The MC Bat Commander
Encyclopedia
Christian Richards Jacobs (born January 11, 1972) is an American musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...

, voice actor and former child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...

. He is known for his work as the founder and lead singer of the Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

 rock band The Aquabats
The Aquabats
The Aquabats are an American rock band formed in 1994 in Orange County, California. They have released five full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. They are best known for their mythology, in which they claim to be superheroes on a quest to save the world from evil through music...

 (in which he performs under the stage persona of The MC Bat Commander) and as the co-creator of the popular Nick Jr. children's television series
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...

 Yo Gabba Gabba!
Yo Gabba Gabba!
Yo Gabba Gabba! is an American children's television show currently airing on the Nick Jr. cable network in the United States and the Nick Jr. networks in the United Kingdom & Ireland, Italy, France and Australia as well as Treehouse TV network in Canada and RTE2 on RTEjr see Raidió Teilifís...

and the upcoming series The Aquabats Super Show!
The Aquabats Super Show!
The Aquabats Super Show! is an upcoming comedy television series created by Yo Gabba Gabba! producers Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz, which will air as part of The Hubs 2011-2012 schedule....

for The Hub.

Early life

Jacobs was born the second of five children in Rexburg, Idaho
Rexburg, Idaho
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 17,257 people, 4,274 households, and 2,393 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,534.4 people per square mile . There were 4,533 housing units at an average density of 928.4 per square mile...

 in 1972. Following his family's relocation to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 in 1976, Jacobs and his siblings began working as child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...

s, primarily within television. Throughout the course of his childhood and into his late teens, Jacobs appeared in numerous productions, notably in bit parts in films such as Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about teenage love and social cliques in 1980s American high schools. It is one of a group of John Hughes films starring Molly Ringwald, and is commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film...

and Gleaming the Cube
Gleaming the Cube
Gleaming the Cube is an American movie released in 1989. It featured Christian Slater as Brian Kelly, a 16-year-old skateboarder investigating the death of his adopted Vietnamese brother.The Skating Technical Advisor for the film was original Z-Boy, Stacy Peralta...

and episodes of Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...

and Roseanne
Roseanne (TV series)
Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...

.

While working on Gleaming the Cube, Jacobs was introduced to a number of well known and highly influential skateboarders and artists in Southern California. In 1990, Jacobs worked alongside Mark Gonzales
Mark Gonzales
Mark Gonzales , also known as "Gonz" and "The Gonz," is an American professional skateboarder and artist. He is known in the skateboarding world as a pioneer of modern street skateboarding, currently skateboarding's most popular form....

 and Jason Lee
Jason Lee (actor)
Jason Michael Lee is an American actor and skateboarder known for his role as the title character on the NBC television series My Name is Earl, his portrayal of Syndrome in the film The Incredibles, his role as Dave Seville in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and his work with director Kevin...

 on Blind Skateboards Video Days
Video Days
Video Days is a skateboarding video by Blind Skateboards released in 1991. It is considered one of the most influential skate videos, as director Spike Jonze's format has continued to be the definitive template for most skate videos....

. As an artist, he also did board graphics for Tony Hawk
Tony Hawk
Anthony Frank "Tony" Hawk , nicknamed "The Birdman" is an American retired professional skateboarder and actor. Hawk gained significant fame for completing the first 900 as well as his licensed video game titles distributed by Activision...

s Birdhouse
Birdhouse Skateboards
Birdhouse Skateboards is a skateboard company formed by ex-Powell Peralta pros Tony Hawk and Per Welinder in 1992....

 and for the Jason Lee and Steve Berra
Steve Berra
-Career:Steve Berra began his skateboarding career in Omaha, Nebraska at the age of 14. In 1989, Steve Berra met skating legend Tony Hawk in Nebraska. The two forged a friendship over their love for all things skateboarding. At the age of 18,Berra quit his affiliation with Blockhead to turn pro for...

 pro models.

A lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jacobs left the United States on missionary service in 1991, living in and around Tōhoku, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 for two years. Upon returning to California, he began working various jobs and moonlighting in bands.

The Aquabats

In 1994, Jacobs co-founded the Huntington Beach
Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 189,992; making it the largest beach city in Orange County in terms of population...

-based superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

-themed band The Aquabats
The Aquabats
The Aquabats are an American rock band formed in 1994 in Orange County, California. They have released five full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. They are best known for their mythology, in which they claim to be superheroes on a quest to save the world from evil through music...

, in which he serves as the lead singer and primary songwriter under the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...

 The MC Bat Commander (formerly "The Caped Commander" and "The Bat Commander"). Noted for their matching costumes and scripted onstage "battles" with supervillains, the band initially formed as part of the Southern California third wave ska scene, though since 2000 have evolved into playing more New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 and pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...

-influenced rock.

The Aquabats experienced a commercial breakthrough with their second album, 1997's The Fury of the Aquabats!
The Fury of the Aquabats!
The Fury of the Aquabats! is second studio album by American band The Aquabats, released in October 1997 on Goldenvoice Records and Time Bomb Recordings.-Overview:...

, which peaked at 172 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

. The band toured full-time during the latter half of the 1990s, traveling internationally as part of the 1998 Vans
Vans
Vans is an American based manufacturer of sneakers, skateboarding shoes, BMX shoes, snowboarding boots and other shoe types.- History :On March 16, 1966, at 704 E. Broadway, in Anaheim, California, brothers Paul Van Doren, James Van Doren, and three other partners opened up their first store...

 Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...

. During this time, Jacobs was also active with his friend and creative partner Scott Schultz, producing a number of additional skateboarding and music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

s.

As of 2011, The Aquabats continue to tour and record, and released their fifth studio album Hi-Five Soup!
Hi-Five Soup!
- Personnel :The Aquabats*The MC Bat Commander – vocals*Crash McLarson – bass, backing vocals*Eagle "Bones" Falconhawk – guitar, backing vocals*Jimmy The Robot – keyboards, backing vocals*Ricky Fitness – drums, percussion, backing vocalsAdditional musicians...

in January 2011 on Fearless Records
Fearless Records
Fearless Records is an alternative rock-oriented record label that has been signing artists since 1994. Fearless is based in Westminster, California and are best known for their early pop-punk moments captured in the Fearless Flush Sampler and Punk Bites releases, as well as additional releases by...

. In March, cable television channel The Hub announced that it had ordered 13 episodes of a television series based around the band, The Aquabats Super Show!
The Aquabats Super Show!
The Aquabats Super Show! is an upcoming comedy television series created by Yo Gabba Gabba! producers Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz, which will air as part of The Hubs 2011-2012 schedule....

, with Jacobs serving as co-creator, producer and star.

Yo Gabba Gabba!

In 1999, Jacobs and Schultz started developing concepts for children's programming with their production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...

 The Magic Store with the goal of trying to create shows that they could enjoy along with their own children. In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz filmed a pilot for a pre-school program called Yo Gabba Gabba!. The show soon found a home on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...

's Nick Jr.
Nick Jr.
Nick Jr. was a programming block on the Nickelodeon television channel, seen on Nickelodeon weekday mornings. It was aimed at a preschool-age audience ages 6 and under. On September 28, 2009, Nick Jr. became its own official channel, replacing Noggin...

 block and has since completed three seasons, and has been recently renewed for a fourth.

Christian Jacobs is an avid surfer, skateboarder, Japanese toy collector and artist. He currently lives in Orange County, California
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

, with his wife and four children.

The Aquabats

  • The Return of the Aquabats (1995) - vocals
  • The Fury of the Aquabats!
    The Fury of the Aquabats!
    The Fury of the Aquabats! is second studio album by American band The Aquabats, released in October 1997 on Goldenvoice Records and Time Bomb Recordings.-Overview:...

    (1997) - vocals
  • The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death! (1999) - vocals
  • Myths, Legends and Other Amazing Adventures, Vol. 2 (2000) - vocals
  • Yo! Check Out This Ride! EP (2004) - vocals
  • Charge!!
    Charge!!
    Charge!! is the fifth studio album by American band The Aquabats, released on June 7, 2005 on Nitro Records.-Album overview:The album was very similar in sound to the previous year's EP, Yo, Check Out This Ride!. Sonically, the band had lost nearly all of the horn sounds from earlier albums...

    (2005) - vocals
  • Hi-Five Soup!
    Hi-Five Soup!
    - Personnel :The Aquabats*The MC Bat Commander – vocals*Crash McLarson – bass, backing vocals*Eagle "Bones" Falconhawk – guitar, backing vocals*Jimmy The Robot – keyboards, backing vocals*Ricky Fitness – drums, percussion, backing vocalsAdditional musicians...

    (2011) - vocals

Collaborations

  • "Got Sumethin' (That You Ought to Know)" from Bad Credit's album Giving Back by Giving Up (2004)
  • "This Gigantic Robot Kills" with MC Lars
    MC Lars
    Andrew Robert MacFarlane Nielsen is an American rapper, known by his stage name MC Lars. He is the self-proclaimed originator of "post-punk laptop rap". He was one of the first underground rappers to sample and reference post-punk and emo bands...

     and Suburban Legends
    Suburban Legends
    Suburban Legends are a third wave ska/pop band that formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1998, and are currently based out of Santa Ana, California.- History :...

    , from MC Lars' album of the same name
    This Gigantic Robot Kills
    This Gigantic Robot Kills is the sixth album by nerdcore musician MC Lars.Lars has stated that he worked with "Weird Al" Yankovic, the Rondo Brothers, Nick Rowe and Mike Kennedy of Bloodsimple, James Bourne of Busted, Daniel Dart of Time Again, Donal Finn of Flash Bastard, Pierre Bouvier of Simple...

     (2009)

Film

Year Film Role
1986 Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about teenage love and social cliques in 1980s American high schools. It is one of a group of John Hughes films starring Molly Ringwald, and is commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film...

Boy in record store
1989 Gleaming the Cube
Gleaming the Cube
Gleaming the Cube is an American movie released in 1989. It featured Christian Slater as Brian Kelly, a 16-year-old skateboarder investigating the death of his adopted Vietnamese brother.The Skating Technical Advisor for the film was original Z-Boy, Stacy Peralta...

Gremic
1994 There Goes My Baby
There Goes My Baby (film)
There Goes My Baby was directed by Stephen Fisher & Floyd Mutrux, and starred Dermot Mulroney, Rick Schroder, Noah Wyle, Lucy Deakins & Kelli Williams. It is also known under the name The Last Days of Paradise....

Jeff
2008 Punk Rock Holocaust
Punk Rock Holocaust
Punk Rock Holocaust is a 2004 low-budget slasher film/horror-comedy directed by Doug Sakmann. It is about a serial killer on the loose at the Vans Warped Tour who tries killing off the bands one by one, and features bands such as Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Less Than Jake, The Used, Big D and...

2
The MC Bat Commander

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1982 The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...

B.J. Episode: "The Best of Friends/Too Many Dads/Love Will Find a Way"
1982–1983 Gloria
Gloria (TV series)
Gloria is an American situation comedy that lasted one season on CBS, from September 1982 to September 1983. It stars Sally Struthers, reprising her role as Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie Bunker on the hugely successful 1970s sitcom All in the Family...

Joey Stivic
Joey Stivic
Joseph Michael "Joey" Stivic is a fictional character who first appeared on the 1970s American sitcom All in the Family. Joey Stivic was the son and only child of Mike Stivic and Gloria Stivic , and the grandson of Archie Bunker and Edith Bunker...

Series regular
1984 Second Sight: A Love Story
Second Sight: A Love Story
Second Sight: A Love Story is a 1984 television film starring Elizabeth Montgomery and Barry Newman. The film is based on the book Emma and I, by Sheila Hocken.- Plot :...

Bruce TV movie
Finder of Lost Loves
Finder of Lost Loves
Finder of Lost Loves is an American drama series aired by the ABC network during the 1984-1985 season.-Synopsis:After Cary Maxwell's wife Kate dies, he decides to set up a private detective agency specializing in reuniting clients with a former loved one...

Scott Hargrove Episode: "Maxwell, Ltd." (series pilot)
Highway to Heaven
Highway to Heaven
Highway to Heaven is an American television drama series which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.- Season 1 :- Season 2 :- Season 3 :- Season 4 :- Season 5 :...

Danny Episode: "Catch a Falling Star"
ABC Weekend Special
ABC Weekend Special
The ABC Weekend Special is a weekly 30-minute anthology TV series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997. It featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated....

Kurt Landry Episode: "Henry Hamilton, Graduate Ghost"
1985 The History of White People in America
The History of White People in America
The History of White People in America is a made for TV mockumentary movie, first broadcast in 1985 on HBO.It starred Martin Mull, with Fred Willard, Mary Kay Place, and Edie McClurg...

Tommy Harrison TV movie
The Canterville Ghost
The Canterville Ghost (1985 film)
The Canterville Ghost is a 1985 American fantasy-comedy film. It is one of many treatments based on the novella of Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost.-Plot:The ghost of Sir Simon Canterville has been roaming his castle for centuries...

Rob TV movie
Berrenger's
Berrenger's
Berrenger's is an American primetime television soap opera created by Lynn Marie Latham and Bernard Lechowick that aired on NBC in 1985. The series revolved around the Berrenger family, a New York dynasty which owned the glamorous department store which bore their name.Following in the tradition of...

Bob Episode: "Dangerous Ground"
V Billy Episode: "Breakout"
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears is an American animated television series that aired in the United States in the mid-1980s through the early 1990s...

Cavin voice only; series regular (season one)
1986 The History of White People in America: Volume II
The History of White People in America
The History of White People in America is a made for TV mockumentary movie, first broadcast in 1985 on HBO.It starred Martin Mull, with Fred Willard, Mary Kay Place, and Edie McClurg...

Tommy Harrison TV movie
1987 In Love and War Jimmy (age 14) TV movie
Convicted: A Mother's Story TV movie
1988 Portrait of a White Marriage
The History of White People in America
The History of White People in America is a made for TV mockumentary movie, first broadcast in 1985 on HBO.It starred Martin Mull, with Fred Willard, Mary Kay Place, and Edie McClurg...

Tommy Harrison TV movie
Out of This World
Out of This World (TV series)
Out Of This World is an American fantasy sitcom about a teenage girl who is half alien, which gives her unique supernatural powers. It first aired in U.S. syndication on September 17, 1987 and ended on May 25, 1991. It was first broadcast in the UK on the ITV network on April 9, 1990, usually at...

Derek Rogers Episode: "Broadway Danny Derek"
Just the Ten of Us
Just the Ten of Us
Just the Ten of Us is an American sitcom starring stand-up comedian Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Graham Lubbock, a teacher and the head of a large Catholic family with eight children living in Eureka, California. The series was a spin-off of Growing Pains, in which Kirchenbauer portrayed the same...

Club Leader / Todd Episode: "Move It or Lose It"
Episode: "The Unkindest Cut of All"
1989 Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...

Shep Episode: "A Three Job, No Income Family"
Hard Time on Planet Earth
Hard Time on Planet Earth
Hard Time on Planet Earth is a short-lived American science fiction series that aired on CBS as a midseason replacement in 1989. Airing for 13 episodes, the series starred Martin Kove and was created by Jim and John Thomas....

Mark Brady Episode: "Rodeo Show"
ABC Afterschool Special
ABC Afterschool Special
The ABC Afterschool Special is an American television anthology series that aired on ABC from 1972 to 1996, usually in the late afternoon on week days. Most of the episodes were dramatic presentations of situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were...

Danny Episode: "My Dad Can't Be Crazy...Can He?"
Roseanne
Roseanne (TV series)
Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...

Andrew Episode: "Chicken Hearts"
1990 Guns of Paradise
Paradise (TV series)
Paradise is an American Western family television series, broadcast by CBS from 1988 to 1991. Created by David Jacobs and Robert Porter, the series presents the adventures of fictitious gunfighter Ethan Allen Cord, whose sister left her four children in his custody when she died.-Synopsis:Paradise...

Henry Episode: "The Gates of Paradise"
Exile
Exile (1990 film)
Exile was a 1990 telefilm shown on The Wonderful World of Disney on NBC premiering on January 14, 1990.The plot focused on a group of teenage castaways on an uninhabited tropical island after a plane crash....

Derf TV movie
Major Dad
Major Dad
Major Dad is an American sitcom created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens that originally ran from 1989 to 1993 on CBS, starring Gerald McRaney as Major John D. MacGillis and Shanna Reed as his wife Polly...

Private LaBonte Episode: "Infant-ry"
1999 The Aquabats in Color! Bat Commander TV pilot. Also co-creator, writer and director.
2007–present Yo Gabba Gabba!
Yo Gabba Gabba!
Yo Gabba Gabba! is an American children's television show currently airing on the Nick Jr. cable network in the United States and the Nick Jr. networks in the United Kingdom & Ireland, Italy, France and Australia as well as Treehouse TV network in Canada and RTE2 on RTEjr see Raidió Teilifís...

Plex (voice only) Also co-creator, writer and director.
2008, 2011- The Aquabats Super Show!
The Aquabats Super Show!
The Aquabats Super Show! is an upcoming comedy television series created by Yo Gabba Gabba! producers Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz, which will air as part of The Hubs 2011-2012 schedule....

The MC Bat Commander Also co-creator, writer and director.

External links

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