YOUTUBER OF THE WEEK: MAMRIE HART

Hey-o!

It’s Friday and YOU DESERVE A DRINK! Therefore, you should definitely check out this week’s YouTuber of the Week: Mamrie Hart because she will teach you how to make fantastic drinks and laugh hysterically while concocting them. Cheers!

 

 

I literally spent the last week just watching a crapload of Mamrie’s YDAD (You Deserve A Drink) videos and let me tell ya, I almost died because, you know when you laugh so hard your body concentrates so hard on laughing that it forgets to listen to your brain which is telling you to breathe? Yeah that happened with every video. It’s insane. And without actually making the drinks I managed to get giddy and hyper from watching YDAD that I didn’t even need a drink! That’s right folks, my laziness truly conquers all obstacles. Hey, I still had a pretty good time.

 

Mamrie usually dedicates her concoctions to celebrities such as Lady Gaga, George Clooney, and Rihanna. She also cleverly names each of her drinks, such as: George Clooney’s Silver Fox, Lady Gaga’s Tasty Monster and Rihanna’s Hotty Toddy. My favourite of all time though, has to be her ‘Tyler Oakley’s My Ty Thai Mai Tai‘, because: genius?!

Clearly, Mamrie has had plenty of experience bartending and enjoys a drink or two. Not only that but she is extremely talented, being a comedienne, actress, author, singer, and a YouTuber. People, she has a MOVIE out for crying out loud! But before the movie she was on YouTube so she qualifies for being on my top 10 favourite YouTubers of all time.

Be sure to click all the links in this post to see the wonderment and beauty that is Mamrie Hart. I just want to make the world a better place.

 

 

YOUTUBER OF THE WEEK: Hart

Happy Hump Day!

I bring you nothing but the greatest. This woman is fearless, hilariously brutally honest and my hero. Her name is Hart and she gives you life!

 

It’s Hart!

 

As of now, Hart is my favourite comedienne on YouTube. She is incredibly talented and does sketches, produces her own music, and tackles serious topics. She does all of this  while strongly advocating respect for the LGBT community from the perspective of a lesbian. In fact, the video of hers that caught my full attention was her Watermelon video, which was her response to somebody asking her: “If you love women so much, how come you don’t dress like one? Why are you dressing like something you don’t like?” To which her reply was…

Starts off with her eating watermelon…

 

Then you realise SHE’S WEARING AN OUTFIT MADE OF WATERMELON!

 

…And the dancing commences…

 

And what this really proves to us is that you don’t have to wear what you love. Just because she loves watermelon don’t mean she has to dress up as a watermelon…although she rocks it.

Ladies and gentlemen that video was just the beginning. All of her videos have a lot of time and energy put into them. She educates the masses about their own ignorance (towards sexual orientation or other issues) but she does it in the most unpretentious and level-headed way.  If you’re looking for an intelligent, educated YouTuber that can make you laugh and has many substantial things to say, then I suggest you visit Hart’s channel, Hartbeat, on YouTube and forget about your project/homework/250000-word essay for a few minutes.

Yes, I may be a bad influence, but if you’re going to procrastinate might as well do it right!

South Africans Can’t Vine? Can’t YouTube Either?

Happy Tuesday

I have recently discovered something ghastly. South Africans don’t think South Africans are funny enough for ‘American’ social media platforms. To be more specific, a few people I’ve spoken to genuinely think that South Africans should stay away form Vine and YouTube because “we’re just not funny.”  I don’t know. I think we’re not giving ourselves enough credit. And yes, before you chew me up and spit me out because I am grossly generalising: I know. I did not conduct a survey for everyone between the ages of 16 and 25 throughout the country to come to my conclusion. I have merely observed that among my own social circles, a shocking amount of people feel this way.

I have to disagree with the claim that South Africans as a whole aren’t funny. I mean not everyone is funny. But what does it mean to be funny? Humour is very subjective, no matter where you are from. Some people think Jim Carrey is funny while others would love to hit him over the head with a frying pan. Some people just don’t think he’s funny. Same goes with people on YouTube or Vine. The problem I faced when trying to argue against people that were telling me that South Africans can’t Vine is that I didn’t actually follow any South African Viners at the time. So yeah, I didn’t really have much of a comeback there. However I have quite a few people I admire on YouTube that are, *gasp*, South African!  But, me being the awkward human being that I am, I failed to make any comebacks yet again. Basically I’m a useless human being.

However, I still stand by my statement: South Africans have the potential to be just as funny/creative/influential Viners and YouTubers as Americans. Want examples? After the embarrassing realisation that I didn’t know any South African Viners I did my homework…

 

Follow South African Viners!!

Note: This is a very short list. I am a lazy individual.

1) Bo7bbsie

2) Daniel Rademeyer

3) Tiaan191

4) Chanel

5) DJ Fresh (SA)

Yes, DJ Fresh Vines!

 

Subscribe to South African YouTubers!

1) NerdzSquared

2) Mark Fitzgibbon

3) Preven Reddy

4) Amy Spence

5) Gugu Béla

 

And there are some of the amazing South Africans representing! If you agree with me and believe that we as South Africans aren’t half bad at Vine-ing and YouTube-ing, be sure to check those lists out. If you don’t think South Africans have the ability to take the Vine & YouTube world by storm, check the links out anyway, you might be surprised! I think what makes a YouTuber/Viner successful is when they get support from their fans. Perhaps South African Viners/YouTubers just don’t have a large enough fanbase to make them seem more successful. But you must remember, there isn’t as much access to internet here in South Africa as there is in America. This is not an excuse for people who do have access to write off any South African YouTubers/Viners, but it is something to consider in terms of views, revines, likes etc.

Just give South African Viners and YouTubers a chance before you declare every one of them unentertaining!

 

Here’s NerdzSquared!

 

Mark Fitzgibbon errbody!

Oh, before I forget. You may have noticed my name in the list of YouTubers. Yes, that was a little conceited of me. No, I don’t regret it.

🙂 Support fellow South Africans!

YOUTUBER OF THE WEEK: Rhett & Link

GOOD MYTHICAL MORNING!

Yes indeedy-deed, this week’s YouTuber of the Week is actually a duo. Rhett & Link of Good Mythical Morning!

Yes, and this is on account of: I’ve developed a serious addiction to their Good Mythical Morning videos. I watch them every morning. And during lunch. And at night. Pretty much my whole day revolves around the spare time I get to watch Rhett & Link talk about stuff. I can’t help it; I’m hooked. They are the funniest duo I’ve seen so far on YouTube. Granted, I haven’t seen many, but for now they are on the top of my list.

Rhett & Link do a range of different things to entertain their audiences. They call themselves “Internetainers”, which probably means that they entertain people on the internet. Or something. Which makes sense since they don’t just have one talent. They make amazingly funny music videos, in fact one of their videos was actually mentioned in my previous blog post on the topic of Nerds Vs Geeks (Go check that out. Later). They also do sketches and outrageous commercials on their main channel Rhett & Link, but what I am inordinately compelled to watch every second of every hour of everyday is their daily show Good Mythical Morning.

This talk show discusses topics ranging from 5 Strange Facts About Bellybuttons to The Ghost Pepper Challenge to 14 Words The English Language Needs. Needless to say, the variety of topics they cover is immense. Which is why I never get bored of their videos and have evolved into a Mythical Beast. Oh yes, they call their fans Mythical Beasts. I mean, that right there is all the enticement you need to check them out.

I like the fact that their talk show isn’t rigid. And what I mean by that is; it is a free, relaxed atmosphere. Rhett & Link go way back and this can be seen on camera. In fact, this is what makes their videos the golden, glistening magical myriad of awesomeness that they are. Their friendship shines through in every one of their videos, especially when Rhett isn’t afraid to jab at Link’s mispronunciations of words or when Link makes fun of Rhett constantly insisting that he’s the smartest person in the world. It is these little reprises that create a comedic dynamic to the duo.

So there you have it, that’s my recommendation for the week, I hope you soon evolve into a magical Mythical Best. It’s way better than being a unicorn. Seriously.

Feel free to leave comments below! How do you feel about GMM? Are you as obsessed as I am? Probably not.

As always, stay fresh.

YOUTUBER OF THE WEEK: SHANE DAWSON

Hola a todos!

I have the strongest urge to write this entire feature in caps lock because my love for this week’s YouTuber of the Week is gargantuan.

SHANE DAWSON EVERYBODY!

Shane Dawson is an exact representation of my kind of humour.

This YouTuber is the closest to my heart because when I saw one of his videos for the first time, I hated it.I don’t even remember what the video was about, but I do remember feeling offended, disgusted and slightly irritated. In fact, I went on for a long time thinking he was part of Smosh, which alienated me from him even more. Needless to say, I’m not a fan of Smosh. So for a long time I avoided any suggestions by YouTube to watch his videos, until one day I stumbled upon a video of him collaborating with Tyler Oakley (another fave!). That’s when it clicked. I suddenly understood his humour, I understood his YouTube personality and I liked what I understood. It was just magic. The easy-going nature between the two also helped. Tyler seemed to get Shane’s eccentricity and vice versa.

Here’s the video that made me see the light and is honestly one of my favourite collab videos:

Shane Dawson is a revelation. Immediately I subscribed to his main channel, simply called Shane. It contains his vlogs, his collaborations, gaming videos song reviews, Ask Shane and more. His other two channels are ShaneDawsonTV and ShaneDawsonTV2. ShaneDawsonTV comprises of more daily vlogs, music video parodies, his mini web series called The Shananay Show, and even original music videos. His third channel, ShaneDawsonTV2 is mostly his Ask Shane series as well as some vlogs. He is incredibly talented and thus does many different types of videos including sketches, skits, podcasts, reviews, daily vlogs.

What I love most about Shane’s videos is that they’re never low-key. Everything he does and says is in your face. He is not afraid to shock you. He is not restricted by political correctness, in fact he almost seems to be against it. I encourage you to check his videos out because you will be amazed. Don’t worry if you’re taken aback at first, trust me I was not a fan at first, because he will grow on you until he is a part of your daily dose of YouTube and you won’t be able to fathom how you used to live without his videos.

As always, stay fresh.

Garfield’s Not the Only Talking Cat Out There

Happy Hump Day!

This is probably my zaniest YouTuber of the Week. I was meandering through Youtube, wandering the halls of beauty tutorials, humorous skits, dramatic vlogs, and weird videos about human doll-like creatures (yes, I made it into the “weird part” of YouTube once again) when I stumbled upon the greatness that is the Talking Kitty Cat series by SteveCash83 and my life suddenly had meaning.

Steve and Sylvester.

Let me break this down for you. The reason I have crowned Steve Cash as this week’s YouTuber of the Week is because of his hilarious home videos containing his pets. There’s Sylvester: the star of the show. He is a selfish, foul-mouthed spoilt brat who enjoys his wet cat food and loathes kittens. He is the most amazingly funny cat you will ever encounter, his snide comments and merciless jabs will leave you in stitches. Without him, the show wouldn’t exist. He really is that crucial. In the series, Steve has made it seem like Sylvester the kitty cat can speak English. This might sound crazy, but go check it out for yourself, it truly is hilarious. Obviously you know cats don’t talk but once you get lost in the narrative and understand the characters, you almost forget that talking cats don’t exist. The show really is that good. The other two characters are another cat named Gibson and a sweet black labrador named Shelby who, unlike her feline friends, is not able to speak English (’cause dogs can’t talk, duh). Steve does eventually create a collar that translates her thoughts so that we can understand her, and makes her sound a bit like a cheerful version of GLaDOS form Portal 2 (if you don’t get this reference, don’t worry; that probably means you have a life). Gibson is a paranoid kitty that is the newest addition to the family who Sylvester first hates (naturally) and doesn’t initially have the ability to speak. In fact, for a long time all he could say was “help” and “Todd”. I know, weird. You just have to watch the show because a lot of stuff I can tell you doesn’t do the show justice!

“Fuck off!” Sylvester isn’t pleased that Steve forgot to buy cat food yet again…

Steve Cash is a visionary. He is also a musician and has a few covers and original songs out there, which can be quite funny as well. As you can probably tell from the detailed description above, I am a huge fan of this guy. He started out back in 2007, but he hasn’t been uploading as much. No matter, he has a treasure trove of magical videos you can check out and enjoy. Trust me, it will be the best and worst thing that’s ever happened to you. You won’t get much work done until you’ve seen every episode of Talking Kitty Cat.

Sylvester will have you in tears! Must watch from episode 1!

As always, feel free to leave your comments below!

YouTuber of the Week: Lilly Singh aka Superwoman

Happy Hump Day!

I’ve chosen one of my favourite YouTubers of ALL TIME to recommend y’all to check out and maybe subscribe to. Lily Singh a.k.a. Superwoman is this week’s YouTuber of the Week!

Superwoman is the epitome of awesome sauce.

I only discovered her early this year, but I managed to watch every video she uploaded by the end of that week. She just has a positive outlook on life and manages to put a smile on my face.Pretty quickly her bubbly personality got through to some of my friends as I told them about her videos, and they became just as addicted as I was. It’s easy to become addicted because it takes quite a while to get through over 200 videos in one night (when you are supposed to be writing that essay…you know the one!). So what you do is, you keep some for later and you and just binge watch until you can’t watch no more.

She makes videos that open your eyes to what it’s like living in Toronto with Punjabi parents, and she does this well because some of her most popular videos are based on these anecdotes, such as “Things Parents Lie About” and “How My Parents React To Someone I’m Dating“.

This is Superwoman playing the part of her mother. She does this for her father and brother as well. The result is magnificent.

Superwoman takes vlogging about everyday events to a whole new level. She has a way of tackling issues everybody can relate to in an environment that is not judgemental, non-prejudiced and completely intelligent. I, for one, always appreciate it when individuals in entertainment are civil and avoid excess amounts of ignorance when presenting their ideas and thoughts. It’s refreshing. Superwoman has a knack for making her fans and even first-time viewers feel good about themselves. Her video “Your Wake Up Call” awakens the dreamer in you and encourages you to get out there and do what the stars aligned and intended you to do.
Indeed, even her videos that not everyone can relate to are still very enjoyable. Dudes out there, go check out her video “Girls On Their Periods“. I guarantee you won’t regret it, you might even learn a few things which could help you in the future (hint: so that when your girl turns into a fire-breathing dragon you know what to do).

AND it gets better! She has a second channel called SuperwomanVlogs filled with all kinds of awesome sauce (a classic Superwoman phrase, ’cause “awesome” just wasn’t enough) including extra bloopers, travel vlogs, and just general quirkiness that quenches your need to see more of Superwoman.

So check Lily, a.k.a. Superwoman, out peeps. It’s not even a recommendation; it’s an order.
See you same time next week!

YouTuber of the Week: Troye Sivan

Happy Tuesday!

This week’s vlog king is Troye Sivan!

Troye Sivan is a true guru.

Yes, he’s “that guy in Spud!”, although he is all grown up now and he makes YouTube videos. Troye vlogs about things that relate to people that are forever online, whether it be Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, other YouTubers or making awesome songs that mention every significant thing that happened in an entire year (check out “The 2013 song“).

Troye Sivan…nuff said.

This allows him to have a broad audience and a large fan base. What I like about him is that his target audience is not restricted to a specific skin colour, country of origin, or religion. I mean, most of the people reading this article have social media accounts and will recognise all or at least most of the references in his videos. Another thing I love that some of my favourite YouTubers do is they do all the on-camera work on their own. A nice example of this working for me is his video entitled “If Websites Were People“. It is HIGHlarious (no typo) and just goes to show that you don’t need to have fifty other actors with you to make good quality content, the numbers speak for themselves: 884,498 views for that video alone.

This is not to say that all he does is vlog about social media, he has a range of topics that are addressed in a way that you can’t help but laugh. I particularly enjoyed his video called “I Get The Shivers When I Pee???” which basically resonates with some of us that have serious cases of hypochondria. Videos like this which are just about the everyday experiences of the average person make us laugh and go “yes Troye, we’re in the same boat”, which feels quite good. It’s nice to know you haven’t lost your marbles. I honestly recommend you watch each and every one of his videos (launch alert) because you really can’t get enough of him, I know I can’t!

See y’all next week for another entertaining YouTuber that has you grabbing onto your ribcage for fear of it breaking (from laughter, if that wasn’t clear).

YouTuber of the Week: Kingsley

Bonjour!

Yes, it’s that time of the week once more. If you haven’t seen last week’s YouTuber of the week, I suggest you get right on that. I only bring you joy, trust that these recommendations are top notch.

So, drum roll please, this week’s amazing YouTuber is…KINGSLEY! 

 

If you have never heard of him, you have been missing out on something that is too grand to create a comparison for. Seriously though, Kingsley was one of the first vloggers I subscribed to on YouTube way back when, when I hadn’t developed my addiction (to the Internet, calm down mom) and I have been watching every one of his uploads. 

His videos are simply hilarious and brutally honest. He has many vlogs including ranting about things that happen to him in everyday life that most of us can relate to. Overexposed is a countdown he usually does towards the end of the year ranting about the trends that were overdone throughout the entire year. Last year he included “Cups” by Anna Kendrick, “Stay’ by Rihanna, the show “Catfish”, the phrase “turn up” and “Sharknado” and lost of other over-poular things that trended throughout 2013.

He also has a skit called “Really B Really?” which never fails to render me to tears with laughter. It’s basically a mini series involving three besties: Heather Ann, Beatrice and LaVodka and their crazy adventures. Mind you, he plays all of these characters!

My favourite part of Kingsley’s channel, I must say, is his “Ask Kingsley” section. The questions his audience ask are completely nonsensical, which means his answers are crazy funny and, at times,  a tad nuts.

So, go on and check him out, I guarantee you will be hooked!

YouTuber Of The Week: David So

Alright, alright, alriiight.

So, it’s Monday. Allow me to announce the very first YouTuber of the week! Please note that the YouTubers that I post per week under this title are my personal favourites, and that although my taste in comedy is pretty good, you are free to disagree.

Let’s cut to the chase.

This week it’s David So! Let me give you a bit of background so you understand where I’m coming from. David So is a Korean American vlogger, stand up comedian and even a singer. He has been doing stand up comedy in his hometown of Sacramento, CA since 2008 and created his YouTube channel called “DavidSoComedy” in 2011. Now, believe me when I tell you that his videos are über hilarious and that they will make your day 1,000 times better, no matter your mood.

If you are more interested in his musical side (he is unbelievably talented), he has a separate channel on YouTube called “DavidSoMusic” which is full of his awesome covers as well as some original tracks.

I have chosen him as the YouTuber of the week because he has a funny take on any issue thrown at him and is quite intelligent. He tackles social issues like obesity, fitness, relationships and much more. If you are having a not-so-great day, pop on over to his channel and laugh away the stress.