Getting Sticky: How We’ve Fostered Creativity at Super Trashed LA

by OJ Patterson

Playing Super Smash Bros Ultimate at Brews Brothers North Hollywood every first Wednesday of the month is fun. Meeting new people and greeting returning players is heartwarming. Outrageous K.O.s from unfamiliar assist trophies always gets the crowd hyped. The cheers and jeers are hilarious. The beer and food are delicious. Everyone is kind (when they’re not overly ostentatious). All these things are integral to the Super Trashed LA vibe. But, none of these are my favorite things about the night. My favorite thing might not even be something people are looking for when they think of Smash Bros or a night out at a bar, but it’s something that’s become a way to highlight everything we experience – whether current events, holidays, or _____.

My favorite thing of the favorite thing is the secret handshake. Upstairs battles at Brews Bros are loud. Sound bounces all over and soaks into dozens of bodies. The slow approach is always telling. Eyes glance at the paraphernalia before they inquire. “What’s the prompt today?” My favorite thing of the favorite thing of the favorite thing is noticing someone approach, making eye contact, scribbling an invisible pen in the air, and the person nodding in response, “Yes!”

Every month, in addition to the Smash and reveling that goes on, we encourage attendees to draw something on a sticky note in exchange for a small art prize (prints, buttons, but mostly stickers). Little scraps of paper for glittery printed ones. Stick figures, tracings, shockingly accurate recreations, lewd jokes, silly puns, all deftly detailed on a 3x3in plane, are posted to the community board at the show as a living, shifting, impromptu gallery. Seeing the creativity that comes out of our community is the best.

Aside: I’ve always been a fan of more. At the first stand-up comedy open mic I hosted, filling in at a pub in Alameda, I made sure to buy candy and noise makers to lure bored and hungry comedians to the Bay Area’s premier haunted island. At my beloved weekly Stork Club open mic, I instituted a system that rewarded comedians for staying in the showroom rather than hanging out in the smokers’ area, to watch each other’s sets and pay attention. Super Trashed itself is a tribute to similar flourish and frivolity. Little touches of thought and passion have always served me well.

The community board originated from someone asking if we had a place to put fliers for other shows. Never one to be stingy with promos, next month we had a corkboard and some thumbtacks.

Nobody had any fliers or business cards when the board was introduced, so we filled the space with overheard conversations, a doodle of Ramona Flowers, a comment sheet, a wanted poster for Dan’s missing controller, and some stickers from the local library.

It was pretty clear from doing the show over two years or so that we had artists in our ranks. People were bringing WACOM tablets to the tournament just to draw and people watch, not even wanting to play. We’d follow back people who follow our socials and notice their artwork. So I gave the prompt “draw a video game character,” and some people did. Not many, but a few.

Things really started taking off with time-sensitive themes. Hot dog or hamburger for the 4th of July. “Water Pokemon” (because it was so hot in August) inspired some of my favorite spellings for “Gyarados.” The informal, spontaneous sip-and-draw served as a mini-poll about “what they think represents America” or “what was their favorite video game growing up,” making the evening extra interactive; people felt encouraged to express themselves (or an opinion). We regularly announced and reinforced that you don’t have to be good at drawing to “win.” If you feel that you messed up on your first drawing, there is no game over. It’s okay. Everything is okay. We have enough quarters.

Now, in our third year of hosting shows, 10-20 people participate in the art contest every event, with a healthy mix of new and old faces. We think a few things helping “spur competition” are:

• LA is a creative place.

• People can see what other people draw (which encourages them to give a good effort without discouraging them from needing to be super pristine. It’s one pen, one sticky note, 10-15 minutes tops.)

• There’s a lot of waiting around time at a tournament.

• Our casual gaming + comedy hosting vibe attracts a lot of smart ass goofballs, and most of the doodles are a chance to make a joke!

Aside: I think a few people have just gotten a kick of witnessing my shocked reaction when seeing they’ve drawn something particularly lurid. I can’t share those images here, but they live on our Discord (and are seared into the back of my eyelids).

The stickers of it all are interesting. I was already buying stickers because stickers are awesome. Scrolling through Twitter revealed Pikachu holding a Modelo. Had to have it.

Also, outside of the algo, I’ve met so many artists before and around doing Super Trashed. Some artists I’ve met as a volunteer at the Game Developer’s Conference, from working at game companies, from going to a nerdy private school in the middle of Arizona. Some artists I know are friends from high school, friends from stand-up comedy, friends of friends. I like supporting smaller artists, local artists, flesh and blood, pen and paper, iPads and styluses. So I kept buying stickers.

The collection soon grew so robust (and so cool) that I wanted to share my finds with the good folks at Super Trashed.

My first attempt to dispense the art collection was a failed Smash Labs “interview while you play with extra JaRules” experiment.

“Before the tournament, play a game with unique JaRules (like the opponent picks your character or every player plays Ganondorf), win a sticker!”

Too complicated. Too confusing. Waste of time and energy.

Luckily, the pivot to scribbles tradition stuck. People like to doodle. People like stickers. Sometimes I’m not sure which is more of a draw. I think it’s the stickers.

Just flipping through the binder filled with art is fun for people and their friends. There’s been a lot of variety. The Super Trashed prize folder is like an organic, evolving, small batch museum that you can take a piece home from. “I’ll get that one next time” is a motivator to return that we hear a lot. “Someone took the one I wanted” is a reason to draw quickly. Artists in our community have donated their art to use as prizes. Supporting those who support us, I’ve become a patron of artists who have played at or attended our show. We’ve commissioned our poster art from within the Super Trashed community. I always handwrite the artists’ names on the back of each sticker so there’s a chance of discovery; hopefully people find a new artist to follow and champion.

Aside: Ultimately, I think that I was just trying to add value; to solve for downtime. Usually, at a Super Trashed bar show in SF, I would get a few beers and buy other people drinks and be out 70 bucks for the night. LA can be less boozy (I’m sober, for instance) and more thrifty, so going to a free tournament and receiving a $5 art thing seems accessible for people. I’m still out like 50 bucks, but it’s way more wholesome, and reinforces that the show is about the community it’s in.

Aside of Aside: Somebody the other night said they picked their sticker prize for their partner, which is really sweet. Hopefully they think of us when they see that sticker and come back again.

There’s always the question of what we’re ultimately going to do with all these little drawings. And we honestly don’t know. They all live tucked away in a folder for now. We’d like there to be a more permanent place for people to see them. Maybe one day they’ll be auctioned for charity at a Super Trashed Gala. Maybe they’ll be displayed on a giant corkboard whenever we get around to launching the Super Trashed bar. Maybe someone from our community will get super famous and we’ll be able to point to their doodle of a video game character with pride. Maybe we’d make a drink special in the spirit of our art contest—$2 off a shot and beer—if you take a pen, a sticky note, and add your own.

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Join us this Wednesday (November 5, 2025, 7:30pm Start) and every first Wednesday at Brews Brothers North Hollywood (5140 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601). We have controllers and a good crowd. Bring yourself, bring a friend. We’ll be happy to play and draw with you. ☺️