Check Out Todd Stashwick’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Todd Stashwick

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. A kid of the 70s and 80s I was enthralled by Sci-fi, fantasy and comedy in equal measures. Doing muppet shows in the garage for the neighborhood kids or playing Star Wars action figures in the yard. That quintessential youth from that era, going to the arcade, playing D&D in orange shag/ wood paneled basements, riding my bike to the cinema with my friends to see Raiders of the Lost Ark for the 10th time. All of that informed who I am today. I grew up wanting to be either Han Solo, Tom Hanks or Pete Venkmean. They loomed large in my burgeoning entertainers brain. You can tether my current life in the business back to those heady days.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road is winding as any. I didnt pick a direct path, wanting to do both Comedy and Drama. With dreams of both Star Wars and Saturday Night Live in my heart. So the pursuit was never a straight path. From Second City to Star Trek, it has been a fascinating journey filled with heartbreaks, disappointments and delightful victories. You endure more “Nos” than “Yes”. So you have to fortify and take the wins when you can. Learning the hard lesson that you get the roles you are supposed to.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a writer and an Actor. In my days at Second city in the early 90s we also had to generate our own sketches so I was writing since the beginning of my professional acting career. I then let writing slide to the background when I focused on just the acting. Which took me from Chicago to New York to Los Angeles. I realized that choosing a life in the arts was already a breath and a leap so all my actions had to be more specific and smart. I didn’t leave any city until I knew I had representation waiting for me where I was going next.

I’m known for Star Trek, 12 Monkeys, The Originals and The Riches. I guess if I had to say what I “specialize in” it’s broken characters that find a way back, and they are usually funny. In the last decade or so I have spent a lot of time in the Sci-fi and horror genre. If I’m doing a comedy I try to find the darkness, If I’m doing a drama I look for the humor. What sets me aprt? Dunno, that would be a question for the audience.

When I came back to writing it was often about needing to get a story or idea out of me and also about diversifying my income. This business is quite unstable and so if you can create different revenue streams you are better off. So I’ve written comics, pilots, screenplays and video games.

I have gained a certain profile in the “Nerd Community”. I have been very vocal about my love for genre entertainment as well as my deep passion for Dungeons and Dragons. Having been in many of the kinds of shows that I would watch as a nerd has highlighted me as someone who gets to make the things I love.

This all inspired me to creat The Nerd Circus because that is how I describe my life, It’s an online shop that offers a variety of fun products, as described “geeky wares and nerdy paraphernalia”

Everything from T-shirts, to glassware, D&D dice to full high end gaming tables. I wanted to celebrate my corner of nerdome. Always exploring different ideas of things I think people would enjoy.So I made the site.

A few years back I co-created a D&D inspired cocktail book with my friend, former Disney Imagineer, Brandon Kleyla. It did really well and made me eager to broaden the scope for another project in the D&D space.

So I partnered with my friend David Nett on a multi-media TTRPG (table top role playing game) project. That manifested as Progcore Fantasy: Dark Age of Theer. We succefully kickstarted it and are production now. It is a book for gamers filled with advice art and stories, a short animation, a soundtrack of original music and a documentary style series where we gather with our friends and play D&D in my nerd lair. All this is inspire by the Dark Fantasy and music of the 70s and 80s: The Rankin and Bass Hobbit, Excaliber, Styx, Led Zeppelin, Legend etc. We are very excited and have a team of amazing collaborators.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Luck requires attention and impulse and work. Your dedication to your craft will foster the environment where the luck is more prevalent. Circumstances of birth and society can give people advantages that they are born into. They had nothing to do with or have control over, just realistic truths about the, often unbalanced, and frankly unfair, ways that our society has organized itself. Sometimes the deck is stacked more or less in your favor. That should never be taken for granted or hold you back. Know your heart. One need then to put in their best work. Luck can place opportunity in front of you. It is then up to you to seize that opportunity to turn desire into reality.

Pricing:

• T-shirts 25-30$
• glassware 30$
• Table 7k and up

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thenerdcircus.com
• Instagram: @tstashwick
• Twitter: @toddstashwick
• Other: @thenerdcircus instagram

Image Credits
Bjoern Kommerell.