There’s cosplay, and then there’s cosplay with a character doing something totally unexpected.
This is precisely the incredible cognitive dissonance inspired by “Toad Drummer”, a musician who dressed up as Toad and then performed metal songs in character. even drums, on Twitch and TikTok. Seeing someone in Toad cosplay absolutely playing drums is already an amazing sight. But hearing Toad utter those famous lines, “The darkness imprisons me,” feels like an out-of-body experience.
Sunfyre first dressed as Toad on January 8, for his Twitch stream, performing Metallica and Slayer “a cappella as Toad.” When he uploaded clips of his live stream to TikTok, the views started piling up. As of 2020, he had 5,000 followers, a number that began to grow when he posted Slipknot covers. But it wasn’t “until I made Toad everything blew up!” Sunfyre told Polygon via email. At the time of writing, he has more than 317,000 followers on TikTok.
“Ever since I was little, I’ve always been goofy and I liked to do silly, high-pitched voices, especially when I’m broadcasting,” Sunfyre said. “I just get super goofy, as some may say I have ‘chaotic energy,’ always joking around in different voices and dancing out of nowhere on my live streams. I just want to make people laugh and it happens randomly.”
A drummer since the age of ten, Sunfyre grew up playing in talent show bands and then began playing local venues as a college student in New York. Three years ago, he decided to start playing drums on Twitch, with an electronic kit given to him by a viewer. She’s also no stranger to drumming in costume: she began drumming in costume on her Twitch channel in 2019.
“Toad is just one of hundreds of costumes I’ve done,” Sunfyre said. “He always wanted to stand out and be different from the rest of the drummers without costumes. Also, being a Hispanic streamer set me apart from everyone else and the UV body paint and costumes were too much fun not to. I grew up with the Nintendo 64 and had already done Mario, Luigi and Peach, so I thought Toad would be another fun option to do.”
Sunfyre performed classics like Slayer’s “Raining Blood” and AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” all in Toad’s trademark high-pitched tone. But she has also performed in other guises, as Link as he adds metal percussion to Lost Woods, and as Elastigirl/Mrs. Incredible at adding metal percussion to “The Incredits”. Everything has been great, as she says, though she admits she worries about disturbing the neighbors downstairs from her during her three-hour Twitch streams.
“I never would have imagined that my Toad performances would take off so much on the internet and I totally agree if people are laughing,” said Sunfyre. “All I ever want is to entertain people with goofy comedy, but I also want to show the world what I’m really passionate about, not just Toad but my over-the-top performances, drum improvisation, and wearing crazy costumes just to bring something to the table.” different from the world. of entertainment and music.”