You’ve probably heard of the internet. If you haven’t— Google it. Once you’ve gotten your life together, check out YouTube—go ahead and Google that one, too. You’ll soon find yourself staring at a collage of videos, each tempting you to click with caps-lock titles and low-cut shirts. Where do you turn to now? Which poorly-rendered song cover should you click on? Which of the video game commentaries with the hyperbolic gamers pandering in the corner will fill your social needs? Which of the makeup tutorials is best to distract you from the inevitable emptiness of the existential void?
Tough these are all worthy questions, the answers will keep you on the surface of the infinite absurdity that is the Tube of You. To truly experience its wonders, you’ve got to know where to look—I’ve decided to be your guide.
Just as a disclaimer: my sense of humor revolves (at least as far as YouTube is concerned) almost entirely around sarcasm and satire. For this reason, almost every channel I watch with regularity has somebody “ranting” about something. It’s very therapeutic, in a way. This would include channels like “h3h3Productions” whose videos (that I have been binge watching instead of doing homework) hold a particular appeal to me.
Though h3h3 is run by a husband and wife team, hubby Ethan is usually the main attraction. Teir videos are some of the most intelligently absurd things I’ve ever seen as Ethan responds to videos, people and issues with the most endearing sardonicism EVER (classic click bait).
Seriously, h3h3 goes after the big guns—famous YouTubers, companies and even YouTube itself—but always with a purpose. He specifically goes after those with influence, people who can take it, which makes me like him even more—he doesn’t take the easy route and go after the little guy. But who really cares about morals and what not? Bottom line is, he’s ridiculously funny.
Another channel I’m rather obsessed with is “I Hate Everything.” Just like its name, this channel spews vile slander at everyone without mercy. Naw, I’m kidding. The channel features an articulate English guy talking in hyperbolic-fashion about the devilry associated with everything from Facebook to dolphins. He also has a fantastic series called “The Search for the Worst” where he reviews genuinely terrible movies in a quest to determine which crap merits the title of the crappiest crap. Maybe it’s his super British-y voice or the hell these movies are put through by this super British-y voice, but I am firmly a fan.
The last channel that I shall lead you to is not as widely known as the other two: “ADoseofBuckley.” Adam Buckley’s tagline is “Angry Humour from an Angry Man” (he’s Canadian, hence the extraneous “u”). Buckley puts out videos, like the previous two channels, about once a week. He speaks on controversial topics in a dry, bald-faced way with a tone of absolute irreverence. You might not always agree with what he says, but he does his research on any subject he makes a video on and, though he’d probably argue with me for the sake of his internet persona, it’s clear in many cases that he’s a guy with morals. He’s probably best known for his “Worst Songs of the Year” series that comes out at the end of every year— you’re bound to have run across them at some point during the awkward period where everyone keeps putting the wrong year on their homework. His other stuff is good, too—acerbic as all get out and just my cup of tea.
Now, as my roommates constantly chide me, all I ever listen to is loud, sometimes angry-sounding men. This is true, as I’ve definitely just demonstrated, but my question then is this: when they’re this pointedly satirical and this funny, does it really matter?
