Meet Rob Cham

I instantly became a fan when I stumbled upon the works of Rob Cham in the wonderful blogging world of Tumblr. So when I met the guy in the real world, I broached the idea of doing a feature on his work for Supreme. He was caught a bit off-guard, but he replied in a quiet tone, with all the sincerity of wanting to get to the marrow of his doubts: “Why me?” I instantly became a fan in real life.

Rob Cham has the ability to tickle your brain with the comical visions of a restless college mind spacing out in class. But he also has a knack for translating young adult struggles into panels of comical vision. He presents the pressures of college (Rob’s taking his bachelor’s in management at Ateneo) and growing up through his own hilarious and off-kilter view of the world.

As of now, Rob Cham has 3,500 followers with a rate of 50 or so new converts every week. Strangers from all over the world subscribe to his blog, and he openly admits to liking the recognition. His words on being a well-liked dude in the competitive world of Tumblr: “I am a happy camper.”

SUPREME: What’s a typical doodling day for Rob Cham?

ROB CHAM: I draw when I’m bored or if I have an idea. Most of the time, it’s just me behind a computer screen waiting for any of my friends to say, “Hey! Let’s go do something!”

Where do you get inspiration?

Everywhere, probably. (I have no idea how to make this not sound like a cliché.) Mostly from extreme boredom. (The best kind of boredom. Because it is extreme.) Or from the need to make fun of something, or to draw something I would like to see drawn.

Favorite comics? Major influences?

I love a bunch of comics, but a major influence I want to mention though would mostly be web comics. I love web comics. They’re free, more liberated when it comes to subject material, and most likely they are funnier than what we could find from a comic like, say, Sherman’s Lagoon. I am sorry, Sherman’s Lagoon. I love you, but I can only laugh at a shark being a pig for so long.

What gave you the idea to post original works on Tumblr, instead of doing what everyone else is doing, which is reblogging other people’s stuff?

I don’t see Tumblr as just for reblogging. I mean, yeah, sure, that is what a lot of people mainly use it for, but I didn’t even know Tumblr had reblogging as an option when I started out. I thought, hey, you could reblog things. That’s a pretty neat option but isn’t this just sort of copy-pasting content?

Has Internet celebrity gone to your head yet?

I would let it go to my head if I could actually abuse it. I have no idea how to abuse this. Honestly, I’m a little uncomfortable with the Internet celebrity. I mean, I just draw things for amusement. I feel like I am getting undeserved attention. I feel anxious about the whole thing! I cannot deal!

Though it’s always fun to meet people who sort of know me from that. Even if I still have no idea what to say to that, I have yet to come up with a good reply to “Hey! Aren’t you Rob Cham?” Well I guess a good reply would be, “Yes,” but you know what I mean. It’s just weird. What can I actually say back?

Any special attention from the ladies? What’s a favorite incident?

My favorite incident would have to be a few weeks ago at a friend’s birthday party. A person who sort of knew me from the Internet and I were just talking and all that. She got really drunk and it was amusing at first. Then it got weird when she started shouting, “Rob Cham! Would you be my boyfriend?!” She was drunk at the time so I’m not sure if she was serious. But hey, it makes for an amusing story that makes me look good. It totally happened.

Do you think art can save the world?

Art can definitely save the world. I mean, art saved me. It gave me something to do beyond the meager task of schoolwork and nothing to do. Art is, sort of, for me, that ultimate expression that we’re human, that we still have a soul and all that corny nonsense I would spare you from. Art (music, painting, illustrating, dance, literature, poetry, all those arts) is such a wonderful thing. I love art.

What do you think about hipsters? Since your blog is thriving in a hipster world.

I think hipsters are great people. Except maybe for that one guy who took a sh*t in the living room at my best friend’s house during his party, but that’s a different story.

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Visit Rob Cham’s blog at http://robcham.tumblr.com or follow me at http://twitter.com/PingMedina.