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An attempt to rewrite DaVinci's Notebook to become a Paul and Storm article.
'snot done.
Contents |
Paul and Storm
 | |
| Origins | Arlington, VA |
|---|---|
| Genre(s) | Comedy rock |
| Members | Paul Sabourin Greg "Storm" DiCostanzo |
| Discography | Opening Band (2005) News to Us (2006) Gumbo Pants (2007) Do You Like Star Wars? (2010) Ball Pit (2014) |
| Producer | N/A |
Paul and Storm are a comedic musical duo, consisting of Paul Sabourin and Greg "Storm" DiCostanzo. The duo has contributed the songs Ballad of The Sneak and Theme from Stinkoman to Homestar Runner.
Sabourin and DiCostanzo are former members of a cappella comedy music group DaVinci's Notebook, where they performed alongside Bernie Muller-Thym and Richard Hsu. The group was active from 1994 through 2004.
Contributions to Homestar Runner
Although it is a point of contention which band member first discovered homestarrunner.com, DaVinci's Notebook became fans of the site after seeing a 
content warning July 4, 2001 post on Memepool.com. Paul used his "mad Interwebs stalking skills and a phone book" to get in touch with The Brothers Chaps — finding Don Chapman's information through a WHOIS search and eventually convincing the brothers to come see a DaVinci's Notebook performance in Atlanta. Remarking that "it was early enough in their career that they were more flattered than creeped out when I tracked them down," a friendship was born.
"Ballad of The Sneak"
The Brothers Chaps asked DaVinci's Notebook to write a theme song for The Sneak. Aside from describing it as the Old-Timey version of The Skate Party's The Cheat Theme Song, The Brothers Chaps gave free rein in the songwriting.
Storm drove the direction, structure, and writing process, and passed lyrics back and forth with Paul (mostly over email). The line "The Cheat, The Cheat" from the original song was used as a starting point, and the song structure roughly follows the original. The chronological inconsistencies (references to Tammany Hall, the Hully Gully, the Kaiser, prohibition, etc.) were, for the most part, intentional; partly to keep with the overall feel The Brothers Chaps had established with the toons, and partly to see if people would point them out. The trumpet instrumental at the one-minute mark was originally made for a previous Paul and Storm project that similarly used an old-timey style.
Paul did much of the vocals and recording on a Gateway 2000 PC. A long Christmas wrapping paper tube was used to make it sound like it was being sung from a megaphone. Storm recalls that they finished fairly quickly; though they worked on it in between a lot of other projects and tours over a month, the actual work time was only a handful of hours. Paul and Storm gave no input on the animation; even the random sound effects were added mainly to see what visuals The Brothers Chaps would create to accompany them. The "Ballad of The Sneak" toon appeared on the Homestar Runner site about a month after the song was completed.
Paul and Storm consider "Ballad of The Sneak" to be inadvertently the first "Paul and Storm" song, as the other two members of DVN had no involvement in its production. It was later released on the Paul and Storm compilation EP Shame and Cookie Dough. When rereleased on Homestar Runner Original Soundtrack Volume 1 in 2020, the song is credited to "Paul & Storm" rather than "Da Vinci's Notebook".
"Theme from Stinkoman"
A theme song for Stinkoman was briefly played at Georgia Tech in 2007, remarked as being from "The guys from DaVinci's Notebook [...] the same guys who did this cartoon called 'The Ballad of the Sneak' on the website". The full song would not be released until 2020, first on Homestar Runner Original Soundtrack Volume 2 and then in the Stinkoman 20X6 Intro Cinematic later that year; both releases credit the song to "Paul & Storm".
Other work with The Brothers Chaps
The Brothers Chaps also helped with animation, writing, and voice work for Paul and Storm's 2014 parody holiday special "The Paul and Storm Nondenominational Perennial Holiday Special".
Matt Chapman also appeared onstage at their shows to perform such songs as Trogdor and the Strong Badia National Anthem.
Dragon Con 2008
Strong Bad introduced Paul and Storm at Dragon Con 2008:
STRONG BAD: Ladies and gentlemen! Klingons and Daleks! Bobas and {disappointed} Jangos. B-list celebrities and their entourages of hangers-on! I am called Strong Bad! I urge you to take a moment, put down that vinyl bust or that pewter figurine you're thinking of buying, and give a warm, sweaty welcome to Stormy Paul and the Forecasts! ...What? Paul and Storm? Well that's a huge waste of one cool name and one Paul name. I'm outta here. Anyways, give it up for Paul and Storm.
External links
- Paul and Storm
- Paul and Storm walk through "The Ballad of the Sneak" on the podcast "Come On, Fhqwhpods"
- DaVinci's Notebook (archived)
209 Seconds (Rough Estimate)
(The entirety of 160 Seconds, but with "160" in the intro replaced with "209")
4 branches: HOMESTAR: Chinese b-
the chair: STRONG BAD: Class!
what i want: MARZIPAN: Forgettably precious.
looking old: MARZIPAN: Up to your chin right
strong badathlon: STRONG BAD: To the wrong athletes
unnatural: STRONG BAD: Kill him? STRONG SAD: We do-
the movies: HOMESTAR: -tuce. Throw
your funeral: HOMESTAR: Abraham Lincoln
from work: HOMESTAR: -veges. It helps
rough copy: STRONG SAD: -tellectual property.
underlings: STRONG BAD: Get Mrs. Hard-
more armies: HOMESTAR: Saaay
the paper: STRONG BAD: Doesn't quite
mini-golf: STRONG BAD: In this infernal pl-
concert: STRONG BAD: Nope. They're a
hygiene: STRONG BAD: No matter what he does.
original: BUBS: B'zuh!
bike thief: STRONG BAD: Side of this couch
pizza joint: MAN IN PIZZA COSTUME: It burns!
slumber party: STRONG BAD: Can you guys start
web comics: TAKE DAGGER: Hiya
business trip: THE KING OF TOWN: Units? STRONG BAD: What
yes wrestling: HOMESTAR: The power... of
diorama: STRONG BAD: -lupe Hidalgo
nightlife: HOMESTAR RUNNER: More...more
environment: STRONG BAD: -pliant sticker!
winter pool: HOMESTAR: You're such a good
fan club: STRONG BAD: (screams)
pet show: HOMESTAR: Potion. A taste
licensed: (Strong Bad slides) STRONG BAD: What's
buried: BUBS: Is! STRONG SAD: Uh
shapeshifter: COACH Z: Coming to your concession
rated: BUBS: Bake sale!
specially marked: (The Deleted buzzer, and a message reading "SBEMAIL 194 IS NOT INCLUDED BECAUSE IT DOES NOT HAVE A 194th SECOND")
love poems: HOMESTAR: Apples!
hiding: STRONG BAD: Coma!
your edge: STRONG BAD: Where'd you check?
magic trick: STRONG BAD: But now, not only does
being mean: HUNGRY SHARK: Makes me wanna
email thunder: (Strong Bad runs out of Homestar's computer room)
hremail3184: COACH Z: Bad! I was gonna
imaginary: LIL' STRONG BAD: -ti! I'd like you to meet
independent: STRONG BAD: Solid gold sc-
dictionary: STRONG BAD: To Z
videography: STRONG BAD: (chuckles)
sbemail206: ANNOUNCER: For all your consummate
too cool: STRONG BAD: Mysteriously with no return
The Next April Fools Thing: STRONG BAD: -low lives, and this
parenting: THE KING OF TOWN: I've got this seven-
Alternate HRWiki
Puppet Thing
Always looking for innovation, the Chapman Brothers have devised many clever ways to showcase the same characters in different fashions. With all of these variations, it was only a matter of time before the characters broke out of the restraints of animation itself. From that perspective, it became clear that aside from animation, the medium that could depict the characters with the most accuracy was puppetry.
Puppets come in many styles, but the Homestar Runner puppet owes most of its design to Jim Henson's Muppets; it is hollow, allowing the entire arm of the puppeteer inside to move the head and mouth. Under normal circumstances, the puppeteer's other arm operates a wire to manipulate one of the puppet's arms, but Homestar's physiology makes this feature unnecessary. The full-arm approach allows the puppet to be manipulated with a great degree of subtlety if properly operated, and the puppet version of Homestar is handled appropriately. The movement of the puppet's head shows small nuances over broad movement, and the mouth movement synchs to the dialogue even better than the cartoon version does.
Of course, this technical expertise is not at the forefront while one watches the puppet sequences. What the audience sees is the exact same character from the animated shorts, only in a slightly different presentation. Homestar's personality, identity and voice carry over into the puppet perfectly. Granted, there are a few differences, such as the fact that Homestar's upper and lower lips now meet (to better facilitate mouth movement) and that he is now only seen from the waist up, but what could be called Homestar's spirit transcends the medium in which he is portrayed.
It is also charming that Homestar's entire world also survives the transition from cartoon to puppet intact. Various props and locations have been recreated to accommodate the puppet, providing a delightful take on what Free Country would look like in the "real world". Moreover, the difficulties in turning a two-dimensional world into a three-dimensional one are used for comical effect rather than avoided. The best example is probably the fact that Homestar's eyes both appear to be on the side of his head. Rather than limiting the number of viewpoints from which Homestar can be seen, he is calmly depicted as turning around and walking away, regardless of the position of his eyes.
In addition to Homestar, only The Cheat has also made the transition to the puppet world. This is appropriate, as a character like, say, Strong Bad would be far too difficult to successfully turn into a puppet. The Cheat's puppet requires no articulation, but still benefits from the increased subtlety afforded to the puppets. Even more than Homestar, The Cheat is only recognizable from very few angles, and therefore looks even odder when he casually turns towards an unflattering angle. Aside from The Cheat, Homestar has also costarred with Doregarde, Strong Bad's puppet fashioned from a cantaloupe and a pencil, which is translated faithfully into reality. There is a subtle gag at work, as Doregarde is only brought to life by Strong Bad. Therefore, when Homestar and Doregarde converse, the implication is that Doregarde is controlled by Strong Bad while Homestar is controlled by a puppeteer!
A final note is the fact that the Homestar puppet's debut short was not powered by Flash, but Macromedia RealPlayer. This meant that several visitors to the site were unable to view the short. Fortunately, all future puppet shorts have been embedded in the Flash, and even the debut short has been modified, so that all audiences may now view them.
