Comedian, stand-up and SO favorite Liz Miele recently created, wrote and produced an animated web series called “Damaged“. It features the voices of some big NYC comics including Dean Edwards, Ted Alexandro, DC Benny, Carmen Lynch, Jermaine Fowler and more.

The animated “Damaged” is about broken teenager robots adopted by humans. The two main characters are Emily and TJ, robots that were given up after they didn’t work at their respective factories and are being put through the public school system by their adoptive human parents, Rebecca and Richard. Oh and Emily has a cat, Humphrey, who’s a Hitler cat, that hates her. We talked with Liz about the series, concept and wonderful. Plus the first episode that is beyond delightful. Enjoy!

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Serial Optimist: Where did the concept come from?

Liz Miele: A few places I guess. I came up with the idea a few years ago when I just moved in with my then boyfriend and quickly our relationship was fell apart and he was not talking to me and I just felt broken. I’ve always known to some degree that I have emotional issues but he felt like the first guy to accept me for me and when he just all of a sudden stopped I started to really see how damaged I might be. (Sorry to start this out all sad and shit.) Also at that time I had been babysitting a super rich kid part time that was adopted and I always found it fascinating that this kid was plucked into fortune. At 7 he spoke three languages, went to one of the best French schools in New York and his whole life was set. However I always thought like most adopted kids, at some point when he’s older he’ll try to look for his real parents or wanna know why he was given up, and while on the outside his life seems made, how the feeling of abandonment or being giving away never leaves your psyche. So I like robots and felt broken and was fascinated by the concept of adoption and from all of that came the idea for broken robots adopted by humans.

SO: Wow. Deep in such a beautiful way. What made you go the animated route?

Liz: I LOVE animation. I always wished I could draw. I’ve always wanted to be a cartoon voice. As a kid we all love it but I still watch cartoons to this day and not just adult cartoons. While I love Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Boondocks and Archer, I equally love and still watch reruns of Invader Zim, Chowder, Dexter’s Laboratory, Ed, Edd, and Eddy, and Adventure Time. I just think it’s awesome and I love the freedom that you have. Your character can be anything and go anywhere at no extra cost.

SO: Well speaking off…What’s it like writing for animated characters? Does it allow you to push things further and take things all over the place? 

Liz: I love it! Yeah my characters are seen as if they exist in a world that doesn’t exist…”yet” 🙂 There’s something fun about creating your own world and reasons for things existing and happening. With stand-up it seems like you are trying to show people what they are missing or overlooking but with this project I’m creating a world and explaining why it is. Opposite writing muscles.

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Damaged: Episode 1

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SO: You’re muscles are ripped! What a great cast! How fun is working and creating such a great show with these awesome people?

Liz: I feel very fortunate that stand-up has lead me to work and become friends with so many brilliant comics and actors. I’ve known many of these guys before I did stand-up myself so to be at a point that I can ask them to be apart of projects and they are down for it is a real honor and makes me understand my creative path a little more. Everyone was great in the booth. So funny and it was cool to direct them and have them work off my input.

SO: How’d you find your artistic team?

Liz: Adam Record the character designer I found on Esty.com. I was looking for someone to draw my robots and I love that site and put in the word robots and came across his art (he’s a children’s book illustrator) and loved his robot drawing and I explained the project and sent him my script and he was on board right away. I owe a lot to Adam. He’s really brought my characters to life. Grant Lindahl, one of the animators is a young comic himself that saw me headline a show in Baltimore last year and enjoyed my set and came up to me after the show and said “I sketched you” ha ha. And indeed he had sketched a picture of me. It was sweet and slightly weird. Then months later he invited me to perform at his college and while there I asked his major and he said animation and my eyes lit up because I’d spent the last few months looking for affordable animators. He sent me his reel and his best friend, Ben Luce’s reel who’d just graduated from MICA and they were both amazing. They are so crafty and funny! All four of us live in different cities and I’ve only met Grant in person but we Skype and email a lot and I’m so fortunate to have such an awesome creative team.

SO: I love how collaboration comes about. A beautiful thing indeed. The show is awesome and I can’t wait for more eps!

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SO Note: Follow Liz @lizmiele and get all “Damaged” information at Damagedwebseries.com.