There are some people that take an internet medium - YouTube, Vine or Twitter, say - and truly make them their own. One such person is @AstonishingSod, who isn't just one of the funniest and most creative of tweeters, but also one of the most prolific.
Astonishing Sod created the now famous account Crimer Show, which has fast become a cult classic (it's even being namechecked in a TED talk). But he's also created over a dozen more - some using the similarly silly, wonderful style of language found in Crimer Show (such as his spoof synopses for 'Friends' and 'Frasier') and some which are just plain funny (such as his own account, and News For Babies).
We asked Astonishing Sod - real name James Thomas - for an introduction to 12 of his favourite accounts that he's created. Check them out below - and do visit his website for more about the man's many talents and his forthcoming boook...
"When I came to Twitter in 2008, there was nothing but tumbleweed, ossuaries and jenkem. Ask anyone. Now WE'RE the tumbleweed. No? Does that work on some level? Makes you think, anyway. Sure makes you think. Astonishing Sod is my main account; accept no sodstitutes."
"If you're on Twitter, you've almost certainly figured out that you hate Crimer Show by now. If you're not, it's ostensibly a police procedural - in an Englesque dialect that I invented - wherein everything is ridiculous. There's this guy (Crimer) and this other guy (Detetcive), and one's cool and one's stressed. Life! It's all archived on one page on the Crimer website. Whats youm wants, a mape?"
"I post a Terbil Draem at about 1 a.m. most nights, when those too terrified to wait have long since succumbed to sleep. I'm quite fond of Terbil Draems. It gives me great pleasure. It may have killed. "
"Goggl is the most powerful and accurate search engine the world has ever known. Can't remember what year it isn't? Goggl. Don't know how to water the internet? Goggl. Looking for photographs of exactly fourteen snails? Goggl. Or your money back!"
"I started Freints because I had a stupid idea that made me laugh. That's how I work. If I think of something stupid that makes me laugh, then you can forget that baby shower we were supposed to crash, because I've got tweets to write, dammit. Freints is a sitcom set in Newyurk, featuring Rackel, Rash, Chambler, Momaka, Jobey and Pobe. Rackel's a kleptomaniac, Chambler cries constantly, Pobe is a lunatic who's obsessed with elderly crooners, you get the picture. Bonus fact: Crimer Show exists *inside* Freints. It's actually a show that the Freints watch on their TV, in eppasod 160. Ya just got Inceptioned."
"Frasser is a sitcom set in Soylatel Citey. I imagine you're familiar with the characters of Frasser, Kniles, Mortoin and Dampy. It's very well written and is tipped to win several awards at the upcoming awards event. Quite stylish."
"The saddest thing I've made on Twitter. Memory is a frightening thing, and I don't recommend it to anyone. Trousured Mamories explores the recesses of the mind in a way which, say, books or science or documentaries or thinking or books never could."
"A very strong concept, I'm sure you'll agree. The title says it all. News, for babies. And only news that's relevant to babies. You think babies give a damn about transverse superstructural fiscal colostomy projections or whatever the hell you call it? Think again. Babies want REAL news, NOW."
"Not sure how this found its way onto Twitter, as it's top secret, but Crimer appears to be writing a memoir or some such. It's CrimerBuke. No bigdeale."
"A men whom insane (obviously). Stand back, because you might get drenched in whatever."
"Doctor Whomn't travels through time and universe in his Tardus. Along the way, he has got lost in a tube, kicked a Daleck with a pretend foot, collected information on himselves, performed a task before necessary and run simultaneously away from and toward. Guaranteed to win all the awards Frasser Show fails to pick up."
"At the time of writing, my newest account. The 17th or thereabouts. It's a guide to everything that has happening or is happened in the world of flim. Flim buffs: this one's for you. It will soon be joined by a longer-form counterpart, as part of my website, and there are plans afoot to develop it into something very long indeed. (My plans, my foot.)"