Written by Tanner Banks, June 23, 2016, at 5:43 p.m.
He’s big, he’s bespectacled , he’s got a contagious belly laugh, he’s Bob Muyskens. Better known by his channel name on YouTube: Muyskerm. Last weekend I visited Indianapolis for the popular culture convention Indy PopCon. At the convention I made more memories than you can shake a stick at. If you don’t believe me, check it out for yourself.
While grabbing a bottle of water, our photographer Anthony saw Bob on his way into the convention and asked if he would be available for a short interview. Despite having panels, autograph signings, competitions, and the like on his schedule Mr. Muyskens was gracious to squeeze in some time for us.
Some of you may recognize him from his friend Mark “Markiplier” Fishbach’s channel. Having a friend that boasts over 13 MILLION subscribers may seem daunting, but don’t disregard Bob. His channel Muyskerm has steadily grown to almost 500,000 subscribers, all while going to law school. (He recently graduated.)
With a casual play style, and a slew of clever insults to hurl at enemies and friends, Bob’s let’s plays are like sitting on the couch with a buddy while you bro out over a game of Street Fighter. Before we get into the interview, I want you to watch an excerpt of Bob playing SpeedRunners with Markiplier, JackSepticEye, and LordMinion777 first.
Memories of shit-talking with my buddies followed by a near asthmatic laughing fit come to mine whenever I watch a video of Bob’s. After having the chance to talk with Bob I can happily report that he is just as friendly, genuine, and hilarious as he seems in his videos. (And he’s actually nice to Wade as well.)
Interview with Muyskerm
Slickster: So when did you get your start on YouTube?
Bob (Muyskerm): So, I was [Markiplier]’s roommate freshman year of college. He had been talking about wanting to become a YouTuber and a lot of people just blew it off. But then he really started to gain traction.
Then I remember watching his charity livestream, the first one he did. He streamed for like, 24 hours straight, ended up raising about $500 for charity. I’m really into doing things for charity, and while I don’t like doing 5k’s or Relay for Life, I still did them because it was for charity. I saw what Mark did, and realized that I wanted to be able to do something like that too.
When did you notice your channel start to pick up?
I would say around last summer. I started the channel during the spring between years at law school. I was pretty awkward at first, not really comfortable talking in front of a camera yet. Because, when you’re playing multiplayer games with other people, it’s really easy, but when you’re doing single player games it’s really hard.
When do you know a series is going to do well or not do well?
A lot of that comes from the comment section honestly. I was with Cyndago once, and we were sitting around talking about these ideas and we felt like we talked them through and they seemed really smart, or at least they seemed like they’d be funny.
And I was so pumped for the videos to come out. And the one I thought was the funniest… nobody liked. I was blown away. It’s interesting with the comment sections. You can kind of tell when they’re waiting for the next video like, “Alright I watched this, do something else.” But when people really like something they’re like “Do more of this stuff.”
Speaking of Cyndago, when it came to the Touching Bob’s face video, is it true that you’d had just gotten in [to Los Angeles]?
I flew in after everyone else was already there. So they picked me up from the airport and we were driving back. I had just met them and I was in L.A. for the first time. I was like “Hey, how’s it going?”
We got back to the house and they were like “Yeah, you’re going to be in a video we’ve been working on, and your part is really easy. We walked inside, and that was it.
They set the camera up, and the lighting and everything. And they said “All you have to do is stand there. By the way everyone is going to touch you.” And that was my first hour in L.A.
[The whole video is hilarious, but we’ve highlighted Bob’s part.]
Branding is a weird thing when it comes to YouTube. What made you decide purple was going to be your big color?
Aside from the fact that I really like it, classically it’s the color of royalty. It’s not really cool, I mean it’s sort of coming back. I feel like every YouTube channel you see is red or black. Or red and black. Or black and red. Or green and… and there’s not a lot of purple.
Are you calling out Wade [LordMinion777]? Because his is red and black.
Well, Mark is red and black, too. But you know, that’s just such a go to combination. Because everyone’s favorite color is red, or green, or blue. That’s just the colors that people like. I just like purple and thought it’d be unique.
Aside form the SpeedRunners video where you fell out of your chair. [The one above.] What would you say is your favorite moment?
I think probably recently I had a moment that rivaled that. It was a stream actually with the Norgies guys. It wasn’t with Mark, Wade, and Jack. We were streaming Bloody Trapland, which is a cool platformer. It’s kind of like SpeedRunners, it’s kind of like Move or Die. It’s a platformer where you have to get to the end and you’ll get to the next stage. But you can help or hurt each other. You can try and screw people over.
And we had Vox [one of the Norgies] host and we joined his game. And his internet is spotty. The game does not deal with lag very well. There was this session where people were teleporting across the screen.
There is stuff in Bloody Trapland where there’s like a laser and you have to press a button to disable the laser. We would just teleport to the exit, or to another level. We were in parts of the game we were not supposed to be in.
There were saws on tracks which would fly off the track and fly off the screen and disappear. But they would kill you if they hit you. And there was this time where someone was right at the end and this saw came out of fucking nowhere and killed him as he was jumping to the exit. And it flew away. It was amazing, the way the lag affected the game was ridiculous.
Your channel is growing quickly, you’ve graduated from law school, you’ve got a beautiful wife. What’s next for you?
Really, I think it’s coming up with something unique to do on YouTube. I’m really happy doing let’s plays, and it’s certainly still viable. But, lots of people have done it. And I don’t think I’ll come up with a new way to do a let’s play that will be interesting. I want to do something where I feel like I came up with something cool and kind of interesting.
So I’m not just doing what I know will work. I’m interested in podcasts, I’m working with a couple people for an idea of a podcast. I’m working on an idea for maybe a new show that’s kind of like a talk show. I’m hoping to bring List Play back with Mandy [wife].
Now that I’m done travelling for part of the summer, as soon as I get back we’re going to come up with more ideas and more shows for List Play. It’s really going to be adding to my channel more than just let’s plays.
I’m not like a genius, so I might come up with nothing. But I really want to do something for my channel have some interest beyond just people watching another let’s play channel. Hopefully I’ll come up with a good idea.
You’re stranded on an island, and you have a computer. What 3 games do you have on it?
Oh gosh. Do I have internet?
Yes.
O.K. Overwatch would be first. Three games… Can I pick Modern Warfare: Remastered? I have no interest in any new Call of Duty game. But I am fucking getting Call of Duty 4: Remastered. I have 12 weeks of in-game time.
When I was in college I played the shit out of that game. I went through two Xbox 360 controllers just for CoD 4. And the last one let me try to mix it up… It would have to be something like the Spatials or some kind of resource management game where you build… stuff. I don’t know, that’s a tough choice.
Well thank you very much Bob. Maybe I’ll see you in Overwatch some time.
Conclusion
Interviewing somebody you’ve watched and been a fan of for years is a surreal experience. You never really know somebody, you watch on television, in movies, or on YouTube. Having the chance to just sit down and chat is a chance to see them, not their persona.
I can happily say that the funny, and endearing Muyskerm, is the same as Bob Muyskens. Here’s to you, Bob. You giggly bastard.