Interview #011: Kent Nichols of Ask A Ninja

About Today’s Subject:
Kent Nichols

Creator of: Ask A Ninja (co-creator)
Location: Los Angeles, California
Websites: Ask a Ninja, Kent Nichols
Twitter: @kentnichols

At his core, Kent Nichols is both a storyteller and a comedian.  So it seems very fitting that many know him for the wildly successful web series he co-created – Ask a Ninja – that blends both comedy and storytelling.  Just 6 weeks in to launching the series, Apple featured them on their podcast store, and everything took off like wildfire from there.  Calls came in from the national media.  They ended up publishing “The Ninja Handbook.” Ask a Ninja became a bonafide pop culture icon.

“At its core, Ask a Ninja was two guys in a room making each other laugh, and that spread out to the world.  It’s trying to get back to the roots of extremely personal media that may or may not resonate.” -Kent Nichols

Kent met his Ask a Ninja co-creator Douglas Sarine through the Second City training center.  Their original idea was an online animated show about ninjas living in the suburbs who wanted to be like everyone else, working as accountants, folk singers, etc.  The expense of producing an animated series made it seem out of reach, and Douglas kept asking, isn’t there way to do it with no money?  So they decided to strip down the idea to a single ninja from the organization who would answer questions from fans.  The interactive, indie style worked incredibly well and became a defining element of Ask a Ninja.

“To make a creative act is still a bold choice.” – Kent Nichols

Nowadays, Kent is interested in exploring ways to use storytelling and localized media as community-building tools, in addition to various teaching options.  The past few years he’s seen his role as empowering others while he continues to develop his own story ideas.

A Few Insights from My Conversation with Kent

1. Collaborating with a creative partner can take you places you can’t go alone. Talking with Kent, it seems pretty safe to say that Ask a Ninja was very much a product of the awesome collaboration between Kent and Douglas Sarine.   Don’t be afraid to go find a partner who brings something to the table different from what you bring.
2. Don’t be afraid to scale down your project to work within your budget. It’s great to dream big and develop your vision free of limitations.  But once you’ve done that, if you don’t have the budget to implement your idea on a grand scale, then figure out if there’s a way to scale it back a little and do it using the resources you have.  Ask a Ninja shows what can be accomplished with “two guys in a room making each other laugh.”
3. You don’t always have to be too specific with your dreams. This is not my typical way of thinking, but it’s an interesting insight that came from talking with Kent.  He knew he wanted to be a storyteller and knew he loved video and using technology to communicate.  But beyond that he wasn’t overly specific, and it allowed him to be open to ideas and opportunities as they came along.

Okay, onward to the videos!

Option #1: Just a Taste (3-min. clip)

Option #2: The Feast (full 16-min. interview)

Viewer’s Guide

• Brief intro to who Kent is
• A new outlook on life
• His original game plan for life
• The original ninja idea
• When he knew Ask a Ninja had taken off
• Scaling it down from the original concept
• After Ask a Ninja and all its success, where do you go?
• The biggest contributor to his success so far

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