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Too Many Cooks Stories

On October 28, 2014, a short comedy piece named Too Many Cooks aired in the "Infomercials" slot on Adult Swim -- 4am. Within one week, though, the short had garnered over 5 million views on YouTube and become a viral smash. I asked my editor Sarah Ottney at Toledo Free Press if I could cover the phenomenon, and thanks to Adult Swim, garnered interviews with the short's creator, Casper Kelly, and actor William Tolarsky, who played the silent killer named Bill. These stories are some of my favorite pieces I've ever written, because of how quickly they came together and how kind and excited their subjects were at Too Many Cooks' surprising success.

(written 11/12/14)

"Too Many Cooks": Creating a New Cult Classic

The writer behind the net's most bizarre viral sensation

Written by Jeff McGinnis

It starts out looking like most any cliche, cheesy sitcom opening sequence from the 80s. Upbeat, bland theme tune. Actors turning with a smile to the camera. All very familiar. 

But then things start to happen that feel ... wrong. The theme music never stops. Just keeps on playing. More and more cast members appear, past the point of being ludicrous. The show's genre seems to change -- from sitcom to cop drama to prime time soap and more. And then there's the creepy guy who suddenly starts killing the rest of the cast.

This is "Too Many Cooks," the comedy short that is taking the internet by storm. Produced for Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" late-night lineup, the dark satire first aired during the network's "Infomercial" slot -- meaning 4 a.m. -- earlier this month. But something happened when the clip found its way online, and soon the bizarre short had exploded virally. In about a week, the myriad postings of the short -- both official and otherwise -- have garnered over 5 million hits.

And at the epicenter of it all is a young writer and director named Casper Kelly, who is both ecstatic and a little dumbfounded.

"It is super, super -- THREE supers -- exciting and thrilling, almost veering into the other side, of flop sweat and panic," Kelly said in an interview with Toledo Free Press. "I'm holding it together, having fun."

Kelly is not a new voice among Adult Swim's class of comedic subversives. He has worked for years at production headquarters in Atlanta, composing funny promos for Cartoon Network shows, writing for shows like "Squidbillies" and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," co-creating the series "Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell." Not typical fare, even for late-night basic cable, but Kelly revels in the creative freedom working at Adult Swim provides.

"It's wonderful, and our boss, Mike Lazzo -- he's a tough audience," Kelly said. "He's a very sophisticated viewer, and gets bored easily. But when he likes what you're doing, he gives you a lot of rope. A lot of freedom to try it. And does not micromanage. He gives you kind of big ideas at the beginning, and might give you ideas at the end, but in the middle, he lets you do your thing -- which is great."

Still, Kelly was hesitant to pitch the idea that would become "Too Many Cooks." Though there was plenty of precedent for the network doing experimental ideas like it in their late infomercial slots, he wasn't totally confident that the concept could sustain a full short.

"I had the idea, and I didn't even tell Mike Lazzo, because I didn't know if it would work. So I was afraid to pitch it. But I told some co-workers, who at a work party told him. And the idea made him laugh, so I had to do it at that point."

Filming came together remarkably quickly given how complicated the finished product would prove to be, Kelly said. "Interestingly -- and this was probably a good thing -- we did not have a lot of time, because we had a narrow window open up where our production company could do it. So once I had the outline, I think we only had a couple of weeks. So I just had to think about it constantly and just kind of throw down every idea I could.

"We had a lot of time in post, but leading up to it was a mad dash. And so much work was getting headshots, and finding people that had the right look, to give you the feeling for that character."

Another crucial element would be the short's music -- that initially chipper tune that mutates into forms that are dramatic, haunting and more. Kelly was hands-on with its creation, as well.

"That took a lot of time. I wrote the lyrics -- most of the lyrics -- and then we used one audio guy, who was great, and then it got to be too much. Because we had no money -- he was doing it for us as a favor. He did as much as he could, and then we had to hand it off to someone else to finish it, who did a great job. I think I really got the best out of both of them.

"People were saying that song gets stuck in their head. It sure did get stuck in our head when we were editing it."

Kelly has no plans to rest on his laurels, even now that "Too Many Cooks" has garnered such remarkable fame and acclaim in such a brief amount of time. He's hard at work on the second season "Your Pretty Face," for one thing. And as to whatever opportunities may arise from here, Kelly said he's primed and ready.

"I'm excited, because I have opportunities now to make more stuff. And I have a notebook full of ideas, short films, and feature scripts and more. And I feel like a kid in a candy store right now."

"Too Many Cooks": Killer Bill

Atlanta actor makes mark as short's silent assassin

Written by Jeff McGinnis

The voice on the other end of the phone is kind. Bright. A little higher than you'd expect, given its owner. A definite southern twang, understandable since he's lived in Georgia so long -- though he's Pennsylvanian by birth. He's gracious, good-natured, a sweetheart. You wouldn't guess how natural he looks chopping people's heads off with a machete.

William Tokarsky is his name, and for the past week or so his face has become the central image of one of the internet's most wildly successful viral videos. He plays the killer -- "Bill," if the credit on IMDB is to be believed, though he's never named in the short -- at the center of the bizarre satire "Too Many Cooks," produced by Cartoon Network.

"I was working as an extra for [director] Casper Kelly on another show he does on Adult Swim," Tokarsky said in an interview with Toledo Free Press. "And we became friends, and he liked my look. And there were two or three other people he had in mind for that role, and we all submitted this little tape and audition, and he picked me. And I think I did a decent job."

Tokarsky is putting it mildly. His gleefully crazed facial expressions and malevolent presence are key to much of the short's dark comedy. It's a look that has served Tokarsky well since he first began dipping his toe into acting.

"I retired from General Motors. And they were making a movie where I live. And suburban Atlanta has become a hotbed of movie and TV production. And I was talking to some people that used to be on the line working, and there's people that were extras. And I thought, 'Well, I could do that!' And I just started doing that.

"I have a unique look, that garnered me a position up front sometimes, to the point where someone tapped me on the shoulder on 'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' and said, 'You have a speaking line next week if you want it.'"

No speaking lines were needed on the set of "Too Many Cooks," though. Tokarsky's silent maniac appears subtly at first, stalking in the background of many shots, to the point where many viewers may not notice him until he begins his mad slasher act in earnest. Even Tokarsky is surprised at how often he appears in the finished product.

"I never had a script when we did it. So basically, what occurred was, they would place me, or give an action, and I would do it. And you don't necessarily shoot in order. So it was a surprise to me that we were playing 'Where's Waldo,'" he said.

"I watched it the first time, and never saw myself in locations -- like the 24-second mark in, where I'm standing behind the little girl -- I didn't see myself there. But I was there when we filmed the damn thing! It's like I didn't see the big picture in Casper's mind when we filmed it. He gave me an action, and I did it."

The success of "Cooks" -- both on an artistic and popularity scale -- has come as a surprise for most. But even though Tokarsky admits he's not exactly part of the demographic the short is aimed at, he said he had a feeling it would either be a colossal success or an equally memorable failure."

"I was speaking with my wife, and I said, 'Well, there's one of two things that's going to happen. This thing is going to stink so bad, no one's ever going to see it. Or, it's going to go viral.'"

Now that his latter prediction has come true, Tokarsky's excited about the opportunities his sudden exposure may bring. "I would think I would get a few things out of it -- you know, the creepy janitor on a TV show," he joked.

"I've found my genre; I've found what I can do. So, I'm retired, and I have a decent pension, so, as a friend of mine, another actor, said -- 'It's all gravy.' And I'm having fun with it, I got an agent last April, I've pretty much stopped doing extra work except for Casper -- I'm going to work for him, because I like him, and he likes me, and maybe I can get a contract out of him on his other show!"

Is he worried about being typecast, thanks to "Too Many Cooks"' popularity? Not at all. In fact, he relishes the idea.

"I know who I am, so it doesn't bother me," Tokarsky said. "If you want to act, you got to get an agent, you get an agent where they don't have ten other guys looking for your role. Because how many guys want to be the creepy guy?"

View "Too Many Cooks" on Adult Swim's YouTube page: http://youtu.be/QrGrOK8oZG8