INTERVIEW: Nick Murphy of Continue?

There are a lot of YouTube channels out there. From those exclusively offering sixty different angles of cats to people reacting to videos of other people doing things (which also happens to be the dumbest creation in the history of humanity), it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. The guys at Continue? manage to do just that.

By combining retro gaming with a knack for being consistently funny, their show is one that is hard to escape from. Trust me, nothing tells you that you have a problem quite like watching the tenth episode in a row of three guys on a sofa delivering joke after joke. If you haven’t checked them out yet, make it happen.

I reached out to the guys and was lucky enough to talk to Nick Murphy about the show, YouTube and, most importantly, who would win in a fight.

How are you? What was the last thing you ate?
I’m great! Running around balancing projects but feeling super productive. The last thing I ate was a cup of fruit for breakfast.

For those not in the know, tell us all about the show.
We produce a video game comedy webshow, called Continue?. We liken it to Mystery Science Theater for video games. We play a retro video game and make jokes over it. It’s like renting a video game with your friends on a Friday night. We play for 20 minutes and give it a thumbs up/down in the form of Continue or Game Over. Our show is ultimately more about the comedy than the review.

You guys have been around for quite a while, would you say that it’s easier to crack YouTube now or is it even harder? Do you have any thoughts on YouTube Red?
We started the show in late 2009. We all worked for a website called Gamervision. It was a video news and review site that was looking for original video game content. Paul Ritchey, Dominic Moschitti, and I started the show. Gamervision lost its funding and laid us off in 2011. Dom moved to LA and we brought Josh on the show. When we started, there weren’t many shows like ours. Let’s Plays weren’t really big and our show wasn’t really a Let’s Play at the time. I think the playing field has been leveled a little and it’s much easier to get into it. But also because of that, there’s a million channels out there making similar content. I went to film school and always made short films. We’ve always wanted to showcase those skills and comedy sketches were always a great way to showcase that.

I’m not sure how I feel about YouTube Red yet. I think it’s an interesting idea. I think if they can have higher quality content to support that cost, I think it’ll do well. If that’s the case, we’d love to be a part of it! We’re really interested in making some higher quality content. Anything that lets us flex those filmmaking muscles.

You recently worked with Disney on a new series called Spooky Squad. How did that come about?
We’re part of Maker Studios and they were recently bought by Disney. They started an initiative called Disney XD by Maker to find and develop talent in Disney’s network of web-based content. We pitched a kid’s comedy horror anthology show (think Are You Afraid of The Dark or Goosebumps, but more funny than scary). They provided us with funding to shoot a pilot/proof of concept. It was an amazing experience. We’re so proud of the finished product.

What has been the game you have enjoyed covering the most on the show and the one you enjoyed the least?
When we get to delve into some more serious games in our longer format shows, I really enjoy those. We played Fez for our podcast that we used to do and I fell in love with it. I could probably play that game forever. As for the least, I always have fun no matter how bad the game.

If you were seeking revenge on them and had the other guys in some sort of Guantanamo Bay for gamers, which game would you make them play?
We just played an Indiana Jones game that was really rough. It would be torturous because everyone loves Indy and this game is horrific.

You guys are quite possibly the most tight-knit trio of performers I have found on YouTube. What’s the secret to the chemistry?
We’ve been friends for a while. Josh has been my friend for over 10 years and I met Paul in 2009 at Gamervision. The transition from friends to business partners is always treacherous but we’ve tried our best to remember that at the core, we’re just here to make each other laugh.

Are there any indie games out there right now that you would recommend?
We recently played a new game called Undertale that I’m thoroughly enjoying. We’re playing it for our other show called ContinueQuest.

Who would win in an actual backyard wrestling match between you three?
Paul. He’s so strong.

And finally, why should we all be subscribing to Continue?
At the core of our show, it’s just about laughing and having fun. We try to make each other laugh and hopefully make the audience laugh too. We always like to think of our viewers as hanging on the couch with us. Check out our show, watch a few episodes, and if you like it, we put new episodes out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.