Trombone Champ is a good joke. I played it once, chuckled along with its simulated tooting, and haven’t felt any compulsion to return.
I will click on any Trombone Champ video I come across online, however. Armed with some community-made modding tools, creative players have added custom songs to the game, with custom models and backgrounds. At their best, these videos turn a good joke into a complete comedy sketch. And the person making them at their best is Gloomhonk.
This post is now just a series of briefly described YouTube embeds. To start with, here’s Gloomhonk’s take on Don’t Stop Believin’, starring a guitarist who grows increasingly enraged that his solos have been stolen by the trombonist:
Here’s 2017 world peace anthem Big Enough, the chorus for which works on trombone at least as well as it does when screamed by an aging cowboy:
Here’s Chariots Of Fire set inside a trombone-themed gym with motivational slogans encouraging you to “train like a champ” and “only settle for perfecto”:
It’s not complicated but the intro to this Initial D homage is pitch perfect:
Finally, here’s Liz Truss’s resignation speech:
There’s more to watch over on Gloomhonk’s channel, although none are as fancy as those above. If you’re hungry for more drama behind your tromboning, this custom Final Fantasy 7 track might still be the greatest.
