Christian Richards Jacobs (born January 11, 1972) is an American musician, television producer, and actor. He is perhaps most recognized as the co-creator of the award-winning Nick Jr. series Yo Gabba Gabba!, on which he additionally serves as a writer, director, composer, and voice actor.
Under the stage persona of The MC Bat Commander, Jacobs is also well known for his work as lead singer for the Orange County rock band The Aquabats, which he co-founded in 1994. In addition to his musical work with the band, Jacobs also portrayed the character of the Bat Commander on the live-action comedy television series The Aquabats! Super Show!, which he also co-created and produced, from 2012 to 2014.
Biography
Early life
Jacobs was born in Rexburg, Idaho in 1972, the second of five children. Following his family's relocation to Los Angeles at the age of 4, Jacobs and his siblings, namely his older sister Rachel and younger brothers Parker and Tyler, began working as child actors. Throughout the course of his childhood and into his late teens, Jacobs appeared in numerous productions, most prominently playing the role of Joey Stivic in the short-lived All in the Family spin-off Gloria, but primarily playing small roles in teen films such as Pretty in Pink and Gleaming the Cube and episodes of sitcoms like Married... with Children and Roseanne, before retiring from acting in the early 1990s, citing a dislike of the competitive nature of the business.[1]
Jacobs performing with The Aquabats as "The MC Bat Commander".
In 1994, Jacobs, along with friends Chad Larson and Boyd Terry, formed the Orange County-based band The Aquabats, wherein he acted as lead singer and lyricist under the stage name of The MC Bat Commander (formerly "The Caped Commander" and "The Bat Commander"). Noted for their matching costumes and theatrical stage shows centered around their superhero-themed alter-ego, The Aquabats initially formed as part of the burgeoning Orange County ska scene, though since 2000 have evolved into playing more punk and new wave-influenced rock music.
Though The Aquabats are most recognized for being a cult act, the band experienced brief mainstream commercial success in the late 1990s during the height of the American ska revival, when their second album The Fury of The Aquabats! peaked at number 172 on the Billboard 200, granting the band national exposure on MTV and as part of the 1998 Vans Warped Tour.[2] During this time, Jacobs was also active producing skateboarding videos with his friend and creative partner Scott Schultz. In 1999, Jacobs anonymously performed with other members of The Aquabats in the side project The Sandfleas, playing drums under the stage name "Fang". In 2018, the band did a live show with popular drummer Travis Barker, for there 20-year reunion show, and at the "Back to the Beach" festival the same year with other old members.
As of 2022, The Aquabats continue to tour and record, and the band's sixth studio album, Kooky Spooky...In Stereo was released in August 2020. On March 3, 2012, The Aquabats! Super Show!, a live-action musical television series starring the band, premiered on cable channel The Hub, with Jacobs serving as co-creator, producer, writer and star. Despite accumulating six Daytime Emmy nominations over the course of two seasons, winning one for stunt coordination, The Hub declined to pick Super Show! up for a third season, effectively cancelling the series. Following a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2018, Super Show! was retooled as a bi-weekly YouTube series which began airing in late 2019.
Yo Gabba Gabba!
In 1999, Jacobs and Schultz formed a production company which was later formalized as "The Magic Store" with the goal of creating family-oriented television entertainment. Together, the two independently created, wrote and directed two pilot episodes in 2005 for a preschooler-targeted children's television series called Yo Gabba Gabba!. The series was picked up by ViacomCBS's Nickelodeon channel in 2007, eventually becoming an international success and winning numerous television awards. Yo Gabba Gabba! has since completed four seasons. The pilot started in 1999.
