Brewstew is a series of web videos created by Chris Brewer and Tyler Rudolph. While they have a channel of Lets Plays, they are more well known for their animations.
Tyler animates the videos in Flash and then does the voices for them as well. The series is basically an episodic series of Slice of Life about Tyler's childhood and life, with loose continuities between videos.
You can find his videos at Newgrounds
and Youtube.
This work provides the following tropes:
- Abusive Parents:
- Michael's stepfather drinks like a fish and tends to give him "ten/twenty across the ass" for the stupidest reasons.
- Downplayed with Tyler's dad. It's clear that he means well, but sometimes he can be very rude and insensitive.
- Advertising Disguised as News: The 13 O'Clock Action News putting up a story about the 2017 Ford Fusion.
- Author Avatar: Tyler, the kid in blue.
- The Alleged Car: Tyler's dad had an absolute junker that needed to have a door held shut by a bungee cord, didn't have air conditioning, needed to be pushed in order to start....
- Anachronism Stew: "He had a PS4 in 1999." Also, using the Drew Carey version of The Price Is Right, when talking about playing hooky, when Tyler is talking about the Bob Barker version.
- Another Side, Another Story: Riding Bikes...According To Michael, which shows Michael's POV of the episode 'Riding Bikes' instead of Tyler's.
- Anti Climax Cut: Tyler employs this a lot. See the endings for "Pinewood Derby Race", "Little League", and "Neighborhood Arguments".
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: In "Airsoft Guns", after David shoots Michael with an airsoft gun:Tyler: David, what the fuck?! It was my turn to shoot Michael in the face.
- Blind Without 'Em: The whole point of "Eye Doctor" was Tyler him needing glasses, but he hated going to the eye doctor because he needs them.
- Blood Sport: Exaggerated with "Sock'em Boppers".
- Brain Bleach: Tyler wishes he had some on hand after all those dumb and weird-as-shit dreams.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Tyler's dilemma: eat the ice cream or take a poop? His solution? Eat the ice cream while taking a poop. Anticipating the Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick trope, the narrator says "Don't judge me. I still think it was a good decision."
- Breakup Bonfire: Tyler did this to his ex's stuff... at least in Minecraft
- Brick Joke:
- In "Toys R' Us", he kept telling customers that whatever they were looking for was in aisle 12B. While the narrator mentions that he sucked at assembling bikes, there is a clip of a girl riding one of his bikes, only to lose a wheel and explode into several pieces. When he was released after Christmas season, a customer asked about where he could go to talk about a bike that caused his daughter to explode. Tyler told him "Aisle 12B".
- In "Neighborhood Argument"...Tyler: Oh my God. Michael, you are a fucktard... Jesus.
Michael: Don't call me 'fucktard Jesus'!
Tyler: (confused) I didn't call you a 'fucktard Jesus'.
- Later on, at the dream fight, there's a sign that said "Go Fucktard Jesus!"
- In one episode about Michael's half-sister, Michael taught her to say "Dolphin dick!". In "Seeing Santa", she repeats it to Santa.
- Butt-Monkey:
- Michael. Not that he doesn't deserve it.
- Matthew is pretty much used as a punching bag by Stephen.
- Call-Back: "Neighborhood Argument" has callbacks to "Sock'em Boppers", "Feeding the Whole Neighborhood" and "Toy Guns".
- Camping a Crapper: Why Tyler is afraid of using public bathrooms.Narrator: I hope a bunch of gangbangers don't bust in here and start having their way with me. There's nothing I can fucking do [about it].
- Catchphrase: It ain't a brewstew video if it doesn't start with "Alright...", which is part of his merchandise.
- Cluster F-Bomb: While there is plenty of cursing around in every video, there's one notable instance of cluster cursing bombs in "Kid Across the Street".
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Tyler still has his NES system. He plans to punish his kids by forcing them to play Nintendo until they get nosebleeds. Would be Unishment, except NES games are
notoriously hard, and the systems, themselves, are tough. - Creator Cameo: A weird one, since Tyler is the subject in every video. The creators' likelinesses appear in "Eye Doctor" after Tyler uses his glasses and notices that his friends look different. The creators' heads then appear in place of the cartoon heads.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Michael, on rare occasions.
- Cutaway Gag: Almost averts this until the cut to "Michael's dad as a rottweiler" in "Neighborhood Arguments". Tyler prefers to have his gag happen while he's telling it. Played straight in "Michael's Revenge" when Tyler jokes that he said "Bethany" sounds like something you would say when you throw up - and it cuts to a kid saying "BETH-any!" in the class.
- Demonic Spiders: Tyler describes the spiders in his grandfather's outhouse as being "the biggest, most demonic fucking spiders out there". And they growl, too.
- Disproportionate Retribution:
- David fared so poorly in the Pinewood Derby that he did not even win one race. His punishment? His mom sold him into child slavery in Nigeria.
- Downplayed with Josh. Instead of staying at third, he tried to go for an Inside-the-Park Home Run. He failed, and everyone hated him for the rest of his life. The End.
- Dogs Are Dumb: Tyler's wife's Rottweiler, Otis. The 110 lb. dog is somehow afraid of limes, tries to be a tough dog only for him to be scared when Tyler barks back, and failed his first guard dog training by running away from the "burglar" while shitting on the carpet.
- The Dog Bites Back:
- Michael in "Michael's Revenge" to Bethany.
- Matthew hurls a giant stuffed animal at Stephen (who is using the bathroom) as a prank.
- Down to the Last Play: In "Little League", Tyler's team was down two runs on two outs. The team needed a run to stand a chance, so Josh crushes the ball right into left field. Unfortunately, his team still lost because Josh tried to go for an "inside-the-park Home Rune" even though it was physically impossible.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Did this in his breakup. As he attests, he did this a lot in November 2015, hence the major Schedule Slip.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In the first few videos (until early-mid 2014)...
- ...Tyler spoke with much less confidence and never started his videos with "Alright." Justified because he wasn't as confident back then, but he is now.
- ...The brewstew logo used to appear at the start of the video instead of the end.
- ...Michael used to wear a plain green shirt.
- ...The character's mouths did not move while they were talking; Tyler would merely use much more detailed facial expressions (itself an early installment weirdness), but found that it was easier to simply move their mouths.
- The very first video wasn't even narrated by Tyler.
- Epic Fail:
- Tyler's best friend, David, forgot to make his car for the Pinewood Derby, so he decides to race the block of wood. It lost every race.
- Tyler's Little League team failed to win one game... And the final runner made the stupid decision to try to convert a Triple into a Inside-the-Park Home Run. He got out... and got his ass scraped against home plate.
- Tyler tried to train his wife's Rottweiler, Otis, to be a guard dog by pretending to be a burglar breaking into the house... only for Otis to run away while crapping all over the carpet.
- In Monopoly, Michael went bankrupt on Luxury Tax, something so embarrassing, he got grounded for it.
- Everyone Has Standards: As much as Tyler has been shown to be capable of being a Jerkass, there are a few lines he will not cross.
- In the Halloween Episode, he chose not lie to get more candy like his friend Michael did 'cuz he wasn't a piece of shit.
- When the house he and Brewer were living in were infested with rats and saw one in the bathroom his first thought was to get some scissors and cut his tail off, but then decided against 'cuz he thought it felt like Jeffery Dahmer shit.
- Naming a dog Nathan is where Tyler draws the line.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Tyler tried to train his wife's adopted Rottweiler Otis to be one... only to fail when Tyler, himself, pretended to be a burglar and Otis ran away shitting on the carpet.
- Fancy Dinner: "Fancy Restaurant", relatively speaking.
- Fan Disservice:
- "Dumb Dreams"
- "Feeding the Whole Neighborhood":Michael's Pot-pop (Stepdad): "...he can have my shirt" (rips shirt)
- Fanservice: "Dumb Dreams", again.Tyler: Oh fuck! I'm getting a poledance by my 3rd grade teacher on a bunch of $100 bills.
- Foregone Conclusion: In "Little League", Tyler tells us that his Little League team did not win any game in the season. Yet, you still want to watch the video until the end.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Employs this a lot. Notable examples include:
- In "Eye Doctor" pause at the optometrist's chart. The chart actually says "A Chicken Nugget for You."
- In "Old School Nintendo", pause at the NES cartridges. There's a (fake) game called Judge Judy.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Michael, with gems about him getting shot in the face with airsoft gun and Tyler saying, "It was my turn to shoot Michael in the face." or being knocked into a TV.
- Fun With Blenders: In "Smoothie Night", Tyler, David, and Michael attempt to make smoothies during a sleepover. Unfortunately, the closest thing to genuine fruit they can find is a can of fruit cocktail, which isn't nearly enough for their smoothies. To make enough smoothies for everyone, they throw as many items remotely related to fruit into the blender as they can, resulting in a horrific brown mixture that looks like liquid shit and gives Michael serious diarrhea when he drinks it. The blender itself is beyond saving by this point.
- Hard Head: In Michael's Revenge, Tyler described Bethany as having a head hard enough to smash a diamond.
- Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Implied with Michael, with his stepdad threatening to give him "10 across the ass" for whatever.
- Honor Before Reason: Josh attempted to do an "inside-the-park home run" instead of staying at third base. He got his team out, and improved to 0-12.
- Jerkass:
- Zachary, the kid with ADHD. Nobody likes him, not even Tyler nor any of his classmates. Mainly because he's a snitch.
- James, the psychopathic kid, got pissed after not getting a toad and squished one.
- Jerkass Ball: While Michael is one of the nicer kids, he holds the ball in the Halloween Episode when he lied to get extra candy.
- Jerkass to One: Tyler is particularly hard on Michael. Michael's stepfather is the same way.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tyler is a foul mouthed asshole most of the time, but that's not to say he doesn't occasionally show his kinder side.
- Kent Brockman News: The standalone episodes of "Thirteen O'Clock Action News".
- Kick the Dog: James, the psychopathic kid in "Camping as a Kid", squished the toad after he didn't get a toad.
- Lazy Neutered Pet: Averted. Zeke the Golden Retriever is still agile and energetic after being neutered causing Tyler to question if the vet cut off the right part.
- Leitmotif: "Hidden Agenda" by Kevin McLeod. For The Thirteen O'Clock Actions News, "Vintage Education", also by Kevin McLeod.
- Let's You and Him Fight: A dream match between Tyler's Father and Michael's Pop Pop. Too bad the narrator admits it never happened.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Tom and Dan.
- Male Restroom Etiquette: Becomes a problem in "Potty Pals". Essentially, the urinals were 4 cm apart and there was somebody already using a urinal and somebody in the stall. Cue awkwardness.
- Mind Screw: Those nonsensical dreams in "Dumb Dreams".
- The Münchausen: Michael with his tales, which is one source of arguments in "Neighborhood Arguments".
- Naked First Impression: Discussed. The narrator says that nobody wants to be seen taking a poop, because it'll scar that person for life.
- Nerd Glasses: Implied with Zachary, the one who likes monster trucks. Also implied with Tyler, since he HATES wearing them. Which is why you don't see Tyler wearing glasses outside of "Eye Exam".Tyler: (thinking) If I gotta wear glasses, I might as well go for the Jeff Goldblum look. Because he was fly as shit.
(later)
(angrily) Thanks doc. I said Jeff Goldblum not, fucking... Jeffrey Dahmer. - Never Heard That One Before: Saying "see you Next Year"... on December 31st. Turns out that the narrator would inadvertently tell those same lame jokes to his customers.
- News Parody: Thirteen O'Clock Action News, when used in a brewstew episode.
- Nintendo Hard: Discussed during "Old School Nintendo".
- No Can Opener: In "Breakups", a few weeks after Tyler broke up with his girlfriend, he only had a can of tuna... and no can opener. Because she took it.
- Off the Chart: How quickly a Sock'em Bopper fight escalates.Narrator: Shit gets real in about 45 seconds.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted twice.
- There are two Zacharys in the whole series. There's Zachary, the ADHD kid obsessed with Monster Trucks, and there's Zachary, the kid who loves Beetleborgs. According to Tyler, he's not sure who's worse.
- Then there's two Davids, both of them good buddies of Tyler. There's David, Tyler's best friend during cub scout who got last place in the Pinewood Derby. And then there's his cousin, David, who created the "Shitmas Tree".
- Perpetual Frowner: Tyler's father is always depicted scowling.
- Perpetual Poverty: The episode "Being Broke" is all about this. Tyler recounts the time that he and his roommate lived in a duplex and were so poor that:
- They were constantly hungry, sleeping until payday and scrounging up enough money to afford only the cheapest of food, which was ruined when they cooked it in a pan that looked like it had been salvaged from a shipwreck (they ate it anyway).
- Various utility bills were constantly getting cut off, including gas, internet, and water.
- Tyler being unable to afford toilet paper, and at one point weighed up the possibility of wiping his ass with the cat.
- Precision F-Strike: Uses this one very well in "Camping as a Kid". After Tyler tells his grandpa that James squished a toad, grandpa goes to James.Grandpa: James, it's not how many toads that you catch that make you a man, okay? It's what you do as a man that makes you a man, you got it? Now, you listen to me. In other words, DON'T FUCKING STEP ON TOADS, YOU FUCKING METH HEAD! What's the matter with you? Go sit in the outhouse full the Demon Spiders!
- Punched Across the Room: Hilariously demonstrated when Uncle Rick tries to use the "Bop'em Socks" on Tyler.Tyler's Dad: God damn it, Rick! Be easy with those boys. No wonder your wife divorced you...
- Retcon: The "newscasts" that come up once in a while didn't have a name. It finally got one in "Look at dat Ford Fusion Interior" episode with Tom the newscaster and Dan the reporter. Tom and Dan first appeared officially in "Potty Pals", though Dan's appearance didn't stay consistent until then.
- Sadist Teacher: The Math Teacher in Math Class, complete with shooting one of the kids.
- The Scrooge: Michael's dad. Whenever Michael asked for food or drink for his friends, his dad always refused because "[he's] not feeding the whole goddamn neighbourhood" (even if it was just one more can of soda).
- Serious Business:
- The "Pinewood Derby Race" and its prequel "Pocket Knife". Getting that pocket knife was much more serious than getting Merit Badges.
- The Pinewood Derby Race was really serious business. So much so that for placing last, David got sent off to Nigeria and sold into child slavery.
- The coach in "Little League" treated the whole game much more seriously than his team. Probably because his team saw that they weren't gonna win any games.
- When they were little, Pokemon Cards determine your status. As Lampshaded by Tyler, one kid got rocks thrown at him because his best card was a Weepinbell
- Sequel Episode: "Pinewood Derby" to "Pocket Knife".
- Shout-Out:
- The setting of "Potty Pals" is in Happy Hour Saloon. Happy Hour Saloon is Tyler's commercial project whereas brewstew is his personal project.
- The Snow Day episode has the kids dressed up as Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny from South Park.
- Sick Episode: "Flu Season" aka "Stomach Flu".
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Almost everyone, but especially Michael's stepdad and Tyler himself.
- Sound-Effect Bleep: "Kid Across the Street" during Tyler's cursing segment. Sometimes employed in The Thirteen O'Clock Action News. Applied in Show Within a Show. Otherwise, all the curses are left uncensored.
- Stop Drowning and Stand Up: During "The Paddle Boat Incident": As a kid, Tyler rode a paddle boat into the middle of a lake with a drunk uncle before they realized there was a leak in the boat. Not making it back to shore before the boat sank, and not being a good swimmer, Tyler believed he would drown before he discovered the water was low enough to stand.
- Stylistic Suck: All the videos. It helps that Tyler devotes more of his time telling the jokes than animating the videos. Strangely, the stylistic suck actually really works for the videos, making them even funnier... almost charming in a way.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: Vacuum Salesman. It has the hallmarks of a Kirby Vacuum Salesman without saying it outright.
- This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: Downplayed. Says it in text form but never says anything of the sort outright. In fact, there's usually a fart sound effect that plays when "betch" appears.
- Those Two Guys: Tom O'Donnell and Dan Peterson from "Thirteen O'Clock Action News"
- Toilet Humor: There's at least one poop joke in every other video. "Flu Season" and "Poop Listeners" are basically one looooong poop joke.
- The best poop joke is told during the events of "Camping as a Kid". The narrator tells the story of how his cousin, Dave, had to poop in the middle of the night. So Dave stumbles out to the edge of the campground and does number 2, but he throws his toilet paper everywhere. When they wake up, the narrator describes a "woven tapestry of poopy toilet paper strung up on the trees". Think of it as a "Shitty Christmas Tree" or "Shitmas Tree".
- Inverted with "Potty Pals" which was a pissing episode.
- Unreliable Narrator: To be expected, as these are based off of his childhood.
- Unsatisfiable Customer: Tyler has to deal with a few of these in "My First Job". Case in point; one woman complained that some of the pepperoni on her pizza had unequal diameter.
- Verbal Tic: One of Tyler's friends, Tommy, has a habit of laughing in a weird manner whenever he speaks.
- Vocal Evolution: Tyler's voice didn't find its, uh, voice until "Eye Doctor." A few of the earlier videos had Brewer voice them.
- Wicked Stepfather: Michael's drunk-ass stepfather is one to Michael.
- Writing Around Trademarks: Hasn't done this regularly yet, as he name drops almost every brand he can think of, even making them the point of several episodes. Hell, he even did an episode on Ford as a contest entry. The only time he did this was when he was mentioning a certain fast food pizza joint that he used to work at, only to have the logo altered to say "Slut".
- Worst News Judgement Ever:
- "Stuck on a Roller Coaster"
Interviewee: Oh I can't believe this. I wonder what's going through their minds right now.Tyler: (from the Millennium Force) I should've gotten the fucking corn dog!- "Potty Pals". The 13 O'Clock Action News covering "The Great Pissing Stalemate 2016"
- You Wouldn't Hit a Guy with Glasses: Subverted. Zachary, the ADHD kid, gets kicked in the balls everyday at school. Tyler uses this reason as to try to get out of wearing glasses.
