Youtube Comedians: Performance in the Digital Era Bachelor’S Diploma Thesis

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Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Vojtěch Vokurka

YouTube Comedians: Performance in the Digital Era Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph. D.

2015

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Vojtěch Vokurka

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my supervisor, Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph.D., for agreeing to work on this thesis, for finding new and fresh approaches to the topic, and for his time.

Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 6

1. YouTube ...... 8

1.1 The Foundation of YouTube ...... 8

1.2 Technical Issues ...... 10

1.3 The Rise of Vlogging ...... 12

1.4 YouTubers Gone Mainstream ...... 15

2. Performance on a Computer Screen ...... 20

2.1 Process of Performance ...... 20

2.2 Influencing Factors ...... 23

2.3 Between Performance Art, Happening, and Stand-Up ...... 27

3. YouTube Comedians ...... 30

3.1 Grace Helbig – The Awkward One ...... 31

3.2 Mamrie Hart – The Inappropriate One ...... 36

3.3. Rhett and Link – The Curious Two ...... 41

3.4 Current Trends ...... 45

Conclusion ...... 48

Bibliography ...... 50

Primary Sources ...... 50

Secondary Sources ...... 53

Appendices ...... i

Appendix 1 – YouTube ...... i

Appendix 2 – Grace Helbig ...... iii

Appendix 3 – Mamrie Hart ...... iv

Appendix 4 – Rhett and Link ...... vi

Introduction

Over the last few years, the Internet has become an everyday part of people‘s lives in the Western society. One of the most highly visited websites is YouTube, a video-sharing platform. Not only does YouTube serve as a place where people can upload their home video and share it with their relatives, but also many individuals decide to make videos in which they express their opinion, or share their ideas on a daily basis, and upload them on the website. Vlogging, what is this trend called, begins to serve as an alternative to mainstream media and entertains the viewers all around the world. Recently, a community of vloggers has been developing in Los Angeles,

California, and their significance in the American culture rises every day as YouTube becomes a trend among the youth.

The aim of this thesis is to explore cultural relevance and place of YouTube in the world where people live their lives on the Internet. By examining the medium and its creators, it would be possible to see whether YouTube creators are able to offer an alternative source of information and entertainment, and create a content that would be able to compete with the mainstream media. This thesis focuses on the genre of comedy, especially.

In the first chapter, the phenomenon of YouTube is examined. Its foundation and main purpose are described, together with the technical issues and basic vocabulary, useful to orient oneself in the topic. Then, the vlogging as a new form of expressing oneself and its rising importance on the Internet are discussed, followed up by the

YouTubers‘ attempts to gain recognition in the traditional mainstream media.

Vlogging is compared and contrasted with distinctive art forms in the second chapter. Ideas presented in Richard Schechner‘s Performance Theory are applied to the

work of the vloggers, and the vlogging and the comedic content especially are defined as a stand-alone genre.

The last chapter consists of an analysis of the work of three prominent YouTube comedians and their channels with regards to their humor, comedic forms, style of their videos, their place in the community, relationship with the audience, and topics and themes covered in their videos. Moreover, the chapter focuses on current trends that are visible on YouTube today

Since YouTube is a relatively new platform, there are screenshots of

YouTubers‘ videos at the end of this bachelor‘s diploma thesis in the section

―Appendices‖ in order to make visualizing the medium easier.

1. YouTube

1.1 The Foundation of YouTube

―If anything is proved to traditional media, it is that new media is taking over, providing content that really changes the world and makes a difference,‖ says YouTube comedian Grace Helbig at the end of one of her videos (Helbig, ―Say Anything

Challenge‖). Looking directly to the camera with her head covered in duct tape. Despite being ironic at that moment, she is not so far from the truth, because Helbig and thousands of others with her took the tagline of YouTube, which reads ―Broadcast

Yourself‖, to their hearts and let the world continually watch their faces, ideas and lives.

YouTube, an internet server for uploading videos, is now in the middle of 2010‘s something that its creators, Chad Hurley, Steve Chan, and Jawed Karim, did not imagine when they founded the company in 2005. In that year, they got an idea for a website where they would be able to upload and share their homemade videos with one another. Thus, they took the advantage of knowing their way around the Internet, because they were working for PayPal, a company which allows online money transfer, and bought the domain www.youtube.com (Hopkins).

With the era of online sharing of almost everything right around the corner, their website met with success. Over 72 million individuals were said to visit YouTube each month (BBC News). People were signing up and posting minutes of their lives in a video form every day. In the first few years of YouTube‘s existence, the platform served its primary purpose, which was sharing of home video. However, the number of people who edited what they had shot, and started to contribute with their videos on a regular basis was growing. It was in 2006, when the owners of Google Inc. took the opportunity and bought the website for $1.65 billion (La Monica).

As the new owners slowly started making changes on the website, the users whose content showed higher production value were being more and more supported. In order to see ―whether YouTube … can evolve from a popular hub for home videos into an influential player in the entertainment‖, Google launched YouTube Original Channel

Initiative in 2012 (Oreskovic). The main aim of the project was to create original

YouTube channels covering almost every genre possible. In order to create a youthful alternative to mainstream media, ―[Google] began to push professional content and to adopt conventional broadcast strategies‖ (Morreale 117). Over 100 content producers were offered $100 million to embark on their dream projects. The diversity of the projects was immense, covering everything from situational comedy MyMusic and

CrashCourse, a series of lectures on topics taught at high schools, to channels oriented on fitness and bodybuilding and Phillip DeFranco‘s news channel (Hustvedt).

DeFranco especially serves as a great example of someone who took the money

Google invested in him and created a successful franchise according to his vision.

Before the Google Initiative, he run a channel where he expressed his opinion on issues which were talked about on television or in the newspaper. Nevertheless, not so long after receiving the investment, he hired a few employees, bought more cameras and rent new offices with a small studio (Oreskovic). After all, his effort paid off. His channel called SourceFed has now at the beginning of 2015 over 1.5 million subscribers.

Moreover, there are SourceFedNERD, the second channel DeFranco managed to launch, and ForHumanPeoples, a company for selling merchandise connected to

DeFranco‘s corporation (Manarino).

Although SourceFed is primarily a news channel, DeFranco‘s hosts are not trained newscasters. They almost exclusively come from comedic and acting background, so each story feels more like a sketch than the news (Patel). The founder of

SourceFed happened to figure out that the YouTube‘s most popular genre is comedy.

People come to YouTube seeking for entertainment from the day the website was founded. That means that even the news channel in order to be successful on YouTube has to be ―not only descriptive [, but also] performative‖ (Morreale 118).

1.2 Technical Issues

YouTube is often included on the list of websites which form so called Web 2.0.

This term was coined by Tim O‘Reilly on a conference about the future of the Internet in 2004. O‘Reilly predicted that the Internet would become more about the people who use it than those who create it (Zbiejczuk 11). In the true sense of the Web 2.0, these two groups even overlap as the users of the Internet are given the opportunity to co- create the content (Jenkins, Ford and Green 49).

Nowadays, people create their online identities and share their thoughts, photos and videos with others. Even though, YouTube is not a social network in a true sense, it most definitely has traits of one, such as personalization of viewed content and communication with other users. Instead of the act of ―friending‖ which connects the participants on other social networks, the videos themselves serve as a connection between the users on YouTube (Burgess 102).

Nevertheless, many scholars who focus on the new media find the term Web 2.0 misleading and label websites, such as YouTube, Facebook or Twitter, as ―Spreadable

Media‖. This kind of contemporary media is thoroughly discussed in a book by new media scholar Henry Jenkins and his colleagues which is conveniently called

Spreadable Media. The definition provided in the book says, that ―spreadability emphasizes producing content in easy-to-share formats … which make it easier to spread videos across the Internet‖ (6). That is possible, because the videos on YouTube are played through online flash players and do not have to be downloaded to be 10

watched. Nowadays, the videos can be embedded onto various websites, e.g. Facebook profiles, personal websites, or online discuss forums, allowing the videos to be spread even more widely.

In order to set the terms which are used in this thesis straight, this subchapter covers basic information about how YouTube works and explains basic vocabulary which can be encountered while talking about the network and other social media.

All YouTube videos (except for those which need age verification because of their inappropriate content) can be watched without logging in. However, it is only after logging in when the interactivity of the website reveals itself. To do so, the user has to create a Google account, or sign in with an existing one. Once signed up on YouTube, user‘s potential channel is created. Channel serves as a personal profile where user can manage the videos he/she created. Most users do not upload their own videos, so their experience on YouTube is rather passive. Nevertheless, it does not mean that this kind of user only watches the videos and does nothing else. Even a ―passive‖ user is active when talking about Web 2.0 or Spreadable Media.

The user can tell whether he/she liked a video by giving it a ―Thumbs up!‖ or a

―Thumbs down!‖ The number of people on both sides of the spectrum is shown under each video. This like/dislike system replaced a star system where users could evaluate each video on a scale from one to five stars. Above the bar of likes and dislikes, there is a view-counter which provides the exact number of views, i.e. how many times the video has been played. In addition to watching and liking, the user can also leave a comment in the comment section below the video. Every comment is visible both for the author of the video and other users and serves as a communication channel with the audience for the author. Not so frequent a way of communication is leaving a video response, i.e. uploading a video which automatically links itself to the original post.

Moreover, in a box right below the video, there is the name of the video and the author‘s name with a profile picture and a red sign which says ―Subscribe‖. If the user clicks the subscribe button, he/she will automatically receive a notification when the

YouTuber he/she subscribed to uploads a new video. The popularity of channels is often shown by the number of subscribers of these channels.

If a user wants other people to see the video he/she likes, he/she can do so by clicking the share button. Users can share either a URL link which transfers those who clicked it right on YouTube, or a video box on their websites, Facebook profiles,

Twitter accounts etc.

In order to be found by people who are most likely to enjoy them, videos are divided into categories after being uploaded on YouTube. Those who uploaded the video have to pick one of these categories: Autos & Vehicles, Comedy, Education,

Entertainment, Film & Animation, Gaming, Howto & Style, Music, News & Politics,

Nonprofits & Activism, People & Blogs, Pets & Animals, Science & Technology,

Sports, and Travel & Events. Moreover, each video can be tagged to be found more easily with a series of words which connect similarly tagged videos into one group.

1.3 The Rise of Vlogging

The videos made purposefully for YouTube can be included under an umbrella term vlog. Vlog is short for video blog. The term blog was first coined in 1999 by Peter

Merholz (Chapman) and evolved as ―a form of personal and subcultural expression‖

(Jenkins 151). When people began to use the Internet on a daily basis, they took the opportunity to express their opinion and be heard. Gradually, the early blogging became a form of amateur journalism and an alternative view on discussed issues. (The word blog itself comes from the expression web log meaning online journal.) Soon enough,

Web designers improved the sites providing the creation of a blog to make it easier for 12

new bloggers. The possibility of constant updating is only one of the differences between blogs and traditional journalism. Among other differences, there is also free will over what a blogger posts, whereas journalists are controlled by editors and other people who run their newspaper or magazines. Thus, blog can be defined as a form more private than magazine article, but not as private as diary (ibid. 178-9). With the foundation and break-out of YouTube, vlogging was only a next step. Similarly to mainstream audiovisual media which serve as an alternative to books. Vlog replaced blog to finish the evolvement in the same way as a video killed a radio star, after the radio star had assassinated Shakespeare.

A vlog, in its basic sense is a video in which a person talks to a camera on a particular topic. The phenomenon of a one-person monologue started being more prominent in the late 90‘s. At first, in various comedic forms and later in all kinds of dramatic performances. Even though this trend was driven by declining economic situation of theater troupes, the audience begin to ask for more works of this genre

(Bottoms 519).

Not long after the first vlogs on YouTube, a sense of a community was developed among vloggers, and YouTubers started to support one another. To get their videos more widely circulated, YouTubers often collaborate with their colleagues

(Jenkins 151). When a YouTuber appears in another YouTuber‘s video, the invitation is returned. This means that each vlogger gets a video for his/her own channel. YouTubers usually welcome an offer to collaborate, because the videos shot with other YouTubers have many advantages, e.g. fresh and unusual content for a vlogger‘s channel, views of the guest‘s subscribers, and the work of the vlogger onto more people‘s computer screens.

The opportunity for frequent collaborations between YouTubers is more possible because of the fact that many YouTubers live in Los Angeles. The City of Angles gradually became the center of YouTube creators due to various reasons. Mainly thanks to the fact that YouTubers are usually actors who moved to Hollywood to get a better chance to perform (Pham). Not only is posting videos on YouTube great for getting recognized more, but also the videos may serve as a good training for starting actors.

Therefore, Los Angeles is a place to be, when one wants to be a YouTube star.

While L.A. was becoming the capitol of YouTube, the company built a modern facility called YouTube Space LA to provide a place and equipment for the creators to shoot their videos (Lawler). Many prominent YouTubers take the opportunity they were given, and use the facility, usually for big collaborations and special projects. One of them was the YouTube Comedy Week, which was a set of live shows and special editions of YouTube comedians‘ videos held in May, 2013. The night shows ranging from stand-up comedy to musical numbers were broadcasted live on YouTube from the

YouTube Space and included both the Internet personalities and mainstream comedians

(YouTube Spotlight). All throughout the week, YouTubers attended various sessions where they could meet up with their subscribers.

However, the main event for both YouTube creators and their fans happens annually in Anaheim, California. VidCon, first held in 2010, is organized by brothers

Hank and John Green, who are known in the YouTube universe as the Vlogbrothers. In

2014, the event was visited by over 18,000 people who came to Anaheim to meet their favorite YouTubers. Hank and John Green prepared the full weekend program consisting of lectures given by the online stars, various video shoots, and meet-ups with fans (Hamedy).

Gradually, as the sense of the community was developed among the YouTube creators, various projects and events to recognize the work of the fellow YouTubers started to appear. The most prominent of all is most definitely the Streamy Awards.

Within the course of a few months, the viewers themselves vote for their favorite

YouTubers to be awarded by the Audience Choice Award, whereas the creators choose among their colleagues who is the best in various categories, e.g. the best male/female comedian, the best gaming channel, and the best first person channel (Jarvey). Project by project, the YouTube community is becoming a stand-alone universe in the entertainment industry.

1.4 YouTubers Gone Mainstream

In recent years, the websites belonging to the Web 2.0 have become a visible alternative for mainstream media. The main focus of the consumers shifted on the

Internet and social networks, and some scholars even argue that the ―user generated content has somehow displaced mass media in the cultural lives of everyday people‖

(Jenkins, Ford, and Green 15). No wonder that major entertainment production companies noticed the shift of the focus, signed deals with YouTube to create their own channels, and broadcast the latest movie trailers, TV promos and music videos online

(ibid. 50). This move is beneficial for everybody in the equation – viewers get free access to exclusive content, YouTube gets views, and the production companies get publicity. Moreover, they are able to avoid any dispute over copyright which has been a big problem since the foundation of YouTube when users had uploaded music and video owned by these companies which they had not been entitled to share.

As YouTube becomes an important player in the entertainment industry and mainstream media tries to blend in, individual YouTubers seem to go in the opposite direction and find their ways into the traditional media. However, this process is rather 15

slow and to get recognized widely and outside of YouTube, the creator needs more than the self-promotion. At this point, everything comes back to YouTube‘s first rule –

―collaboration-for-collaboration‖. Since even major players of the mainstream entertainment industry recognize YouTube as an important platform, many individuals known for their work in Hollywood accept an offer to appear as guests on YouTubers‘ channels. E.g. Darren Criss, star of Fox‘s hit TV series Glee, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, star of ABC‘s award winning series Modern Family, and even the First Lady of the USA,

Michelle Obama, appeared in videos of a popular vlogger and LGBT advocate Tyler

Oakley, whose fanbase consists of over 6,5 million subscribers. (Oakley)

After the collaboration, the YouTuber naturally expects something in return.

Although, the guest does not usually have the power to include the YouTuber in his/her television series or movie, the reward may be a mention on the guest‘s Twitter account which means free publicity. With more people watching their work, YouTubers become more interesting for mainstream producers. Thanks to recognition by well-known people and YouTubers‘ fresh approach, many online video stars expand into different media. The year 2014 was particularly rich in this kind of projects.

Some of the musicians whose work had been recognized only within the

YouTube community released their first official albums under major labels. Such as

Troye Sivan (over 3 million subscribers), Australia based musician and vlogger, who released his EP TRXYE in August 2014. With critics unanimously praising the album for Sivan‘s musical abilities, the lead single ―Happy Little Pill‖ peaked at number five on prestigious American Billboard Chart (Daw).

Similarly, in the film industry, YouTubers got the chance to reach out to wider audiences. On the Valentine‘s Day of 2014, Camp Takota came out. The movie starred

Grace Helbig, Mamrie Hart and Hannah Hart, three YouTube comedians and actors,

together with the audience of over 5 million subscribers. Camp Takota was based on

Mamrie Hart‘s script and directed by brothers Riedell, who are also famous YouTube creators. The movie‘s success was based mainly on ―unique ways to promote and distribute the film using the ladies loyal YouTube fan base‖ (Lazar). All three lead actors were constantly tweeting and talking about the upcoming movie on their channels. Moreover, Helbig posted a behind-the-scenes video each day of shooting to compensate for the absence of her daily show (DailyYou, ―Camp Takota Day 1‖).

Beside her movie appearance, Grace Helbig with her channel It’s Grace has been succeeding in other fields of entertainment industry. In January 2015, Helbig‘s pilot was picked up for a weekly comedy talk-show by American television company E!

Network (Stedman). The Grace Helbig Show started to air in April. Thus, Helbig became ―the only woman on late-night TV‖ (Zinoman). The fact that Helbig took the opportunity, however, concerned some members of her online fandom who expressed their disapproval and worried about her quitting YouTube. Fellow YouTubers stood in

Helbig‘s defense, e.g. Lee Newton, a host on DeFranco‘s channel, defends Helbig in one of SourceFed videos concerning vloggers‘ successes outside YouTube: ―What people forget with YouTube [is that] it gives people opportunity they would not otherwise have. … At the end of the day, … I am an actress [and] I am grateful for this platform. … I think [Helbig‘s success] is exciting‖ (SourceFed, ―YouTuber Gets a TV

Show‖). Later in the video, other hosts appreciate the fact that YouTubers have the absolute control over their content and they also claim that it is what makes YouTube videos better than traditional media‘s content where too many people often mean worse outcome. On that matter, Helbig spoke up while being interviewed on Today on

NBCNews: ―I really want to try to maintain the intimacy and the personal connection with the television show and that‘s going to be the real experiment‖ (Today).

Even though the hosts of SourceFed express their happiness with Helbig‘s success, they still feel the presence of a YouTube stigma, i.e. YouTube content is viewed as an inferior entertainment than what is on television. This stigma is rooted deep within society, ―where any message gains authority simply by being broadcast on network television‖ (Jenkins 180) and many YouTubers feel that people usually see their work as something less valuable than what is on television, just because it is free and on the Internet (The FineBros). Even Helbig herself states she was ashamed of her work on YouTube at first, and that she kept it a secret while participating in improvisation shows in New York City (Zinoman).

In addition to her film and television appearances, Helbig joined other YouTube comedians, e.g. Hannah Hart, Shane Dawson and Mamrie Hart, who published their books based on their YouTube channels. Similarly to her colleagues, Helbig‘s book is a non-fiction publication which is supposed to give life style advice in an entertaining manner. (―From ‗Tube to Text‖) Although Helbig‘s book is only a part of the recent trend, there is a New York Times-bestselling author of young adult novels among

YouTubers. It is John Green, a member of Vlogbrothers, who wrote an award-winning

YA novel The Fault in Our Stars (Standiford).

Besides the involvement in the mainstream culture, some YouTubers became prominent in other areas of social life. Few days after Barack Obama‘s 2015 State of the

Union Address, an interview session was organized inside the White House. Over a span of an hour, President Obama sat down with three major YouTube personalities

(Bethany Mota, Hank Green, and GloZell Green) to answer their questions which were often posed by the YouTubers‘ subscribers via Twitter and YouTube comments. In the interview, they touched upon topics such as education, racial issues, health care, and

foreign policy. The whole interview was obviously broadcasted live on YouTube

(Hilburn).

Lastly, YouTubers often speak up on behalf of the oppressed or discriminated.

That is why many Internet stars participate in charity work. The focus of their help spans everything from helping developing countries and cancer awareness campaigns to advocacy for LGBT community (Bergania). As for the last category, the aforementioned Tyler Oakley is probably the best example of a YouTuber participating in the charity work. He successfully tested the loyalty of his fans when he asked his viewers to donate to Trevor Project, an American organization providing suicide hotline for youth. Oakley‘s goal ($150,000) was reached after six days and after a month the campaign ended with over $500,000 raised (Prizeo).

2. Performance on a Computer Screen

2.1 Process of Performance

In 1977, Professor Richard Schechner from New York University, a specialist in performance studies, published his essays in the book Performance Theory. In the introduction to the collected essays, Schechner enumerates all the acts which can be defined as a performance. On the list, there is everything ―from the ritualizations of animals (including humans) through performances in everyday life‖ (xvii). While theater is only an occasional and festive branch of the whole performance tree, the everyday performances among which he includes the social roles people play at work, or with friends, are performed permanently. Even though Schechner deals with an immense number of performative acts, the world of the Internet and online videos is too new a concept to be included. However, he talks about the performance theory broadly enough that many of his concepts can be applied on the YouTube videos.

For the purposes of this diploma thesis, the aspects which should be examined are most definitely ―the deep structures‖ Schechner talks about. By those structures, he means the process of preparation for a performance both by performers and spectators.

For the former group, the process includes training, workshop, and rehearsal. Whereas for the latter, it means deciding to attend, dressing, going, settling in, and waiting. In addition to the pre-performance structures, there are also some structures playing their parts after the piece is performed. These are called cooling off and aftermath (Schechner xviii).

Despite usual silence surrounding the creative process of many YouTubers, some kind of parallel on the preparatory process of the performers can be based on various hints dropped either in the YouTubers‘ videos, or in the interviews with these

creators. The first level of the structures, training, is defined as ―the development of a number of communicative skills‖ (ibid. 320) and learning to have an appropriate reaction to a situation that arises. This includes training of improvisation skills which are in fact the art of adaptation in a various situations (ibid. 168). The improvisation is a significant feature of the YouTube community. As was mentioned before, the major part of YouTubers has an acting background. Among them, there are members of well- known comedy theater schools, e.g. Lee Newton from SourceFed is an alumni of the

Groundlings, a school which has been attended by top mainstream comedians, many of which landed as regulars on Saturday Night Live. (The Groundlings) Moreover, many

YouTubers said when asked about their background that they started in improvisation groups performing live on stage in front of an audience (Comedy Spot Nation).

Attending those improvisation shows is most definitely helpful while making the videos. YouTubers improve their ability to react in unpredictable situations which may arise even though their basic shows are often scripted, as seen for example in Mamrie

Hart‘s blooper reels at the end of her videos (Hart, ―Frozen Drink!‖). However, recent trends show that YouTube is stepping forward to live broadcasting which will be discussed later in the thesis. Thus, the training of the improvisation skills is necessary.

Contrarily, the presence of a workshop is not visible during the creative process. Schechner sees workshop as an intergroup playing with the material (110).

While this is possible within a theater group or film cast, YouTubers most usually work alone. A parallel to a workshop can be a brainstorming of an idea for a video, figuring out the setting (both place and camera) and looking for a costume and props if needed before the actual shooting of the video.

Lastly, at the end of the preparation process, there is a rehearsal. In case of the

YouTube videos, there is a significant overlap between the rehearsal and the actual

performance. Although the run through before going on air is necessary, the pace of posting the videos on the Internet is too quick for YouTubers to rehearse before the shoot. Moreover, the possibility of editing cancels out the need to rehearse. Therefore, the rehearsing is replaced by getting multiple takes. A lot of YouTubers use this kind of material at the end of their videos where they often put a series of unsuccessful attempts, e.g. the aforementioned Mamrie Hart.

Given that a slight shift happens in the preparatory process of performers, there is even more significant shift in the audience‘s process. However, the first part stays more or less unaltered. A spectator decides to attend a performance by his/her own free will. This is done by his/her clicking a link to play the video. The rest of the structure, everything from dressing to waiting for the performance after settling in, has become irrelevant. Technology made it possible for everyone to watch YouTube on their computer screens or on their mobile devices. Thus, the social aspect of attending the performance vanished. However, the spectators have a chance to interact with other people who watch the same performance they watch. The interactivity of the social event transferred into the comment sections below the videos and on social media platforms.

In this sense, the post-performance acts which are cooling off and aftermath can be applied on YouTube videos, as well. While cooling off is done by getting the spectators out of the performance and resting the stage, the aftermath is the act of discussing the performance and spreading the word about it. (Schechner xviii). As mentioned above, the viewers of the online videos do not watch the performances in one particular place, that is why the cooling off can be omitted. Nevertheless, the aftermath is very important in the YouTube community. There is a massive concurrence among vloggers, so they have to use any means possible to get the world know about their new

work. That is when the social networks step in. Vloggers are used to announcing every new video via their Twitter accounts, or Instagram and Facebook profiles. As an example can serve a tweet from Phillip DeFranco which contains a brief description of what is the video about and a link to it: ―NEW FAMILY VLOG! Hope you enjoy it …‖

(DeFranco). Similarly, the spectators experience the aftermath when they comment under the video, share the video to spread it, or tweet about it.

2.2 Influencing Factors

Another interesting part of Schechner‘s text book is the interactivity between the performers, director, text, and audience (62). All these units are interconnected and influenced by the time and space, i.e. when and where the piece is performed and received. In classic theater the interconnectedness is expressed by this chart:

Figure 2.1 (Schechner 62)

However, a shift appears again when talking about the new media. The borders between the units of the top row, which include text, performer, and director, are so blurred it would be perfectly appropriate to say that they are all embodied in the person of a vlogger. Since he/she gets the idea of a video and writes it himself/herself as well as directs and shoots the video, the performer is usually the only person in the creative process. Therefore, vlogs can be defined as so called one handers, which became 23

popular in the 90‘s with plays by such authors as Spalding Gray, who wrote, directed and performed his plays all by himself (Schlueter 514). The vloggers then attempt to dramatize their lives by becoming ―a performing persona or role‖ (Bottoms 520). Even though they talk to their audience as themselves, they perform a certain role they chose to present to the viewers. As Jenkins, Ford, and Green mention, their style is what makes people watch their videos, and this ―involves some degree of self-branding‖ (59).

Gradually, vloggers are building a business centered on themselves by ―active engagement in the [online] space‖ (Jenkins, Ford, and Green 93). However, this space is only virtual. The place where the performers act and the spectators watch the performance is irrelevant. Although the vloggers can be in a studio, or vlog from their home, the viewers can watch the product everywhere where they get the Internet access.

Moreover, the very essence of vlogging completely denies the existence of the fourth wall, because the vloggers talk directly to the audience all the time. The audience is so significant a part of the illusion of space, that the illusion itself does not exist (Hamilton

21). Thus, Space can be completely taken out of the equation.

Interestingly enough, Time plays an important role while talking about

YouTube. Even though it is a vivid and very actual medium, the videos stay on the

Internet forever unless the author blocks them or deletes them. Many YouTubers draw their ideas from current issues and topics which makes many videos incomprehensible after a short period of time. The most views a video gets happen within the first few days when the subscribers see it on their YouTube subscription and Twitter feeds. This is visible from the statistics below any YouTube video. As an example, there is a chart for the YouTube comedian Miranda Sings and her video ―Singing Your Tweets‖ published on January 15, 2015:

Figure 2.2 (Sings)

The vertical category shows the number of views while the horizontal one represents the individual days from the posting of the video up to present day. What is visible is that most views were harvested on the first day. The video was relevant for a few more day and it was gradually losing its attractivity. Similar trend can be seen in the majority of vloggers‘ videos.

It all correspond with the phenomenon most prominent on the Internet – viral.

When something goes viral, it means that it spread all around the internet and the vast majority of users have encountered it (PCMag). However, a video does not have to be new to become viral. If the most viewed video in the history of YouTube, a music video to South Korean singer Psy‘s ―Gangnam Style‖ is put into the same graph as Miranda

Sing‘s aforementioned video, this is what it looks like:

Figure 2.3 (Officialpsy)

The peak is not at the very beginning, but later in the first quarter. The video was not mentioned to be spread worldwide right after the publishing, and the surfers had to find it first and share with their friends to make it viral. However, the tendency in

weakening of interest is there as well. Nothing stays viral forever. The creators can only awaken the interest when they upload some new material which is either on purpose, or by YouTube recommendation mechanism linked to the original video – those are the smaller peaks later in the graph.

The last part of the performance web is the audience. As was mentioned numerous times throughout the thesis, the audience plays the most important part of the

YouTube community. Not only do the viewers interact with their favorite vloggers in the comment sections below the videos, but also they sometimes become the co-creators of the video. That happens for example in a Q&A videos which are very frequent.

YouTubers usually read the subscribers‘ questions and answer them within the course of the video (IISuperwomanII). At SourceFed, they take the interconnectivity even further when they announce a movie which will be discussed in an upcoming episode of their movie club, and let the viewers watch the movie and shoot response videos with their opinions which the editors later include in the final video (SourceFed, ―Hellboy

(Movie Club!)‖).

Considering everything discussed above, the visualization of the influencing factors of performing applied on vlogging would look like this:

Figure 2.4 (author’s own work)

The text, performer, and director become one singular element – the vlogger.

This person interacts with the audience more than ever before, thanks to the social media and communication channels available on the Internet. The main element which influences the performer and the audience is time. Since the number of videos uploaded in a week is very high and the transferred message often contains contemporary references, many videos have to be watched immediately after posting to be relevant and enjoyed by the audience at the highest level.

2.3 Between Performance Art, Happening, and Stand-Up

Should the videos of the vloggers be compared to a distinctive genre, many elements of this form lean towards the performance art and happening. These experimental art forms originated in the late 1950‘s as an avant-garde form which saw itself as ―the antithesis to theatre‖ (Parr 25). Similarly, the entertainment offered by

YouTube plays a role of an alternative to mainstream television, and like the performance art, vlog in its origin ―comment[ed] on texts written for … mainstream‖

(Harding 3). Moreover, the performance art challenged classic relationship between artist, artwork, and audience which is noticeably altered in the work of the vloggers, as explained above (Parr 25).

Another similarity between vlogging and the performance art is the controversial themes both of these art forms deal with. While the original performers often included guns, nudity, and sex (Ward 3), the vloggers do not go so far. However, the controversy is present (Jenkins, Ford, and Green 93). On one hand, in the topics that YouTubers touch upon, e.g. satire, drugs, and sexuality. On the other hand, in language some vloggers use.

Needless to say, there are doubts whether to include online video in the performance art, or not. Main problem arises when the definition provided by prominent 27

theater scholars is applied to the videos. The definition says that the performance art

―can be any situation that involves four basic elements: time, space, the performer‘s body (or its presence in a medium) and a relationship between performance and audience‖ (Carlson 114). Despite the presence of three of those elements, the space is absent. Still, the vlogs can be included since video as a form of a medium was used in early performances (Smith). Only the real space has been replaced by the virtual one.

The viewers‘ interactivity with the medium that is YouTube video is similar to the situation when audience members are dragged into the performance during happenings. Even though the pre-recorded videos lack the spontaneity of the happening, technological advancement makes it possible to substitute for this art form almost perfectly. What makes this transition possible is a feature offered by Google to signed- up users. Instead of uploading a video, YouTuber can organize a Hangout on Air

(Google+). This feature offers a possibility of live broadcasting on the YouTube channel. After the end of the session, the recording of it is saved and posted on the channel, in order the viewers who miss it can watch it later. Nevertheless, the full experience comes when a spectator watches it live. He/she can leave a comment under the live stream, or tweet the YouTuber, in order to intervene in the course of the video.

With regards to the lighter approach that is adopted by YouTubers in their videos, vlogs of the various comedians can be compared to the stand-up comedy. This from is typical for the fast pace of jokes in one uninterrupted monologue consisting of telling various stories centered around one topic (Zoglin 514). Interestingly enough, a stand-up comedian Aisha Tyler compares YouTube creators to her own genre saying: ―I find vlogging terrifying. With stand-up I know when I am going to get right away. On

YouTube you do not know what you are going to get back from the other side until the first comment‖ (The Grace Helbig Show). Considering the fact that stand-up comedy

was present during the YouTube Comedy Week, it is undoubtedly clear that these two forms are very close.

3. YouTube Comedians

As mentioned in chapter 1, comedy is a significant genre on YouTube. The free will that is not controlled by the large networks and corporations and easy access allow starting comedians to show their skills and ideas, gain audience and last, but certainly not least, get the immediate feedback. Still now, years after the foundation of the website, people visit YouTube to find primarily the entertainment and relaxation.

Further in this chapter, the work of four (two of them work as a duo) YouTube comedians is analyzed in detail. These comedians are Grace Helbig, Mamrie Hart, and

Rhett and Link. All these creators are gained a major significance in the field of vlogging. Helbig and Hart, together with Hannah Hart (not related with Mamrie Hart), form something what is known in the vlog-o-sphere as ―The Holy Trinity of YouTube‖

(Goldstein). Since they have become close friends through collaborations, they show up in one another‘s videos so often that their fan bases almost united. Moreover, they go on tours together performing live shows, shot a movie together, and started being recognized by the mainstream media. The subscribers‘ base of ―The Holy Trinity‖ consists of almost 5 million users.

As for Rhett and Link, they are highly respected among their colleagues, who often invite them to their shows (SourceFed, ―Video Games Make You Smart‖). Their work covers everything from a talk-show, music videos, and regular vlogging.

Moreover, their videos show a high production value, because they slightly step out of the regular home-made vlogging and can be seen rather as a small production company.

Their subscribers reach over 6 million (Good Mythical Morning).

Besides the fact that the chosen YouTubers are major names, another criterion was that they all live in Los Angeles and participate in many activities within their community. 30

Last, but not least, an undeniable part of deciding which YouTubers to cover was whether the author of this thesis enjoys their work, or not.

3.1 Grace Helbig – The Awkward One

When someone who is new to the community of vloggers starts surfing the webs of YouTube, sooner or later he/she runs into a blonde (or brunette, before she starts questioning her life choices) woman who stares into a camera and everything the viewer hears is an awkward silence. Her name is Grace Helbig. She was born and raised in

New Jersey, after college lived in New York City and currently resides in Los Angeles.

Back in New York, she gained her comedic background when she started to participate in sketch comedy groups performing in various clubs all around the city (DailyYou,

―Draw My Life‖). Once when asked to babysit a dog of her neighbors which died within the first few days and Helbig did not have anything better to do, she turned on a camera, talked about her day and posted it on YouTube. Her personality and jokes attracted a lot of viewer, so she continued posting (Streamy Awards, ―Daily Grace

Acceptance Speech‖). With the rising number of views, it was only a matter of time when major YouTube creators‘ companies acknowledge her existence. Thus, Helbig was offered a contract by My Damn Channel, a comedy network that harvests new voices in comedy and provides their comedians‘ YouTube channels with resources and publicity (My Damn Channel). Helbig made videos under the supervision of the company up to 2014 on her channel DailyGrace (Eördögh).

However, at the beginning of 2014, when she discussed the renewal of the soon- to-be-expired contract, Helbig found out that she was not a rightful owner of any of her videos made for My Damn Channel and decided not to renew the contract. She got off the Internet for a few weeks and came back with a brand new channel It’s Grace. Her

subscribers did not hesitate and got used to the new channel very quickly (Miller). The number of subscriptions passed 2 million bar a year after her comeback to YouTube.

Nevertheless, Helbig‘s transition was not completely without problems. For legal reasons, she was not entitled to use any of her concepts and trademark taglines.

Her audience was used to a certain routine and style which she was forced to change while launching the new channel. Ironically, the inability to continue without the significant change in form led Helbig to rebuild her brand and step up her game. In order to keep up with her busy schedule, Helbig decided to stop posting her videos on a daily basis and rather upload a video every other day. Moreover, she went back to basics and built up her Fridays around vlogging in its true sense which means no sketches, just her day and a camera (Helbig, ―Welcome to It’s Grace‖). Despite the currently altered format, when analyzing Helbig‘s work both the videos of her old channel and the new one are examined.

The rest of the week consists of very short videos which center on Helbig‘s personality. The fast pace of her videos is created by numerous jump cuts. According to the vlogger herself, the videos are edited in this manner to keep the viewers‘ attention in the hectic world (Zinoman). Helbig‘s soft look of a thin model-like blonde is juxtaposed with her jokes filled with self-irony, occasional vulgarisms and embarrassing stories.

Throughout the years, she perfected the awkwardness to the highest level. Any time she says something inappropriate or does not deliver her joke in a way it could be considered funny, her subscribers expect the apologetic look to the camera and a few more seconds of silence over the bearable limit. The fact that Helbig does not purposefully edit out the missed jokes in her videos is interesting since she is able to cut them out. As she said numerous times, she did not write scripts for her videos. All she

usually has is an idea for a video and a program for video editing (Amy Poehler‘s Smart

Girls).

Among the themes occurring in Helbig‘s videos, there are everyday life, her family, contemporary issues and cultural events, and fashion and other topics which are under the ordinary circumstances centered primarily on women. However, Helbig takes her own approach and reverses the usual women centered videos upside down. Thus, when a girl stumbles upon a video titled ―100 Ways to Be Sexy‖, she learns everything from useful advices, such as not to smell like a fish, over to things that may work (crab walking instead of regular walking), or completely random tips – pushing children, running up to them and telling them they are dreaming (DailyYou, ―100th Ways to Be

Sex‖). Helbig built up her whole Friday segment of her old channel called ―Sexy

Friday‖ around her ―awkward attempts to be sexy‖ (Zinoman). The clumsiness and awkwardness of the comedian is glorified also in Helbig‘s ―How To‖ videos, which were typical for Thursdays. On Thursdays, Helbig parodied tutorial videos when she attempted to cook (Daily You, ―How to Make Brownies‖), or give a fashion advice in a form of putting an extra-large T-shirt over every outfit (DailyYou, ―How to Dress for a

Date‖).

Similarly, other days of a week used to be themed. In addition to ―Sexy Friday‖ and ―Thursday How To‘s‖, there were ―Miscellaneous Monday‖, ―Tuesday‘s

Commenting on Comments‖, and ―Wednesday Reviews‖ (O‘Connor). Her audience was well aware of that, so when Helbig did not have any idea of what to talk about, the only thing left for her was to tweet out the question what the viewers wanted to watch her discuss at the particular day and they already knew what to tweet back (DailyYou,

―One Direction‖).

Helbig‘s relationship with her subscribers is shown at its finest in her Tuesday videos. Then, she answers her fans questions left on any social media possible, including the comments under her latest video, tweets, and Facebook comments.

However, if a subscriber really wants a serious answer, he/she is not likely to get it. The whole bit consists of Helbig reading the name of the person who asks, in order to, in her own words, ―haze the crap out of them‖ (DailyYou, ―I Smell Like Cheese‖). This basically means she alters the name of the subscriber in a way the subscriber‘s mean schoolmates would do it. When she is done with that, she says: ―You‘ve been hazed!‖ in a deep voice and proceeds to the actual question. Nevertheless, her answers are usually completely misplaced, nor does she often get to the end of the comment. The hazing was replaced with praising after Helbig had left My Damn Channel (Helbig, ―Vomiting on Your Comments‖).

Although Helbig‘s mean and laid-back attitude towards her viewers may be only an act, she does heavily guard her private life and does not talk about it in her videos.

Contrarily to other YouTubers whose partners often play a significant role in their vlogs, e.g. Colleen Ballinger, whose boyfriend shows up in a majority of her videos

(ABC News). Helbig‘s silence about the identity of her boyfriend became a running joke both in her videos and among her fans. It all concludes in one of her videos when she decides to finally reveal the truth. As always, the answer does not come, because

Helbig is being interrupted each time she starts off the sentence. Once by a cough seizure, another time by an anaconda which is supposedly pulling her out of the frame by her leg (DailyYou, ―My Boyfriend‖).

Contrarily, her parents and brothers are one of the reoccurring themes. Helbig‘s main focus is on her mother who works as a high school English teacher and her younger brother, a gay biologist. Both of these family members repeatedly occurs in her

videos, usually around holidays when Helbig‘s family gets together. Then, the main source of humor comes from the generation gap between Helbig and her mother

(DailyYou, ―A Family Affair‖). The vlogger herself repeatedly admitted that her parents did not approve of her online career and did not understand what Helbig did for a living.

It all changed when she scored her own late night television show. In Helbig‘s words:

―[They] can finally tell [their] friends that [I] do things now‖ (The Late Late Show with

James Corden).

Due to her responsibilities for the show and other commitments, Helbig reduced the quantity of posted videos. Thus, the program arrangement is slightly altered.

However, each of her thematic segments appears once in a while. Recently, she added short bits of her podcast Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig onto her channel (Helbig,

―Not Too Deep with Chester See‖) and a vlog segment presented at the end of the week with the footage collected during the past week. This segment feels very refreshing and lively, because Helbig carries her camera with her at almost all times, so her subscribers get even more intimate look at their favorite comedian (Helbig, ―FriDAIRY: London and Ireland and Drunk‖).

Either way, all of the Helbig‘s videos are very short, typically around 4 or 5 minutes long. When editing her videos, Helbig relies heavily on jump cuts, in order to be quick to maintain people‘s attention (Zinoman). Usually, her videos start with a one liner, then, it cuts to the quick intro (which used to be My Damn Channel logo, now, it is It’s Grace written over the screen on a white background). After the intro, Helbig explains what the video is about and starts off with her bit.

During the video, Helbig talks directly to the audience and addresses her viewers as you by which she creates ―an asynchronous, mediated monologue tailored to a non- present audience‖ (Frobenius 59). Her audience that will hear and see her only after

posting the video is asked to leave a comment, subscribe to the channel, or share and like the video. Phrases like these are typical for YouTubers to include them in their videos and form a set of ―genre specific features‖ (ibid.). Unlike other YouTubers,

Helbig usually expresses these kinds of message nonverbally, often in a form of text during or at the end of the video.

Besides the straight forward addressing, the viewers feel more included thanks to the setting of Helbig‘s videos. They are usually shot in Helbig‘s apartment, with the vlogger sitting by the table in her home office, or in her living room. Camera angle makes it possible to see her from the shoulders to the top. Occasionally, she uses the accessories she has on her table, or within the reach (see Appendix 2).

As for the special effects, even though the videos are accompanied by a background royalty free music that many YouTubers use (MyHarto), Helbig is fond of pasting in both the aforementioned silence and popular songs. Moreover, Helbig inserts photos and the screenshots of the subscribers‘ comments in her videos when needed

(see Appendix 2).

3.2 Mamrie Hart – The Inappropriate One

―Lady Gaga and I have quite a bit in common. She married the night and I married the knight. Got drunk in Medieval Times in Las Vegas. One thing led to another. Let‘s just say I had armor burn the next day‖ (Hart, ―Lady Gaga‘s Tasty

Monster‖). If there is a quote that would sum up the humor and personality of Mamrie

Hart, it is most definitely the one above. It has everything a Mamrie Hart joke usually has – it is a pun in its core, alcohol gets mentioned, and at the end, there is a cheap sexual innuendo.

When launching her channel, Hart took advantage of her previous employment as a bartender which she did after moving to New York pursuing her dream to become 36

an actor and comedian (Hart, ―Mamrie Hart‘s Gin and Bear It!‖). Her experience in a field of alcoholic beverages, together with her fondness for popular culture came in handy when she founded a channel called You Deserve a Drink. Over there, she began to shoot short cocktail manuals of her own invention. To spice things up, Hart picks a celebrity who seems to need a drink in a particular week, and dedicates the cocktail to him/her. What follows is a series of inappropriate comments on the celebrity‘s expanse and uncountable references to his/her work.

In addition to the regular videos centered on celebrities and popular culture, Hart came up with a few specials. First, there is ―YouTube Deserve a Drink‖ where celebrities are replaced by Hart‘s YouTube colleagues who usually appear in their episodes as guests and help Hart with cocktails while listening to their friend making fun of them (Hart, ―YTDAD: Hank Green‘s Mangria‖). Second, Hart leaves celebrities at rest when a holiday appears in the calendar. At times like these, she shoots an episode of ―Alcoholidays‖ which means preparing a signature drink in honor of what is celebrated (Hart, ―Alcoholidays: Santa‘s Snack‖). Third, when Hart gets tired of preparing and drinking cocktails, she is ready to take shots. That is when a segment called ―Quickshots‖ gets an episode (Hart, ―Quickshots: Friendsips!‖).

No matter which one of these a viewer watches, the style stays the same. The viewer is snowed under with a rapid fire of puns. ―A pun is basically a play on words in a way that suggests two or more meanings which are usually incompatible and thus a humorous effect is created‖ (Dvořáková 2). Hart, being called a pun master, is said to have perfected her mastery during the years of performing in clubs in New York City

(What‘s Trending). In her videos, she is sometimes seen with a list of puns she has invented, thus, it is possible to say her videos are partly scripted. In contrast to Helbig whose videos are said to be unscripted and made watchable thanks to the editing (Amy

Poehler‘s Smart Girls). However, Hart often improvises and thinks of new jokes during the shooting (Hart, ―Jennifer Love Blewitt‖).

Her creative process is shown in blooper reels, which Hart puts at the end of her videos. The mispronunciations, jokes that did not make the cut, and uncontrollable bursts of Hart‘s laughter are edited and form a big part of the episode (Hart, ―Mamrie

Hart‘s Gin and Bear It!‖). Similarly, when the alcohol gets out of hands, Hart sometimes has to admit at the very beginning of the video that either herself, or the technology failed, and the footage her viewers are about to see is what is left (Hart,

―Hank Green‘s Mangria‖).

Not only the amount of alcohol, but also other aspects of Hart‘s videos are controversial. Her humor often borders on the offensive towards the celebrities, sometimes even crosses the line completely. Moreover, every other joke is a double- meaning sexual innuendo. Controversial is also the language Hart uses. Vulgarisms are usually left un-bleeped, contrarily to Helbig‘s videos, where the occasional swear-words get drowned out. Nevertheless, thanks to the fact that Hart‘s channel is under her own supervision, she is able to leave the vulgarisms as they are, and tell anything about anyone, tied only by her own conscience.

Most episodes of You Deserve a Drink follow the same pattern. At first, Hart introduces herself together with the celebrity that deserves a drink. Then, she lists the ingredients needed for the drink, which is followed by the preparation itself. In process,

Hart drops her puns. Throughout the years, she managed to create some trademark patterns which are used in each episode. E.g. ―Too many of these and I‘ll be on Stutter

Island1‖ (Hart, ―Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Slumber Par-Tea‖), or ―What do my show and the

1 Leonardo DiCaprio starred in a movie called Shutter Island.

movie Frozen have in common? They‘re both full o‘ laughs2‖ (Hart, ―Frozen Drink!‖).

Closing the episode, Hart challenges her viewers to build in a drinking game by making the cocktail, re-watching the video, and drinking every time she makes a pun. As mentioned, the blooper reel appears before the very end.

Hart‘s videos are usually around 5 or 6 minutes long. The set on which they are shot changed throughout the years, according to Hart‘s current residence, however, the comedian always stands behind a counter, like a bartender, in the middle of the frame, making it possible for the viewers to see her from the waist up. All the props and ingredients are on the counter (see Appendix 3). Hart talks directly to the viewers most of the time. Exceptionally, she refers to Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart, who are out of frame, but usually present during the shooting. They are heard to verbally react to

Hart‘s comments from behind the frame from time to time (Hart, ―Gwen Stefani‘s

Gwender Bender‖).

Recently, Hart decided to include live Hangouts in between the episodes which she began to call ―Happy Hour‖, because they last around an hour and involve alcoholic beverages. These videos are broadcasted live directly from Hart‘s den (Hart, ―Happy

Hour January‖). They serve as a communication channel with her subscribers, a feature which was not a habit of Hart‘s in the past. All of the vlogger-audience interaction was happening on her other channel Mametown. This channel‘s content is also primarily comedy, however, it is more or less like regular vlog. Unlike You Deserve a Drink, Hart shoots Mametown by herself, unless it is a collaboration, or unless her dog Beanz is to be counted. And Beanz usually is, because Hart‘s dog is a main topic of many of her videos (Mametown, ―Beanz Unleashed‖). The videos are around 5 minutes long, posted irregularly once a week.

2 One of the main characters in the movie is called Olaf.

The setting of Mametown is less formal. Similarly to Hangouts, the videos are shot in a living room and Hart is visible only from the shoulders up (see Appendix 3).

Even though she cannot help herself and drop a pun every now and then, Hart relies on different kind of humor. Despite still being sassy and inappropriate, Hart invented a few segments for her new channel. Sometimes, she does character work, presenting the reoccurring characters, such as a Mametown correspondent Pumpernickel Stevens, who usually compiles a list of top ten things which are related to the current issues

(Mametown, ―Top 10: Hotties Presidents‖), or Tiny Mouth, who is said to be Hart‘s relative from the South. While making use of her Southern heritage, Hart/Tiny Mouth gives advice to whatever her viewers ask her (Mametown, ―Tiny Mouth Takeover‖).

As herself, she answers her subscribers‘ questions in a segment called ―Mask Me

Anything‖. She applies a face mask on her face and by the time she is supposed to take it down she runs through the questions (Mametown, ―Mask Me Anything: The

Reckoning‖). Another reoccurring segment is a play on haul videos which are typical for YouTube beauty girls and lifestyle gurus. Typically, a haul video is a presentation of cosmetics products or home decorations purchased by a YouTuber within the last weeks. However, Hart‘s version consist of shopping in discounts and showing her viewers what she bought for ten dollars in total (Mametown, ―Ten Dollar Haul, Y‘All‖).

In 2014, production company Astronauts Wanted chose Hart for her promptness to host their new travel show Hey USA which was thanks to Hart‘s online followers heavily based on social media. Moreover, her co-host was no other than her best friend,

Grace Helbig. The destinations around the USA were picked from the fans‘ Twitter suggestions. Hosting of the show requires quick reactions in all kinds of situations, from riding a dog sled in Alaska to helping out with a drag show propagation in

Provincetown, Massachusetts (Astronauts Wanted, ―Look at All Those Doggie Butts‖,

―Gorgeous, Leave It. Don‘t Touch It.‖). It seems that Hart did well as the host, because she was asked to return for the second season, which was shot in April, 2015. Due to

Helbig‘s busy schedule, however, she was replaced by other YouTubers who would accompany Hart on her travels one at a time (HeyUSA). During the shooting of the show, only a short version of the episodes is posted on YouTube. After the post- production, the whole episodes are available online on the show‘s website.

3.3. Rhett and Link – The Curious Two

Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal have been working together as a comedy duo for a long time. From two friends who met in the first grade, they became co-workers and successful YouTube comedians and musicians (Rhett & Link, ―About‖). The span of their work is enormous. They make sketch comedy, funny music videos, parody commercials, podcast, and a daily talk show. Contrarily to the two female comedians covered in the previous subchapters, the final product of Rhett & Link‘s creative process is a work of more people than the YouTubers alone. There are people operating cameras, soundmen/soundwomen, and other crew members. However, the creative part still stands on the two comedians (Good Mythical MORE).

At the time they launched their first channel, Rhett & Link focused on writing and performing comedy music videos. As they said in one episode of their podcast Ear

Biscuits, the first song they ever wrote together was for their mutual friend‘s wedding in

2000. After the success they had with their friends, Rhett & Link‘s wives encouraged them to continue writing. Thus, they sign up on YouTube and created the channel Rhett

& Link. One of the first videos they uploaded was the mentioned wedding song with altered lyrics – ―Unibrow Song‖ in 2006, and the channel is active to this day (Rhett &

Link, ―Our Song Writing Process‖).

Still, they write catchy tunes and clever lyrics together. According to the comedians themselves, the process of writing is very cooperative. In the first phase, one of them usually comes up with an idea for a song, then, they try to think of as many jokes as possible on a given topic, and only later compose the music (ibid.). In their music videos, they both sing and Rhett is sometimes seen play guitar. The music videos are shot on various locations, both outside and in a studio. They often include special effects, and seem very professional, judging by the props, costumes and editing (Rhett

& Link, ―My Belly Button‖).

This cannot be said about low-budget local commercials that can be found on

Rhett & Link‘s channel. These videos are a propagation for local companies and services, e.g. Cuban gynecologist, or local company which sells mobile houses (Rhett &

Link, ―Epic and Honest Mobile Home Commercial‖). One of these commercials even sparked up controversy after being published in 2009. It is ―Black and White People

Furniture – Red House Commercial‖. This furniture store commercial features employees and customers of Red House Furniture, telling how much they love to work for the company, or to buy their new furniture there. However, each person says either

―I‘m black,‖ or ―I‘m white,‖ within their bit according to the color of their skin. The commercial concludes with the tag line of the company, which says that both black and white people can enjoy shopping at Red House (Rhett & Link, ―Black and White People

Furniture – Red House Commercial‖). The store itself is located in North Carolina, the homestate of both Rhett and Link, thus, the commercial may target the racial issues of the American South. Out of all the comedians covered in this thesis, Rhett & Link seem to create the most of a social commentary and not only comedy for comedy‘s sake.

Unlike, Helbig who said she does not do political and social commentary, and Hart who

deals with the issues discussed in society, however, in her case it is mostly tabloid material and popular culture.

Similarly, one of the more recent videos met with a biased reaction. The music video to the song ―My OCD‖ was labeled by the viewers as insensitive to the people with the obsessive compulsive disorder. To this accusations, Rhett & Link reacted in the comment section below the video saying, ―We understand that OCD is a serious mental disorder that significantly affects the lives of millions of people (including Rhett's wife).

This song is not intended to make fun of people with OCD‖ (Rhett & Link, ―We

Understand.‖). Besides the comment, they talked about the OCD on an episode of their daily talk show Good Mythical Morning (Good Mythical Morning, ―Do You Have

OCD?‖).

This show is broadcasted on their second channel that goes by the same name as the show. During Good Mythical Morning, Rhett & Link sit together in their studio and talk about various issues for about 12 minutes. Usually, one of them, or both prepare a topical trivia which includes lists of interesting facts and fun experiments. Every video starts with Rhett announcing the topic to which Link adds ―Let‘s talk about that!‖ and it cuts to the opening. After the theme song, an unedited stream of dialog between Rhett,

Link, and the viewers comes. Within 12 minutes, they try out the experiments they have prepared, or educate the viewers on various topics from biology to history. Even the video titles of Good Mythical Morning spark up the curiosity, with the titles such as ―5

Exciting Things To Do When You Are Bored‖, or ―Shocking Ways To Make

Electricity‖. In addition to learning new things, the subscribers can enjoy Rhett &

Link‘s light-hearted humor when challenging and making fun of each other. Needless to say that Good Mythical Morning is very popular among YouTube viewers. That is why it is now in 2015 in its seventh season.

As usual, the viewers are considered a part of the show. Especially, when Rhett

& Link ask to play out a video sent to them by a viewer. In the short video, the viewer introduce himself/herself, says where he/she is from, and announces that ―it is time to spin the Wheel of Mythicality‖ (Good Mythical Morning, ―5 Exciting Things To Do

When You Are Bored‖). Thus, the hosts do as they are told and spin the wheel that is behind them. The hand of the wheel stops at one of the suggestions for an improvised sketch which Rhett & Link perform as they sign off.

Even though the episode ends after the improvisation, the show continues on a bonus channel Good Mythical MORE. This could be labeled as a kind of an aftermath of the actual show. Rhett & Link stay in the studio and talk about what went down on

Good Mythical Morning. They do not necessarily talk to the viewers, they just hang out on the set for a little while and discuss the topic in more detail. Typically, they invite members of their crew to try out the experiments they did earlier (Good Mythical

MORE).

Both Good Mythical Morning and Good Mythical MORE are shot in a studio where the hosts sit behind a desk (Rhett on the stage right, Link on the stage left). On the desk, there is only a microphone, two cups with the show‘s logo, and occasionally the props needed for the videos (see Appendix 4).

All of Rhett & Link‘s talents came in handy in their biggest show which is conveniently called The Mythical Show. The show was broadcasted in 2013 and the first season consists of 12 episodes which were uploaded once a week. The Mythical Show is a 30-minute variety show which includes all forms that are typical for Rhett & Link and even something extra. As an example, in the show‘s tenth episode, the duo starts off similarly to their regular show. They prepared a list of famous last words and present them to the audience in a pre-recorded segment where they play various characters in

front of the green screen. This segment is followed by an episode of an animated series

Forest Patrol for which Rhett & Link provide a voice-over. The series tells stories of two park rangers doing their work in a forest full of mythical beasts. After Forest

Patrol, the show cuts back to the studio where Rhett & Link undergo a psychological test to find out whether they have the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. After the test, which they change into a competition, they welcome a guest – in this episode, it is Hannah Hart. With Hart, they go outside and make graffiti art. The show then continues with an audience targeted segment when the duo makes a call on behalf of the subscribers that asked them for help. By the end, Rhett & Link present a new music video and the show ends just like their daily show by spinning the Wheel of Mythicality

(Good Mythical Morning, ―The Mythical Show Ep. 10‖).

The scale of Rhett & Link‘s production is really immense. They are often being asked to make a guest appearance in their colleague‘s videos (SourceFed, ―Video

Games Make You Smart‖). Since the launch of their first channel, they have become one of the biggest names on YouTube and they truly do credit to the nicknames The

Internetainers, which they gave themselves at the beginning of their careers (ReelSEO).

3.4 Current Trends

All comedians analyzed above gain a major recognition within the YouTube community. Their work encompasses various forms and genres that are presented on

YouTube. Even though the creative content started with a simple vlogging, nowadays, viewers can subscribe to YouTubers who make sketch comedy, talk-shows, web comedy series, variety shows, and even culinary shows. Similarly, there is a big difference in the level of production. Some YouTubers, such as Helbig and Hart, write, shoot, and edit their videos all by themselves, whereas other creators hire a group of employees to make professional content. 45

However, there is one characteristic feature that can be found all across the platform - the close relationship with the viewers. Some kind of reaction to the feedback provided by the subscribers is always present on at least a marginal level. Judging by

Rhett & Link‘s subscribers‘ videos included in Good Mythical Morning, photos in comments of Helbig‘s subscribers, and photos and videos from VidCon, people who watch YouTubers most often are teenagers and people in their early 20‘s, and many

YouTubers seem to be perfectly aware of that (Hamedy). They often try to target their audience by the content they create, e.g. Helbig‘s video ―5 Prom Outfit Ideas‖ and

Hart‘s ―M‘Ask Me Anything: Spring Break Edition‖.

Thus, the majority of the viewers was born after the year 1990, whereas the creators are usually in their thirties. However, in recent years, some members of the viewers‘ generation have been launching their own channels in order to voice their opinion and ideas. Currently, the most distinctive base of new YouTubers is rising in the United Kingdom. Over there, young YouTubers, such as Zoella Sugg, Alfie Deyes,

Tanya Burr, or Jim Chapman, harvest subscribers in millions (De Grunwald). However, their focus slightly differs from their American counterparts. They are slowly stepping back from intentional comedy, and rather vlog about their everyday lives. Instead of mere entertaining, they advise their viewers what to do, how to dress, and act as role models for the youth (MoreZoella, ―Baking Fail, Wrestling with Alfie & Pug

Walking‖). The irony and cutting humor of the American community is replaced by light-hearted fun and motivational messages. Even though they still make their subscribers laugh, it is more or less only by narrating the stories that have happened to them, or by doing multiple challenges in their collaboration videos. Similarly to the

American situation, the majority of the British vloggers concentrate in one area. Instead of Los Angeles, it is the city of Brighton (De Grunwald).

Despite the differences, both American and British YouTubers sometimes merge and there are many videos where the members of those two groups collaborate. It usually happens around the time of VidCon when the British vlogger come to the USA to meet their fans and their colleagues (Burr, ―What Is It Challenge‖). No matter where a YouTuber was born, he/she is considered a part of the community, and the bonds between the members are especially strong when talking about YouTube. Either way, the aim of every YouTuber stays the same – to be heard in the world where he/she can be heard.

Conclusion

The world changes, constantly, and so does the entertainment. Now, in the middle of the decade, it seems that YouTube has every means necessary to take over the reins in the entertainment industry and become the next big thing. However, judging by the numbers of views and subscribers, all of that has already happened. What used to be just a hobby of a few loners is now a fully respected profession.

Even though many things have changed since the foundation of YouTube, seeking the entertainment is still the most common reason why people watch YouTube videos. The creators of the most popular channels figured it out years ago, and provide their subscribers with a content of various forms and genres.

However, it is not an easy task to define the work of these people in the terms of the old theatrical forms. The fact that this kind of entertainment happens online changes a lot of things. Therefore, the process of preparation for the performance is slightly altered. Nowadays, the online performer does not have to go through endless hours of rehearsing. All he/she has to do is to have an idea, turn on the camera, and learn how to edit videos. If the idea and primarily the personality of the performer are worth watching, there is a big possibility that the performer will find his/her viewers.

The YouTubers‘ audiences play a very important role. Technology makes it possible to connect the vlogger and his viewers in order to provide the vlogger with the immediate feedback, and the viewer with the experience of a live performance. Thanks to the possibility of commenting under videos and social media, YouTubers are able to create more intimate relationship with their subscribers which may be their key advantage over the traditional media.

Nevertheless, looking at the current situation, it seems that many YouTubers try to expand into the mainstream culture and gain the recognition with wider audiences. 48

However, it is too soon to tell whether the transition to the traditional media is only the next step in the development of YouTube and whether the YouTubers who would meet with success would be able to maintain the close relationship with their viewers and redefine the culture. What is clear now is that the Los Angeles YouTube community is a significant part of the American culture and that its members offer a fresh alternative for the mainstream media by creating content of any genre possible.

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Appendices

Appendix 1 – YouTube

A website with a video. 1 – Video title; 2 – Link to the channel, subscribe button and number of subscribers; 3 – Number of views and likes/dislikes; 4 – Description box; 5 –

Comment section (CrashCourse, ―Crash Course Introduction‖).

A website of a channel. 1 – Name of the channel; 2 – Subscribe button and number of subscribers; 3 – Most recent video, or a title video; 4 – Older videos; 5 – Featured channels; 6 – Links to official website and other social media (Vlogbrothers).

Appendix 2 – Grace Helbig

Typical setting of Grace Helbig‘s vlogs. The vlogger is sitting in her living room, dressed informal, looking directly to the camera, talking to the viewers. (Helbig, ―What

Have I Done‖).

When commenting on comments, a screenshot is put across the frame. Helbig is about to haze/praise the respondent and react to the comment afterwards (Helbig, ―Vomiting on Your Comments‖). iii

Helbig shoots herself on a way to a meeting for FriDAIRY (Helbig, ―FriDAIRY:

Celebrations and Dogs and New Hair‖).

Appendix 3 – Mamrie Hart

Mamrie Hart in a typical You Deserve a Drink episode, listing the ingredients (Hart,

―Frozen Drink!‖).

The entire Holy Trinity on the set of You Deserve a Drink (Hart, ―Quickshots:

Friendsips!‖).

Hart as Pumpernickel Stevens listing the top ten sexiest presidents of the USA in honor of the President‘s Day (Mametown, ―Top Ten Hotties Presidents‖).

Hart in the middle of answering viewers‘ questions in ―Mask Me Anything‖

(Mametown, ―Mask Me Anything: The Reckoning‖).

Appendix 4 – Rhett and Link

A screenshot of Rhett & Link‘s music video to their song ―My OCD‖ (Rhett & Link,

―My OCD‖).

―Red House Furniture: Where black people and white people buy furniture‖ (Rhett &

Link, ―Black and White People Furniture – Red House Commercial‖).

Rhett & Link after an experiment on their daily morning show Good Mythical Morning

(Good Mythical Morning, ―5 Exciting Things To Do When You Are Bored‖).

vii

Typical setting of Good Mythical MORE. Rhett & Link are hanging out in the studio with the members of their crew (Good Mythical MORE, ―Eating Weird Donuts with the

Crew‖).

viii

Résumé

As the Internet became the everyday part of our lives, almost everything went online. So did the entertainment. There are many people making creative content in a form of online videos which they post on video-sharing server YouTube.com for millions of people to watch them every day. In recent years, these people managed to create a great community with a potential to change the status of the traditional mainstream media.

This bachelor's diploma thesis focuses on YouTube comedians who live in

California, USA, and provides the definition of YouTube videos in terms of the performance theory.

In the theoretical part, the phenomenon of YouTube, and video blogging are described. The factors which influence the performance are examined and the main aspects of the performance theory are applied on the work of YouTube creators.

Moreover, vlogging is compared to various performance genres, such as the performance art and happening.

In the second part, the videos, style and humor of chosen YouTubers are analyzed in detail, regarding their status in the community and culture in general. At the end of the chapter, current trends and possible future of YouTube creators are discussed.

Resumé

Když se internet stal každodenní součástí našich životů, téměř vše se přesunulo on-line. Stejně tak i zábava. Každý den vytváří mnoho lidí videa, která následně nahrávají na server YouTube.com, kde se na ně každý den dívají miliony lidí. Během několika posledních let dokázali tito lidé vybudovat obrovskou komunitu, jejíž potenciál může ovlivnit postavení tradičních médií.

Tato bakalářská diplomová práce se zaměřuje na YouTube komiky, kteří žijí v Kalifornii, a definuje jejich tvorbu v rámci teorie performance pomocí analýzy videa několika zavedených komiků.

V teoretické části je popsán fenomén YouTube a video blogging, který je porovnán s různými uměleckými formami, jako je například performance či happening.

Navíc jsou v této části popsány faktory, které ovlivňují výsledné představení, a je definován jejich význam v rámci YouTube videí.

Ve druhé části jsou podrobně analyzována videa, styl a humor vybraných

YouTuberů s ohledem na jejich postavení v rámci komunity a jejich relevanci v kultuře celkově. Na konci kapitoly jsou nastíněny současné trendy a směřování YouTuberů v budoucnu.