Cosplay Friday #1: The Kenny Cosplay Interview

Kenny’s first costume build, Iron Man progression

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Ashe: What do you like the most about making cosplays?
Kenny: The thing I like most about making cosplays is the satisfaction when it’s complete; you know that feeling when you go “holy s***, I just made that and it’s f****** awesome”

Ashe: Yeah it’s a good feeling, especially after making stuff you have never tried before. Do you think you’ve gotten just as much fun out of making costumes back then as you do now even with more experience?
Kenny: In short, nope, just the same. That’s because every build I do I always stress out because I have no idea what I’m doing. Literally, every build is as difficult as the last and it’s sometimes frustrating. There are always better ways of doing the same thing so I’m always learning ha-ha, it just feels never ending.

Ashe: That’s relatable! You went on the Arty Fakes course; how do you think it affected the way you build cosplays?
Kenny: Holy s***, you have no idea! That course taught me how to make props… like in a generic sense. There are techniques that may seem obvious but for someone who’s a total noob, it’s 100% worth it. Without that course, I would not have: Got a belt sander, used contact glue, made my seams seamless, sanded down corners, used anything else other than PVA to coat foam, known the importance of sharp blades, the list goes on. These things seem very obvious now but without someone telling you, it’s not obvious at all. I have some tutorials/blogs on my website where I just ramble, it’s good toilet material; read it while you s***.

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Kenny’s Garren from League of Legends cosplay
Photography by MattEleven Photography 

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Ashe: When you pick a character to cosplay what’s your main reason?
Kenny: Do I like it? There’s no point in me making something and spending loads of money on it if I hate it, that would be stupid. I could go on an entire f****** rant about people who ask “who should I cosplay as?” Also to people who moan that love something so much but “can’t because I don’t have the skill”. They can go eat some s*** too. I mean if other people can do it, why can’t you?

Ashe: I agree, giving up before trying and all that. Everyone starts somewhere.
Kenny: People expect to make perfect props/cosplays first attempt. That’s unrealistic…why does anyone like anything? I play Overwatch; I’m making an Overwatch character (soldier 76). Iron Man was badass too so cool I made that. I keep getting stupid questions from people on my page where they ask “I want to start [insert your most recent costume here] but I have never made a cosplay before, please show me how” and they expect you to spend 3 weeks telling them how each piece goes together!

Ashe: Personally it’s the art style and something I love about the character or universe they’re from.
Kenny: Same reason as people write books really…. but I lack the imagination to design something cool so I copy other people’s work instead.

Ashe: People love to see their favourite characters re-created, have you ever had a designer of a character you’ve cosplayed see your work?
Kenny: …Funny you should ask, I recently attended the League of Legends world finals in LA. The producer for the championship Zedd Skin actually saw me there and was like “holy s*** it’s awesome”, and then I was like “holy s*** it’s awesome that you find it awesome”.

Ashe: That’s epic!
Kenny: It got even better. When Zedd was performing in the opening ceremony, he had the “official” helmet on his DJ desk and I think my design was pretty close to that too. I was over the moon.

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screenshot from the League festival in L.A. Notice the official helmet!

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Ashe: What about the best reaction to your cosplay?
Kenny: No idea actually…I guess when I went on stage to perform one of the skits and when I started dancing, I distinctly heard people go “what the f***” in the audience, that was pretty funny. I guess once you’ve achieved what you set out to achieve, then it just feels great. Like I was aiming to shock people and it worked and it was hilarious.

Ashe: Yeah you’re pretty well known for your skits, it seems to have started a whole load of other people doing the same style thing! I went to LSCC (London Super Comic-Con) last year and almost all of the cosplay entries for the main Saturday comp had the same comical format as you.
Kenny: Yeahhhhhh about that…apologies. I’ve started working on lots of different formats recently. Unfortunately, my two most recent skits I was not able to perform them. I’ve been trying to tell a story and see if that would work.

Kenny showed me a recording of the music and dialogue he’s made for upcoming skits; it’s a completely different tone, well-paced, dramatic and creative. I was half expecting there to be a silly twist at the end.

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I’m definitely looking forward to seeing his work this year, and his new direction for performance. The thing that sets Kenny apart is his refreshing honesty, he’s not afraid to speak his mind about the community or sugar coat exactly what goes into making cosplays. It is difficult, he’s an example that learning from your mistakes gets you far. To find out what he has lined up this year please follow and check out the links below. He does prop building Twitch streams so keep an eye out for them too.

kennycosplaystuff.com
Kenny’s Facebook
Kenny’s Instagram
Kenny’s YouTube
Kenny’s Twitch