Recently I had the chance to talk to Sam, Nick & Charles from alternative comedy group Million Dollar Extreme. For years the guys from MDE have been making videos that pushed their own specific brand of Hyper Colour Offensive Disturbing Internet Comedy. Just so you can get an idea of what these guys are like I’m going to be including a lot of videos throughout this article and I can almost certainly say that all for one reason or another will be NSFW (not safe for work)

You have been warned

I’ve tried describing Million Dollar Extreme to friends before but it’s a very peculiar beast and I don’t think I’ve ever been able to accurately describe exactly what it is.

When people ask you what Million Dollar Extreme is and you don’t have a computer handy to just show them what do you say?

MDE is a brand. Which is a little confusing because branding is a cousin to advertising and one of our brand’s core principals is that advertisers shouldn’t be allowed to leave the house without being assassinated. Hopefully the laws of physics are lax enough that starting off on such a contradiction doesn’t doom us to failure. Everybody else seems to be slipping by under the radar so I’m sure we’re fine.

Thats an interesting point as there is a strong theme of Advertising all throughout MDE’s work, infact you could say taking the piss out of the Advertising and Design worlds are the core focus of MDE.

Was this something of a conscious effort, is there a Million Dollar Extreme Manifesto lying around somewhere detailing the advertising worlds destruction?

As for a more elaborate MDE manifesto: we had several things like that posted online but they all felt too limiting. Supposedly the perfect company mission statement is three words. We can’t think of the perfect three-worder. “Silly funny boys,” “the alternative alternative,” “good funny comedy,” “three dope fags,” “goofy wacky dudes”—nothing accurately represents what we’re trying to do. So our current manifesto/mission statement is a monolithic 3D logo hurtling through space.



MDE often seeks to directly insult and berate its core audience (gamers, geeks & bedroom intellects) in the quest for a laugh , would you agree that this is a perilous business model or is it somehow part of the appeal?

We weren’t aware of that perception. We know that some people get off on an S&M thing where the nastier you are towards them, the more they think you are a “cool guy,” but we don’t want to be like that at all. We genuinely want to be “Everybody’s Friend™” and just make ya giggle. Games are fun; bedroom intellectuals are cool and have cool inspiration Tumblrs; Live, Laugh, Love.

We can see some of the material in College Cunts, for instance, rubbing people the wrong way. There’s derision towards the typical college stereotypes, but that’s more of a cautionary tale than “haha, we’re better than you!” We’ve all been there, to art school, on Abilify, in some fat girl’s dorm room, listening to vinyl records, wearing expensive tight-fitting clothes, and we just want to say, that’s a soul-crushing dead end. If any of that stuff rings true—hits a little too close to home—then maybe give that aspect of your life some special consideration (with a flamethrower)? In any event, the thought of anyone watching our videos and feeling gratuitously, unjustifiably bad about something we said would make us lose sleep. Definitely don’t want that.

What plans do MDE have for the future?

For the future the plan is simply to keep pushing. Work conquers all.

Post-piracy, post-YouTube, post-reality shows, it seems like nobody has any idea what the hell is going on. The money available for Real, Actual television shows is shorter and shorter, especially for a niche thing like MDE. And we’d rather sell cars than be writers on someone else’s shit (with the possible exception of SNL). Long story short, nobody is going to come knocking with a big fat check.

That leaves us at an indie level, which we’re happy with. The challenge is getting money, because there’s no shortage of dumb motherfuckers making free entertainment (likewise there isn’t a surplus of sharp, savvy people who can appreciate what we do). We recently did a fundraiser, which has been super-helpful for getting new equipment, but we’re a long way from making a living wage for ourselves and our crew.

Is their any way to make money from MDE in sight then?

There’s constant pressure to monetize somehow. We’re all on food stamps and we mooch off our girlfriends… we’re basically professional bums. On our recent trip out to California we squatted an abandoned drug-house in the Hollywood Hills, and filtered a year’s worth of black mold growth through our lungs. Airbeds are the best investment we’ve made so far. Sometimes being Denis Leary from Demolition Man can be cool, but mostly it’s stressful, counter-productive, and embarrassing.

The good news is that our album, which is dope, is finished, and we’re tossing around the idea of doing a book or a graphic novel. Without backing, it seems like trying to make money through video is a dead end, so hopefully one of these non-video projects will take off. The album (http://mde-tv.bandcamp.com/album/twat) did really well during the pre-order phase, with only a few unfinished preview tracks and very little hype, so our hopes are high that when people get a hold of the finished product it will blow some minds.

That’s about it. I just want to re-iterate that we really don’t have it out for anyone, including gamers, “geeks,” and “intellectuals.” Being mean and making fun of people had a good run for a while there, but the future should be a time of compassion and understanding. Savage compassion and ruthless understanding.

You can find Million Dollar Extreme

On YouTube

Facebook

Twitter

and

MDE.tv