Beyond Geek Spotlight: Sherby

Name or persona
My name is Jonathan, but I go by Sherby.

Tell us a little about yourself
I was born in November of 1984, and I have lived in California the majority of my life. I started this journey of prop making and cosplay in 2016. My real job is a carpenter working on homes in California. I have used tools to help me build awesome custom homes. This has really helped me get ahead being able to use these tools to create props and cosplay a little bit. My specialty for props is making custom handmade Dragonballs.

What makes you Beyond Geek?
What makes me Beyond Geek is I am a geek—always have been, always will be at heart.

Origin story
Early in 2016 my neighbor Dan (Instagram @mudamudacosplay) trained me in a little bit of MMA—the basics on how to punch and kick. He was a great teacher, and I learned a lot. I noticed things around his garage that piqued my interest as I trained with him. He was lazy enough to leave all his props and cosplay around his garage—guns, bows, swords, etc. He told me about his hobby of cosplaying. He then took me to my first ever convention which was held in Campbell, CA. On our way there, we were geeking out talking about nerdy stuff when an idea popped into my head: I would love to make Dragonballs because I am a huge fan of the Dragonball Universe. I then went further and mentioned I would love to make a Namekian sized Dragonball. We laughed about it and talked about how I could do this. This is where my journey began. I am very grateful to @mudamudacosplay for leaving his cosplays all over the garage. Thank you, brother!

Tell us about your geek persona
The name Sherby was given to me around the 6th grade. Girls used to call me that from a part of my last name. They thought it sounded cute, so I went with it. From there I never told anybody about that when I went into high school and later college. Eventually everyone started calling me by my nickname, and the nickname stuck ever since.

What’s your favorite thing about doing what you do?
The favorite thing I love about what I do is learning. You will never stop learning it seems in prop making. This logic stems from me working as a carpenter and always learning new techniques on how to problem solve and build custom homes. Every home is so different, and I carry that over to my prop making. Learn, learn, learn!

What was your craziest experience you had doing this?
The craziest experience I have had and so far the only time *fingers crossed* was having my hand grinder fly out of my hand and hit my knee. Not too much damage, but it created a scar I’ll never forget.

What would be your elevator pitch for getting someone to try this?
Whatever anime you have a passion for and are interested in, whether it’s making props or cosplay from it, you have to start somewhere. Start right now. Pick something that you are interested in, and go for it. You never know what will happen unless you try.

How could someone else start doing this?
Anybody can start by asking those who have been prop making or cosplaying for several years about their experiences. Ask simple questions, and be friendly.

What’s the best advice you can give someone wanting to get into this?
Research and patience. It took me almost a year to complete and perfect my first Dragonball which is the size of a cue ball approximately 2 1/4″(inches). I googled information. I watched YouTube tutorials on how to work with silicone and plastics. I emailed people and asked questions on certain things I didn’t understand. Once you have completed your research, start. You will fail. Failure is always an option. I failed a lot. Failure can feel like a weakness, but if you learn from your weakness and turn it into your strength and correct what needs to be corrected, who knows what your potential is? I think that learning and failure go hand in hand in the hobby of prop making. You want to know a secret to my success along the way? Romans 5:1-8.

What else do you geek out about?
I love playing video games. I love playing sports. I have always been an active guy. I love going to conventions because I get to meet up with like-minded people, friends, and new people who have a love and passion for anime.

What was your first geek experience?
My first geek experience had to be watching a lot of the old ’80s cartoons when I was little. Transformers G1, G.I. Joe, Smurfs, Thundercats, Silverhawks, CareBears, My Little Pony, He -Man just to name a few.

What was your craziest geek experience?
The craziest experience I have had doing this is when I have gone to conventions and met the voice actors behind the characters from the anime series Dragonball (Z, GT, Super). It has been an honor to meet each and every one of them. I hope to meet every voice actor from the Dragonball Universe.

What’s your favorite comic book and/or geek centric book?
From time to time as they slowly roll out, I love reading World of Warcraft books. I think they are very fascinating and love the lore and story line of World of Warcraft. A Blizzard Entertainment fan!

If you could meet a fictional character, who would it be? And why?
Knowing my roots when I was younger, my first love was Transformers G1, and I would love to meet Optimus Prime. I just would have loved to have been able to interact with a talking robot and ride in a transforming vehicle. Just epic.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
I would love to fly. It seems like a silly superpower since I’ve grown up and know about so many more, but I have had lots of dreams about flying, and if I had the ability to fly, I could go visit any country in the world. No paying for airplane tickets from this guy!

What is your favorite app or video game?
It is very hard to pick a favorite video game… If I had to choose one of the greatest games I could play over and over again, it would be Chrono Trigger for Super Nintendo.