‘It’s all for shits and giggles and I’m just enjoying the ride.’
Thrift Store Paintings
Rich Wilson
November 2024
How does an Aussie bloke end up living in Utah?
My dad’s work moved us around. We left Sydney when I was 15 to move to Germany for a year then England for another. We were supposed to move back to Oz but my dad was asked to move to Utah for one more year. That turned into 3 years. By that time, I had a girlfriend, eventually went to college, got married and stayed. I didn’t plan on staying. I’ve been here forever, and I still don’t have citizenship because I always thought I’d move home. The next thing I know 27 years have passed, I live in the suburbs and have a bloody American family. I don’t know what happened. I’m Forrest Gumping my way through life.
You went to school with Rebel Wilson at Castle Hill Public School in Sydney. Who was funnier?
(Laughing) She was quiet and didn’t have many friends. You would’ve never known she’d become a multimillionaire world-famous comedic actress. I was also quiet with no friends. Nothing has changed for me.
How are you going with your Stand-Up career?
I quit years ago. Standup is a brutal world. Especially when it’s a hobby. My goal was to be an opener. You need a solid 10 minutes. It took me 7 years of open mics to get there and I eventually did. But that is giving up your Friday and Saturday nights. Sure, strangers laugh at your jokes, but I was leaving my wife and kids home for what? My ego? It wasn’t worth it. I quit after a few months of that. Jason Ellis, skater/comedian is performing in Salt Lake next month. I emailed the club owner to see if I can open for him. I can’t pass up that opportunity. It looks like it’s going to happen. I’m so pumped for that.
‘I have the smallest YouTube audience with the greatest guests in my videos. It is equally impressive as it is sad.’
Then you moved to ‘How to’ clips and hired Tony Hawk and Christian Hosoi through Cameo. How much did Tony’s 20 second drop in advice cost?
Oh, man. It was like $200. I thought if I paid for cameos from these big names people would watch my videos. (Laughing). It didn’t help at all. I have the smallest YouTube audience with the greatest guests in my videos. It is equally impressive as it is sad.
In April 2023 you started a simple clip about skaters hanging around on your IG account which went viral. A year and 89k followers later your clips really resonate with the community. Are you still rubbing your eyes how you got here?
For sure. Especially for where I came from. Spending days, sometimes months building stuff for YouTube. I was editing videos for hours every night and no one was watching. That was almost 10 years of making videos for 40 people. I’ll tell you what. That shit is soul crushing. You think you’re making quality but when no one cares, you begin to wonder if you’re one of those clueless sad people who auditions for American idol. No one has the heart to tell them they suck. I gave up on YouTube. I was beginning to hate myself. So, when my new short videos started to take off on Instagram it turned everything around. It felt like a total fluke. I tried so hard for so long. But I was climbing the wrong hill.
Maybe you had to climb the YouTube hill first to get where you are now?
1000%. If anything, it gave me thick skin. Negative comments on Instagram don’t even come close to the brutality of being ignored on YouTube.
‘It’s always the simplest ideas that do the best.’
Which is the most watched video?
I made a video in my garage with my wife. It’s an Ollie in slow motion and my wife marks the height on the wall and every year it gets lower. Ha. It took 20 seconds to film. It’s always the simplest ideas that do the best.
Have you gotten any nasty comments? Anything in particular that you can share?
Yeah. It doesn’t bother me though. All the criticism I get is deserved. And most of the time I agree with them. (Laughing).
Any feedback from your skateboard heroes? I learned from your interview on BBA podcast that Tony Hawk follows you. Have you gotten any comments or DMs from anyone else?
Yes. It freaks me out. I have messaged with my literal skate heroes. Tony Hawk messaged me after I made this one particular video, and he asked me how it went. He didn’t need to do that. He’s a busy guy. I’m no one. It seriously blew my mind and gave me a whole new respect for him.
Maybe he was also making up for your failed investment with him? Which video was that?
(Laughing). Yes! In some cosmic way, balance is brought back. Insane. The video was me driving 10 hours to California to skate a ramp for 20 minutes. I just wanted to see if I can jump this gap on an iconic 80s ramp. One of those bucket list things a lot of us older skaters wanted to do back in the late 80s.
‘I tried so hard for so long. But I was climbing the wrong hill.’
Your first post on your IG is an upcycled a painting from a thrift store with your own artistic touch. The idea is brilliant, and you are one of heck of a skilled painter. Have you ever thought about changing the name of your IG account though to make it more relevant to the clips or is this too late now to change?
(Laughing). Nah. It’s better this way. “Thrift Store Painting” is so unrelated to skating it makes it more memorable. Just a happy accident. If I changed it to “Middle Aged Skater” I’d be one of the thousands.
Is it stressful to come up with new material that is also like by the audience or are you pretty relaxed about what happens in the future?
I don’t stress it. I don’t have sponsors or anyone to let down if a video bombs. It’s all for shits and giggles and I’m just enjoying the ride.
Last question. If you could interview one person, who would it be and why?
Probably Michael Jackson. I’d get to the bottom of his allegations. Hopefully discover he’s innocent so I can enjoy Billy Jean guilt free.
