- Chris Onstad
Christopher Onstad (born
June 14 ,1975 ) is a writer, cartoonist, and artist known best forAchewood , a regularly updatedwebcomic . He was born inCalifornia and grew up in a small town near Sonora, in the Sierra foothills. Onstad attendedStanford University , where he edited theStanford Chaparral humor magazine. Onstad has published several books: nine anthologies of Achewood comics; a humorouscookbook featuringrecipe s purportedly invented by the strip's characters; "A Wonderful Tale"—a book "written by" a character from the strip; and that same character's second novel "A Hilarious Comedy". He has also published six editions of "Man Why You Even Got To Do A Thing," an Achewood-centriczine .Onstad reveals little of his private life online, but it is known that he currently lives in
California with his wife, Liz. She assists him as anaccountant on the sale of Achewood merchandise. They have a daughter, born onMarch 14 ,2005 . Onstad recently had a section on his website about his daughter, titled "current kid status", which he updated regularly with stories and happenings. These are collected in the self-published book "Current Baby Status - The Collected Archive"Influences
On the subject of influences, Onstad remarked in an [http://www.critiquemagazine.com/onwriting/index.php?author=onstad&submit=Go interview] with [http://www.deeplyshallow.com/ Jason Gurley] that "You can't help but be affected by Mark Twain books, Lay's Potato Chip ads, a fat lady who is yelling outside,
David Letterman , etc." And elsewhere, to Brian M. Palmer, "The reader would likely be a better judge." He has openly expressed admiration forChris Ware andTony Millionaire .In an [http://www.lataco.com/taco/interview-with-chris-onstadt-achewood interview] with LA TACO he also claimed to be influenced by "Bryson, Barry, Twain, Elton, Wodehouse, Adams, Vonnegut, John Irving, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jack Handey, Al Franken, that sort of thing. Those sorts of guys. Tina Fey. Aaron Sorkin."
In another [http://www.brianmpalmer.com/onstad.htm interview] with Brian Palmer, he professed his admiration for the British comedy show "
Look Around You " and also stated, "I haven't seen anything that tops "Mr. Show "."External links
* [http://www.achewood.com/ Achewood]
* [http://chrisonstad.blogspot.com/ Chris Onstad's Blog] (narrated by the fictionalized version of Onstad who occasionally appears in the comic strip)
* [http://www.chrisonstad.com/index.html Original artwork]
* [http://chappie.stanford.edu/staff/Chris%20Onstad/ Humor and Artwork for the Stanford Chaparral]
* [http://www.brianmpalmer.com/onstad.htm Interview] by Brian M. Palmer
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