He was also influenced by distorted characters from the Dick and Jane books, Brothers Grimm fairy tales, and some real life oddities in Ripley's Believe It or Not!.

[3] He moved to Los Angeles, California, at the request of his agent when a "bidding war" was underway over whether Fox, The WB, or Disney would produce what became The Oblongs.

[4] When his work began garnering attention from the press, Oblong began wearing "thick clown makeup and a bulbous, red plastic nose" in public places and by now was referring to himself as "Angus Oblong" (namesake of a shape and his mother's maiden name), a practice he has continued into 2010, when LA Weekly named him one of the L.A. People 2009.

[5] Oblong's book, Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children, consists of 14 short stories of adult-oriented humor.

Oblong wrote, directed, and produced Deliriously Jen, a television pilot that aired on Comedy Central and was shown at several film festivals in 2005.