Hey everyone, it's Riley Passfield, TikTok sensation, and you're listening to the Oblivion Bar podcast. Welcome to the Oblivion Bar podcast with your host, Chris Hacker and Aaron Knowles. Joining us this week on the Oblivion Bar podcast is an absolute TikTok sensation. She just recently surpassed 1 million followers. I think you're at 1.5 now, which is incredible. She coins her content as cursed cosplays and they are some of the most creative and hilarious videos on the internet.
She is also an accomplished model, makeup artist, painter, and singer as well. It is my honor and our honor as the Oblivion Bar to introduce and welcome Riley Passfield onto the show. Welcome Riley! Hello! There's that laugh that we've all heard.
You know, it's funny the other night, we talked about a little bit before the show, but I was showing some of my friends, I work at a bar, you know, I nightlife as a bartender and I was showing some of my friends some of your, your TikToks the other night. And I swear you could just hear your laugh reverberating throughout the entire restaurant. You're a little like, every time you see something funny, you've done with your, with your cosplays, you're just a little, ha! It's so funny. Awesome.
Well, Firstly, just wanted to quickly just kind of, let's just dive into it, right? Let's just, let's talk about your venture over on TikTok. You know, as someone who prides themselves, myself in understanding social media and you know, the culture that it creates with its own zeitgeist, I can confidently say that I do not understand TikTok at all. Especially when it comes to promoting our podcast here at the Ablobbing Bar.
So my question for you is, what was it like for you to initially start your TikTok page and what advice would you ultimately give? other content creators, wink, wink me, to create like a successful TikTok brand that you've created over there. for me, was like, was weird because so we went into lockdown. So I'm from Queensland, Australia. We went into lockdown for like two weeks.
It was about two weeks and I was like bored in my apartment and I just posted a story on my Instagram when I had like 2000 followers on there. And I was like, someone give me like an idea of like a cosplay to do just like out of my cupboard. And so I think like my first like ones I did was like the thumb thumbs from spy kids. then I did Marta Simpson. And then I had like a pretty like, like good response like from that just like with the little people that I had then.
And then people were like, you should put post these on TikTok. So I was like, okay, bet. So literally I just like. I just posted them on there and then it just like went off and it was just like really random too and unexpected. So I was just like, what's going on? So I think like, I don't know that in terms of advice, I'm like, just make content that's like, I guess like organic to you. it's like, it's showcasing yourself. And that makes sense. Yeah. No, absolutely.
Why do these things on the internet to get famous or what have you? Because people, we can tell when someone's being genuine, whether it be online or otherwise, most of the time. So if you're not passionate about what you're doing, it'll come off pretty quickly that you're not, you know. Very true. Well, so let me ask you this, kind of like a... Be question the last one. Do you pay attention to like algorithms and you know trends and all of that other stuff when it comes to tick tock?
Because you're kind of like in your own little world there as far as like the first cosplay as we talked about earlier. Literally my bubble. No, to be honest, I don't like like I was avid tick tock watcher before. Like I would spend like freaking hours on that app just scrolling through. You just get lost in it. And like you obviously see like trends and stuff. So that but. In terms of like the stuff that I post, don't really, no, I don't really post stuff that goes like with Trent or anything.
I'm just like, just posting, just sit in my room, can wait to make a body posting and people are like, hell yeah. So yeah. All right. So you heard it here first, everybody. Riley Pastrall says, just be really awesome at the thing that you love and you'll get TikTok famous. Yeah, for yourself. That is the secret. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's awesome. And you know that that totally comes across in spades when it comes to watching your TikToks.
Like you are literally just doing things that you love again, whether that's singing or your cursed cosplays or paintings or all of it. mean, you are you're part of the reason why I wanted to talk to you today and have you on the show is because you come off as very genuine online. And you're not afraid to be silly and you're not afraid to be yourself, which is again, it's very refreshing in today's world, especially on social media. Thank you. appreciate that. Of course.
And to kind of, I'm just going to keep building you up here. I'm going to keep gushing if that's okay. So, and again, like we talked about in the intro here, you're incredibly talented in about every venture that you undertake. You know, of course, whether that's your cosplays and your hilarious process, their videos are essentially just showing your process, which is amazing.
your unbelievable skill when it comes to makeup, which I think is, I would say that that might get overshadowed based on your hilarious videos. The, don't actually, some people may not notice how incredibly talented you are as far as a makeup artist goes. And then, you know, even playing multiple instruments, I see, I've seen videos of you playing the piano or, you know, singing and playing a guitar. Like it's just all just incredible.
So, and also as a painter, mean, gosh, so all that said, and here's where the tricky question comes into play. What challenges you the most of all those artistically and creatively and of all those, what is like your true passion? first of all, thank you so much. My cheeks are hurting now from smiling. Just buckle in. This is going to keep building you up the whole time. So I love it. love the validation. to answer the question. I'd say probably like the thing that.
It all really boils down to my art. Like I've always painted and drawn since I was like three. So I think everything kind of stems from that. And there's like such a broad spectrum of artistic creative things you can do from like painting and drawing and stuff like that and like creating. I think like that's probably like my biggest passion. I don't know, I'm really bad at answering questions, so. We should have talked about this before we got you over here on the interview. No, I'm just joking.
That's perfect. And you know what's crazy is that if you ask any creative person, many of them can't tell you why they're creative, right? Like you just have an itch in your body of like wanting to make something. And you of course have multiple avenues with that. So, and I think you're great at all of them. And I think most people... Again, if you like, for instance, I mean, a great example of that is the oblivion bar.
Over the years, I've tried to, you know, create YouTube channels or write blogs or just do writing in general or whatever, just something to like express myself, you know, creatively. And the oblivion bar, feel like is the greatest outlet for that. You know, we basically, I don't know if you're familiar with the show at all, but basically it's just a weekend review of all things nerd. We just talk about what happened that week in nerdy news.
And we have like a main topic and my co-host Aaron and I, we just, we talk about those things that we would. generally talk about regardless, but we put a little bit of quality behind it and we put it out there for other people to kind of participate in and create a community that way. So I totally can relate. We're obviously not on the scale of, know, Riley Passfield, but it is still fun regardless.
And I think even if someone's not even to our, know, say you're just, you know, writing a blog that no one reads, who cares? You know, you're, creating something and that's important. Exactly. Yes. That's biggest thing. It's like, who cares? Like if you're passionate about something, if you love doing something, then just do it. That's biggest thing. Who cares? Who cares what people think?
Especially if you're just starting out in the thing that you're doing, you might not be the best at it, but practice makes perfect. And who cares what people think? You just do it. If you love it, do it. Do you have a personal favorite cosplay that you've done so far? Is there a number one that you just are so happy with? I think... I see Mike Wazowski right behind you. I know that was a good one. Yeah, he's just chilling in the back.
But I did like Weasel because I think purely for the fact that James Gunn shared it though, was like, my God. yes. Yes. That was awesome. And that was cool. I'm a huge James Gunn fan myself. He's actually from St. Louis, which is where I live currently. you know, I have that, you know, that admiration for him that I think, you know, a lot of people in the nerd world have. So, and that was cool. That was really cool of him to do that. And it was great. It was really funny.
It's one of your funnier videos. I watched the one today. I watched your B movie one. I'm forgetting the name of the character itself, but the B movie one is the one I watched today and it was so funny. was the, what was the, she did a Simpson one as well, where you're like in the woods and it's all dark and you see like all these neon lights throughout the forest. And then it just shows up on your face. I think that's probably like my favorite video that I've done.
Mr. Burns, the glowing Mr. Burns. So I got to do it with my brother too. He just moved to the UK. it was good. Sure. Okay. So here's kind of a broad question. And I know that you probably hate answering questions like this, but I'm just curious and you can say no to it also. What has it been like since reaching a million subscribers? I mean, do you feel like anything has changed for you and your channel or have things basically been status quo since?
And have you had like other creators try to reach out for collaborations or advice too? It's been, it's been wild. Like my phone doesn't stop like the notifications and stuff. Like it just is forever. I'm just stuck in this like whirlpool of notifications. and like obviously like comments and messages from people are just so beautiful. Like some of the messages that I receive and the comments are just like, they're so lovely. It's mind blowing.
and Also, like, I don't really go out much to be honest, like I just go home at home, paint my face. like, but like every time I've gone out now, I've had like people recognize me from online and then like people want to get like photos and stuff. I'm just like, what? It's crazy. That's gotta be so unreal, you know, to have people who are actually like wanting to take a picture with you because of you know, tick tock like not that that's not that's amazing, obviously.
And I'm sure that's probably something that you would never would have even thought possible when you first started doing this. no way. I'm just like, what like, I'm literally some weirdo that sits at home. So and I'm sorry, again, if this is tacky, or if you don't want to answer this, but have you I know a lot of people venture into the world just kind of doing tick tock. full time. you thought about that possibility at all?
Or are you still want to keep your day job to kind of keep things normal? Or what's kind of the plan there? I definitely that's my goal to be able to to do this full time because I mean, like, literally nothing makes me happier. So if I can make this sort of full time job, then be set like I'll be so happy. That's definitely that's definitely a big goal. Yeah, for sure.
Sure. And again, I said at the beginning, if I had any idea how to work TikTok, I would have reached out to you a long time ago and said, Hey, how did you go about doing this? But we kind of already talked about how you are just saying basically just do what you love doing and you'll find the audience at some point, whether again, whether that's a million or whatever, it doesn't matter, honestly, as long as you're having a good time doing it. Okay. have kind of a weird question here.
Okay. And this is something that we ask all of our guests and well, let me preface this by saying that You know, this is a, this will tell us a lot about you, not only as a creator, but as a person. And we don't want to want to over hype this, but this is kind of a big deal. So in the world of Pokemon, you, you are in that world. Okay. You get to choose your starting six teammates. Who are those six and why Riley? I'm not even going to be able to think of them on the spot. six.
I you said 16 at first, I was like, jeez. I'm like, alright, I'm fed up. I'm gonna go. Okay, this is hard. Snorlax? Just because he's funny? Like, that's just a big, big dude that just falls down on the screen and is just funny. Pikachu, because obviously it's Pikachu. Jigglypuff, because it's cute. So cute. Charizard was like my favorite as a kid. So I have to put that one in there. Wait, okay. What's the, I painted my face as a kid as I think it's hip. Yes, that one. Yes, I did.
I painted my face as that one. that was, put that one in there. Wait, have I got two more? think I've two more. Oh! Um... Lick a tongue! Hey, those are worth a lot of money. dude. These are my brothers. So good. nine tails because nine tails is just beautiful. I want to be nine tails. Okay, I've got one more left. I just love that these are all original 151, too. These are all Kanto Pokemon. So you're like an OG fan. I think that actually is six. You said Ligatong and then Ninetales.
But I just want everyone who cannot see Riley right now, she's currently going through a book of Pokemon cards. I just want everyone to know that she's using it as a reference to pick her sex. And I love that kind of dedication. Thank you also, Mama Passfield for bringing that in. Yes, thanks mom. She just like snuck it up beside me because she's like hearing me struggling. She's like, here, you. So, okay, final question here. This is actually off the cuff. I did not plan this, but I am curious.
Okay. Do you have like a- But do you have like a major inspiration when it comes to, you know, whether it be creativity or makeup or someone that you look up to? It could be someone on TikTok, could be a celebrity, it could be an artist of some sort. Is there someone that you just kind of look towards when it comes to inspiration, someone that you kind of strive to emulate in certain ways? I wouldn't say there's like a one person in particular for me.
It's just like film and TV collectively as like a thing. Like I'm just obsessed with movies and shows. So does that? Yeah, I think that's I think that's good. Yeah. Do you have so what is like your what would you say? I'm always like a favorite guy. Like I don't know how you are, but I always keep these lists in my head of like favorite movies. Like I keep all the lists. Okay. Do you have a favorite movie of all time?
My favorite, like I've got so many favorites, but I would say like my favorite favorite one is Joker just because like the acting, the makeup, the costumes, the filming, the music, everything is just like mind blowing, like amazing. What, what King Phoenix is amazing in that role too. When I, when they first talked about Joker, you know, again, being in the in the zeitgeist of nerd culture and just kind of like always be paying attention to what's going on and new movie releases and all that.
When they first announced the Joker and they said that Todd Phillips was directing it, who had only directed, I think, the Hangover films at that point. I was like, what is this? Like, why is this a thing? But then when it came out, I was like, my gosh, this is incredible. How did they even succeed in this? And it's amazing. Honestly, I know there are... gripes with every film and whatever, but I think overall it's a total success. And actually I've seen you quite a bit.
You know, I even have it in our graphic for this interview that you've as many times I think dressed up as watching Phoenix's Joker. Yes, that's what I do. Like if I watch a movie, I can't just enjoy it. Like I can't just be like, wow, that's a really good movie. I have to go home and make the costume and then see that person because I'm like so inspired and like just love it so much. I'm like. Okay, I need to them now. There's something to be said about that.
There's something, I mean, I honestly, I think that's special. I don't know what that really says, but I think that again, as a creative person, when you have that inspiration, you can just kind of run with it. You can't think about it too much. And I think that that is perfect. And I think that perfectly describes, you know, again, whether it's serious or funny, your content that you have on TikTok, it is, it brings joy to people.
I, again, I want to go back to the other night when I was showing some people your TikTok page, the hilarious, the laughs, whether it was yours or ours. was it was just so much fun. So I truly, you know, I want to say thank you so much for, sitting down with me today, talking with me. I know it was a very brief conversation, but I truly, I cherish the moment that we've had to talk. And like we said in the beginning, you're amazing. You're amazing. Follow over on tick tock.
And I personally get really excited whenever I see any of your new cosplay videos or really any content that you put out. So it was an honor and I would love to have you on any time. you're available. If you ever have something crazy happen in the world and you want to kind of get it out to a certain group of nerds, definitely let us know at the Oblivion Bar and we will have you on whenever you want. before we close out Riley though, do you have anything that you want to plug at all?
Anything that you want to just kind of round out the conversation with? my mom just said so. don't know what she said. Helping people. Helping people. What? Oh. Oh. We're getting a quick one from Mama Passfield. Yeah. I'm saying. No, I don't want to say that.
I think my biggest thing, like what I said before is like, to just, I just want, I want my, like my, what's it called, platform to just encourage people to just be themselves and have fun with what they're doing and just, yeah, well, go ahead. And remind me one more time, your actual handle over on TikTok, is it Riley95, is that correct? Yeah, Riley95, it's R-H-Y. L-E-E-P-9-5. I love it. Awesome. Well, again, thank you so much, Riley, for being here. We appreciate it. Thank you.