Exclusive Interview with Hummpy: The Man Behind the Name & the Twilight Spoof

I was lucky enough to be granted an exclusive interview with comedian Dennis Hemphill, better known around these parts as Hummpy. Dennis wrote and starred in the hysterically funny Twilight spoof that The Twilight Sisterhood is so fond of. I've posted it before, but it warrants a replay... trust me, it's that good!

Dennis admits to growing up in a "silly" family, but his biggest inspiration comically as a child was his grandmother. They were very close and he decribes her as being hilarious and brilliant. "She was very encouraging and stuff, so I'd goof off a lot with her."

Dennis says his all-time favorite comedian is Martin Short and he'd love the opportunity to work with him one day. "It would probably be the biggest honor for me." He adds, "Will Ferrell would be pretty rad. Obviously. I mean, I don't know what comedian wouldn't want to work with him right now. He's pretty great."

I asked him where the name Hummpy came from to which he replied, "Uhh, the word hump has always made me laugh and so I just thought Hummpy would b a catchy YouTube Channel name. There is nothing sexual behind it or anything like that, it's just a silly sounding name."

Although, not all Twifans have a sense of humor about the parody (this is mindboggling to me!), he says that the response on his YouTube Channel is probably 95% positive. I told him that we watch it repeatedly and can recite lines from it spur of the moment. "That makes my year, honestly. I love it." Although, he does admit to only watching Twilight initially up through the portion he spoofed, he did finally sit down the other night and watch it in it's entirety. Says he, "I really enjoyed it. I'm a huge fan now. Like, I think it's definitely got it's cute, cheesy 80's cool elements, but overall I'm a huge fan of Twilight. So, I don't want anyone to think that I'm trying to diss it, you know. Every movie you can make fun of in some way. Sure, you can spoof any movie." I wholeheartedly agree, it's all about lightening up and seeing the humor in things.

Since Dennis admitted to loving Twilight, I explained that in the Twi-Universe the mythical creature known as a man that loves Twilight is called a unicorn. With a chuckle he replied, "Oh, that's hilarious! So, I'm a unicorn? Oh, no, no...I don't know...Okay, well I'm a unicorn. That is Awesome!"

Out of respect for the spoof (you'll understand once you watch it) and based on some of his other projects like 'The Panther', 'The Gay Dialect for the Serious Actor' and his role as Frances in the movie 'Bring It On Again', I just had to ask, "Are you a GAY?!" He says that he is not, but that he would be totally open about it if he was. He's very comfortable and has some wonderful gay friends that he loves to death. He says there is just something about him that makes everyone he meets, including his last 5 girlfriends, think that he is at first. We just think he's fabulous and could care less really. He did confirm - sorry, SNLamb - that he is no longer single as a gal he went to high school with found him on Facebook, they rekindled and "It's a go. It's a go. It's great!"

As far as what's on Hummpy's playlist, he says he loves the Killers, Muse, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and a "really crazy avant garde group called Lemon Jelly". Dennis also stated that he can't get enough of Enya and has every album.

We decided at this point to play a little round of 'This or That' which was fun.

In-n-Out or Tommy's?: "Tommy's"

Muppets or Fraggle Rock?: "Ooh, that's a good one. Muppets. The make me laugh way more, but Fraggles are hilarious, too."

Vanilla Ice or MC Hammer?: "MC Hammer"

Pinkberry or Coldstone?: "Coldstone"

Goonies or Stand By Me?: "Goonies. I love the prospect of finding a big ship full of gold. Isn't that fun? We'd all want that."

Danny Zuko or the Fonz?: "Who's Danny Zuko?" (to which I explain he's the stud from Grease) "Oh, oh the Fonz. Totally the Fonz."

Addams Family or the Munsters?: "Adam Sandler?" (I repeat & ennunciate Addams Family) "Ohh, Addams Family. Oh, that's hilarious. I'm losing my hearing, that's awesome! Oh, man that's a tough one, they both creep me out really badly. Okay, let's do the Addams Family, I think they're a little cooler."

Crunchy or Soft?: "What am I eating? Uh, I mean..." (I reply, "Tacos".) "Uh, let's do crunchy."

Marvel or DC?: "I think Marvel is Wolverine and I wish I was Wolverine. That would be the one...he's so cool. So Marvel."

Boxers or Briefs?: "Uh, Boxer Briefs. Yeah, a little hybrid there for ya." *laughs*

In addition to being curious about any new projects he might be working on, his mention of wanting to be Wolverine piqued my interest. I asked if we might see a Wolverine spoof in the near future. He responded with, "That would be fun, huh?! Thank You! I don't see why not." Unfortunately, he's not currently working with the director, Sterling Bishop, that he used for the Twilight and Carl's Jr. spoofs; which he says is his go to guy for professional looking projects. So it may be a while. He's currenly in the process of creating 'Mary Blogs' with one of his American Idol spoof characters on his YouTube Channel. And when I mentioned that his fans want a Hummpy t-shirt with his Edward face on it he said, "I don't think I have a choice. I think I have to get that made." He also found it quite humerous that people would actually want to wear his "ugly Edward face" on a shirt saying, "That's so funny that someone would wear that."

You can find Dennis hanging out on YouTube. And for more information on his sketch comedy group, check out Fries on the Side.

I had a lot of fun chit chattin' with him and as we both thanked each other for the interview he said that he really appreciates his fans. Well, we appreciate you, Dennis, and look forward to whatever you have up your sleeve for the future. So, how about it, people, what would you like to see from him? Let's hear it...