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Michael Swaim

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki


Michael Swaim
File:Michael Swaim 2021 (cropped).jpg File:Michael Swaim 2021 (cropped).jpg
Swaim in 2021
Born (1985-06-07) June 7, 1985 (age 41)
🏳️ NationalityAmerican
🎓 Alma materUniversity of California, San Diego
💼 Occupation
Actor, comedian, filmmaker, humorist, podcaster, writer
📆 Years active  2006-present
Known forThose Aren't Muskets, Cracked.com, Small Beans, IGN
Notable workAfter Hours, Agents of Cracked, Kill Me Now, The Climb

Michael Swaim (born June 7, 1985) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, podcaster, and writer. While attending the University of California, San Diego, he became a columnist for the humor website Cracked.com, and after graduating from college in 2007, he joined with Abe Epperson to co-found the internet sketch comedy troupe Those Aren't Muskets. Along with Epperson and another frequent collaborator, Daniel O'Brien, he spent the late 2000s establishing a video department for Cracked. His subsequent tenure as Head of Video for the website produced several viral web series that he and O'Brien often starred in; these include the Webby Award-winning After Hours and the Streamy Award-winning Agents of Cracked. The 2010 independent horror-comedy film Kill Me Now was co-written by Swaim, featuring him in a starring role. He runs a network called Small Beans on Patreon.

Early life

Michael Swaim was born on June 7, 1985.[1] He lives in Santa Monica with his wife, two children and a bloodhound named Flip.[2]

Career

Those Aren't Muskets and early writings

Swaim attended the University of California, San Diego, where he majored in theatre with a minor in creative writing.[3] Before beginning his career in comedy, he contributed short stories to science fiction magazines.[citation needed] He also aspired to become a playwright.[4] While attending UCSD, he served as an editor of the university's satirical publication, the Muir Quarterly, commonly known as "the MQ".[3] In 2006, he began writing comedy articles on a freelance basis for Cracked.com. The website gave him a blog, called "The Specious", and during Swaim's senior year of college, he became a columnist for Cracked.[5] Around this time, he also contributed articles to McSweeney's[6] and Yankee Pot Roast.[7] In September 2007, "The Specious" ceased publication.[citation needed] Swaim's columns for Cracked were later published as part of a separate blog called "S.W.A.I.M.".[citation needed]

Fellow MQ editor Abe Epperson befriended Swaim when they were both UCSD sophomores, and the two have remained frequent collaborators throughout their careers.[3] Together, shortly after graduating in 2007, they founded the internet sketch comedy troupe Those Aren't Muskets.[3][8][9] Swaim continued during this time to be involved with UCSD's theatre program, producing his own original comedy play, Olympus Inc,[8][10] from which cast members occasionally crossed over into Those Aren't Muskets videos.[11] Within months, the troupe's content had attained over 100,000 views. Videos produced by the troupe were posted to websites like YouTube, Revver, Cracked, CollegeHumor, and Funny or Die, in addition to the now-defunct thosearentmuskets.com.[8][9]

Towards the end of 2007, Those Aren't Muskets began a partnership with Cracked.[8][9] The first video produced through this collaboration, "Internet Party", found success on Digg and was featured on YouTube's homepage. The video quickly surpassed two million views.[9][12] Gaining media attention,[13] it was identified by The San Diego Union-Tribune as Swaim and Epperson's "first bona fide hit".[9] Years later, Cracked video producer Breandan Carter identified "Internet Party" as the "breakthrough video" that "put [Cracked.com] on the map as observational humorists."[14]

According to Swaim, a "symbiosis" quickly developed between Those Aren't Muskets and Cracked,[12] and from this came the web series Cracked TV - initially announced under the title S.W.A.I.M. and later rebranded as Does Not Compute.[15][16] By 2008, Those Aren't Muskets had grown to an official membership of six.[9] Non-members were often cast in the troupe's videos as well, and among them was Katie Willert, a then-UCSD student, who, later in her career, would co-star alongside Swaim in numerous Cracked video productions.[citation needed][11] In 2008, Swaim's brother, David, guest-starred in "Chops", a Those Aren't Muskets video which placed fourth - over hundreds of submissions - in YouTube's Sketchies II competition.[9][17] That same year, Those Aren't Muskets was featured during the "Kings of Dot Comedy" segment on G4's series Attack of the Show.[18] Over the summer of 2008, Swaim and Epperson moved to Los Angeles together.[11][12]

Cracked tenure and Kill Me Now

When Cracked decided to start producing its own video content, Swaim was enlisted to lead the effort. He and Epperson teamed up with Daniel O'Brien to create the first official Cracked web series, Agents of Cracked.[16][19] The series began airing in November 2009 and ran for three seasons.[20][21][22] Its first season won the "Audience choice award for best web series" at the Second Annual Streamy Awards.[16][23] By 2011, the series had been viewed online over seven million times.[24]

Those Aren't Muskets remained active for a few more years, producing the web series 8-Bits for Cracked, and joining in 2009 with several other internet sketch troupes for a two-week collaboration known as Genius Camp.[25] One of the sketches resulting from this collaboration was featured on Comedy Central's series Tosh.0.[26] Swaim had a cameo role that year in the BriTANicK video "Epic Phone Fail".[27][28] He had a cameo role a year later in the MagicHugs video "Cover Me".[29]

By 2010, Swaim had become Head of Video at Cracked.[30] He continued starring in original video series produced by the website, among them After Hours,[31] which won Best Writing at the 18th Annual Webby Awards.[32][33][34] According to The Huffington Post, Swaim and his frequent co-star, O'Brien, came to be known as the collective "face of Cracked".

As Swaim became more involved with video production for Cracked, he wrote fewer columns for the website but took on supplementary work as a blogger for guyspeak.com.[16][35][36] Swaim's work for GuySpeak was occasionally featured in Glamour.[37][38] Offering humor-based relationship advice, Swaim contributed to GuySpeak for about a year, starting in late 2009.[36][39]

In 2010, Swaim told The Huffington Post that he hoped his tenure at Cracked would be a step towards eventually making feature films. Later that year, Swaim and Epperson were contacted by filmmaker Travis Long, who expressed interest in working with the duo on a feature. Swaim and Epperson had already developed a story idea together, and with Long's help, this idea was turned into the horror-comedy film Kill Me Now.[3][16][40] Swaim, who had a starring role in the film, wrote the screenplay and received a producer credit, while Long directed, and Epperson performed the cinematography.[3][16][30] Kill Me Now was produced through Ketchup Media.[16] It was shot in Effingham, Illinois. Filming occurred in October 2010 and lasted for twenty-one days.[3]

Although Swaim was initially unsure about acting in Kill Me Now, he took a starring role due to the film's short production schedule.[30] The film's cast and crew included several internet sketch comedians,[16] among them, Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney, who would both go on to join Saturday Night Live shortly after appearing in the film.[41][42] Kill Me Now premiered in Los Angeles on December 5, 2012. It then had a limited theatrical release through Tugg, a service that allows people to bring screenings of films to their local city when enough tickets are pre-ordered.[3][41][lower-alpha 1]

Swaim contributed to Cracked's 2010 New York Times Best Seller, You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News, and served as a Senior Editor on Cracked's 2013 release, The De-textbook.[45] Throughout his tenure at Cracked, he often appeared on - and occasionally co-hosted - the Cracked podcast.[46][47][48] He also co-hosted the Cracked-produced podcast Kurt Vonneguys with Alex Schmidt. Kurt Vonneguys was hailed by The A.V. Club as "a must, both for those deeply familiar with Vonnegut’s work and those seeking an entry point."[49][50]

Small Beans

Small Beans has attracted positive attention from several publications. In 2019, The A.V. Club, wrote that 1Upsmanship features "undeniable chemistry" between Swaim, Ganser, and their guests.[51] The A.V. Club later named Small Beans one of the best podcasting networks of 2019, singling out Small Beans for having "the most variety on a single feed" and writing, "What’s as impressive as the amount of podcasts Small Beans pumps out is the quality it maintains: each is insightful, fun, hilarious, and a breeze to listen to."[52] Two years later, Paste named 1Upsmanship one of the best gaming-themed podcasts of 2021.[53] In 2022, Collider named Small Beans one of the best producers of pop-culture podcasts, praising Swaim's work for blending "silly quips and often childish humor" with "surprisingly profound introspection."[54] In 2024, American Prestige, a culture podcast by The Nation, called 1Upsmanship "the best video game podcast today".[55]

List of Small Beans podcast series

Title Host(s) Premiere date Description References
Frame Rate Abe Epperson, Michael Swaim December 4, 2017 A film review podcast [56]
Extree! Extree! Swaim December 12, 2017 Each episode opens with Swaim updating the audience on developments related to Small Beans; Swaim then transitions into reading comedic news headlines in character as a turn of the century newsboy named Jonny Papes [citation needed]
Tales from the Pit Swaim December 14, 2017 An exploration of depression and other emotionally challenging subjects; Swaim opens most episodes with a short piece of original writing. [57]
1Upsmanship Adam Ganser, Swaim December 18, 2017 A video game review podcast (was distributed through iHeartMedia from 2022 through 2023) [58]
Pop Culture Petri Dish Epperson, Cristian Ramirez March 7, 2018 An exploration of the real ideas behind popular works of science fiction [citation needed]
Rough Stuff Bridgett Greenberg, Sarah Griffith March 11, 2018 Greenberg, Griffith, and their guests regale each other with awkward stories of their youth [citation needed]
The Coen Brothers Brothers Epperson, Swaim May 24, 2018 An exploration of the entire Coen brothers filmography [59]
My Top 8 Maggie Mae Fish July 30, 2018 Guests are interviewed by Fish about their most meaningful friendships [citation needed]
What Dinosaur Real Good? Epperson, Greenberg, Swaim November 29, 2018 After conducting their own amateur research on dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, Epperson, Greenberg, and Swaim share their findings and compare favorite species [citation needed]
Bold Season 1: Dahlia Ferlito, Swaim
Season 2: Ivette Alé, Ferlito 		December 17, 2018 An exploration of racial justice issues (Small Beans collaborates on this podcast with Showing Up for Racial Justice; the podcast is produced by White People 4 Black Lives) [citation needed]
Waveformed Ramirez July 1, 2019 Guests are interviewed by Ramirez about the music that has most impacted them [citation needed]
Directorpiece Theatre Epperson, Ganser December 3, 2019 Using their perspective as directors, Epperson and Ganser analyze cinema that they consider to be popular but artistically overlooked [60]
Bean Town N/A March 7, 2020 A series of sketch comedy radio plays set in the fictitious Bean Town [citation needed]
Kings of King Epperson, Swaim March 11, 2020 A film review podcast that focuses on adaptations of Stephen King's bibliography [citation needed]
The Cast and the Curious Greenberg, Griffith March 13, 2020 Greenberg, a Fast & Furious-devotee, introduces the franchise to Griffth [citation needed]
I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours Fish, Ganser April 10, 2020 Fish and Ganser learn new details about each other by responding to a shared prompt in each episode [citation needed]
Science or Whatever Griffin Rowell, Swaim August 10, 2020 Swaim interviews his childhood best friend, professional scientist Griffin Rowell [citation needed]
Bewilderments and Scientifics Epperson, Cody Johnston December 15, 2020 An improv comedy podcast, in which Epperson conducts absurdist interviews with the fictional Professor Scott Bugg (voiced by Johnston) about scientific concepts (co-produced with the Some More News media network) [citation needed]
Movie Production Diary Epperson, Swaim January 6, 2021 Behind-the-scenes conversations about the development of Papa Bear [citation needed]
Star Trek: The Next Futurama David Christopher Bell, Swaim April 2, 2021 An exploration of Futurama and Star Trek: The Next Generation (co-produced with the Gamefully Unemployed media network) [citation needed]
Shooting Threes Greenberg, Griffith June 14, 2021 Greenberg and Griffith discuss various film trilogies [citation needed]
Ander's Sons Epperson, Swaim October 1, 2021 An exploration of the entire filmographies of both Paul Thomas Anderson and Wes Anderson [citation needed]
Spielboys! Epperson, Reimann October 19, 2021 An exploration of the entire filmography of Steven Spielberg (co-produced with the Gamefully Unemployed media network) [citation needed]
Like Razorblade Pie Swaim March 18, 2022 An exploration of Harlan Ellison's short stories [citation needed]
Escape from the Multicurse Epperson, Ganser, Swaim July 1, 2022 An exploration of various narrative works dealing with the concept of the multiverse. [citation needed]
Inside Dads Bell, Epperson February 27, 2023 An exploration of what Bell and Epperson classify as "dad movies" [citation needed]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Swaim later acted in Long's second feature film, B-Roll, which entered production in 2014 and premiered in 2016.[43][44]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Swaim". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  2. ↑ "The Cracked Podcast". PodSearch. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Farley Elliott (December 5, 2012). "Midnight Snack: Stout with The Makers of Kill Me Now". KCET. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  4. ↑ Michael Swaim. "Bios". Those Aren't Muskets - Blog. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007.
  5. ↑ Michael Swaim; Abe Epperson (August 28, 2007). "And So Dawns a New Age". Those Aren't Muskets - Blog. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  6. ↑ Swaim, Michael (February 15, 2008). "The Sadomasochistic Fisherman Visits Pyramid Lake". McSweeney's. Archived from the original on August 23, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Yankee Pot Roast - Michael Swaim". Yankeepotroast.org.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Nicole Teixeira (November 5, 2007). "Lights, Cameras, Muskets?" (PDF). UCSD Guardian. pp. 8, 10. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Jenifer Goodwin (April 14, 2008). "Aspiring local comedians take their act on the information superhighway". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on July 17, 2008.
  10. ↑ Abe Epperson, Michael Swaim (December 12, 2017). "Olympus, Inc. (circa 2005)". Small Beans. Patreon. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Evan Almeida (April 22, 2013). "Meet Comedian Katie Willert: Viral Video Star and Feminist". Mic. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Greg Rock (March 18, 2008). "Internet Parties, Comedy, and….Wait a Minute…Those Aren't Muskets!". Tubefilter. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  13. ↑ Andrea Simakis (April 14, 2008). "Cleveland's Next Top Model, the return of Asia, "Girls Gone Wild" for readers and more -- It's Pop 10 for April 14–20". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  14. ↑ Ed Carrasco (April 28, 2013). "Cracked: From 'Mad' Knockoff to YouTube Humor Original [YouTube NextUp Creator Profile Series]". NewMediaRockstars. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  15. ↑ Michael Swaim (October 14, 2008). "S.W.A.I.M. Episode 1!". Those Aren't Muskets - Blog. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 Adam Rosina (August–September 2010). "In Swaim We Trust" (PDF). Auxiliary. No. 11. pp. 21–23. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 16, 2012.
  17. ↑ Lauren Rabaino (August 28, 2008). "UCSD grads create funny video site". Mustang News. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  18. ↑ Michael Swaim (November 20, 2008). "G4 Features Muskets!". Those Aren't Muskets - Blog. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  19. ↑ Georg Szalai (April 1, 2010). "Cracked.com adding two Web series". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  20. ↑ Michael Swaim (November 9, 2009). "Agents of Cracked Is Go". Those Aren't Muskets - Blog. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Members: AgentsofCracked". Cracked.com. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  22. ↑ "Series - Agents of Cracked". Cracked.com. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  23. ↑ Karen Nicoletti (April 11, 2010). "Streamys Honor Best of Web Series". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Award-Winning Web Comedy Series 'Agents of Cracked' Begins Its Highly Anticipated Third Season on Cracked.com" (Press release). Santa Monica: Cracked (Business Wire). June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  25. ↑ Michael Swaim (June 7, 2009). "Genius Camp 2K9". Those Aren't Muskets - Blog. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  26. ↑ Michael Swaim (October 30, 2009). "Muskets! On Comedy Central!". Those Aren't Muskets -Blog. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  27. ↑ Michael Swaim (June 25, 2009). "BriSWAIMick". Those Aren't Muskets - Blog. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  28. ↑ Epic Phone Fail. BriTANicK (video). June 24, 2009. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  29. ↑ Cover Me. MagicHugs (video). September 27, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 Charles Webb (December 12, 2012). "Interview: The Slasher Just Might Be Right in Michael Swaim's 'Kill Me Now'". MTV.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  31. ↑ Hannah Means Shannon (November 8, 2014). "Behind The Scenes Of A Future Cracked: After Hours Episode". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  32. ↑ "After Hours -- The Webby Awards". webbyawards.com. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  33. ↑ "2014 Online Film & VideoPerformance & Craft Best Writing". webbyawards.com. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  34. ↑ Sam Gutelle (April 28, 2014). "Here Is A Full List Of Online Video Winners At The 2014 Webby Awards". Tubefilter. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  35. ↑ Michael Swaim (October 12, 2009). "Do What I Tell You To Do And Be Loved!". Those Aren't Muskets - Blog. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 "WE tv Unveils New Online Property, GuySpeak.com, Dedicated to Providing Women With Real Answers from Real Guys" (Press release). New York City: AMC Networks. November 12, 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  37. ↑ Michael Swaim (March 8, 2010). "GuySpeak: What Makes a Guy Cheat?". Glamour. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  38. ↑ Michael Swaim (October 5, 2010). "Ask a Guy: "Do Guys Value Their Mothers' Opinions on Their Girlfriends?"". Glamour. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  39. ↑ Michael Swaim (September 25, 2010). "@SWAIM_CORP". Twitter. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  40. ↑ thehorrorchick (March 26, 2013). "Indie Horror Month Exclusive: Writer/Co-Star Michael Swaim Discusses Newly Released Horror Comedy Kill Me Now". Dread Central. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Bill Grimes (December 21, 2012). "Effingham grad's film coming to town". Effingham Daily News. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  42. ↑ Bill Grimes (August 14, 2016). "Filmed here, movie premieres in Effingham". Effingham Daily News. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  43. ↑ Bill Grimes (July 29, 2014). "Effingham grad returns to make film". Effingham Daily News. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  44. ↑ Effingham Daily News staff (August 10, 2016). "Friday premiere for movie filmed in Effingham". Effingham Daily News. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  45. ↑ Cracked.com staff (2013). The De-textbook: The Stuff You Didn't Know about the Stuff You Thought You Knew. City of Westminster: Penguin. ISBN 9780452298200. Search this book on
  46. ↑ Arielle Gordon (August 22, 2013). "This Week in Comedy Podcasts: Colin Quinn, Michael Ian Black Eats Chips, & More!". Vulture. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  47. ↑ Michael Swaim (April 8, 2016). "@SWAIM_CORP". Twitter. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  48. ↑ Michael Swaim (September 27, 2017). "@SWAIM_CORP". Twitter. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  49. ↑ Rebecca Bulnes; Zach Brooke; Becca James; Jose Nateras; Mike Vanderbilt (October 16, 2017). "The women of Feminasty talk courage, and Never Seen Before finally sees The Exorcist". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  50. ↑ Michael Swaim (August 18, 2016). "SWAIM_CORP". Twitter. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  51. ↑ Kevin Cortez (March 11, 2019). "Inside Conan serves up the nuts-and-bolts of comedy for true late-night dorks". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on November 22, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  52. ↑ Kevin Cortez (December 23, 2019). "The best and most notable podcasts of 2019". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  53. ↑ Fox Jr., Kevin (2021-10-21). "The Best Gaming Podcasts in 2021". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  54. ↑ Bridie, Samuel (2022-06-13). "8 Awesome Pop-Culture Podcasts You Should Check Out". Collider. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  55. ↑ Adam Ganser; Michael Swaim (January 30, 2024). "Video Games, War, and Capitalism—With Adam Ganser and Michael Swaim" (podcast). The Nation (Interview). American Prestige. Interviewed by Daniel Bessner; Derek Davison.
  56. ↑ "839. Frame Rate: Total Recall (1990) (Feat. DJ Wooldridge)". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  57. ↑ "Year in Review 2018: Podcasts". Certain of Eventual Failure. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  58. ↑ "1Upsmanship". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  59. ↑ "The Coen Brothers Brothers". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  60. ↑ "Small Beans". Rephonic. Retrieved 14 February 2026.

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