Iowa Nice Guy endorses power of humor, mocks Nebraskans, at Iowa City fundraiser

CORALVILLE - It was very Iowa nice of him.

Scott Siepker, perhaps better known as the Iowa Nice Guy in his popular and often biting social media videos, helped raise money Friday to further Iowa City's distinction as a UNESCO City of Literature.

Siepker, who has had millions of views on his videos trying to break down Iowa's gentle stigma, was the master of ceremonies for an event dubbed 'What's So Funny?” that presented local writers and illustrated how comedy can be used to impart a strong message.

'I always find if you get people laughing, they start to actually listen, because they want to laugh more,” Siepker said. 'If you get people laughing and then slide in a piece of information, it will stick.”

The fundraiser featured Dave Parson, who read his piece on how Coralville is an inadequate name for the city; Robyn Hepker, who shared a story on the time she went to the store to get cheesy bread; and Megan Gogerty, who told the 100-plus breakfast crowd of the difficulties of being a professor.

All proceeds went toward Iowa City's honorable slogan.

'We want to highlight the City of Literature and how important it is, not only to Iowa and to the state, but to the region and country,” Siepker said. 'There are only 20 of these places around the world. It is something we can all be proud of.”

In 2008, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization designated Iowa City as a City of Literature - a title given to cities that acknowledge literature, drama and poetry as an important role in their landscapes. Today, Iowa City is the only city in the United States with the honor and is joined internationally by 19 others including Dublin, Ireland; Edinburgh, Scotland; Reykjavik, Iceland; and Montevideo, Uruguay.

The Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature is a non-profit organization that manages the UNESCO designation, and holds literary programs in the community.

Born in Carroll, Siepker, 33, lives in Des Moines and is an actor, writer, producer and an adjunct professor of acting at Drake University.

His claim to fame came in 2012, when the national media coverage of Iowa during the caucuses tended to paint all Iowans as farmers.

'My filmmaking partner, Paul Benedict, was listening to an NPR story about how Iowa City is a liberal enclave in Iowa, and he thought, ‘That's not right, no way.' In his mind, he wanted to start swearing and saying funny things at the radio. But he is a good Christian man,” Siepker said. 'So he was like, ‘Hey, you know who likes to swear? Scott!' He sent me the script and I couldn't get through it without tears streaming down my face. We went out, filmed it and put it out that night. The next morning life changed.”

The Iowa Nice is a film project put on by the production studio Siepker co-founded, Iowa Filmmakers, that has generated millions of views online. In the most popular videos, Siepker talks frankly about Iowa sports, politics and trivia - with not-suitable-for-the-workplace language sprinkled in - to help shake off the 'friendly farmer” image.

'So you think we are all hillbillies?” Siepker asks in his first viral video, with the Des Moines skyline in the background. 'Four out of five of us live in cities, punk.”

Often in his videos to toughen up the image of Iowa, he includes jabs at neighboring states.

'I have been threatened to death in emails by Nebraskans,” he said. 'I was just surprised they knew how to use the Internet.”