Levni Yilmaz

Today we're going switch gears a little and I'm going to expand my horizons, as it were. I'm going to stray from my usual format and do something I'm very excited about. I'm genuinely shocked that everything came together properly so indulge me a little here while I provide you with some background.
Levni Yilmaz is a San Francisco based blogger and the creator of Tales of Mere Existence (see my blog entry immediately previous to this one) a uniquely honest and comical animated video series and comic strip, and as it turns out a really nice guy giving amateurs like me a chance to do a really cool e-interview (which by its nature isn't all that cool but my joy remains unmitigated).
I was in Lev's San Francisco pad earlier this week to ask a few questions (by San Francisco I mean Brantford, which I think it's safe to say is the San Francisco of south western Ontario, and by pad I mean in my bedroom on my computer composing, and repeatedly rewriting, an e-mail...). So here we go, my first ever genuine interview.

Q:So my first question is: just how much of you is in your films and comics? Obviously quite a bit, but do you protect yourself at all, or is it just all out there?
A:The character is very much part of my personality, but only one part. It's much more the way I used to be than I am now. That said, no, I don't think I try to protect myself that much. I don't know why, but I am not very private about that. I think I struggled to be cool in the normal sense for a long time. After I said Fuck it, it was cleansing to show off my vulnerabilities.

Q:If it is all out there, is there a point where panic sets in and you don't think you can publish the content?
A:The only time I remember it happening is when I wrote a piece with a girl I used to date. It was interesting writing with someone, because they don't let you get away with your bullshit. I had to take some of the material she wrote out, maybe I protect myself more than I admit.

Q:Where does the inspiration for those bits that aren't you come from?
A:I get a lot of ideas just watching other people, seeing similarities of the way they put on an air, to the way I put on an air. I like to think though... well, I don't think I directly make fun of people, do you? I like to draw the line there. I like to make fun of the habits and the thoughts, without directly making fun of the person.

Q:How do you differentiate between something worth recording and something that isn't?
A:If it makes me laugh, and if it feels pure. When I say pure, I mean that it has to be me trying to communicate a thought or a feeling rather than me consciously trying to be funny. That's worth noting, I almost never try to be funny. I try to write about something interesting to me, and then just trust that the comedy will come out naturally.

Q:Is there a video or a comic strip out there that you regret having published?
A:There's one in my Sunny Side Down book that I think is pretty bad called "Your Basic Worldview for the first few years of your life" that I think is pretty bad. I needed it for the sequence/timeline. I think it's a piece of shit.


Q:What made you want to start making Tales of Mere Existence? Is it therapeutic at all?
A:It was an evolution. I made the first video called "Party" and then made another in the same style. I think I still have a drunken scribble in an old notebook that says "Hey, could this be a series?". Yes, totally therapeutic.

Q:And lastly, do you have any hopes for the future of Tales of Mere Existence or are you just taking it day by day?
A:I've thought I was done with the series at least fifteen times. All I really think about is the next way that it could evolve, and take it from there.