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| Meet Russ Lyman, the man behind the M-Kart and the Super Mario Bros. persona! |
What's Up, New Haven! While I write this post in hopes of giving you a fun, social-distance friendly idea for upcoming parties, I also wanted to feature a creative and interesting person we have living amongst us. It's amazing to me how curiosity over a custom car grew into a full-blown blog post for this page. You just never know when inspiration will strike!
I can tell you the precise day that the intrigue with our local Nintendo hero started. On April 23, 2020, I was on a Target run for some essentials. I spotted a vibrant, unique, incredibly cool Mario-themed car was parked in the lot. I'm not one to take photos of random cars, but how many times does one see a Mario Kart brought to life? (Update: I have since learned that the M-Kart has its own Facebook page!) Anywho, I snapped a photo as a keepsake and continued on with my day.
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| Say cheese! Here's the Mario Kart that caught my eye, and the rest is history. |
Fast-forward to May 18, the day that the New Haven Independent published an article about "Super Mario" making guest appearances at birthday parties. Prominently pictured was the car that I'd seen just a few weeks prior! In the article, I'd learn that Russ Lyman was the name of the M-Kart owner and our local "Super Mario". As fate would have it, my son is newly into Mario Bros. and had a birthday coming up. After a quick Instagram message to Russ, we scheduled an appearance for my son to meet Mario.
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| A birthday appearance by Russ Lyman, AKA Mario. Cool sound effects included! |
Russ' appearance helped make an excellent day out of a birthday celebration that was altered due to COVID concerns. He is available for future parties, so even during the middle of a pandemic, a birthday can still be a unique and a memorable one.
With the success of the appearance, I had to take another gamble and ask if Russ would be willing to do a Q&A for the "What's Up New Haven" blog. As down-to-earth as he is, he agreed to it!
Get to know the person behind the "Super Mario Bros" persona, and of course, keep Russ in mind for upcoming birthdays for your favorite Nintendo/Mario/video game aficionado!
Q&A Time
Are you a lifelong Mario/Nintendo fan?
Yes, I always loved Mario and Nintendo. My dad got me the NES a few years after it came out, and of course I got the pack in game Mario/Duck Hunt. I always enjoyed all the Mario games, 2 & 3 on NES and then Super Mario World On Super Nintendo. It's just such a simple, yet fun game.
What inspired you to transform an everyday Scion into a super-cool M-Kart?
Well, I bought my Scion new back in 2006, and they were really pushing their brand to customize your car and make it your own. I ended up joining a nationwide Scion car club called Scikotics. They would hold monthly meets at a Scion dealerships, and we would attend car shows. Around this time, the Fast and Furious movies were pretty big and showed some modified cars. It always intrigued me and made me want to make my car special. No one in the car scene had a Nintendo theme, it was mostly putting your PlayStation or Xbox in your car. I figured Mario was a pretty well-known character, so I went with him as my theme. It seemed to fit because he did have a racing game.
Did the car inspire you to make appearances at parties? How did you get started on that?
Once the pandemic started, kids could no longer have parties with their friends. I’m part of a Facebook group for my town called West Haven - The Way It Is, and people were posting about car parades with people driving by and honking to celebrate. My co-worker, Dawn, brought it up to me and suggested that I should go with my car. I was like yeah, my car stands out way more than anyone else's car. So I made a post on the page and got a huge response. I ended up shooting a quick commercial showing off the car and me dressed as Mario.
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| Checking out the M-Kart. Every corner had a Mario-inspired detail! |
Every detail in your M-Kart, from the turtle shell rooftop to the sub speaker warp pipes, makes your car a true sight to be seen! Do you have a favorite feature to show? Are there any additions or changes in the works?
There certainly is a lot going on with the car. One of my favorite modifications, and gets the most attention, is my steering wheel. It's a see through blue acrylic wheel. It has nothing to do with Mario Kart, it just looks cool. Other than that, my giant blue turtle shell with wings on my roof is an attention getter as well. I’m always looking to add more stuff or change things with the car. It's a project car, and you're never really done with the car.
Are appearances a seasonal thing or a year-round gig?
Well, I started it in March, and I don't see why I can’t go all year, weather permitting of course. If it happens to snow on the day of the appearance, I’ll have to reschedule.
What is the craziest request you received for an appearance?
Craziest request, huh. Nothing too wild yet, I did go to a 25 year old's birthday per his fiance's request ,and just this past week, a girl messaged me for her 28-year-old brother. I’ll show up to anyone's house, age makes no difference to me. Someone did request for me to come to a party in Monroe, NY, but that would have been a 3-hour drive, and I wasn’t comfortable making the trip just yet, since I had just replaced the cars transmission.
(Note: My 49-year-old cousin requested an appearance in Oceanside, NY. Something tells me you may grow from our local Mario Bro. to our regional Mario Bro soon!)
When you're off-duty as Mario, what do you like to do for fun?
When I’m not driving around to birthday parties, I make YouTube videos and, of course, play video games. I put out weekly videos about gaming-related stuff and me working on the car. I actually have a full playlist of videos of me buying the car, painting it, doing the interior and more. I do occasionally livestream some video games from the old school Nintendo, the Nintendo Switch to the PlayStation 4. I also enjoy playing the guitar and writing music. I basically know how to keep busy with my time, and there is always something fun to do.
