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Top 15 Favorite YouTube Channels (#10 – 6)
My Top 15 Favorite YouTube Channels: #10-#6
So, how many times have you went to YouTube and, after about five minutes or so of just looking for whatever, you come to the conclusion that YouTube has just too much content? It’s happened to me more times than I thought it would, especially when I started looking for similar channels and content to the stuff that I already liked. Regardless of the subject, it seems like there’s hundreds of thousands of videos and there’s no way to watch them all. I guess, in a way, that’s cool because there are loads of creative people out there creating content for other people to enjoy and there’s always going to be something to watch. At the same time, Jesus Christ, where do you even start? It’s exciting and overwhelming to think about it all.
But then, hey, thinks about movies and TV shows and books and comic books. Think about how many of each are out there, new and old. You’ll never be able to see and read it all. It’s amazing. I mean, right?
Right?
Am I thinking about this stuff too much?
Okay, so here’s the next batch of five favorite YouTube channels. And here is the first part of this list, just in case you missed it or want to read it again for some reason:
Top 15 Favorite YouTube Channels: #15-#6
And now, without any further what have you, my Top 15 Favorite YouTube Channels list continues:
My Top 15 Favorite YouTube Channels: #10-#6
10-What Culture Wrestling: This is another pro wrestling themed YouTube channel that has list videos, commentary videos, news updates, and other assorted pro wrestling videos. There are a number of hosts, all of them funny and obviously knowledgeable about wrestling (Simon Miller, the guy in the image above, is probably my favorite of the various hosts that I’ve seen. His line delivery, either “live” or on tape, is always spot on and hilarious. It’s also funny when he slaps himself in the head for no apparent reason). Now, in many ways, What Culture and Cultaholic do the same sort of thing when it comes to pro wrestling. If you weren’t paying super attention to what you were watching I’d suspect most people would assume that they’re the same channel. They both talk about wrestling and both feature an overall silliness to what they do that makes them entertaining (they’re both also slick as hell technically. I am in awe of their editing). What Culture gets the top spot, though, over Cultaholic, mostly because I like What Culture’s list videos more. Not by much, but I do like them better. I have to check out their earlier videos, just to see how What Culture has evolved over the years. I’m curious to see how the channel’s editing and “feel” has changed over the years. I’m also curious to see what sort of wrestler Simon Miller is/was.
What Culture Wrestling Channel
9- Scaredy Cats: This is a horror themed channel that focusses on reviews of horror media. Hosted by Mil-DREAD (he’s also known as Thought Slime via his other channel), the channel features plenty of horror movie reviews, with the occasional book and comic book review thrown in. Mil-DREAD has also dome commentary videos on zombies (that’s probably my favorite video on the channel as it’s so goddamn spot on when it comes to how the zombie genre has changed over the years and not for the good. I don’t hate Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake as much as Mil-DREAD does, but I definitely agree with him that it’s bad and not as good/great as the Romero original), the Friday the 13th franchise (his timeline explanation for the series is terrific), and what makes a horror movie a horror movie. Mil-DREAD also does themed review months, with the Phantasm franchise, the House franchise, and the Netflix Fear Street the most prominent themes so far. I’m also a big fan of the channel’s mascot Bobby Dook, “Da Star of Da Channel,” a comedy bit that Mil-DREAD came up with while high on marijuana edibles. Bobby Dook is so goofy and ridiculous that you can’t help but laugh when he pops up (you’ll also notice that Bobby Dook’s animation improves over time, something that could have killed the bit but actually makes it funnier somehow). New videos for this channel tend to show up on Tuesdays. It’s always a hoot to see what gets reviewed next. Will it be a new movie? Will it be an older movie? Will it be something else “horror related?”
Honorable Mention: Bloodbath & Beyond: This channel was originally known as Bloodbath & Beyond and, while Bloodbath & Beyond still technically exists, Jay and the team are transitioning to a channel simply called Bloodbath, which is, I guess, going to be more of the same kind of thing but different. Anyway, this channel offers plenty of cool movie reviews and looks at other horror material. I love how the channel champions independent horror movies, which is always cool to see. Can’t wait to see how the new channel iteration grows/evolves over time.
8- Gaming Historian: Video game history was a subject I was only vaguely interested in until I saw my first Gaming Historian video, which was about the history of Super Mario Bros. 2. Before that video, I thought most YouTube videos about video games, both new games and old/”classic” games, were review videos that aped/paid homage to the Angry Video Game Nerd. I had no idea there were people actually documentary quality videos about how various games were created, how they were developed, how they were marketed to the public, etc. And it’s those documentaries are why I love the Gaming Historian channel. Yes, channel host/creator Norman Caruso does the occasional review or list video, but the big draw for me are the documentaries, which are so goddamn slick and well put together. I’m also a big fan of Caruso’s calm and matter of fact demeanor throughout his videos, which are different from AVGN and all of the AVGN imitators out there. It’s obvious that Caruso cares about what he’s talking about, wants to get his facts right, and wants you to care about what he’s talking about as much as he does. This channel, which has been around for over a decade, isn’t as prolific as other channels on this list, I do know that when a new Gaming Historian video shows up it’s must viewing. I also know that I will likely learn something I didn’t know before watching the video. How many YouTube channels can you say that about?
7- All Things Lost: “Lost media” is something I was briefly obsessed with for like two days earlier this year after I read an article about people collecting workprints of various movies and then checking to see if any of those workprints were on YouTube (for the record, there were some workprint snippets on there, but I didn’t find any “full” workprints of the movies I was looking for). I had no idea that there was so much general interest in not just movie workprints, but media that’s considered lost because people can’t find it online or in physical form. From cartoons to movies to TV shows to TV commercials, if it isn’t readily available it’s considered lost. And holy hooey there’s tons of stuff that’s lost. Out of the various lost media channels I sampled, All Things Lost is easily my favorite. Hosted by Lost Media Mike, All Things Lost videos are all slickly produced and thoroughly researched. The videos are mostly lists, but there’s a great video about the lost animated movie Foodfight, which is a great history video of the movie’s production and how the movie became lost. I’m also a fan of Mike’s voice, intros and outros (he starts every video with “Oh, hi there!,” and ends every video with “See you soon!”) and just the general tenor of his presentation. It’s always a pleasant experience. The channel has been around for a little over a year, and it seems like videos come out every two weeks or so (there are, as I write this, 33 videos on the channel). And while you will probably find “lost media” videos featuring the same subjects covered by All Things Lost, those videos won’t be as good as All Things Lost. That’s how good All Things Lost is.
6- Slapshoes: Slapshoes is a NASCAR centric YouTube channel that I found out about while checking out nascarman History videos (Slapshoes and nascarman History have collaborated on a few videos). Featuring both historical videos about various NASCAR drivers and races and list videos about what Slapshoes would like to see happen in NASCAR now (his video on the Chase is thought provoking), you will be immediately taken in by both Slapshoes’ passion for NASCAR and his deep historical knowledge of the drivers and tracks that have been a part of the sport’s history. His videos are also slick, well-made, and technically savvy (it makes me wonder just how much time and effort is put into these things. I mean, Jesus Christ it must take forever to do these things. Just getting the right and necessary footage must be an ordeal). My favorite videos, though, are his series on Mark Martin’s career, his “On Location” videos checking out the remnants of old and forgotten race tracks (like Air Base Speedway), and his videos on what pavement modifieds and supermodifieds are. And you have to check out the video on “NASCAR’s most important race: the 1979 Daytona 500.” It explains how NASCAR initially became popular on TV (check it out here). Great, great stuff.
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