armstrong & Miller Show Himself Guest star, one episode
2015 Newsnight Himself Interviewee, one episode

Film

Year Title Role Note(s)
2013 Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild Himself, lead role Co-writer
2016 The Darkest Dawn Bob
TBA Ashens and the Polybius Heist Himself, lead role Co-writer, sequel to Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild
TBA Sariel Father Adrian Servo

References

  1. ↑ https://twitter.com/ashens/status/236059437046042624
  2. 1 2 Briscoe, Kim (12 November 2014). "YouTube success helped Stuart to realise his film-making dream". Norwich Evening News. Archant. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Kate, Laura (19 May 2012). "Interview with Stuart Ashens". MCM Buzz. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 McGuinness, Ross (2 August 2013). "The Knightmare begins again as YouTube launches its own Geek Week". Metro. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  5. ↑ Ashen, Stuart (18 December 2013). "Sorry to hear that man. My mother died of cancer when I was 8, one of the reasons I'm supporting the charity now". Twitter. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Nick Akerman (31 May 2009). "Stuart Ashen Interview – feature at Thunderbolt". Thunderboltgames.com. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "Comedy – The Armstrong and Miller Show – The Node: Gadgets (featuring Ashens)". BBC. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Thair, David (17 September 2010). "Comedy Blog: Ashens returns to the Tech Dump". BBC. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "BBC – Back Space". 16 May 2014.
  10. ↑ "ChannelFlip makes 10-part sci-fi series with IT giant Dell". Televisual.com. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  11. ↑ "Engage Awards: The magnificent winners". Marketing Week. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  12. ↑ "Fifty-Thousand Shades of Grey by SC Ashen". Fifty Shades of Grey Parodies. 14 January 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  13. ↑ Edwards, Luke (9 August 2013). "10 amazing YouTube Geek Week videos you can't afford to miss". Stuff. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  14. ↑ Woollaston, Victoria (24 July 2013). "Knightmare returns on YouTube: Google films one-off special of cult children's TV show". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  15. ↑ Dredge, Stuart (5 August 2013). "Knightmare remake launches for YouTube Geek Week – watch it here". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  16. ↑ "Ashens about page". YouTube. 23 February 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  17. ↑ "ExtraAshens about page". YouTube. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 4 "YouTube Geek Week movie premiere online". SFX. 8 August 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  19. ↑ Collins, Katie (25 July 2013). "In depth: 90s gameshow Knightmare reborn for YouTube, may spawn new TV series (Wired UK)". Wired. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  20. ↑ "Interview with Robert Llewellyn". WUWO Magazine. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  21. ↑ "Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild". Sci-fi London. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  22. ↑ "Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild". Indiegogo. 7 April 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  23. ↑ "Stuart Ashen Announces GameChild 2 at Fan Screening".
  24. ↑ Ashen, Stuart. "Ashens and the Polybius Heist". Indiegogo. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  25. ↑ Perryman, Francesca (2015-11-30). "YouTuber Stuart Ashen comes to Waterstones in Reading PLUS win a signed copy of his new book". Get Reading. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  26. ↑ Page, Jemma (2015-12-01). "YouTube star Stuart Ashen to sign copies of debut book in Nottingham". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  27. ↑ Ashen, Stuart. "Attack of the Flickering Skeletons More Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of by Stuart Ashen". Unbound. Unbound.com. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
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