I am Justin Giddings - Weird Al backup dancer, Machinima zombie killer, and now a sci-fi filmmaker! AMA!

What does Weird Al smell like?

Pineapples and motor oil.

FUCK, I always imagined him smelling like pineapples and massage oil.

Nah. Too much testosterone locked in that man child's body.

Sorry to hijack, But I wanted to say that your badass fuckin' acting was amazing in Bite me. Seriously man. I got the Josh Peck vibe from you

I appreciate it!!!!! Yeah, THAT was a freakin' trip. Machinima is a great company to work for and I'd love to see a season 3!!

You totally influenced the waking dead when they cut your hand off

Totally. If somebody could turn that scene into a GIF, I'd be so happy...

Ask and ye shall receive!

(Sorry it's so shitty, best I could do with what I have in front of me!)

I love it. THANK YOU!

Anything funny happen on set?

Weird Al.

Don't know what I was expecting.

Probably a real answer. This one's for you /u/ZainCaster!

There were several times when Al's mustache would come flying off in the middle of a take. He was frustrated at first, but after a while, it was funny to see a little slip of golden fuzz flying through space in the middle of playback.

Is this why it's not on his face when he's blowing the leaf blower at himself?

NICE catch!!!

They should have kept one of those in.

HAHAHA! True!

How in the hell did he keep that wig on over his hair? Did he cut his hair for this video?

Lots of bobby pins. The mustache was a lost cause, though - every take it went flying off his face.

Funnest and least funnest thing Weird Al said?

"This room smells like a lot of weed happened here."

"We can't use any of that. Somebody needs to be paying attention to the basics." <= Not directed at me.

Weed happens.

Apparently a rapper had shot his video there the night before. His entourage had shown up, smoked up, then left when the main guy never arrived. I got a contact high 12 hours later.

Oh man, imagining the hilarity of flying mustaches

HAHAHAHA! That is not too far off! By the end of the day, Al had a half-inch thick layer of spirit gum on his upper lip from constant reapplication. And you can ask your theater friends - spirit gum is awful feeling and awful smelling.

Spirit gum is in fact the worst. And if you don't wash it off, it soaks into your skin and makes your skin swollen for a few days.

Yeah, I HATE it. I had to wear it to and it makes my skin numb and hot and I HATE IT!

My friend used it to secure the mask for his Halloween costume. He couldn't see properly for about a week.

Damn.

It's alright if you don't know for certain, but did Mr. Yankovic say anything to lead you to believe he is a god, or other sort of deity?

At one point, he winked, and my brain shattered.

What was the audition process like for the Handy video? Did you have to come prepared with some moves?

This is one of the few - and awesome - times that I didn't need to audition! The casting director who cast me in that Hefty commercial called me up and asked me if I wanted to be in a Weird Al video. I immediately said yes. She asked, "You used to dance, right?" I hesitated... "Uh, yeah, but I'm much heavier now. I can move, but my splits are shit." She laughed, hired me, and gave me the rehearsal day. I show up, there's Al, a choreographer, the other dancer, and away we went!

Casting director had cast me in a Hefty commercial and simply called me up with an offer! She's cast me in a bunch of things now, so I owe her some sort of gift...

Do you think Weird Al would use you again in the future?

How awesome is his hair in person?

God, his hair is even more epic in person. Seriously.

Yeah, I think so! We had a good time and he's super nice. When I came in for the rehearsal, he stood up and shook my hand before I even really took note of the fact that is was Him.

I looked at him and quietly said, "I don't want to be that guy, but I've been a ridiculous fan ever since Amish Paradise. Thank you for all the good you've done in the world."

In my fantasy, he leans in to whisper in your ear, "And thank you for all the good you've done, Justin" and then he explodes into a sea of rainbow butterflies.

Or a rainbow of sea butterflies.

http://giphy.com/gifs/DqSw5gyRQ5yPC

HAHAHAHAHA!

Ever used "the stranger" on yourself?

Oh and did Weird Al partner up with a different site for every video release day? That's freaking smart.

Yes, and yes.

I think Al's a freakin' marketing genius. He's trending EVERYWHERE. Brilliant, and you could see that brilliance on set. He comes off goofy, but the man's a pro.

Why is your name so awesome?

Because Giddings's are the greatest. internet high-five

internet down-low

internet too slow

EDIT: No, crap, internet to the side

TO THE WINDOWWWW

TO THE WALLS

Perspiration is trickling down my scrotum.

To all these less than desirable women crawl

I'm glad this happened.

to the sweat drop down my balls.

Source: also a Giddings.

Well, hello brother...

Heeyyyy Brother...

HAHAHAHA!!!

Well you know what they say, when the Giddings good

Tee hee...

Another question: Was Al really professional on set, or was it pretty much a chill, fun time? Or a decent mix of both?

Decent mix of both. We went at a nice pace and got everything we needed, but at one point the camera had been set to a different frame rate (making the footage unusable) and that was frustrating since it ate about an hours worth of work.

Al's wife came to set, though, and hung out for a bit. She's super cute.

Watch out OP, I hear Weird Al has cracked the Illuminati code

Would not be surprised.

What's it like being a not-skinny person in the biz?

Awesome. I get all the auditions. I get to be funny and dramatic. I don't have body issues.

That being said, I'm working out to look leaner and get back to my leading man days. Being the funny fat guy can get old, sometimes.

Funny fat guy here, can confirm. Good job on trying to get fit!

Thanks! Down 30 lbs.

EDIT: WHOA!!! GOLD!!! Thank you so much!!!

Awesome!

:-)

Damn, congrats! Your health and wellbeing is more important than almsot anything.

Thanks! Yeah, I've been skinny and I've been chubby. Skinny wins, hands down. Not so much for the looks, but for the strength and flexibility.

We should form a club or something.

Funny fat guy here, too. Question: by club, do you mean sandwich or group? Or group of sandwiches? Lastly, do you have a sandwich or group of sandwiches?

A sandwich club of club sandwiches.

How long did it take to learn those moves? Did you get to practice with Al? Did they have somebody come in to teach you, or was it just spur of the moment stuff?

One day of rehearsal. We had a choreographer giving us some really basic stuff. Al was there. He learned some of the moves and then gave input on things he liked or didn't like.

He was cool - the stereo system broke so we practiced to him playing the song on his iPhone.

Sounds awesome! Thanks for replying!

sure!

Thanks for doing this AMA,

How long ago was this shot? Were you paid (even though I would definitely pay Al for the opportunity to be his backup dancer).

We shot it June 30th, just a few weeks ago. And it was definitely paid - but I would have totally done it for free (don't tell my agent).

That's a fast turnaround, especially with all those jazzy special effects. Is Al really a fountain of youth, or is it mostly makeup?

No, he looks good! You can definitely tell he's gotten older if you look at older pictures of him, but his energy is through the roof and he looks great.

Does Weird Al plan his videos well ahead of time or was Al constantly changing it?

Oh, they're planned out. The only thing left to the last minute was which props would fit in our tool belts.

Does al ever get frustrated if something's not going right on set?

Yeah, but not very. The camera was shooting at a weird frame rate for the first half hour before someone noticed it. Everything was unusable and we had already moved on to another set up. He was clearly frustrated, but simply remained calm and direct and got it all worked out.

Was that the

"We can't use any of that. Somebody needs to be paying attention to the basics."

Because I would not want to be that guy.

Yup.

Did you stroke Weird Al's face?

No, but TIL that there is a touching-Weird-Al's-head fetish. Which I totally get and am trusting in rule 34.

Rule 34 would be all over that. It probably exists already.

I would Google, but I learned a long time ago to never Google Rule 34.

I'd ask for a story but there is no way I would want that story.

German Shepard. ^{drops mic}

Wait, what happened with a german shepard?

Rule 34.

You mentioned catering in another question's answer.

What did you guys have for lunch?

It was a half day, so I got breakfast. It was a giant breakfast burrito stuffed with at least 6 pieces of bacon.

They go big in Hollywood.

Hey Justin, I'm the guy who requested you to do an AMA. What got you into acting?

Thanks for doing this! Told you people would be interested.

You were right. Thanks for asking.

It's a longish story, so here's the TL;DR: Star Wars. Well, Star Wars toys. My stepdad is an actor and when he and my mom got married, I started doing voice overs through his voice over agent. I would get these ridiculous checks that no child should be allowed to get and I would blow it all on Star Wars toys and the card game. I was also always an imaginative guy and liked to play pretend in the woods behind my house. I would keep a notebook and award myself special items, then use my Nerf Bow and Arrow to attack the local fauna.

[deleted]

Depends. Right now, I'm campaigning on Indiegogo for my sci-fi (plug: www.OutpostTheFilm.com). That takes up a TON of time - updates, thank you notes, marketing, etc. When I'm acting, 12 hour days are the norm and that's all I'm doing. In my free time, i'm usually writing.

But living in LA means that at any time I can disappear into the wilderness or ocean to get "me" time. And I'm doing what I lurv, so I never feel "busy."

How was working on Bite Me? Also, season 2 gets a lot of criticism for the direction the plot went, what are your thoughts on it?

It was great! I think the challenge of Season 2 was that at one point it was supposed to be 3 times as long. 30 episodes. When it got whittled down, it didn't always scale down perfectly. But that being said, I'm still really proud of the project and it definitely got a bump up in production value. I think a Season 3 would be awesome, but I don't see it happening any time soon.

Thanks for your answer! I loved Bite Me and I really wish they would make a Season 3.

Thanks. Also, your username makes me cringe. It's awesome.

Thank you, always nice to hear something about my username :)

I imagine I'm not your first.

Hey there! I really enjoyed the Bite Me series.

I was making videos for the Machinima channel at the time. Did you ever see this bite me song?

<3

Wow. That was great, what a walk down memory lane. I even got a little choked up. GREAT memories!! Thanks for posting!

What were your thoughts when you realized you'd be a backup dancer for Weird Al?

There was no time for thinking, the tears were already flowing.

Whats your favorite Weird Al song?

Amish Paradise. Hands down.

Yeah thats a great song. Amish Paradise and The Night Santa Went Crazy are definitely my favorites.

The Night Santa Went Crazy!!! ANOTHER favorite!!

Favorite breakfast food?

Potato Crisp.

Take a square skillet or griddle and get that thing hot with lots of oil. Throw on a half a bag of hasbrowns, spread it out into a square shaped layer of starchy goodness. Turn heat to medium, then crisp it up. When close to crispy, throw on two slices cheddar, two slices of provolone, 4 strips of bacon, onion sautéed in bacon grease, some tomatoes or spinach, and a healthy dollop of sour cream right down the middle. Then fold the two sides over the middle, like a crepe. Salt, ketchup, heart attack.

The tomatoes or spinach make it healthy!

Yep! Much fat blocking capabilities.

I just want to say thank you for being a part of BITE ME my friends and I had way more fun then was healthy watching that series

and as a related question what are the differences (if any) between working at Machinima (or on a web series) and working in a more main stream stetting in terms of professionalism, work environment ect.. ?

You're welcome! Actually, not much of a difference on BITE ME. It was basically a 2 million dollar film and was run like a film set.

When did you get to view the finished video yourself?

Also - upon first viewing of this video, I was wondering why it looked a little... low-budget compared to Al's other videos of his opening tracks - but then I got it was going for the whole low-budget local commercial vibe. A pretty clever way to deal with your record label not giving you anything to make a video if you ask me.

I just saw today. Yeah I thought that was pretty clever myself.

What is the most annoying part about working with weird Al?

Not being Weird Al.

We all experience this pain on a daily basis.

Srsly.

Actually, there was nothing annoying. Easiest day on set I've probably ever had.

Are you in any other music videos, with or without Weird Al?

No, but I've done some big online series, like Machinima's zombie comedy BITE ME. At last count, the series was somewhere around 60 million views just on YouTube.

Do you enjoy this job?

Oh, heck yeah. Dancing as a heavy guy alongside a comedy/music legend. Half day of work, full day's rate. Catering. Fake mustache. I mean, it's all a win.

Did you actually dance with him for the whole video or was it more green screen addition later on

Danced with him the whole time. T'was glorious.

Now that Al has exposed the shadow organizations like the illumati and lizard people, do you do you think it's best to wear a tin foil hat for protection? Or do I continue to rock an Ed Hardy shirt with fluero green pants?

Totally depends on the quality of the tin/aluminium compound.

If you choose to rock the Ed Hardy shirt with fluero green pants, you will only attract fringe elements.

Wear them both, and let God sort them out.

27 is my birthday day and also my favorite number. I noticed it showed up in this video as a house address. Did he elaborate upon his intended use on the number? Did you hit your snooze alarm for a 27th time before coming to the filming?

Thanks for doing an AMA!

http://numerology-thenumbersandtheirmeanings.blogspot.com/2011/05/number-27.html

What are your favorite movies?

Whew! There's a lot. Hmmm...

TOP 5

Star Wars

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Moonrise Kingdom

A Single Man

The Fifth Element

Moonrise Kingdom was good! Do you like other Wes Anderson movies?

All of them, mostly. Life Aquatic is probably my next favorite. I like his short film, too.

What did you think of Grand Budapest Hotel?

I'm ashamed to say, I haven't seen it. I've been in crazy prep mode for my sci-fi, I haven't seen anything.

3 of those are in my top 5, and a 4th is by the same director of another one of my Top 5 (I prefer Royal Tenenbaums).

Guess that means I need to see A Single Man, because I'll apparently like it.

Yeah, it was directed by fashion designer Tom Ford and starred Colin Firth. Beautiful, well-paced, tragic, and incredibly shot by a guy who clearly has an eye.

Dude, your acting in Bite Me was phenomenal. Were there any challenges adapting the plot to real life time changing? Like, how in the first episode you were all playing Dead Rising 2, and then the first episode of S2 they find a 3DS with Resident Evil Revelations? Or was it not really a focal point?

I'd love to see a Season 3 with your badass mechanical hand!

GREAT question! It was not really the focal point, though.

And I would love to kill zombies with a freakin' AXE HAND!!!

I looked you up on IMDB and thought I remembered you. You posted in the ELI5 page 10 months ago, which had asked about being overweight and acting.

What made you decide to become an actor? If you weren't going to work in film what would your second career choice be?

Yeah, that was great, that ELI5 on how they cast heavy actors.

I've always loved playing make believe. Now I get to tell stories on both sides of the camera. My second career would be a travel writer. I love to travel, I love to write, and I would love to be able to travel while writing.

How often do you get the urge to change your last name to Kiddings?

Once a fortnight.

[removed]

Enough.

Dude, you've fucked OP's mom!?

I can neither confirm nor deny, but yes.

I get the joke, but seriously wtf is that from

Source: http://www.ghosttheory.com/2014/07/16/mysterious-giant-hole-appears-in-serbia

Who directed the video? Was it actually Al himself?

Yup!

Did you, Weird Al or anyone else improvise anything, or was it all strictly by the script?

By the script! No improv on this one because we were on a tight schedule. I did come up with the kick and quotes at the end!

Can I be in your next Sci-Fi film?

Well, Outpost is already cast as a short film. In the feature version, though... PM me in a year.

365 days in the future, you will receive a PM from future Me.

I look forward to Future You's PM.

How are you?

Pretty good! Yourself?

AMAzing

Yeah, it's pretty nice here. How's the weather where you're at?

North California? Not fun.

Yeah, but redwoods. So you got that going for you, which is nice.

Lol. Yeah, I'd rather just stay inside...

But, but... REDWOODS!

What's up with the facial hair?

It's a hot mess.