Daniel Mabe is Hilarious

"Daniel is just plain funny" says One Twenty Nine Films EP, Nick Seuser. "Rarely does a spot make me really laugh. But Daniel's work consistently makes me laugh out loud."

That's why One Twenty Nine Films was thrilled to welcome him into our family of Directors.

But after suffering a serious spinal cord injury while mountain biking in 2016, Daniel re-thought "funny" in a whole new way. Read the interview below.

How did your spinal cord injury change your outlook on life?

"It definitely reaffirmed for me that everything is relative. As unlucky as I felt after my accident, that all changed once I got to the rehab hospital. After seeing others with similar injuries, suddenly I was the luckiest person I knew. Thankfully, I'm back on my feet, but it could've easily ended up very differently. I'm not going to throw out some cheesy line like "each day is a gift", but I just did didn't I? Crap."

Why is humor so important?

"Humor is important because it connects the elbow joint to the glenoid fossa of the scapula and provides protection for the brachial artery as it travels toward the ulna. Without it, the upper arm would just be a flaccid lump of flesh, and the lower arm from the elbow to the wrist would be virtually unusable. Hold on. I'm thinking of the humerus bone. Crap again."

What drives your work?

"It's a 2010 VW GTI. Low mileage for a car that's nearly 9 years old. And it's a 6-speed straight drive, a rarity among the stop-and-go traffic that's ever-present on the streets and freeways of Los Angeles. Wait. I just re-read the question. I thought it said—never mind. My bad. Wow, I'm bad at this."

What makes something funny?

"Okay. I got this one. What makes something funny is Ted Koppel. Whew. Nailed it. Next!"

Would you consider yourself funny? How do you know when a joke will connect with your audience?

"There’s nothing worse than someone who thinks they’re funny and is not funny. So based on that, I’m gonna have to say ‘no’, but I secretly hope that I am. Likewise, you never know for certain that a joke will connect with people, but you secretly hope that it does."

What are you inspired by?

"Anything that I see and immediately become angry at because I didn't think of it first. Also Successories posters. Speaking of, if you happen to have any you're no longer using, please send them my way. Much appreciated."