When asked about his creative process, Ryan told us: “The most effective way I have discovered, that gets me results on a regular basis, is what I call 'warm-up comics.' I originally called them 'warm-ups' because I thought one way to get into the writing mood would be to force myself to rush through some dumb comic ideas, then my brain would be primed to write the real jokes. What really happened is the warm-up sessions are where my jokes started to come from.
Sometimes I would take a warm-up joke and expand on it, and other times the warm-up was ready to go right out of the gate. I like to treat my warm-up sessions like an improv game and take a single-word suggestion to start it. I use that word just as inspiration. It doesn't have to be a literal interpretation.”
Each comic typically takes Ryan “1-3 hours to complete, depending on how involved the art needs to be to sell the joke.” The artist says that he tries to keep it simple.
As for facing any creative struggles, he explains: “For me, the creative difficulty comes more from times when things outside of my comic are difficult. My motivation can suffer when my emotional and mental health isn't in the best state. Creative block is always beatable if you just put pen to paper. You just have to be ok with bad ideas happening. Eventually, you'll hit a good one.”
Ryan considers himself a writer first, an artist second: “I am most inspired by comedians and animated shows with a sharp wit. Sometimes if I'm lacking the motivation to be funny, I'll rewatch episodes of Peep Show, The Toast of London, or watch some Bill Burr standup. The list is much longer than those three things, but that's definitely where I find inspiration.”
We wondered if it’s difficult to develop a unique style nowadays when there are so many great creators, to which he replied: “Yeah, to an extent it is. But your own style comes from repetition. We all start out inspired by something and over time that inspiration becomes less apparent. Because only you can tell a joke from your brain. You have a unique perspective, even if it's a familiar one.”
As for future endeavors, the artist says: “I am currently working on self-producing an animated series pilot. I am really excited about it. I have always wanted my own show and am finally crossing that off my bucket list. It's going to heavily feature music, which is another passion of mine. So follow me on social media to hear more about that in the future.“
