Hardest Working Man in Online News Calls it Quits

Nearly every weekday since February 27, 2006, Steve Tatham drives home from his job as a Disney Imagineer to his Glendale, California home, hangs out with his two children and Groundling wife, and, after the kids go to bed, he steps into his brightly lighted living-room-cum-broadcast studio, walks in front of a poster board depicting LA’s skyline, and delivers his topical commentary of the daily news headlines.

From start to finish, inception to upload, each video takes Steve, a one-man cast/crew, 3 to 4 hours a day.

While his supportive family ponders what kind of compulsive disorder Steve’s suffering from, The Ointment (cutely named because “ you spread and apply it daily”) is his respite from a politically correct day job designing child safe “theme parks, attractions, and interactive experiences.” It’s a soap box for the writer and stand-up comic in Steve to stand on, delivering his political biases and point of view with a wry wit that barely hints at cynicism and is just a touch tongue in cheek.

But after two-and-a-half-years and 562 smiling episodes, Steve is taking The Ointment off the air.

That’s one helluva long haul for an indie show with a one-man cast/crew, and though Steve’s mum on the reasons, I think he just got tired. “I am working on a new project which I will be able to update you about in a few months,” Steve said via e-mail. “For now, I’m going to go and find a soft spot and collapse.”

Check out the video below of an interview I did with Steve late last year in The Ointment’s home office.  And Steve, get some rest. As a talented individual and the creator of one of the web’s original long-lasting series, I hope to have you back on internet the soon.