TomSka

As a child, Ridgewell made short films using his parents' video camera.[5] Shortly after YouTube was established, Ridgewell created CakeBomb,[6] a website where he posted his projects, including his animated web series asdfmovie and his friend Edd Gould's Eddsworld. Ridgewell graduated from the University of Lincoln[7] where he studied Media Production, and whilst studying created a series of unofficial advertisements for the university which received millions of views.[8]

As a professional YouTuber, Ridgewell earns money from revenue on his videos on the website.[9][10] He has been discussed and interviewed in relation to this, especially when the medium of online video was in its infancy.[2] He has appeared as a guest on the BBC's The One Show[11] and created short films for Comedy Central.[12]

In October 2007, Ridgewell created a secondary channel called DarkSquidge.[13] As of September 2020, the channel has over 1 million subscribers and over 144 million views.[14] While his main channel consists of sketch comedy and animations, DarkSquidge shows behind the scenes footage of TomSka related projects and videos, as well as vlogging. Ridgewell also engages in social commentary, covering a range of topics such as mental health,[15] sexual health, and body positivity. From April 2016 to February 2018, he uploaded weekly vlogs to the channel in a series named Last Week.[16]

In 2008, Ridgewell released the first episode of asdfmovie,[17] an animated sketch comedy series featuring short clips of minimalist characters in surreal and occasionally darkly humorous situations. The song "Beep Beep I'm a Sheep" by Canadian musician LilDeuceDeuce with vocals by Ridgewell and Gabriel Brown,[18] released alongside asdfmovie10, was featured in the dance rhythm game Just Dance 2018.[19] A book based on the asdfmovie series, titled Art is Dead: the asdf book, was written by Ridgewell, illustrated by Matt Ley, and published by Little Brown on 22 October 2015.[20] A second book titled Sam Kills Christmas, written by Ridgewell and Eddie Bowley with illustrations by Dorina Herdewijn, was released on 8 November 2018.[21][22]

In 2012, Ridgewell founded the media production company, TurboPunch Ltd., located in London. He currently works there alongside co-writer Eddie Bowley and video editor Elliot Gough.[23] Ridgewell also became the producer of Eddsworld after the show's creator, Edd Gould, died of leukaemia.[24] He left the series in 2016, relinquishing the show to animator Matt Hargreaves.[24]

In February 2013, Ridgewell was featured on the cover of Wired UK as part of a feature titled "How YouTube Reinvented the Entertainment Business".[25] In May 2013, he was featured in YouTube's first Comedy Week[26] as a guest host for its Geek Week series in August.[27]

In 2014, Ridgewell, in collaboration with video game developer Pixel Spill Studios, created the game KatataK, a side-scrolling shoot 'em up for iOS and Android devices.[28][29] In September 2014, the BBC announced Ridgewell would appear as a guest presenter on the Dan and Phil Show on BBC Radio 1.[30][31][32]

In 2016, Ridgewell filmed several sketches with the BBC for a potential sketch show on BBC Three.[33]

In 2019, Ridgewell developed a card game based on asdfmovie in collaboration with Big Potato Games called Muffin Time: The Random Card Game.[34] He raised over £1,000,000 for the game on Kickstarter.[35]

Ridgewell’s twin sister, Amelia, died prenatally after their mother sustained injuries in a car accident.[36]

He was raised a Jehovah's Witness but no longer practices this faith.[37] Despite this, he has expressed a hope in a higher power.[36]

Though not primarily a musician by trade, Ridgewell has played bass guitar in multiple videos, including "Guitar Warfare"[38] and "Mine Turtle" as a featured artist with LilDeuceDeuce.[39]

He endorsed the Labour Party in the 2017 United Kingdom general election[40] and expressed his opposition to both Brexit[41] and the Conservative Party.[42]

• Art is Dead: the asdf book (2015, Little Brown Book Group, ISBN 9780751563047)
• Sam Kills Christmas (2018, Little Brown Book Group, ISBN 0751563056)

• TomSka's channel on YouTube