User:Squirminator2k
From Worms Knowledge Base
Squirminator2k is the community handle of Ben Paddon, a British writer, actor and stand-up comedian living and working in Los Angeles. They are non-binary, using the pronouns they/them.
In the Worms community
After running The WormsDC Experience from 1999 to 2001, they were added to the staff of GameSpy's Worms website Wormtopia due to their extensive knowledge of Worms: The Director's Cut. In 2004 they founded Dream17, a website covering on Team17's entire body of work. In 2009 they handed off operations of the site to WorMatty and SupSuper.
They are credited as contributing to "Update Testing and Research" in the readme for Worms Armageddon. In addition to this, Ben is a credited beta tester for Worms 4: Mayhem. Their community handle is also included in the random name generator for Worms 3D, where it exceeds the maximum character length for worm names in the game.
Squirminator2k's most recent Worms project is the WA-to-DC Project, converting assets from Worms Armageddon for use in Worms: The Director's Cut.
Other Projects
From 2011-2019, Ben was the writer and host of PortsCenter, a webseries which looks at unique and interesting ports, conversions and re-releases of video games. Several episodes of the show have featured Worms titles - the first looked at the entire series from Worms up to Worms Reloaded, while the second focused exclusively on Worms: The Director's Cut. Other episodes have looked at Superfrog and its HD remake.
Ben was the co-creator of the scifi-comedy webcomic Jump Leads from 2007-2013. A pilot for an audioplay reboot was released in 2015. A full season of six episodes was released in 2023.
Ben was the GM for the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game actual-play podcast The Game of Rassilon for seasons 1-3, and a Player for seasons 4 and 5.
From 2008-09, Ben and Michelle Osorio co-wrote the four-part YouTube series Boomer's Day Off, a mockumentary focusing on Oscar, a Boomer from the video game Left 4 Dead. They and Osorio teamed up again in 2013-2014 to produce Dalek Gary, a six-part mockumentary about a Dalek from the BBC series Doctor Who stranded on Earth and trying to blend in as a human.
Ben started the infrequent vlog series British Candy Authority, in which they eat a piece of American candy (for example a Hershey bar or a Charleston Chew) and then appraises its quality. Most scores for the series are low. The series was originally produced for Kill9TV from 2013-2014, and moved to FilmJoy in 2015. No new episodes have been posted since 2016.
In 2017 Ben began co-hosting The Antiquing Hour with Ben and Mikey, a retrogaming livestream where Ben plays an old video game while chatting with Movies with Mikey creator Mikey Neumann (himself an avid Worms fan and former Worms 2 pro).
In 2018 Ben launched the podcast The Life Toyetic with Ben and Molly, "a podcast about movies about toys" which they co-hosted with LA-based artist Alys Hoy. The show ended in 2019.
Ben is often found working conventions in California. They were the MC at San Diego Who Con during its first two years, and appeared as a guest during its third year. In 2017 they MC'd at WhedonCon 2017. They have moderated panels and events at Gallifrey One, Long Beach Comic-Con, Long Beach Comic Expo, and SacAnime. They have also performed standup at Anime Los Angeles, NinjaCon, Anime Conji and Anime Expo where, in 2016, they were one of the six finalists for the Late Comedy Showcase. In 2015 they were a panelist at the RetroWare panel at MAGFest.
They debuted a live show, "Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About Ports, Probably", at PAX East 2018. The show took the form of a 45-minute standup-comedy set with accompanying PowerPoint presentation detailing the history of video game ports, followed by a Q&A.
Ben has contributed to three songs by YouTube musical acts Random Encounters, including vocals for "The People of Smash Bros." and "RED: A Team Fortress 2 Song" (in which they play the Soldier), as well as working crew for "Legends of Zelda: Tales of the Wind Waker". In 2014 they appeared as a guest on the Chainsawsuit Podcast, playing a British radio DJ for the first segment and themself for the second and third segments.
In 2019, they came out as non-binary.
