<\/p>\n
In an era dominated by AI-generated content and digital illusions, a talking animatronic basketball named Old Ball has captured hearts across social media and the NBA. Behind this viral sensation is Benched Studios, a trio of longtime friends\u2014Ben Bayouth, Adam Aseraf and Christian Heuer\u2014who combined their love for basketball, comedy and practical effects to create something truly unique.<\/p>\n
In addition to speaking with Old Ball<\/a>, Newsweek<\/em> also sat down with the minds behind the puppet to talk about practical effects, plans for the future and, at the core of it all, their love of basketball.<\/p>\n The trio has known each other for close to a decade. They worked at Will Ferrell\u2019s Funny or Die, and Heuer said the inspiration formed there. \u201cThat\u2019s how I first met these guys. The DNA started there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBen is this next-level Jim Henson-level genius. He designed and created Old Ball, and can voice him. Ben’s always had this ability. And we always dreamt of doing a puppet show in the real world,\u201d Heuer said.<\/p>\n When Bayouth’s talent for animatronics met their collective love for basketball, the idea clicked.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat if we did a basketball? We researched like crazy. \u2018Has anyone ever done an animatronic basketball?\u2019 We couldn\u2019t find anything. We built OB like six months ago and started filming in Ben\u2019s home studio,\u201d said Heuer.<\/p>\n Bayouth\u2019s artistic roots and years of experience in practical effects were the backbone of Old Ball\u2019s creation. His love for practical effects blossomed from one of his dad’s best friends, who worked in the field. <\/p>\n \u201cHe would come over all the time and show what he was working on. Then my brain would go nuts, and I’d think about how I could do it, and never thoroughly thought that I could break into it. That inspired me,\u201d the animatronics expert said.<\/p>\n That inspiration and constant study paid off in the form of Old Ball. <\/p>\n \u201cAfter 18 years in the field, I was able to make a completely autonomous, wireless ball that can go to events, be held, passed around, and talk,\u201d Bayouth said.<\/p>\n In a world flooded with AI visuals, the team deliberately chose practical effects to keep the magic tangible.<\/p>\n \u201cOur favorite movies from the 90s, the tone of that is in Old Ball. It\u2019s 80s technology, nothing new, but done in a new way,” Aseraf explained. <\/p>\n From Bayouth’s home studio to NBA arenas, Old Ball quickly became a social media magnet. Fans often ask if it\u2019s AI or CGI. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople still can\u2019t believe it when it\u2019s in their hands. They think it\u2019s visual effects. But when you bring something like this in person, it\u2019s a magic trick you can see,” Bayouth said.<\/p>\n For the Benched Studios team, basketball has always been more than a sport. The trio cites their collective childhoods as the formative moments of their fandom. <\/p>\n \u201cI was thinking of all those moments in the 90s, chilling with my mom watching the Lakers, her screaming at the TV, neighbors knocking on our door asking if everything was OK. That was a huge part of my childhood,\u201d Aseraf said.<\/p>\n In many ways, Old Ball\u2019s story mirrors Bayouth\u2019s own: \u201cI watched a lot when I was younger, and then kind of fell out for a chunk of years, and this project has been just a wonderful way to reintroduce me to everything,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m just having a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n That nostalgia shaped Old Ball\u2019s personality, a character that mirrors the universal love of the game.<\/p>\n The basketball community embraced the project, with collaborations spanning the Miami Heat, the Golden State Warriors, and even the NBA Cup. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d do this if we had nothing, and they\u2019ve been like a big hug\u2014come on in,” Aseraf said.<\/p>\n The trio isn\u2019t stopping at the hardwood. With the recent addition of Old Football<\/a>, Benched Studios’ dream of a \u201cSports Muppets\u201d universe is one yard closer. <\/p>\n \u201cWe want to make a ball for every sport. We soft-launched football and want to make a soccer<\/a> ball for the World Cup<\/a>,” Heuer said.<\/p>\n Character creation is treated like building an ensemble cast, with extra effort taken to develop a unique personality for each ball. <\/p>\n \u201cIf Old Ball covers this area, then what is Old Football like? What is Soccer Ball like? We imagine them all hanging out and make sure each has unique traits,” Aseraf said.<\/p>\n The team dreams of breaking proximity limits. <\/p>\n \u201cI do the voice live, but more than 20 feet away gets tricky. If we could perform from a desk, that opens up huge possibilities,” Bayouth said.<\/p>\n Old Ball is more than a puppet. The belligerent basketball is a celebration of sports, nostalgia, and creativity. As Aseraf puts it, \u201cSports have always been a great uniter. When a ball shows up at an NBA game that can talk and mirror the love of the game, that\u2019s something everyone shares.\u201d<\/p>\n With plans for soccer and football characters on the horizon, Benched Studios is redefining what live entertainment looks like in the age of digital saturation, one talking ball at a time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.newsweek.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In an era dominated by AI-generated content and digital illusions, a talking animatronic basketball named Old Ball has captured hearts across social media and the NBA. Behind this viral sensation is Benched Studios, a trio of longtime friends\u2014Ben Bayouth, Adam Aseraf and Christian Heuer\u2014who combined their love for basketball, comedy and practical effects to create […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2220329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[30218,22485,22339,310532],"class_list":["post-2220328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-ai","tag-basketball","tag-comedy","tag-nba"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/From-Puppets-to-Playoffs-Benched-Studios-on-Old-Ball-Comedy.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2220328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2220328"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2220328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2220330,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2220328\/revisions\/2220330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2220329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2220328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2220328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2220328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Origins of Old Ball<\/h2>\n
Building Old Ball<\/h2>\n
The Love of Basketball<\/h2>\n
Expanding the Universe<\/h2>\n