Steam Powered Giraffe

  • Main
  • Laconic
  • Wikipedia
  • All Subpages
  • Create New
    /wiki/Steam Powered Giraffecreator
    From left: The Jon, Rabbit, The Spine

    Steam Powered Giraffe (SPG) is a musical project formed in San Diego in 2008 that is popular in the steampunk subculture. The act combines the visual of robot pantomime with sketches, pop culture references, improvised comedic dialogue, and original music.

    According to the band's fictional backstory, the "musical automatons" were invented by a rich San Diego inventor named Colonel P. A. Walter in 1896 and kept in the Walter family over the years. Called the 8th 1/2 Wonder of the World, the robots were a technological marvel that ran off steam engines and artificial intelligence. The band's name is said to come from Walter's first robot, a giant mechanical giraffe. A fictional timeline on the band's website chronicles the band's supposed "appearances" throughout the years at such notable places as the 1933 Chicago World's Fair and The Ed Sullivan Show.

    Besides their musical endeavors, the band publishes a Web Comic and has produced a card game based on characters in their backstory.

    The robots are:

    • The Spine (David Michael Bennett) is a futuristic dieselpunk robot with a titanium alloy spinal column and convincing human mannerisms. His skin is smooth silver, and he wears a black fedora and red tie. He plays guitar.
    • Rabbit (Christopher "Bunny" Bennett) is a copper clockwork android, who wears a short black tophat with steampunk-style goggles on it and a black tunic with red accents. She plays the melodica. Originally a male robot, Rabbit transitioned to female along with her performer in the middle 2010s.
    • The Jon (Jon Sprague) is an art deco-style brass robot powered by soda (primarily Crystal Pepsi), who wears a tall black top hat and red suspenders. He generally plays the mandolin.
    • Upgrade (Erin Burke) was the only female robot in the group's original lineup. She left the band in 2011 "to pursue her dream of becoming a princess."

    As of approximately 2015, their drummer and other supporting performers in the group have taken to wearing robot makeup as well.

    Steam Powered Giraffe provides examples of the following tropes:

    The Spine: Was that a pun, Rabbit?
    Rabbit: That was a pun.

      This article is issued from Allthetropes. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.