You know, he may be one of the most over-exposed YouTubers of the summer. But he’s absolutely one of my favorite YouTube personalities. Having met him, I can tell you he’s really centered and a wholesome family man. So that makes videos like this Moto Man (in which he spins his motorcycle around his house for no apparent reason) even more special. And his wife plays a perfect dead-pan straight man. Or woman.
How can a video like this not have millions of views? And what about “Chubby Kid Falls from Roof“? As Sxephil joked to me in LA, “when I saw Roof Ninja, I saw money.” Hence their collaboration on a new SxePhil/Shaycarl channel called, “BamBamKaBoosh.”
I’ll admit. As much as I laughed at LisaNova’s recent parody of Sarah Palin (Republican John McCain’s vice-president running mate), I also beat myself up. My own Sarah Palin spoof was done in haste as we rushed to visit the inlaws for Labor Day. So that gave me time for just one take, and sloppy editing. And I was so focused on getting the Tootsie/Dustin Hoffman part right, I let myself slip into a Southern accent instead of the Minnesota accent I was trying for.
“Viewers may flock to funny videos on the Internet, but for advertisers it’s not always a laughing matter. The questionable content that so often accompanies user-generated video can cause problems for brands looking to broaden — not damage — their image.
Ricky Van Veen, CEO of College Humor, says “We’ve found that a lot of our pieces have gotten a second life on YouTube.” “In the world of infinite ad inventory, quantity doesn’t matter,” says Van Veen. “It’s a tough ad market – you really have to bend over backwards and do something special for advertisers.”
Listen, Meghan and Caryle (if those are your real names). My MBA marketing professor was an expert (that’s why he taught instead of basking in a $750K SVP job). And he used to say three things sell.
Cows
The word free
And funny
Okay he didn’t say that at all. I made it up. But it needed some attribution to credentialize it. And the reality is that my marketing professor spent the entire semmester boasting about his big idea in his briefcase. Finally one day he opened the case and revealed “the future of polling.” It replaced clip board surveys for the people that chase you in front of supermarkets, and it looked like a giant calculator.
Excuse me a second. I have to go punch someone who’s not funny. There. I’m back and feel better. What was I saying?
Oh- The articles should highlight two important points (and maybe they did, but we scan): First, the reality is that people are looking for content THEY find funny. Not another humor humor website they forget about 10 minutes after they visit it (vloggerheads, cough cough). Second, keep the costs down. The monetization model is still an infant. She can’t afford to pay a mortgage yet, the poor dear.
If you think you have the worse job in the world, imagine working for Viacom in the public relations group. The organization has decided that, above all else, it must fiercely protect its copyrighted material. A worthy cause when your core asset is not your people, but your family of brands, movies and shows.
But is the legal attack on YouTube (which now appears to invade the privacy of YouTube creators and viewers) worth the fuss? Viacom is becoming the poster child for excess… a noble cause gone mannic like God-honoring terrorists. It’s making Disney look like Kevin MacLeod.
If you haven’t been keeping track, many of the most popular videos on YouTube right now anti-Viacom rants. In fact, I’m pretty sure I could hit the top of the “most rated” section if I shot a video of me pooping… as long as the title was “Viacom Sucks.” Heck- click here for a search on YouTube by the word “Viacom.”
TheReelWeeklyNews has made a whole cause out of calling out Viacom in a series of videos (with a somewhat annoyingly rhythmic speech pattern) that are further catalyzing the YouTube community’s absolute despise of Viacom. See video below.
Even the jaded are aghast. Viacom may have a legal right, but the PR damage will not soon heal. The real question is whether that damage will trickle down to Viacom’s otherwise beloved brands…
We’re talking big names with strong equity: Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks, MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, even AtomFilms and AddictingGames.
In the meantime, I’m staying the heck out of it, and making videos of myself pouring candy into my coffee. A cause against Viacom will forge a temporary bond among advocates of privacy and freedom of speech. But it’s fleeting. Like Stephen Covey says about bashing people behind their back… it forms a cheap morter.
I’d avocate that the energy now placed against Viacom (or Scientology for that matter) would be more influential if it was directed to a positive alternative. Kinda like athiesm — being anti-God isn’t really a sustainable position. You gotta be for something else. For athiests, maybe that’s pro-science or pro-intelligence or something. Not really sure. God strikes me as a bit more interesting than science. And while I’m on this tangent, why are athiests always trying to prove God doesn’t exist and force believers to prove He does? I believe in God but if you don’t, it doesn’t really concern me.
So what is that positive alternative to Viacom’s madness? I dunno. I’ll leave that to smarter people. I don’t even know what net neutrality means, so I’ll go penis poke someone.
It pains me to see so few views on YouTube for something this well written, acted and edited. It’s called “Font Conference” and it’s a great personification of the fonts we know so well. Baskerville Old Face and Bookman OId Style duke it out. Arial Black feels discriminated. Wide Italian played by an overeating fat guy. Futura played by a time traveler. And Century Gothic is played by a goth emo who resents the conformists (“I can’t wait for you to grow out of this,” says Times New Roman. In the climax, Ransom takes Courier and his daughter Curlz MT hostage, but don’t worry- Wing Dings celebrates in the end.
Extremely well done (right down to the incredible production values with rack focuses and perfect lighting), and especially entertaining for those of us who spend way too much time thinking about fonts.
I just feel sad for Trebuchet, who was sadly left out. Maybe a sequel? Can I humbly submit to play Trebuchet? Or maybe even a serif if College Humor provides acting coaches.
It’s called Terrorists Bloopers, and it’s a low-budget parody of the “Girls Gone Wild” advertisements. A funny spoof on cheesy commercials and terrorism. And the ending is worth waiting for.
Here’s some fun trivia about it:
It was created by a Brooklyn NYC comedy troupe named Poykpac. Here’s another account (PoykpacLive) by the same group. Credits: Directed by Jonny Gillette, story by Paul Whitty, edited by Ryan Hunter and voiceover by Taige Jensen.
If you’re a terrorist and want to avenge the creators of this parody, here’s where they live.
When I was a kid I used to broadcast my radio show to my neighbor’s house where John, his brother Max, and occasionally their mom, Alice, would listen to music and crank calls. Sometimes keeping a niche blog like this can remind me that I’m effectively writing a personal letter to about 11 loyal readers despite the high traffic.
Spencer is my nephew’s friend who appeared in “Farting in Public” (now almost at 5 million views). We’ve done about 12 mostly public videos together, and here’s a playlist so you can watch them all on YouTube: “Best of Spencer.”
Spencer has a unique ability to suspend social anxiety and do just about anything without cracking up. Meanwhile, I stand behind the shaking camera laughing with tears in my eyes. He reminds me of The Man Show boy.
I’m starting a campaign to bring him back, because I miss him more than my online-video viewers. And he hasn’t returned phone calls lately. Maybe another creator has signed him. Well rest assured I pay better, Spencer! Free food, iTunes cards, gift certificates, Target trips and even a free Hamster that debuted in “Hamster on a Walk” (I hope Beaowulf is still alive).
Here’s my “Best of Spencer” video, appealing to viewers to charm him back in the “comments” section.
