Olan Rogers



Olan Rogers is a film-maker, photographer, and comedian from Tennessee well known for his work with Balloon Shop and his other channel on youtube. While mainly making comedic shorts, he also dabbles in experimental short films and music videos. He has recently been rising in youtube fame for his miniseries The Last Scene, New Prime, and soon to be Pop Rocket. The Last Scene is an Affectionate Parody of action movie ending cliche`s, while the New Prime is one of Science Fiction. Both are well-known for their sharp-yet-bizzare wit as well as being surprisingly cerebral. He's also a major Cloudcuckoolander and Nice Guy.

Also dabbles in Stand Up Comedy, having released two spoken word albums in 2010 titled Don't Poke The Bear and Bring The Bacon.

He is not, however, an astronaut, geophysicist, nor a dragon-slayer. Here is his website, his store, The Balloon Shop YouTube channel, his YouTube channel, his Twitter, and his Facebook.

Notable Works


 * Balloon Shop
 * The Last Scene
 * New Prime
 * The video for Harbor Lights by Awake Awake.
 * The video for Search Party by American Analog.

Tropes Appearing In Most Of His Works
"wolfennights asked: Olan, do you have ADD/ADHD? Olan: I have a HD TV."
 * Acting for Two: All of the characters are played by about four people, 60% of which are played by Olan himself, 10% by Reid Sullivan, 20% by Thomas Gore, and 8% by Starscream. Lampshaded, of course.
 * Aerith and Bob: Ferris, Dutch, Valavingee, Scar, Zack, Bob... Interestingly, The most normal names (Bob, Zack) go to the least normal characters.
 * Awesome McCoolname: Lightwave, Emperor Laboosh, Ferris, Dutch, Valavingee, Scar, Olan Rogers....
 * Better Than a Bare Bulb
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Nearly every one of his characters ever, as well as Olan himself. Of particular note, Bob and Hans of New Prime and Zack McSleuthberger of The Last Scene.
 * A memorable tumblr post:


 * Fake Brit: (Or something) In some of his videos.
 * Gosh Dang It to Heck: Olan never uses a swear more vulgar than "crap". Surprisingly, this arguably makes his videos much funnier.
 * Guttural Growler: Pretty much everyone that's played by Olan or Reid, with a few exceptions.
 * Large Ham: Yes.
 * No Budget: Not that you could tell in New Prime.
 * Averted for Pop Rocket
 * Non-Human Sidekick:
 * Olan's pet cat Starscream. He appears in many of his shorts.
 * And he's rescued a starving puppy named Kreacher from an abusive owner. Looks like Starscream has a new friend.
 * Non Sequitur: Inevitably, given Olan’s status as a Cloudcuckoolander, this crops up countless times in all of his works.
 * Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic: Averted, and hilariously then combined with World of Ham and Evil Sounds Deep.
 * Rule of Cool: Pretty much what fuels half of his films.
 * Rule of Funny: A given.
 * Seinfeldian Conversation: So many, usually filled with Non Sequiturs. New Prime starts with one.
 * Surreal Humor
 * Talking to Himself: Since almost all characters are played by the same four or five people, this is inevitable.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Oh so much.
 * You Look Familiar: See Acting for Two

Tropes Appearing In The Last Scene

 * Action Film Quiet Drama Scene: Abused to no end.
 * Affectionate Parody: Of action movies, clichés, and Gainax Endings.
 * Almost-Dead Guy: Subverted/Parodied with.
 * Anti-Hero: Daniels is a Type III
 * Anyone Can Die: Surprisingly.
 * Badass Moustache: Daniels
 * Big Bad: Scar
 * Brick Joke:
 * Catch Phrase:
 * "DO I LOOK LIKE THE KIND OF GUY WHO X?"
 * "I AM BREWING UP A BATCH OF SHUT IT STEW!"
 * Cerebus Syndrome: Both The Last Scene and New Prime start off as a short, nonsensical dialogue in minimalist settings. By the end New Prime actually somewhat serious, has Character Development, and Plot Twists. It never loses its humor, though. The Last Scene plays with and zigzags this, and seems to settle on Indecisive Parody.
 * Chekhov's Gun:
 * Cloudcuckooland: The White Void
 * Cliché Storm: Invoked, parodied, and played with in The Last Scene.
 * Cryptic Conversation: Pheonix Gold, much to Daniels' chagrin.
 * Dead Little Sister: Shelly is Daniels' dead girlfriend, even though he made her up.
 * Deliberately Monochrome: Justified because they are in a white void.
 * Evil Sounds Deep: Scar
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Whatever story this is a part of, we are only shown the last scene.
 * Gainax Ending: The whole thing is one to whatever it’s “the last scene” of.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom: Whenever someone takes the medicines, they get these.
 * Imaginary Friend: Apparently these can be a Dead Little Sister.
 * Imagine Spot: The beginning of The Last Scene 3.
 * Indecisive Parody: The Last Scene is this so much it's almost impossible to tell whether Cerebus Syndrome is in effect, if it's a parody of Cerebus Syndrome, or even if it's still just an Affectionate Parody that isn't meant to be serious at all.
 * Kubrick Stare: Daniels in the intro, combined with Slow Walk.
 * MacGuffin: The Medicines.
 * Made of Iron: Zack gives Fifty Cent a run for his money as far as taking bullets goes.
 * Mr. Imagination: Daniels, apparently, having made up multiple people, including his dead girlfrend and Shallow Love Interest.
 * Narnia Time: The year-minutes or yeuts.
 * Perma-Stubble: Daniels, Scar
 * Rocky Roll Call: "You don't need to get upset, I just thought we were playing the Name Game!"
 * Slow Walk: The intro
 * Shallow Love Interest: Shelly, used as a Dead Little Sister.
 * Soundtrack Dissonance: Almost constantly.
 * Stealth Parody: Played With
 * The Virus:
 * Unflinching Walk: The intro, again.
 * Unflinching Walk: The intro, again.

Tropes Appearing In New Prime
""Sauces without surface....Make me nervous" "Oh yeah? Well sauces without plastic.... Makes me not fantstic"
 * Action Film Quiet Drama Scene: Again, similarly to The Last Scene.
 * Affectionate Parody: Of Sci Fi in general.
 * Almost-Dead Guy: in New Prime
 * Alien Blood:
 * Amusing Alien: Bob.
 * Anti-Hero: Ferris is a Type III but dips into a type IV when he Dutch is a Type I.
 * Anyone Can Die: Surprisingly.
 * As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Valavingee's name.
 * Big Bad: The Phantom
 * Big Brother Mentor: Ferris to Dutch
 * Brick Joke: The soy sauce
 * Captain Ersatz: The Phantom is totally not Darth Vader.
 * Catch Phrase:
 * Emperor Laboosh's "I'm feeling frazzled" and its variations, as well as Valavingee's "I have dealings".
 * "Rev it down, Dutch!"
 * "Calm your storm!"
 * Cerebus Syndrome: Begins to kick in at the end of the second episode, but never goes all the way until New Prime 5.
 * Cliff Hanger:
 * Cloudcuckooland: As usual for Olan's works, it takes place in one.
 * Continuity Porn: New Prime 5.
 * Cryptic Conversation: The first conversation with Bob.
 * Dead Little Sister: Brenda is Ferris' dead girlfriend..
 * Dead Person Conversation: In New Prime 4.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Scar, Hans has his moments too.
 * Deliberately Monochrome: In some of the flashbacks, as well as
 * Dismantled MacGuffin: The Pieces Three.
 * The Empath: in New Prime 5.
 * Evil Sounds Deep: The Phantom.
 * Family-Unfriendly Death:
 * Foreshadowing:
 * The teleportation sound effect is shared by
 * Gender Blender Name: Apparently, Ferris is named after his mother.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: Ferris and Dutch, Ferris and Hans.
 * Hurting Hero: Ferris
 * Ice Cream Koan:
 * Hurting Hero: Ferris
 * Ice Cream Koan:
 * Slaps* "That was for good measure. And to give me pleasure""


 * Inherently Funny Words: Apparently how names are chosen on New Prime. Twarpers, Wompus, Warpers....
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * Late Arrival Spoiler:
 * The Mole:
 * Mind Screw: Both in and out of universe. In-Universe, the organizations of gates in New Prime. Out of universe, New Prime 4.
 * Mood Whiplash: Once Cerebus Syndrome starts kicking in, this is to be expected. Particularly the different conversations in The Lost Gate in New Prime 4.
 * Narnia Time:.
 * Mordor: Four Points.
 * Once More, with Clarity: After The Reveal in New Prime 4 that.
 * Perma-Stubble: Dutch, Ferris
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Phantom.
 * The Reveal: In New Prime 4, it's revealed that.
 * Scenery Gorn: Good lord. Also manages to be combined with Scenery Porn.
 * Scenery Porn: New Prime, especially episodes 3 and 4.
 * Slow Walk: A few times, but Ferris has the best one in New Prime 5.
 * Shallow Love Interest: Brenda, again used as a Dead Little Sister.
 * Soundtrack Dissonance: Almost constantly.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Dutch.
 * Uncanny Family Resemblance: Ferris and.
 * Wham! Episode: New Prime 4 reveals that
 * What the Hell, Hero?: "You just killed that poor nimbus cloud!"
 * Uncanny Family Resemblance: Ferris and.
 * Wham! Episode: New Prime 4 reveals that
 * What the Hell, Hero?: "You just killed that poor nimbus cloud!"

Tropes Appearing In Pop Rocket

 * Cryptic Conversation: Virgil's phone call with his supposedly dead dad.
 * Generation Xerox: Virgil became a detective, just like his father.
 * He's Just Hiding: After they Never Found the Body, and after Cyphris is convicted, guess who Virgil gets a phone call from...
 * Hostage for Macguffin: Harvey
 * MacGuffin Title
 * Miscarriage of Justice: Cyphris is blamed for Harvey's murder, despite the only evidence being that he was the only one near when the crime was committed and is on death row.
 * No Budget: Averted. And the Fandom Rejoiced.
 * Posthumous Character: Harvey, though they Never Found the Body.
 * Robot Buddy: Cyphris to Harvey
 * Three Laws of Robotics: At least the first one was mentioned
 * X Meets Y: Film Noir meets Science Fiction
 * X Meets Y: Film Noir meets Science Fiction

Other Tropes

 * British Accents: Really, really hilariously bad ones for the Laying It On The Stones videos.
 * Genre Shift: Made a Mega Man X Fan Film that is a straight action sequence with no comedy. And it's awesome. Also his experimental shorts and music videos are much more serious than the work he's most known for.
 * Perfectly Cromulent Word: "Fannywinkler" in Laying It On The Stones.
 * "Stop Having Fun!" Guys: Invoked/Parodied by The Fun Cop.