Author: Dan America

How has technology changed your job?

It took my dream job away and left me to claw my way back toward my dream before I could even see the light.

Technology has also made it easier to claw my way back so I am indifferent.

It can destroy you or make you.

It all depends on how you use it and how willing you are to learn it.

What’s something most people don’t understand?

Americans do as Americans do when in America.

American life is just like any other.

Media and Politics may seem to make it look like something else but it is not.

We are just Americans born in America.

Raised in the Suburbs, the City and the Country.

But we all watched Saturday Morning Cartoons, we all know who the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are.

Hulk Hogan told us to say our prayers and eat our vitamins.

We know who the Bad Guys and the Good Guys are.

One person does not represent all of us but we have a collective consciousness of what is good and evil because of cartoons and. Omicron Books.

I worked at a Starbucks in 2013 as a Cashier. I recall a conversation between a Customer and a Barista.

The Customer had just gotten back from Italy and kept raving on about how cultured Italy was. I felt a sense of resentment because I feel that America posses as much culture as Italy.

It made me think of how I identified as Irish or Scottish when I was younger as if not being an American was “cool.”

Americans don’t want to identify as Americans because they think that it will affect their Social Status.

But being an American and celebrating American culture is something to be proud of.

What people don’t understand about America is the anxiety that comes with being yourself as an American.

What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

Behind the Propane Man 1

I first started imitating Mike Judge’s characters toward the end of 1993. I was 12 years old, in seventh grade, and struggling with social anxiety and low self-esteem. I wanted to be funny, but I was awkward, overweight, and lacked confidence. I knew little about the world beyond my suburban neighborhood and elementary school.

For the first half of seventh grade, I was bullied. I lived in fear, convinced that everyone in middle school hated me. I was even kicked in the face during a fight. Have you ever been kicked in the face? It hurts. I was one of those kids who carefully mapped out they’re routes through the school hallways to avoid bullies, clinging to a small group of friends while constantly worrying they would abandon me.

Then, I discovered Beavis and Butt-Head.

To me, they were just like me someone who laughed at everything around them, regardless of whether the world laughed with them. They found humor in everything and at the time everyone loved them, they could not get enough of them and I was one of them. I wanted to be like them. I started imitating their voices and laughter, absorbing their personalities. Mike Judge’s humor felt like my humor, and it all made sense to me.

Imitating them boosted my self esteem, I did not initiate their actions, just their voices and comedic style. I started performing my impressions for friends at school, and people laughed. That laughter restored my confidence, so I kept doing it, at school, at home, everywhere. My Beavis and Butt-Head impression became my way of expressing myself, and I practiced it so much that I rarely used my real voice.

During a school field trip to see a play, a classmate turned to me and as I was doing my impression and he did not seem impressed, instead he played into me, I will always remember what he said. 

He said that I sounded nothing like Beavis and Butt Head and that I was stupid for trying to sound like them and that it was pathetic that I continued to try and sound like them because I thought that it would make people like me. He told me to stop doing it because I was only making a follow myself. 

But I could not, my impression was my comfort zone so I kept going until I met someone who would become my life long friend, Mike. 

Mike was one of the cool kids and I was a dork, through my constant efforts of trying to be funny I caught his attention and he wanted to be friends with me. Being a Dork and a misfit I wanted Mike to like me so when ever I saw him I wanted to be funny and I tried to be.

Our friendship eventually progressed to the exchange of phone numbers which was a bigger deal back in the 90’s then it is in modern day, because it meant that someone wanted to communicate with you. 

We spent hours talking on the phone, and I would only speak in my Beavis and Butt-Head voices, for four months. I often wonder if he never called me out on it because he genuinely enjoyed it or if he was just curious to see how long I would keep it up.

Eventually, I stopped imitating Beavis and Butt-Head constantly and it was primarily because of Mike’s influence, Mike and I are still friends to this day.

When King of the Hill premiered in 1997, I was 16 and a junior in high school. My Beavis and Butt-Head obsession had faded, but I still admired Mike Judge’s work. At first, I watched King of the Hill with skepticism, but over time, it grew on me.

In the early 2000s, when DVDs were at their peak, I rediscovered King of the Hill and became obsessed. I owned seasons 1-7 and watched them repeatedly. Eventually, I started imitating Hank Hill and to my surprise, it came naturally to me.

When King of the Hill became available on Netflix, my addiction intensified. I could not eat or sleep without watching it. When Netflix removed the series, I started DVRing episodes from Adult Swim I called it my stash then, my wife gifted me the entire series on Apple TV, allowing me to stream my own playlist of King of the Hill.

For over 25 years, I have watched King of the Hill daily. I don’t consider myself an expert or a dedicated fan. I am just someone who grew up on Mike Judge and just happened to look like Hank Hill and could sound like him.

I never did anything with my ability to channel Mike Judge’s characters, I only did the voices for family and friends. I don’t consider myself an expert on King of the Hill and I am not some crazy person who thinks that Mike Judge’s mind is my own. I acknowledge that at an important time in my life Mike Judge’s sense of humor had a major influence on me. 

I had never intended on doing anything with it, I just considered it to be useless knowledge and a useless talent.

I had always wanted to be a comedian and actor, and my dad had always supported me. I won an award in high school for a comedic student film I made and later went to community college for journalism and acting but I dropped out. Years later, I enrolled in a vocational school for local radio and television. While it did not offer legitimate credentials unless I paid for them, I stuck with it and turned a long-shot opportunity into a six-year career as a soundboard operator, producer, YouTuber, blogger, podcaster, and even a mascot for special events.

At the same time, I performed stand-up comedy at open mics and acted in local film productions. But nothing ever truly worked out for me. I never found success by any official standards. 

On April 15th 2020 I was let go from the Radio Station that I worked at, they said that it was because of budget cuts during COVID, but I was actually replaced bye A.I. 

I hadn’t given up on my dreams but I did fade away, I stayed off of Social Media for 3 years, I was in one short film but I felt out of place but I felt like a fraud because I was no longer working in Media Production and that was how everyone knew me. 

During those 3 years I felt hopeless I was a shell of who I used to be, hiding from the reality of who I had become because it made me feel like I had failed myself, I was not who my 12 year old self would want me to be… I would constantly ask myself “What was it all worth?” “Was this what it was all leading up too?”  Because it felt like nothing. 

On September 16, 2023, everything changed.

The local Halloween stores opened for the season and it gave me an idea, I wanted to find a cheap pair of fake glasses that looked like the glasses that Hank hill wears and if I did I would make a video of myself cosplaying Hank Hill, just to see how people react. I went to the Halloween Store and took my 11-year-old son wholes Halloween with me and I found a pair of fake glasses that looked close enough for  $7.99.

That night, I wrote the first two episodes of Propane Man Confidential.

I did not want to just quote King of the Hill; I wanted to cosplay as Hank Hill reacting to modern-day culture. Hank reminded me of my father and grandfather, and in some ways, I wished I could be Hank Hill. I did not want to say anything that would impact King of the Hill’s continuity but I wanted to stay true to the show. Out of respect for Mike Judge, I avoided discussing other King of the Hill characters outside of what was already established and I also made a conscious decision to avoid politics or anything else that the show had already established. 

I was just a cosplayer, impersonating a character I deeply admired. My goal was not to reinvent Hank Hill; it was to pay tribute to Mike Judge by showcasing my impression and ability as a writer and actor. I knew that whatever I did would be “Ship” and not “Cannon” but I wanted to create something so close to “Cannon” that it would impress Mike Judge. 

After brainstorming what I was going to do I came up with the idea that Hank was secretly being recorded by Dale and that Dale was secretly posting Hank’s rants about modern day culture on the internet. 

My first topics were “Social Media Challenges” and “Unreal Meat” because I thought that they were relevant enough and something that Hank would have something to say about. 

The next day I went to my parents house, I had my son record me on my phone as I stood infront of the wooden fence in the backyard of my parents house holding a can of ginger ale as a prop, I did not even bother combing my hair.

I was not trying to make any grand statement, I did not even have a clear goal. I simply wanted to see what would happen if I did it.

Are you superstitious?

Yes I am superstitious.

I still kind of believe that whenever your ears are ringing that someone is talking about you.

When ever my ears are ringing I wonder if someone is talking to me?

Then I come to the conclusion that it is probably my Mom.

You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?

I would probably take a car because I know how to drive a car.

Most of my favorite movies are Road Trip movies.

It makes me think of all of the trips I took when I was a kid with my parents. We never flew it was always by car, my parents even bought a Van to take me and my brother and sister to Florida.

That was back in 1992, can you imagine traveling from New York to Florida without GPS?

I have so many found memories about Road Trips and I always wanted to drive cross country.

I would take a car and feel like Hunter S. Thompson, writing about my experience as I go.

I think it would make a great Reality Show.

What is one word that describes you?

I have always been weird because I am not afraid to be myself but I always regret it afterwards.

What tattoo do you want and where would you put it?

I never got a Tattoo and I don’t think that I can.

Because.

I don’t know if I can commit to something that much that I would wear it forever on my body.

I admire those who can get a Tattoo carelessly.

It makes me contemplate what tattoo I would get if I had the need to get one.

I always say that I don’t have a Tattoo because I want to be an individual and not label myself.

I have never gotten a Tattoo nor do I consider getting one because of indifference.

I have enough interest in getting a Tattoo but I am not convinced enough that I need one to get one.

Why do people get tattoos to begin with?

I have been accused of wearing my heart on my sleeve in the past but I have never considered to wear it on my skin.

Am I missing something?

Is there some epic feeling that comes with a tattoo?

What it comes down to is this, I will get a tattoo when it becomes mandatory, and if I do I would like to choose my own.

What was the best compliment you’ve received?

One thing I have never understood about myself is how I always feel awkward when I receive a compliment.

Maybe it had something to do with being brought up in the 80’s or maybe it was because I was raised on Catholic Guilt.

I don’t consider it a weakness though.

I consider it a strength, because it makes me keep going as if no compliment will do other than the compliment I give myself.

What would me from another lifetime compliment me about in my current life?

A compliment from yourself is the best compliment you can receive, because no one knows you better than you.

Who is the most confident person you know?

My Son Donovan is 13. He just turned 13 in March 9th and he is a nightmare because he is so determined to be independent.

He had his own ways of thinking and his own perspectives of life.

He wants to be a vigilante because he wants to help people. He made his own costume and practices.

I am pretty sure that he will grow out of it but when I question him about his ambitions he seems more confident about who he is and who he wants to be more than any adult I know.

Wouldn’t you want to be the same way if you’re older than 13?