By Daniel Brennan
One of the best things about YouTube today is the sheer amount of content and channels out there now. There are plenty of channels with hundreds of thousands, millions or even tens of millions of subscribers and viewers out there that even someone who is ‘very online’ won’t know about – so here are some recommendations for some binge-watchable material, as the nights start to get a bit longer!
Jon Bois
In my opinion, Jon Bois makes the best videos on YouTube. His Pretty Good series does what it says on the tin – as he says himself, it’s a show about stories that are… well, pretty good, like the story of Larry Walters, who went flying in a lawn chair – to 16000 feet – without bothering to tell anyone.
If you’re a sports stats nerd, his Chart Party series may be perfect for you – his video digging into, what he calls, NFL Scorigami , the art of building NFL final scores, is excellent – the same can be said with his video simulating Barry Bonds’ entire 2004 MLB season… without a baseball bat. It works, I promise.
If you’re looking for something a bit longer to dig your teeth into, he recently produced and co-wrote a 5-part documentary on the history of MMA called Fighting in the Age of Loneliness, where he mixes the fascinating stories of those who have felt the need to dedicate themselves to fighting for a living over hundreds of years, with an incredibly deep level of relevant social commentary all along the way. I cannot recommend it enough.
Or, if you’d prefer something a little more out there, The Bob Emergency, a two-part look at the history and recent decline of the name “Bob” in sports – something that from the outside seems absurd – is another one of my absolute favourite things on the internet.
Internet Today
Keeping up with all the crazy stuff that’s happening online can be pretty hard, and I’ve found Internet Today to be one of my absolute favourite channels to tune into every single day to keep up to date with stuff. Hosts Ricky and Eliot are hilarious, and their presenting style and alternative take on the week’s news is excellent.
Setting aside half an hour or so to watch the latest episode of Weekly Weird News, TechNewsDay or News Dump is always worth it, especially if you’re looking for something a bit out there that you can talk with friends about!
hbomberguy
Best known for his A Measured Response series, as well as raising over $300,000 for the charity Mermaids, in a 70-hour Donkey Kong 64 stream, just to dunk on Graham Linehan last year, hbomberguy makes some of the best video essays on YouTube.
You probably don’t need to be told things like the fact that climate change is happening, or indeed that the world is round, but watching hbomberguy comedically deconstruct each and every point that some of the more infamous climate change deniers or flat earthers make over the span of roughly half an hour is more than worth your time.
Francis Higgins
You may know him as Viper from the show Hardy Bucks, but what you may not know is that he’s now fashioned a career for himself out of being a YouTuber.
Some of his more infamous skits like Mercedes, Zurich and Shlug have gone semi-viral within certain Irish internet circles and are filled to the brim with memorable moments and memes.
He also does near-daily streams featuring some of his more infamous characters in what I’m going to call the Francis Cinematic Universe, and his content is perfect you’re looking for a good laugh.