Trash Taste Podcast - Why We All Quit Anime YouTube (ft. @supereyepatchwolf3007 ) | Trash Taste #171

Episode Date: September 29, 2023

👟Grab your pair now at https://vessi.com/TRASHTASTE and use my unique TRASHTASTE for 15% off the your order. Free shipping extended to CA, US, AU, JP, TW, KR, SGP. 🟧 Use our code TRASHTASTE to get $15 off your first Bokksu Japanese snack box! https://partner.bokksu.com/trashtaste 🥤Buy Waifu Cups at https://gamersupps.gg/TrashTaste with code [trashtaste] Follow Trash Taste: https://twitter.com/TrashTastePod https://www.reddit.com/r/TrashTaste/ To watch the podcast on YouTube: bit.ly/TrashTasteYouTube Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you're listening or by using this link: bit.ly/TrashTastePodcast If you like the show, telling a friend about it would be amazing! You can text, email, Tweet, or send this link to a friend: bit.ly/TrashTastePodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to another episode of Trash Tase. I am once again joined by the boys and we have another special guest with us. Do you want to introduce yourself to the crowd? Hi, I'm John. I sometimes go by Super I Patch Wolf also. Did you just wake up? You got to eat the mic, Joe. Yeah, so it's got to be like very, very close.

Wait, that's an awkward hype for you now. You know, it's, well, I'll manage. It's fine. My phone is vibrating one second. Let me be a good, let me be a good host here. Alright, there we go. You good? Yeah, I've turned it off.

Alright, yeah, do you want to introduce yourself on what you do to our audience? Hi, my name is John. I run the channel, Super iPatch Wolf, and I've been making video essays about... Whatever the fuck for about seven years? The best I can describe myself. You started off with anime, and like, over the past couple of years, you've kind of transitioned into just whatever rabbit hole you've managed to find. Yeah, I don't know. Sometimes I describe my...

my career as a series of poor decisions that led places. I don't know, doing each other for a while as well. It's been how many years have we all known each other now? Ages. Yeah. Quite a while. It's been, um... Because I remember distinctly the first time I met you two and you.

Oh, wow. We met at the anime Expo like 2017, 2018. Oh, was that the Anituba meetup? Yes. Yeah. I remember that. And I remember you specifically, Joey, because you can, come up to me and you're like, hi, you're like really hot.

And I still stand by that to this day. So, yeah, we've all been friends for quite a while because I would say we are some of the OGs now of the anime YouTube community. I know you hate being called an annie-tuber now. I don't care. Whatever. I think at this point, I've just given up on trying to define anything. It's just like, whatever.

Yeah. And I remember back then, John just didn't show his face at all, right? And I think it might have been like the first time I'd seen your face and I'm like, no anti-chieper should be this hot. What the fuck? This is- Because I remember at that attitude meetup, it was like, it was pretty sizable, maybe around like, you know, 40, 50 people like kind of showed up. But it was really funny because I'd say the majority of the people who were there were just like,

all right, which one's super ripe? I have to see his face. And everyone was like, yo, he's mad hot. That's crazy. See, like, I didn't know that that was going to be a thing at all. Like, I've been with my girlfriend and their wife, Michelle, for 18 years. Never even really, like, dated around or anything. Yeah.

And so I talk about doing, like, a face reveal to my friends. And they're like, it's going to be so funny. And I'm like, what do you mean? And so then, like, I remember I put a face reveal video up and I hit Refresh. And there was immediately 70 comments. And the first one was, oh, no. hot and the second one was all capital letters old and I was like I was like oh this maybe this was a mistake yeah but yeah I mean you got your start I guess you do

oh look at that no don't shut that I did not sign a form consenting to this oh god yeah god damn yeah I remember seeing this and I was like how did your jawline get better What the fuck? How does that happen? Yeah, it's great because I look at you, John, I'm like, all right, I have hope. I have hope. I have hope for my life, you know. You hit your 30s and you can still look fucking bad. Pretty much like the son of guts. Somebody said. It's a good thing. Yeah. I don't know how we wandered into this. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. It's okay. You are, you, you started anime YouTube for a pretty interesting reason, right? Because you did it out of spite.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Not completely. my entire career is built on hatred. Basically, I was like, I was listening to Woolley versus and he was talking on podcast about so I started talking about Hunter Hunter, which for me, top three anime of all time. Absolutely fucking love it.

Right, Joe. Hey, I've read it now. Oh, you've read it now? Now I know. Now I understand the hype. Good stuff. And he's like, he's not like just talking shit.

He's going in. He's like, I can't deal with this tedious shonen horseshit. And I'm like, I'm sitting there like your average video game podcast listener, just fucking seething. And I'm just like, how can he say that? The anime I like. And I feel like the healthy thing to do would have just been to let it go. Yeah, of course. That is not what I did for us.

I held on to it for a year and then made a video called Why You Should watch Hunter Hunter. Not about how he was wrong, because I thought that might be kind of shitty, but just about how I thought it was good. And then... And also how he was wrong. It will mean Loki. Did you mention him at all in the video?

Sorry? Did you mention him at all in that video? No. Yeah, right. I thought so... And so that was the whole plan. You know, that was the whole plan. I'm going to make this video and then I'm going to go back to my actual life.

I can walk away from this. Yeah. And then that didn't happen. Right. And mainly just because like I really just fucking loved making videos. Yeah, I remember watching this video when it came out. Yeah. I was, I think I was around when I binged Hunter Hunter. So it was like kind of perfect timing.

Yeah, it was kind of crazy as well because you almost just like came out of nowhere. And then I feel in a very short span of time, your name was just kind of floating around in the antichube. Like, whoa. Where it's just like, there's this like new guy who made this like Hunter Hunter Hunter video. And it's like really fucking good. And no one knows where he. he came from. He just like suddenly popped up. Yeah. And I think a part of it was like I wasn't on any like forums or part of any community or stuff like that. Because people would be asking me like

what's your mal list and are all any of that kind of stuff. Oh no, it was a big thing back then. Oh, you like anime? Give me your malice. And but I just, I fucking loved making videos, you know, just clicked in a way that nothing else had. And like, I had tried so much shit up to that point. You know, I had like, I'd been part of an electronica band. I tried to be an illustrator. I tried to be a storyboard artist, I spent six months training as a wrestler, all this kind of stuff. And like, it always felt like pushing a boulder uphill. And then when I started YouTube, I was like, oh, there's something about this that I get, that I don't get about other things. You know, that kind of way? One thing, so I think when I discovered your content wasn't actually the hunter hunter.

It was actually the bleach video that you did. And I got to ask because, sorry? You have to walk me through this. Sorry. You have to walk me through this because I've never watched a bleach video. Okay. So John did a video, basically detailing, I guess, I think your original was like the fall of bleach correctly. Yep. How did the bleach fandom react to that? Because I want to ask about what fandoms you've pissed off?

This video is you saying that it just fell off. Yeah, pretty much. So originally actually really positive. And I had like kind of like bleach YouTubers being like, oh, it's cool to see such a new. interesting like look and breakdown but unfortunately what I didn't know over time is like basically I was based on this shonen jump chapter index long story short yeah no one fucking knows what's going on there's no like so I basically read on a website I think it works like this and then said in my video it works like this and that

earned me the ire of the bleach fandom forever after yeah and 13,000 comments yeah yeah yeah and the video Like it sucked because like I was really happy of like the how that video came together and like how it told a story It just happens that the story it was telling was wrong And I feel like I have tried to correct that in various ways over the years and never been successful So at some point I'm like okay Good luck everyone like because I notice you there's a there's a real mad at super iPad

I've never seen that. I can answer quite confidently, yes. The top comment is, they're proud, damaged people retaliating at anything out of survival. Okay, so like, look,

here's the thing that pisses me off, right? Right. I fucking love bleach. Bleach is awesome. Like, yeah, personally, I think it goes downhill over time. I will take bleach over Demon Slayer, over hero academia, over so much shit.

For sure. It's fucking great. And the only reason I talk about it is because I give a shit. But, like, look, I did get it wrong, and that did piss people off. So I don't want to be dismissive of that, you know. Because I feel like a right of passage with, like, anyone who does anime content on YouTube, or at least when we talk about anime series, it's like we at least piss off one fandom within our journey. Oh, of course.

Of course. Oh, I think I've nailed about eight or nine. I just playing Shenmoo three. Oh, shit. Yeah, I wanted to ask, what was, like, the fandom you piss off the most? And we can share, I guess. So I would say, actually, probably Dragon Ball Z. Really?

But I've just never, I've never made, like, a negative video about Dragon Ball Z. Those guys are just mad. They're angry about a lot of things. They have a lot of anger problems. Honestly, probably the Bleach fandom, which I mean, fair. I mean, they're still making Reddit posts in 2022 about, why they're still mad. They all try to collectively figure it out.

Yeah. Why are we still mad, guys? I don't know it, but I'm angry. Let's figure it out, guys. I think I learned early on when I started doing the whole Sebastian thing. I noticed that, like, people assumed, because I was making videos on it, that I understood a lot about the show, but I didn't. And I realized very quickly that people care about the show way more than I ever could,

and I am never ever going to attempt to get. get to their level. I'm just going to be the he-he funny videos that don't even try to touch it or the themes. Because they'll do, I remember people can't be like, oh, this character wouldn't say this. I'm like, I don't care. But you see, this is the thing where like, I feel like when I started making videos and definitely like when, when like you started making videos, Garant, like, you could make a video about Yu-U-Hakashow and it would be the video on Yu-U-U-Hakisho. Now you have channels that are entirely about One Piece channels that are entirely about Bleach,

Dragon Ballsy, and it's these guys whole lives, like, reading this manga and making content out of it. Like, fair play to them. Like, that's, it gets an interesting way, and there's a lot of good videos that come from that. But I think then the problem is when you try and make a video about it, then, there

is infinitely more knowledge about it and people who might, like, know the series more in depth and have more understanding. But then the problem that it comes into then is, like, a lot of, like, I guess more casual people are looking for videos where it's kind of it's entertaining. Yeah, you know. Exactly.

And it comes into this thing where it's like you have an audience that wants a really deep understanding and then you want a bigger audience that just want to be entertained. And I think the disparity between those two can lead to, I would say, like a bit of bitterness with creators. And like I get it to a degree. But it's a tricky one. Yeah, I mean, one of my most interesting things are like I've noticed with like some of my own content. So a fandom that I've pissed off is the fate fandom. Or I would say the only go talks about it.

And it was very interesting because I made like a skit just like basically based around my experiences whenever I would have a conversation about the fate rabbit hole and just like how how like just one sentence could just start an entire war in terms like watch order and stuff like that. And when I released that video, it was like received very, very positively. Everyone fucking loved it. And then it really started getting spread around. And it started getting spread around outside just the fake community. And that's when I started to see people not exactly mad about the video, but mad about people's perception because of that video. That is the exact same thing it was with me. Like I even went on some calls with some bleach guys and it always ended at ultimately.

Yeah, I was like, okay, let's hear him out. And it always ended up like, well, I'm not mad at you. I'm just mad at the people who agree with you. And I was like, oh, okay. Your five set the county. Oh my God. Yeah, because it's so interesting now because, like you said back then, because the anime community was much smaller,

much more, as I would say, like, inclusive. No, not inclusive is the wrong word, but much more manageable in terms of like what fandoms are what. Now because there are so many different factions, so many different fandoms, a lot of fans get very protective about this one IP, you know, especially, like, anime fan doesn't really, is like, too broad an umbrella now that just didn't exist before you know i feel like when you're an

anime fan before that kind of encapsulated so much of the community and now there are just people who just solely watch one piece for example or solely watch attack on titan or the shonans i have a fun question if you were to do the fall of another anime today which one would you do do the fall of another anime so like an animated fell off the real answer is probably i would not do that. If you had to you know. But in terms of another anime

that falls, it's fallen off. Although one that you felt like you kind of fell out of do you think any anime has fallen off? No, I do not. Absolutely. I think all anime is great.

Would you like to hear top ten facts about one piece? I'm just you're like, man, this sucks. for years they hate me. I'm like, do it again. Honestly, like, genuinely, like, I can tell you ones that, like, I, I fell off One Piece, but that's not because I think One Piece got worse.

It's because I got real busy and didn't have time to read. And, like, I'm going to catch up with it someday and I bet it's still good. That's what they all say, John. Yeah, I mean, I kind of, I never fall out of One Piece. I just, it just comes in, like, waves. There's a wave where I read 100 chapters and then I don't, read it for two years and I'm like, I forget I'm a one-piece fan sometimes. And I read it again, I'm like, oh yeah, I'm definitely a one-piece fan. Totally. Yeah. Do you guys feel like you're

at the point where like even very milk-tose opinions get like these crazy reactions? Like someone will ask me like, what do you think about demons there? And I'm like, yeah, it's all right. And I'll be like, oh, ho. Why don't you ask Joey about his Judisikison opinion? I think we did initially, because obviously it was all new, but I think now people are so used to us just saying dumb shit, they'll just write us off. Like, oh, Joey said it. Or Connor said it. Well, I mean, the other day when, you know, when they announced the new, the title for

the new season of Attack on Titan, I quote retweeted and all I said was, this title's really stupid. God, the comments were just like, how fucking dare you? I can't believe you would say that. How dare you ruin the sanctity of the final season part three, part two? You don't even watch anime anymore. You have no opinion on this. And I'm just like, guys, I just.

I just thought it was dumb. But yeah, like, that's why if I don't really like something, I try not to like say my, like, opinion. Even if I just say, it's alright. Like, even like, it's all right anymore. Even saying, like, it's all right. It's like, fandoms will jump on you for just saying you don't think it's really, really, really good or really, really great.

Right, Joey? Right. Yeah, totally. Yeah, I think one, one infamous trash chase clip was when Joey said, Jude Skysen was like, all right. Or did you use the word mid? I can't remember. Did you say mid?

just to piss off the Jews guys in fans. Okay, that was, that was the issue. I'm at this point now where it's like, you know, I obviously try to avoid, you know, giving any, like, I guess, controversial opinions on, like, certain shows. But at the same time, it's really funny to piss off anime fans.

Yeah, that's the problem. Is that? I think people are like, and they hate that. Yeah, I know, but I love it. So, Mid is such a lazy criticism of a show. I agree. I don't like the turn mid just because I feel like it is a cowardice.

term. I would rather someone say it's shit or say it's awesome. So you have to actually like say an opinion. Explain what you don't like it. Yeah. I'm happy to explain why I don't like a show. I just, it might be fucking stupid is the problem. And people sometimes recognize that of me. And I'm guilty of that. But I think sometimes like, especially when people are watching you a lot and people really think they relate to you, they really want to connect with you on whatever they can. Yeah. And then it's really disappointing when they can't. Like I remember it was basically a right of passage in my Discord for a couple of years, for someone new to come in and be like,

can't wait for the why you should watch Hero Academia video. And I just be like, I don't like that show. And they'd be like, oh. And then like the other Discord members would be like, yeah, yeah, we all thought he was going to be. Well, it's weird because like, I know the feeling where it's just like you just want to make content on stuff you like. And you shouldn't, you know, healthily, you shouldn't put your opinions on someone

else's opinion. You should kind of like helpfully form your own. But there is a certain sense of satisfaction you get when you watch a creator you respect, say that they like a thing that you like. Like when I saw like Charlie finally get into One Piece, I was like, We did it. Boys, we did it. We did it.

We prevailed. And I knew I shouldn't like have felt that much sense of pride. But I kind of did. Yeah. Yeah. It's like getting your mate into a, you know, a show or series you really, really like. Like, have you ever showed a mate, like a first episode of something, and you're just, like, intently watching them? I don't do that anymore.

You don't do that anymore? I can't do it. It's too much. It's like when you play, like, music to someone, and it's like the most, it's the longest four minutes of your life. Because you're like, yeah, it's good, right? And suddenly it starts to sound worse. It's really good. Yeah, yeah.

And suddenly it all starts to sound a little more uncomfortable, and you're like, oh, I just, it doesn't sound like this when I listen to it alone. I just, it's kind of like that. So I normally, I'm like, I'm like, please. watch one episode. If you like it, maybe we watch it together or something. I'm like, I'm so done forcing people to watch shows. A 30 second meme suddenly becomes a three hour of year. Oh my God. You're just like, okay. You know, the jokes are coming. Build up in this clip that I remember. Yeah, what's when they ask? How long is this again? Oh, God. It's 10 minutes. Oh, we're two minutes in. Oh, okay. Oh, shit. Yeah. So you,

you know, you started off doing anime content. When did you decide? I want to do some other stuff as well. Or Was that always kind of like something you wanted to do? So within the first year, I made like a video about Silent Hill 2, which was a big break. And I think if you go back and watch that video, I'm nearly like apologizing in it where I'm like, guys, I'm so, I swear to fucking God, I'm going to talk about Mops Psycho 100. You know, and I liked there. And it was fun. Like, I remember views wise, the video did bad, but I was kind of like, it was kind of fun though. You know?

And then then the big one for me is I made a video about pro wrestling and specifically, like, I think it was originally called professional wrestling is fascinating and I changed a name or something. I think it's called pro wrestling is dumb and beautiful and I'd love it or something. And that was like my favorite video I'd ever made. I was like, this is so much fun. And like I got to tell this big story about Kenny Omega and the golden lovers and all this kind of stuff. And that was the moment where I was like, oh, I think I just got to do what I want here. You know?

Yeah, because I remember when I think it was maybe like the first or maybe even the second time. I met with your IRL and we were in Dublin with Aki and I remember we were at dinner and you were like, so Joe, I need your opinion on something. I'm making this video about the Simpsons and I'm really scared to upload it because I feel like my audience is going to hate it and you like gave me kind of the breakdown of it and I was like, no, I reckon you should go for it. And then you did upload it and now it's like your most viewed video. Oh, that is my most viewed video still. until the Garfield video surpasses it, which is going to be any day now,

which is deeply fucking horrifying. Stupid cat takes everything from me. No, I mean, I think like... There's 8 million views? Holy fuck. Oh my God. That's crazy. That's insane.

No, I think because like, I think one of the reasons I fucking love your content, you know, as a fan and also as a mate, is just like your ability to sell me on any thing. single fucking topic at all and get me invested in it. I'll be real with you, I never had any interest in wrestling. And

after your video, I still have not much interest in wrestling, but it was like, you got me invested in wrestling when I should never have gotten invested in wrestling in the first place. I feel like it is from my own experience as well for making a wrestling video. It is really hard to sell wrestling

to people who do not have any interest in wrestling. I don't know why. I just, it was something that my audience, I've never seen the response to it. It wasn't negative, but it was just very unusual. I've never had anything like that. If you turn on wrestling, if you turn on the average wrestling show, you're going to see two sweaty guys in a ring.

And the actual storytelling is not apparent. Like the actual cool things about it. And then like the deeper you get into it and all the great, like I would say getting Michelle into wrestling was a long-term project with me for a long time. And about two years ago, she said something that, I was just like, I did it. She just goes, there's this wrestler called Brian Danielson, but when he went to the WWE, Vince McMahon changed his name to Daniel Bryan.

And Michelle just goes, what is wrong with Vince McMahon? And I was like, I got her. I got her. Bring back the old name. So I got to like, you trained in, like, wrestling, like before he did YouTube. Yep. What, like, sparked your interest in wrestling from the beginning? Was it something you were just always into?

So I don't remember a point in my life when I wasn't into wrestling. And like when I was little, I loved like Brett Hart and Hulk Hogan, Hulk Hogan much less eventually for many reasons. He said a hit a few scandals. Oh, more than a few. That guy sucks in about 12 different ways. But so then anyway, I actually worked this job that I really, real liked and I got fired and it was like devastating. It was like just this was pre-Utube and it fucking sucked. And I was like, okay, I thought I was like kind of following all the right paths and doing all the right things like professionally.

And now I kind of have nothing and especially like I knew my confidence was super low. And I was like, okay, fuck it. Pie in the sky. What do you want to pursue? Like, what do you want to go after? And I was like, maybe it could be a wrestler? Try it out. And so I looked it up and there was actually this wrestling school within like three miles of my place.

And then so I just started training there for like six months. And the only reason I stopped is like a. that shit is so hard. And I say that as someone who has done, like, contact martial arts pretty much my whole life. Professional wrestling was, like, the topest training I've ever done. Damn. Because, like, with martial arts, the object is to,

or the objective is to not get your head kicked in. Yeah. This was like, no, you're going to get fucking destroyed. And so I did that. And the only reason I stopped is because, like, YouTube started to kind of become a thing. And I was like, I got to put my whole ass into one of these things, you know? You can't just put yourself thin.

Yeah. So, like, that's a badass origin story. Imagine, imagine Traite needs to be a wrestler and then, yeah, I'm going to make anime videos. I don't know if badass is the word. I mean, I mean, compared to anyone else I know in the anime community, I'm like, just around you're throwing some dude around the ring thinking of being pissed off but hunter, hunter. You're like, I'm going to make a fucking video about this to try and hang out. Would you do any, like, you know, YouTuber like kind of like sporting or boxing events,

becoming a thing now would you ever consider doing that especially with your totally kind of like you know what I would be I would be very afraid for your opponent I feel like you are you have the drive that is terrified if you could make a video like that about Garfield what could you do if you actually had to fight someone what could I do to the human body I just I just don't want to know do you have like a dream entrance you would make if you like ever did like a sporting event like that because you know you love you love your wrestling i know i think the problem is i've had a couple over the years i think you know what rather than going for like a big heavy theme song i think it'd be kind of badass to walk into guts theme

just like slow to like real undertaker slow stuff that would be so badass that's pretty fucking cool yeah because like you obviously made a video you know about berserkers well would you say like do you have like I know this is a fucking question every anime YouTuber hates but you're on a podcast I got to ask it do you have like a top five or like things that like anime that mean the most to you oh so I think Berserk is like the best story ever yeah like fucking oh hands down yeah and I read books real books I think I think Berserk is legit like the best thing we as a species have done and I fucking love it so much

but in terms of like say anime I could probably do a top five I think my top three are like Evangelian Hunter Hunter Yu Yu Hakui Bop number four and I could probably pick something number five but yeah that'd be kind of the rough one for me Hell yeah

Very respectable list Yeah very very respectable list I forgot what I was gonna say you I said I gotta ask How the fuck did you go into Garfield What was all that about? How did that happen? I don't know because as I explained in that video,

I never had any in, okay, no, actually, it was, when I think I was like, someone was telling me that there was a lot of weird Garfield shit online. And like, I love fandom. I love people taking this license

and doing cool shit with it. Like, I'm just fascinated by that process. I love Fanner. I, like, love anything that's kind of transformative like that.

And someone sent me, um, or slash, I'm sorry, John. And I was like, oh, weird.

And I was like, I should, I should, my thought at the time was like I should do like a little 20 minute video about this what is uh what is what do you an expert what is the last I'm sorry John is like a subreddit of the most fucked up fan art you can imagine of Garfield is this one of them well actually oh god what is that yeah so yeah it's it's that um there's another one called or slash I'm really sorry John oh my really don't advise people look at that oh god and so but like I just became

fascinated with like how did we get to this yeah and then like um I remember I was kind of, my man was asking me what I'm working on. I'm playing around with this idea of Garfield and like, you know, this weird fandom around it. And she was like, oh, oh, man, God. Oh, it's been banned from Reddit. Oh, it's been banned from Reddit. As someone who spent a little time on there, rightfully so. But I said to my mom and she was like, oh, yeah, because you used to have your little Garfield Teddy.

And I was like, no, I didn't. Oh, no. And then she was like, yeah, he did. And I was like, I think you're thinking of like my cousin. And then she was like, no, no, you did. And then I was like, I fucking didn't. And then she sends me a photo of as a kid holding this Garfield. And I'm like, what the fuck?

At that point, it kind of triggered the idea that like Garfield is this kind of elderish being really. And it was just became such a fun narrative to make, you know? Hell yeah. Yeah, because do you have like a process in terms of like how you come up with video ideas? because, you know, it started off with anime, and now it's just like fucking anything, you know? Yeah. Like, is it just kind of like when you, where you can find like an interesting story or is there something that draws you?

It's just, I get an idea in my head and I can't get rid of it. And I think at the point where my friends are like, would you fucking stop talking about this? That's when it's like, I should probably make a video about Disney. Yeah. Yeah, that's, that's kind of sick, though. That's kind of sick. Yeah. Oh, a lot of it's really sick.

Like, a lot of it's so, so. That's so sick. Because you did one on Garford, you did one on Sonic as well, if I remember correctly. Oh yeah, yeah. That was a fun one. Yeah. Remember the day? I remember I was like looking up all parts of Sonic and there was basically a day I

basically had to go on Pornhub and be like, let's see what's on Pornhub, how much Sonic porn there is on Pornhub, right? Oh, God. And then I'm, I'm, I'm like, I'm like looking at all this stuff and I get a phone call for my dad. Yeah. And like my dad will usually call me when like it's something kind of serious. Like he's the one who'll be like, okay, he's like, John, listen, there's this global pandemic starting. And I think we're all probably going to have to stay inside for a little while. And just so, you know, don't go outside. And I was like, really harrowing phone call. Right. And then like, I'm like, okay, cheers, dad. I appreciate it. And I turn it. I hang up the phone and I turn back to my monitor. And there's, Rouge the Bat, sucking shadow the hedgehog stick. And I'm just like, oh, my job's fucking weird. It's like, don't call me, Dad, I'm working.

Oh, my God. Jesus Christ. I wonder if I've ever had that real. I'm trying to think back now if I've just ever had that realization about how weird my job is. I've never had that moment where I'm just, I mean, you do some weird fandoms. One video I found super fascinating is when you go into like real life kind of like, the, you know, kind of like the fake martial arts. That was like one of my favorite ones as well,

just because I was, I also grew up watching like a lot of martial arts films and stuff like that. And just seeing how many, like how deep this rabbit hole went. It's so weirdly prolific. Yeah. And the weird thing is like you would think, so for people who don't know, it's like basically these people think they have magical powers, they got through martial arts and they were like the no contact chaos and all this kind of stuff. But the weird thing, it's still popular.

Like, there's people who still really believe that stuff. How'd you go about researching a video like that? Because that's such a new topic. Yeah, like, where do you start? So, it originally started on this Instagram called McDojo. And the term McDojo is kind of like, there was a lot of like strip mall karate dojoes like in the 80s who would just teach whatever the fuck. And like the big trick is like the, the sensei, the master would always be like, now I can never fight you. because I would kill you.

You know, and it's like, okay. And so, like, I had done martial arts. I've done black belt in Taekwondo. I did it for about 10 years. And then I took up Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I just love martial arts. I love fighting. It's fun.

And I started watching these videos, and I was like, I was just kind of obsessed with those. I was like, this is fucking insane. And I remember I heard one of these instructors give this, like, speech to his students about how it's very important that I never fight because that would be like bringing a gun, you know? And then like I thought of it. I've been doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu a little while at this

point and I thought about how many times my instructor has just beat the shit out of making it. So I was like, well, this doesn't really add up. And it was an interesting video. I remember I got, I got an email after that video from, I don't want to say which martial art it is because then I'll just get a bunch of comments about it, but someone claiming to be a master in a certain martial art. And he was like, here's how a fight between me and you would go. And he explained step by step everything I do and then he too. And it was like four paragraphs. And then I messaged them back being like,

okay, where do you want to fight? Nothing. Give me a time and a place. Yeah, because there was like the martial arts and then there was the psychics as well, right? Oh, the psychics were in my video. Yeah. Yeah.

That was actually That was depressing to make Because it just I thought it was Advantage of people Yeah Like at the start I was like this is so silly And then after a while I was like This is like really preying on like

Some of the most sad and hurt people And so I really wanted to Then I thought okay This video is actually like I should definitely make this Because it was just really shitty You know But I feel like that's what happens

With a lot of internet stuff Like that the fake martial arts And the influencer video They're all like the same scam. You know, it's all finding these people who really want something and they don't really have a good grasp on what's missing from their own lives and then taking advantage of it. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's kind of how a lot of cults prey on like, you know, vulnerable individuals who are missing something in their lives. Uh, because I did, actually, because I did watch your,

so John made, uh, uh, a video kind of like going, doing a deep dive into influencer training courses, right? Yes. Where you did a bunch of influence courses and you kind of like tested how effective they were. And I'm, okay, I'm really interested in that because did you see anything that as a YouTuber yourself, you

thought was like worthwhile advice or was it mostly just kind of like surface level bullshit? Ninja told me to die my hair. And you did. And you did. And you did. You still do it to this day. So clearly that was a solid. And look at that. Now you're on trash day. So it's worked out.

Like, no. Like, you can't possibly give someone the specific advice they would need in such a generic way. There's no way. So, you see, I think the problem is, like, a lot of these guys, they are incentivized to make you believe something. And if you do not get those results, that's proof that their shit doesn't work. But then, like, so then they develop, you know, like the grind set, like, oh, it might not happen straight away. but you know you keep at it and you keep behind these courses and it's like it's a very insidious thing i think i feel like in terms of like actual advice i got from it i mean i thought

it was all garbage but i do understand like i'm kind of an outlier with a lot of youtube stuff like i think if you were to give general advice on youtube i probably do none of it and succeed in spite of myself you know i mean you can only really give generic advice to a mass audience you can't really give, I feel like everyone's journey and everyone's way of approaching it is so different. Yeah. But there actually was a really interesting video by, I think it was Ludwig.

Yeah. And he was like, can I create a viral video from nothing? So not using any of his claim or any of them. And he actually did it. And so like there is like a kind of counterpoint to something like that. But what I'd say to that is like Is it the one where he sent it to? Yes. Yeah. But what I'd say is like, that's

Ludwig. That is one of the most like creative and intelligent people in terms of making content. He smarts. He figured out that streamers would watch videos if it's talking about them. Yeah. So he just paid a streamer a bunch of money to get it in front of him. And of course he's going to watch it because it's like, this is why this streamer's a genius. Yeah.

Which is smart because he realized that all streamers have he goes, which is true. Yeah. I mean, I think it's interesting because I do think there is genuine advice that you can give to be more successful on YouTube. Kind of Ludwig proved it. And I remember I've seen a video recently of someone who, you try to make a video to prove him wrong, only for that video to blow up. So by taking his advice.

So, you know, it generally you can do things to, like, put things in your core. The problem with courses is that by the time a course is finished and, like, done, it's the, like, a lot of the information is probably out of date, you know? Because YouTube is, like, constantly changing and what is relevant and what works today. It's not going to work like, I think, six months down the line. Yeah, and it's like there's not stuff you can't do to improve your chances, like, you know, yeah, develop a good thumbnail, develop like a compelling title, structure your video well so that people want to keep watching it. Yeah. Like, it's not the concept I had a problem with, it's the industry that built up around it. Yeah. Yeah, it's like you're seeing some of the videos like self-help books as well. It's the same kind of real, you know, it's like you can do it. Sorry, I got on the introvert you. No, no, no. Did you have another point?

No, that was it. Okay, yeah, no, I totally agree. I think it's just like the way it was, like, especially some of the influences I saw in your video, the way it was marketed to be like, you do this, you'll be guaranteed to make $10,000 like dollars or you can, you know, and especially seeing some of the ways that the cost breakdown was like sold to you. I was like, they are being very generous with their numbers as someone who works in the industry. You'll get this many views X amount of time.

If you just do that and it's like, okay. I feel like ultimately, like, the test of that video that none of them ever took me up on was just like, okay, release your actual success rates. Don't like cherry pick one person out of like a thousand. Show like the actual rate. And I said, if it's over 50%, I'll delete the video. And I would. 100% would. Yeah.

Never, no one ever took it up. Of course. I'd be amazed if it was over like 1%. Yeah, yeah. Completely. Yeah, because like the thing about being a successful YouTube, I think, is not just having like one video at a. blows up, it's being able to, like, consistently do that. And that's, like, the fucking hard as thing. That is the hardest thing. I genuinely believe most people have one viral video on them.

Because everyone has that thing they love that they probably have a really interesting insight on, right? Or hate, you know? Yeah, I think for me and I'm probably, I can assume you guys as well, the most time I've ever gotten is from those camera dudes on YouTube or lighting people who just give you, they're like, actually, you do this, put these settings on your camera. I was like, that is so much more helpful than anything else I've been told. Because I can, you know, I feel like storytelling and that kind of stuff, yes, you can be told how to do it, but you really need to actually do it and kind of see what they mean, like where you hear all this stuff. Try it out and like kind of experiment with it. Yeah. You make videos and you kind of get a feel for that yourself, but like actual technical

knowledge that is very helpful and then like a deep dive into softwares or stuff that actually just breaks it down. That's all free and available on YouTube. And the best part is, is that we live in an age where if you have a very, very specific problem, you can just type in that exact problem and you will get a five minute walk through explaining how to do it. And that was so much more helpful than anything I'd ever saw of. Make videos you like. Be positive. Be, uh, promote yourself. It's always the channels with like 10 subscribers and a foreign accent, you know? Then are like the most helpful. I was like, oh, thank God. You can like the, what, Indian tutorials

on math that are like online? Yeah. Those are goaded. Those are goaded. Those got me for It's the best. Somehow, like, an Indian tutorial about explaining some, like, complex engineering concept was way better than any of the lectures I got. Dude, I don't know how they do it. I was paying thousands of pounds for that, and some got an India did it for free. Yeah. One thing I want to ask is every time we hang out, especially if Sydney is here as well,

you guys always bond over, like, horror movies and horror media. And I, like, so I want to ask you. what do you find the appealing in like horror movies because I've some I've been someone who's like never been into horror movies and I've never understood Sydney's fascination with it so I thought I asked you instead. Okay. So like there's a couple of things like once you've seen enough of any like genre or medium you start to understand the subtleties to it and you start to appreciate like the little differences between it. But like so like there is that side of it but a broader side of it like there's there's two things with horror. I think horror out of any genre is about like breaking rules and taking down boundaries. So something like Halloween. Right.

It's like this whole society that is set up to protect you, it can't against this one dude. It is like this nightmare scenario where like you're fucked, you know? And like there's there's something to that. Like I don't know like just the kind of like the break of normality. But then another part of it is like when a horror movie is really well done. and really, like, scares the shit out of me. Yeah. It doesn't matter what's going wrong in my personal life or the work I'm stressed out about

or, like, you know, this issue I have with some person or whatever. Because in that moment, I'm like, this dude's fucking family has been kidnapped and they're going to die. Like, it replaces whatever anxieties you might be feeling in normal life, you know what I mean? And so I like that. There's like a relief to horror. Right. What would you say then is like the best? Because I'm kind of the same way with Garland. I'm like, I'm a massive pussy.

Like, yeah, I'm, we're both, what do you think I like some, I guess like, if you would to try and get someone into horror, what would be some like movies or shows or media? Yeah, what's the best horror movie for non-horror movie watches? So I think if you haven't watched a lot of horror movies, I think slasher movies are generally a good way to go. Because they're kind of like, they're kind of like the death no. in that like you can show them to somewhere normal and they'll get it. The rules are simple. And like so something like starting them off with something like I think Halloween.

The original Halloween still actually kind of rules. Scream, the original scream is still a really good time. And from there it's like it depends like you know what that person reacts to. The original like nightmare on Elm Street. Like there's a lot of those kind of old like mega blockbuster ones that are great. Yeah. Because I wouldn't necessarily start someone off with like the shining. Because like the shining is just a film that's trying to fuck you up.

entire way and like it can be kind of upsetting in that it's like it's like someone who's not used to spicy food nearly you know that's actually a brilliant that's that's exactly what i am every time ciddy puts on the horror movie i'm like cindy this is way too spicy i said that and i was like well that's a stupid fucking i wish i could get into horror i'm not afraid of it at all i just don't i don't know i i never feel compelled by anything in horror do you not get scared no not at all i never feel I never really carefully. Well, about with like horror games. Um.

Because that's like kind of a little bit different, right? Because it's a little more engaged in it. Yeah. Like, directly. I do find a bit more engaged. Yeah. Just because I sometimes is fucking terrified.

Do you count fear and hunger as a horror game? Uh, I think that's just an anxiety game. I mean, I, I, I think the first time I ever came to the cruel miller. I, it's, I, it's, I'm, a bitch is pretty bad. It's probably the scared. I, the most scared I've been playing a game in a long time.

Right. But I mean, we can talk about that for like 10 hours. I mean, I can. Yeah, because I think you got Connor into Fear and Hunger. You broke me. Yeah. Your video fucked me out, man. I'm so addicted to that game now.

Yeah, no, I saw your video. And there's a lot of videos that I watch of yours where I will watch the first two minutes. And I'll be like, okay, I don't want to watch the rest. I want to experience this thing. And sometimes I actually forget to go into experience it. So it really sucks for the YouTube algorithm. Because the YouTube's like... You're really fucking up his worst.

YouTube's think like, man, this guy hates this video. Whereas the Garfield one, I'm like, I'm never going to get into Garfield. So I'm going to watch this whole thing. But like, if you were hung on one, it was like two minutes in. I was like, okay. I had a stream that day. And I had something else planned. And I was like, you know what?

No, fuck it. I'm just going to bite the bullet. I'm going to play this game. And I remember when I was told the viewers, I was like, okay, guys, we're going to play this game. John made a video about it. And it seemed fucked up. And everyone was like, oh God, oh God, oh God. But then there was only like four people

because no one else knew what it was. I saw that, I watched part of that stream and I saw you being like, wait, there's dicks in it? Yeah, I was like, wait, I didn't see that in John's video and two minutes of that. And so I was originally going to play it uncensored until people were like, the people who had played it were like, please play this, censored, please.

And I realized, okay, well, I'm going to make this into a YouTube video, so I should probably play the censored version. And immediately I was terrified just to write away. because it was just like, I just immediately, I was like, oh my God, this is fucking horrifying. What do I do? I'm getting fucked by everything, and I don't know where to go,

and the sounds are, oh, the sounds in that game are just the worst. And this is kind of, there's this track that plays initially, and the first time it plays, I feel like it terrifies everyone. And everyone I've watched play the game is the exact same response. It's the one where that, that dooming noise, the booming, like, kind of, it's like a base that kind of gets louder and louder. Yeah, yeah. And initially, you feel like something's about to happen.

And it never does, but it keeps looping. And it's horrifying. And not to mention the fact, there's these dogs that chase you initially. And also, he needs to fucking balance the audio on these dogs. Because it's so loud. These dogs, and it's the most violent, crunchy dog sounds. It is horrifying. And then you just get, you lose to a coin flip.

And then you're like, what the fuck is this game? How did you first vine fear and hunger? So the first time I ever saw it was like, I think it was like some guy doing like monster. lore videos on TikTok. You told me this. I couldn't believe this is how you got into it. What?

And he, I can't even remember which monster he did it on, but I was like, that game seems kind of fucked up. And then I, then like a couple of weeks later, there's this YouTube where we like called Madjilar. And Madjilar does like a lot of old and weird games.

He did a video on RPG maker games. And he had like a little section on Fear and Hunger. And he's literally like in it, I just want to say, fuck the people who made this game. game. Like he liked it, but like he was doing a bit where he was like, what the fuck is wrong with this game? And then I was like, oh, this sounds like you. Say less. And then so then like I played a little bit and then like, I kind of played about, I think 10 hours of it and I was like,

yeah, this seems pretty cool. And then like, there was another video I think by a guy called Oldman TV that went a little deeper on it. And that kind of convinced me to like get into it properly. And then I was just obsessed. And then I just made the, I just made the, I just made the, I just made the video because I was like, well, here's a fun way to spend a month playing this game. What blew my mind most about that game is that it came out in 2018. It's fucking crazy, isn't it? And it's so terrifying to think that it took five years for this game to really start getting some serious traction.

To think about how many amazing gems out there have just been lost. Oh, yeah. That we will never, ever hear about it. I feel especially in the RPG Mega. Do you. There's pretty so many games. I just to imagine, there are games out there that would have done, like, what Undertale did that we just don't even know about.

Yeah, that just no one's ever played. Or five people have played. And just because the, because I guess sometimes you just need the right person to see it to start that chain reaction, right? Oh, for sure. And it's tough, but fucking TikTok. Fucking TikTok strikes bad. Listen, I watch too much TikTok.

Yeah, but it's like, the fascinating thing about that game is that you, played the game and like you said you get 10 hours and you have an experience with it and you think wow okay i've played this game and then you watch a video and you're like i did not play this game i had a very different experience and then you play it again and you watch a lot of law and you think you understand everything and then suddenly you find more information out and it can every just everything keeps changing your complete understanding of the game and it's really i was saying i i said to you the other day that um i think it's really fortunate that the second game is already out because I felt that it added a lot of really cool layers of story

to the world that is already fascinating and we didn't have to have that whole thing of when is he making a second one? Where's another one coming out? I mean, fair play to that dude who was like believed in his game enough that even though like it never blew up huge he had a second one ready. So then when the first one did blow up.

Yeah, yeah, that's crazy. I loved your, the one thing that you said that sold me on it was that it was only popular in Russia. That's how you know it's fucked up. I was like, oh, it must be messed up. Because all... They only like fucked up shit. And, yeah, I think

undertail meets berserk was a great way of explaining it to some people. Yeah. I mean, it wears its inspirations very heavily on its sleeve, which some people criticize. I don't think it's... Sometimes can be valid.

I mean, I think it's that thing, though. Like, you know when something is really, like, reference heavy? Right. And, like, some people love that, and sometimes it's like, who fucking cares? Like, yeah, like, I get that a little bit.

Well, you played the second one. There's a lot more reference. in the second game and the first game. Yeah. And when you say references, well, references.

They're just, it's just Jotro. Yeah, Jotro is just in the game. What? I'll show you a picture. I'll show you a picture of this. Okay,

let me... Just like, like the model of Jotero is in the game? Like, is he a playable character or what? Okay. Let me, uh, this guy. This is,

this is, this is, this is Marco from, from, uh, Oh, my fucking God, that's Jotor. And he uses his fists only. This is, this is him.

Oh my God. And there's also another character who is a goat. And he, yeah, that's it. And then there's, you can type in Fear and Hunger Levi. And you can see. Holy shit. He looks a little bit like Leo. He's not, I think Jotro is the obvious one.

No, but this one's going to give him the vibe. Yeah. But like, it's a little bit. And, you know, the second game is set in the Termina Festival, a festival that has a moon that comes closer to the Earth. Really? And obviously, it's crazy because, like, it does have all this stuff. It doesn't feel crazy, though. It doesn't feel like anything else.

Right. Like, it actually does feel pretty cohesive when you're playing it. It's super weird, yeah, because, yeah, like that. And then there's also, like, the herbs. You mix red and blue herbs to make healing potions, like, in Resident Evil. And there's so many things that feel slightly familiar, but it somehow makes it feel. feel so fitting and it doesn't it doesn't feel that way at all and it man my god does ever just some of the coolest fucking law of any game I've ever played oh yeah

totally super cool is there any other like horror movies or things that I've like stood out to you that you've watched recently recently um oh man I watched a film called I think soft and quiet recently and it was like even by my standards it was like probably shouldn't have watched that it's it's it's it's it's it's I guess if you like extreme horror, it's one of them. I don't even want to get into it. But yeah, even I have my limits. And I felt bad because I was like,

Michelle, do you want to watch it? And like she's, she's learned to, it's really fucked up. It's really fucked up and it deals with some pretty awful shit. Yeah. But it's an interesting, well, I'd never seen that before. Put it that way. The light of dislike shit.

What do you, because you know, a lot of, there are a lot of horror movies. I've seen these YouTube videos that are like top 10 most extreme horror movies like movies that maybe go a bit too far how do you as a like what do you think makes a horror movie that like how do you like kind of dense that line so I would say like I think the idea of like extreme horror movies gets like it's a good way to get clicks and stuff but what I'd say is like I've been watching horror movies a long long time and to me like I don't really give a shit if a movie is extreme I care like if it's doing interesting things yeah because like you can you

make stuff that's like not that gory and not like that kind of like bloody or anything yeah like um like the shinen doesn't even really have any violence in it there's no point where anyone hurts another person in the shining you know there's a lot of fucking weird stuff and like that's the kind of stuff i really love yeah i mean i think the only one i've enjoyed recently i don't even know if this counts as a horror i think it might be more a thriller but i what's it called again it's like the chef or the table oh uh the menu i think the menu that's the chef The chef. The table.

The table. He's got something cooking. Let him cook. Who let this man cook? Do you guys want to write this movie when we're doing? Yeah. The chef. Just recreating the table.

There's a movie called chef gone. There is a movie called... That's probably why I thought of that. It's not a horror movie. Yeah, I mean, I just thought it was a really interesting concept. And it's kind of like a satire on like the fine dining. culture. And it was just very well acted. Did I?

Yeah, it was fun. I've noticed that it's been on every single plane I've ever been on. The menu is on every single viewable device. Really? I don't know why. I think people are just watching it from there. It was really good. I mean, I liked it.

I wouldn't, for me, that didn't feel like horror though, in a weird way, I suppose. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it definitely, I don't know if it's a horror or a thriller. It's very, because, maybe because it wasn't very gory, you know. That's to me, that's to me, it's still like. Not a fan of go. It's still like unnerved me, which is what I like, the types of horror movies I like when it's like unnerving.

Like, same thing I just kind of say where it's like, if it's interesting, it's interesting. But like, I wouldn't just be like, what happens them? Recent, recent horror movie I watched, I guess, well, maybe it's more of a thriller, was the new Ariasta film. The Bo is Afraid. I haven't seen that yet. It's fucking weird. That is like the only thing I've heard about it. It is weird and it's like three hours.

It's, yeah, it's like two and a half hours. It's one of the weirdest films I've ever seen, but like it's almost amazing. It's one of those films where it's like it completely depends on the mood, where it's like, you can watch it and be like, this is just nonsense whole shit, or it could be this is absolute masterpiece. Yeah, I've always preferred horror when it's more of kind of human element to it and more of kind of relationships and how that could be construed into horror. Like the psychological aspect. Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally, totally. I'm like yeah I'm trying to think of some examples but I can't off the top of my head

but yeah I much prefer that as opposed to fucking ghost that haunts you and turns you into a zombie sometimes there was a ghost with a gun yeah yeah you like the ones where it's like and humans were the real monsters all along I just like it damn it again I mean I just like you when it's like unintentional like it's like you know it's just horrific because it's kind of like wow It's, yeah, we are kind of fucked up, aren't we? We do kind of occasional fucked up stuff. Yeah. Like, the more like believable shit, you mean, right?

Like, the invisible man, I thought was pretty good. I, in terms of, like, the possessiveness of an ex-boyfriend who is fucking psychotic and how that could. Obviously, you use the invisible way as a kind of tool to kind of push it forward. But, like, you can kind of understand that is... That dude is still pretty scary if he's not invisible. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was terrifying when he was invisible. And the idea and the thought of...

And I just loved how it's... this whole thing of, yeah, he's invisible, but obviously the whole, the horror behind it is that he's just so fucking creepy. Yeah. But, I mean, that's the thing about horror. Like, you can, like, no matter how fucking zany it can be, like, someone being invisible, you can ground it in something real. And, like, that resonates, you know? Yeah. I mean, like, I think one of, I have, like, this soft spot for, it's not just horror, but just, like, low budget films where they have to, like, make films with a constraint.

But this one happens to be a horror. I think, Sidney showed me the invitation, I think, where it kind of, without, like, without, spoiling, it kind of details a, you know, a guy who got an invitation from a long-lost friend who, yeah, this one, who basically, is this the one? This might not be the one, actually. I don't know, maybe I got the, maybe I got the fucking name wrong again, fuck. It's probably something like the letter was on the way. I mean, it came out like two years ago, so a year ago, sorry, so it pretty years. Okay, so I'm not sure if this is the exact one, but it's, it details, I got two stars, okay.

Okay, yeah, this, this looks like it's the one actually, yeah. It deals with a more psychological aspect of you get an invitation from someone that you hadn't heard from a long time. And you can tell that something is off and you can tell that something is wrong. And then there will be this point where the tension builds up and then like something snaps and then shit hits the fan. And I fucking love that. So there's another film called, um, I think it's called All My Friends Hate Me. And it's that kind of same thing.

But it's basically like the same setup. And it's like this guy shows up to a mansion with, fuck, I hope we're not talking about the same movie and I haven't got the name wrong. Yeah, that's the one. And this guy shows up to a mansion and there's just something off about the way his friends are treating him. And it's basically like the way one of my friends described it was like,

it's like a social anxiety horror movie. That's what I love actually. Dude, you should check out. It's so good. It was so much more interesting. Then you would love Bowers Afraid because that is exactly what that movie is. There's this bit where this other guy shows,

it's like the most unnerving shit I've seen in the longest time. This other guy shows up at the mansion and he's like, well, who's this guy? He was never friends with us. And he says some, and the main character says something about his sister and he just sees like this new guy take out a little notepad and write it down

and then put the notepad away. And it's like, what the fuck? It's great. It's really good. Do you often find that horror sometimes struggles to land an ending? Because it's something I always found that I didn't enjoy with horror films that often halfway through, I felt like they often lose steam. When they're kind of, the initial interest in concept has to be explored more.

Yeah. And it kind of is like, I do find that a lot. And I feel like it clashes with this thing in storytelling where we want explanations. And I think a lot of the times horror is weaker because of explanations. Because the thing about horror is like a lot of it's like, what if this fucking crazy thing came into your life and you had to deal with it? And if at the end it's like,

and then you deal with it. It nearly stops being horror, you know? Yeah, true, true. I think one of the best endings to any horror media I've consumed at least was probably Soma. It's a video game. I'm playing Soma.

Yeah, everyone talks about it. Oh my God, that's that... You can talk about this on a podcast once as well, I think. Yeah, that's ending like, fuck me up. It was kind of like, it was... You know, it kind of alluded to something happening and then it kind of like flipped it on his head and and it kind of like that was that ending is like stuck to me to this day that's yeah i know what you're talking about and it is some

wild shit basically if you haven't played soma i hate horror i hate horror media but soma is 100% something i would recommend you guys play yeah yeah but uh yeah i guess moving on from horror um so like you seem to have like a very wide one one thing i've always liked your content is that you've never really focused on one thing. You've always had like a wide, like, intro. I don't even know what your tastes are. Like,

sometimes I try to, like, narrow down your taste and I look at, like, some of the stuff that, you know, John does this, like, kind of series where you, like, things I've liked in summer or winter. And I'm like, this has no fucking correlation at all. It's the most random assortment of shit. Yep. Yeah.

Do you have a certain, like, taste or interest that you can boil it down to? Or is it just kind of like, No. Not like, I like art, man. You know, I just, I like things that I think are interesting. But I like being that way as well, you know, because like I do feel like there is correlations between things. Like I've learned a lot about storytelling through like professional wrestling. You know, I've learned a lot about like, I guess, how to structure things from martial arts. And you can take a lot of different things from a lot of different things.

But yeah, I think it's one of the ways my channel is kind of weird, and it's one of the ways that I should probably never have survived on YouTube. You know what I mean? I don't agree with that. I think people just like having a consistent voice that they can come back to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hear like a delivery on something. It doesn't always have to be the same thing.

I think people just like having someone informed them. Because I like just learning about stuff that I do not care about. Yeah, and I think there's as well, like, with your channel, there's always that, like, element of surprise of, like, I would never watch a one-hour video on Garfield from anyone else, you know what I mean? Yeah, like what's the next topic going to be? And then when they see something that they just weren't expecting, well, they're like, well, I mean, John made it and it's fucking two hours long.

It must be interesting. And that's how people get hooked, you know? Yeah, we had this conversation a few weeks going on a podcast about martial arts movies. So I thought I asked you about this. So, like, I feel that there were like way more kind of like the prestige of like, especially Hong Kong martial arts film existed back in the day. And I feel like they've kind of fallen off. And we had this theory that UFC kind of maybe ruined the mystique of like martial arts.

Do you think there's like credit to that? Oh, I would say there's definitely, there's definitely an element to that. Like I think UFC and it was really interesting because professional wrestling had to deal with this problem as well. Because like, oh, that's what a fight actually looks like. And it's not beautiful and it's not pretty. and 80% of it. 80% of it is two sweaty guys rolling. You know?

And so like, yeah, I absolutely think there's something to that. But I also would say in that, there is the capacity for martial arts movies to become the next thing. And they haven't yet. Right. But like, I do think you see it peek through with stuff like the raid or John Wickford was a fucking incredible movie. You know, and it was. Gangfu, they call it. Gunfoo.

Guncutta. Yeah. What was that equilibrium? Yeah. The gun cat, yeah. Yeah, yeah. That was a great film as well. That was really fun.

How do you feel like martial art film could evolve into like the modern era? Because I think it's not just UFC, like sometimes I just get recommended of like, you know, videos where it's just like martial artist tries to defend against like a knife attack and like showing like the reality of how many times they would actually get hit. And then you realize there are just some things that you just can't defend against. So like in a weird way, I think that actually like social media has become a huge part of martial. arts because you get like a lot of amateur fighters now who have like you know they're posting their tic-toks and their daily routines and all that kind of stuff yeah i'd love to see a movie kind of based around that but like it's it's it's a weird one as well i also think like with all the shit that's

happening with like influencer boxing that has kind of become the narrative of modern martial arts you know yeah that's true i mean okay we've done enough influence box i want to see more influence of wrestling now that i think influence wrestling is very very much very hard. I think wrestling is just super technical. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it is. Even just trying it for like one hour, it was like try not to hurt yourself challenge. Did you do your first back bump and you're like,

this is what these guys go through? Yeah, they told me it was soft for them. And I was like, this is not soft. I, I winded myself when I fell. And I was like, fuck. But you would know that it would just be a treasure trove memes. Just like, phone, like, Mr. Beast coming in with the people's elbow.

It was like, that should be so. goal. What goes, like, you've done wrestling training before. What goes into that? So, like, it's, it is, you are working with another person doing all these, like, high impact moves. But the thing that, like, scared me was the idea I didn't want to fuck up and hurt the other person. Right. You know, that to me became way scarier than fighting another person, you know, because I was like, oh, fuck, like, I don't want to be responsible for this person's injury. But it's like, it's a lot of stuff. Like, when people get up, it's like, you always grab the person's left hand. So you have, they, you have, you to be very conscious of like when I get up my left hand has to be here and I have to be like

telegraphing this so they know to do that. I never got far enough with it to like speak on it with any kind of authority so I don't want to. But yeah, like it's like kind of was saying it's this massively technical thing. Right. Because I've noticed I've seen some of your posts and you've done some wrestling events, right? Or you come to England? Some wrestling events? You got like some like evil persona? Yes. I'm Leslie Bestington. I work with a company called Coliseum. I work with a company called Coliseum. wrestling and um it's fun dude like it is you look like you're having the time of i i really am like the thing is like you can like actually getting to piss off the crowd especially kids because kids kids can't think like you know the way kids have that thing where they can't tell

what's real and what is it you can piss them off so much and they will look at you with the purest hatred you've ever seen but like i'd go i like i go up to their parents and i'll be like um I'm going to have to ask you to calm your child down. Everyone's, but it's so fun as well because I got to do a meet and greet the last time. And so I was like, okay, what would Leslie Bestington do for a meeting greet? So I wrote autographs 400 pounds and I just put it there. And so like these kids came up to the table and like I was like, okay, what's your name? What's your name?

And I signed three autographs. And then I looked at the dad and I was like, 1,200 pounds, please. and like it's just it's a lot of fun yeah yeah so what is the character that you play just kind of like so if you've seen my influencer video it's the guy I do at the start of that Leslie Bestington yeah and his whole thing is that he doesn't understand professional wrestling he thinks he thinks it's silly so the first time I ever did it um I basically came out and I was like I don't really get wrestling I'm more a boxing man myself and I respect all the greats

Jake Paul, Logan and the crowd melted down. They got so mad and I was like, I got him, I got him. I got him. Oh, man, look at that. That's so sick. That looks so fun. Any followers do you people have?

Let me guess. Six. Four. One. Definitely one. Definitely, definitely one. What have you done? Buddy! Did what you always do. Nothing. That's so dumb.

That's great. It's fun. Did this come from like, how did this start? Did this come from like the social media video? Yeah, I just done that and they got in contact with me and were like, do you want to do something? And I was like, yes, I do. That would love to. Yeah.

Yeah. It's so interesting when you see YouTube's kind of just go into a whole other realm. But obviously you have history in it. But it's kind of cool seeing it and seeing you do it. Yeah. Yeah, it's been fun. It's definitely interesting going into like a wrestling locker room. And you kind of think you're in shape until like you go in and you're like, oh, I'm like a little boy.

Yes, they are very fucking. Because you guys have done some wrestling videos as well, right? Yeah, I did a video with Takesha who's like insane now. Oh, yeah, yeah. He's done so well. It's so funny because when I met up with him, he was just casually telling me about how he was going to go to America for a few months. And I was like, oh, cool, cool, cool. They didn't think anything of it.

But he was so funny and so good on camera when I was working with him. And then, yeah, shortly after, just occasionally every now and then I'll get tweets being like, yeah, yeah, he's just crushing it. Yeah, yeah. Like, he's not quite main event level yet, but he's like getting there. It's insane. Your video was a little more interesting than my experience because I did a Faraki's video where she went up. Yeah, I put on a luchador mask and lady beard clothesline.

me. And that was not fun. Yeah, I, I have said this so many times, but I didn't understand that they actually hit each other. And so that when they slapped me with the chop, which the chop is just like slapping someone's chest. Yeah. It's a bit different. But they're hitting your chest and they do it for real. And I didn't realize this because in American ones, they do do this, but in Japan, they love doing this. So in Japan, they have a thing called strong style, which just means we're going to actually beat the And, you know, for the video, I really wanted to, even though I have, like, a blood condition, I was like, I want to tell them that. I just thought, I don't want them to worry.

And I knew I'd be fine. I was like, I actually wanted to get in. I wanted them to, like, kind of just do it on me. So I was like, well, fuck it. I should try and do this. I also feel like, if you're going to fucking do a video somewhere, you should fucking get involved. Like, you should actually, like, try and do it for as much as you can. So when I used to train in wrestling, I, like, got in trouble because one of the people there, she was like, like, a,

14 year old girl. Yeah. And we were doing like the chop circle, which just means like you have to chop the person next to you. And I was like, because like she was tiny. And she was like, do it.

Do it. And I was like, and like I couldn't do it. And then the, they're like my trainer pulled me aside and he was like, listen mate, you have to do it. You know? It's like. And like,

I'm like, uh, yeah, exactly. And like afterwards I apologize to her. But like it was kind of shitty of me because she's there because she's cool with that. Yeah.

Yeah. But I think it was just years of social. Conditioning where it's like I have to hit a woman Oh my god But yeah When they hit me My God It's like that scene from one punch man

Where Saitama Like Geno sees Saitama punching him And he like the fucking The giant I felt that I felt death Because he hit me and I was winded And I was like holy shit

And he's like okay Now I'm gonna do it three more times in a row And I was like What next day my chest was all purple Yeah Yeah they'd fuck me up It was really bad Yeah.

That's such a good still. They had me jump on this thing and it was fine but it was when they made me jump and it wasn't even jumping. It's literally just falling on your back. And it's still really fucking hurt. But bless them, they were so good and they really like had me like,

that was terrible. Well, you know, I tried my best. But they really fucking put me to work. It was really fun. I'll never forget it. Yeah. As someone who only knows wrestling through your videos, what's like the difference

between like different countries and different leagues of wrestling? Oh, I mean, like there's a lot of different types. American tends to be like, well, now you have like WW and AEW and like, but it tends to be like a little more showy, a little more like thinking about people who aren't into wrestling.

Like a lot of the times, WW will try and keep its matches quite kind of short and snappy. AEW is a bit more for hardcore wrestling. Japanese wrestling is like, tends to be there's not a lot of like gimmicks or like storylines in Japanese wrestling other than these two men want to be better than each other. It's kind of been that for like there. There is exceptions to that but it's like that is actually to me the most compelling wrestling just because like that's just sparky isn't it?

It is. It legit is. How long is uh because how long is a normal wrestling match then for like WW and AW? What's like average? I'd say anywhere between seven and 15 minutes. See I was watching a 15 minute fight and I felt like that was very long. I felt like that was just like... So what I'd say, it's like an episode of anything. If it's good, it'll fly by. True, true. Right, right. What do you recommend to get someone into wrestling then?

Where do you recommend someone who would start? Watch my videos? So like, I actually hate saying that, but my answer is like, watch my videos and if you see a wrestler you like in those videos, go track down more of their matches and watch their stuff. Because like wrestling at the end day, it's a story about characters. And it's a story about like their long-term journey over many years and how that like combines with their real life. And that's genuinely the advice I give.

Yeah, because one thing I always one thing I found interesting that you mentioned was like the like kind of like the separation of when someone's playing a character and when someone is like how do you balance like the character you're playing and the person that the wrestler actually is, which is a really interesting part of the culture of that. where, you know, with, would you say that, you know, would you say that wrestling is, is on the same level as a fictional story or does part of the appeal come from not knowing where the separation is? I mean, like, if you're really into wrestling, the people who really, really love it, you are paying attention to the fiction and the reality. Right. But the problem, like, what's so interesting about it is, like, where one starts when it, you can never fucking tell. Right. And, like, you have people who think, like, everything's a work. We're being set up, you know?

But then it's like, no, I think this dude actually just sucks. You know? So, like, it, but like, that's what's kind of fascinating about it, you know? Yeah, yeah. Did you, when, since you've been into wrestling for a long time, did you ever have, like, you know, in school or something? Where it's just like, oh, do you know, wrestling's fake? No, it's fake. I remember, like, going on a walk with my dad. Yeah.

And being like, dad is wrestling fake? And he just goes, ad is John, yeah. And I remember just pausing and going, No, I don't think it is. Your brain just like emergency shuts down. I will not accept this. I think that was why, because I used to be into it when I was a kid.

And I think that's when I kind of realized it was fake, and I kind of felt like betrayed almost as a kid. Yeah. Because I was so into it. It's like finding out Santa's not real. Yeah. Almost, yeah. It's kind of the same.

I think it's worse. Yeah. And because it's just, it felt so real. And then I realized as I got older now, I've only really come to appreciate this in the past year or two is that no it's I mean for the physical aspect alone It's so impressive and the feet that they're pulling off and then the stories as well It's like okay you're little and you're watching it and it's like okay Sean Michaels and Brett Hart hate each other and they're gonna fight

Yeah, and then you learn it's not real and you're like oh okay Sean Michaels and Brett Hart are working together to put on what is basically a very painful choreograph dance okay yeah but then you get to layer three and it's like no Sean Michaels and Brett Hart do hate each other and they have to work together to put on this choreograph dance. That is wrestling. You know, like, that's what's fucking interesting about it. Like, I'm not going to get into it. Look up the Montreal screw job. Most insane thing to ever happen crazy. God, no, I want to know. You got to tell me about it. Okay, give us the end of the picture. So basically, I'm sorry to everyone who likes wrestling. I've heard this a million times.

Brett Hart is the champion. He's about to leave the company and he's refusing. to lose to Sean Michaels. He's like, I'm not going to do this because I fucking hate this guy so much. They have to put on this main event show together. And so they arranged the whole match, Brett Hart's going to win or it's going to be a draw or something. And there's going to be a bit where Sean Michaels puts Brett Hart in his own finishing move, the sharpshooter. And to Brett Hart, he's going to reverse it and tap Sean Michaels out. And that's going to be the end of the match. However, before that happens, they ring the bell to make it look like Brett Hart tapped out.

Oh, okay. And you can see he's like, what the fuck? That wasn't how this is meant to go. He spits on the owner of the company. It's this giant, like, disgrace and like basically backstage goes insane. And it's, it's just this weird, like, blending of reality. And like, you know, so there's people who would be like, that was all, that was all set up. I don't think it was.

God damn. That's that. That's pretty cool. Yeah, it's really fucking interesting. You can hear more about it in my video. Villains of wrestling. I don't think I even said the right video title. It's one of the wrestling media.

It's one of the way. You made like free now? I think so. Yeah. Yeah. But you not only have done wrestling on YouTube now, you've branched out into merch as well. Yeah, it's really cool hearing you kind of talk about this. Like, are you two years ago or a year and a half ago?

Yeah. Yeah. We'd call. And you were like, con, I'm really excited about this merch stuff. And I was like, dude, it sounds sick. Because you were telling me about you building like a whole. world around it. I was like, that's, man, we just put a logo on stuff. Well, I mean, like, I, I did that as well before. Um, but yeah, I, so like with the merch stuff, like, I'd have to give, like,

a lot of credit to Otaku versus who kind of like, he sort of talks me, because I basically, like, I wanted to do merch stuff and I was like, I don't know what the fuck to do, you know? Yeah. And I got talking to him and like hearing like his like explanation of everything and like what it kind of was. It really, um, it really opens me up to as like, man, Okay. So I basically, like, I think like a lot of people, when I was like younger, I had this like story or like I wanted to make. And at different times it was like a comic book, a series of videos, a video game. And I was like, okay, yeah, you know, I want to do this thing. And then eventually I was like, okay, what am I going to do with this? It's like, what if I made like a fake anime and pretend that it was real and made merch out of that? And it pretty much just started from there. I worked. It's such a sick concept, by the way. Yeah, there's been other stuff. Like, gorillas is kind of similar-ish, you know?

And so, like, I don't want to take, like, credit for that necessarily. But, and, like, I was working on it. And then, like, I was, like, just explained it to one of my friends, Rebecca Brobex on Twitter. And she was like, yeah, I'll give you a hand with that. And she started doing concept art for it. And, like, the day I sent her the descriptions for the characters, and she sent me back to concept for the characters. I was just like, oh, fuck.

like this could actually be something. And it was, it was so fun to work on. And like it's done well and people are into it. And like, you know, financially it's been like viable, which is great and all that kind of stuff.

But I think it's actually something that really kind of, it made me kind of fall back in love with like content creation and doing stuff like that. Because it added this whole other thing to it. And it's been really, really fun. And like right now I'm working on the third run of it, which is like everyone is like a new arc in this fake anime. It's cool.

And this is like the arc where like the villain gets introduced. And like I'm so fucking, I know, I never know how it's going to go. But like I've been so excited about it. So to explain your concept in case you guys aren't familiar, you kind of like telling a story through your merch. Yeah. That's so cool. Built an entire world around it with characters. How long?

Okay. I got to ask. How long did it take you from like, you said you had an idea of like stories you wanted to tell? How long did it take you to actually flesh out a world and a story? that you wanted to tell. So from the point where, like, I started doing it, I think to like the point where it's like it actually, we have a T-shirt design. I think that was about nine months.

And like a lot of we basically, every, with the runs, we do like a kind of, we do like a little zine of all the concept work and all the shit that never even makes it into the actual merch, you know, like the kind of supplementary characters and like the world and how it all works. And so we basically just spent like nine months building all that. stuff up. Like, whenever I do it, whenever I think up a new character or something like that, I write down who the character is, what their place in the story is, and then their relationship to every other character. And that's all shit that like, that's never going to make it into

a t-shirt. Or sometimes it does it in weird ways, but it's the kind of thing where like, I always feel like when you're watching a show, you can always get a sense for when someone has thought about like every part of this world and when someone is like kind of making it up as they go along and I really wanted it to feel like the former. Yeah, because sometimes, you know, it's, that's why I like world building, because sometimes you watch a show and it feels like the world is built around this one character. And the ones, the stories I feel like they're truly magical is when this is when, you know, you turn off the episode or you close the book and you feel like the world is still taking

place. The story is still happening. It's still continuing on, right? Yeah, yeah, it's still continuing on even if you're like, you're not actively taking a part in it. And the fact that you've just put that into your merch is like insane Well, like I think it's like it's that kind of thing earlier where I was saying like having like a lot of interests really can feed into different things in different ways because like one of the biggest inspirations from it was The York New City arc from Hunter Hunter which is just this fucking insane Just like chain reactions of events to the point you get to the end event. It's like what happens? And it's like I don't fucking know

And like, it's so chaotic and insane, and it has, like, insane anti-climaxes and everything. But because Tagashi has, like, thought it at these characters so much, it all works and it's so compelling. And I love that idea, you know, and I was like, I want to make a t-shirt around. You know? Like, that's kind of like, what's some of my favorite moments, like, One Piece, isn't like the actual arc. It's when, like, the arc ends. And then it, like, kind of like, you get a hint about what else has been going on in the world. It's the meanwhile, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, meanwhile. And then you realize, holy shit, people are fighting fucking wars, and Luffy is just like chilling on this island. There's one particular part, and it's when I think they get back from the Sky Islands. Right. And it just, there's like an episode or two, which is just all the chain reactions that have been happening. And I remember seeing that for the first time and being like, oh shit, this is insane. Yeah, for sure.

It's like, you know, you kind of realize, oh, maybe Luffy isn't the main character for like a moment, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's like, One Piece is like fucking 30 main characters. And everyone's just like doing the wrong things. That's just what I love about One Piece, I guess. Absolutely. So, whenever you guys mention me on this podcast, I get a flood of messages. It's always interesting because, and I remember one of the ones, Grant, was your story about someone thinking we're the same person.

or thinking one of my videos was your videos and you getting into it like an argument on that behalf. But I always think it's really funny when that happens. And there was one story I had that I just loved. And I think I might have told you guys this before. Right. But it was a guy at Magfest. And it was just a regular meeting greet. And, you know, he'd been queuing up for like an hour or something.

And then he's like, I really loved your videos on Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Do I tell you this? I remember this story. The story. Did I tell you, Connor? No, I haven't heard this story. So I'm like, oh, I don't think that was me. And he's real adamant.

He's like, no, no, it was. And I was like, I, it's not because I've never watched that show. And so like, and he's doubling down. And he's doubling down. But then I say that and I just see him like collapse. And he's like, oh no, no, no. And like, that's what he starts saying. and like he's really

and like who it's not a big deal like who cares you know and then he's like I'm so sorry and I have to be like no mate

it's all right it's fine it's fine like it really it doesn't matter you know and so eventually he recovers

and he just goes okay I just want to say I really love your Watson an OP series which is also not for you no that is that is

that is Jeff two mother's basement another Annie Tube yeah and so I'm just I'm just standing there I just go, thanks man.

I think I would be the same. That was the correct answer. My favorite part of the whole thing is later on, he spots me at the con. And he's like, he brings his friend over and he's like, this is the guy. And I'm like, hey, Jeff Fu.

Nice to meet you. Have you guys ever had stuff like that? Oh, all the time. I like every other day. So, um, me and Joey get like, like, people like confuse us all the fucking time. Really?

Yes. So many times. In fact, it, like, it most recently happens at Gamescom when I was filming an official video for, like, a new Hoyerverse game. And the guy running the booth comes up to me and goes, oh, yeah, you are working with us today? I'm like, yeah. I was like, oh, I love your stuff, the anime, man.

It sounds like such an unnatural way to, like, go insane. I love you. Full screen. I was like, oh, are you the anime man? Are you here to work with us? And I'm just like, I'm not the anime man, but I am here to work with you. Yeah. My other favorite one with Gar and I was in Singapore, AFA, which was back in 2017 or something. And I was guesting there.

And because, you know, Garant at the time was still living in Thailand, he was just like, oh, yeah, I'll pop over and, you know, come hang out with you guys. So Garland and I were just walking around at the convention. this dude far off in the convention just like eyes me directly and I'm like okay that's probably a fan so I'm waiting for him to come over he comes over to me and just has the biggest

fucking happy face and he just goes oh my god I love you giga meanwhile Gahn is standing right here right next to me it's impressive how confident people will be about this stuff

and I just felt it's crazy I just felt so bad just being like this is a weird thing that happens when you show your face a lot online where people recognize you and they can

recognize you but they can never tell you like where they recognize you from and that one's always the weird one but I've also heard that I started doing this because I heard some other people were doing this too

where someone be like I'm a huge fan and then you would proceed to go name one of my videos or name something oh you're a fan name five C dog videos I was like, I was curious one time

and I was like, oh yeah, which one? And they named one of Joey's videos. What's scary about this is this is probably actually really common and we just never asked like what the video? Probably, yeah, yeah, because you've probably never asked people and they've probably been like, I'm a huge fan and they probably just, they probably just, I mean, it's,

listen, I don't need someone to justify being a huge fan to say, say hi, right? If you're going to approach Connor, you better have your fucking shit. No, but just don't say, I'm, don't specifically say I am a huge fan. You are not a huge friend. I'm not going to ask most of the time. I'm like, yeah, whatever.

And like, I'd say like, you only ever tell the weird stories, right? Because like, like, 99% of people are so lovely. But I mean, even, I remember, like, the first fan I ever met was still one of the strangest interactions I had. Not really? I can't remember if I've told you this. You guys are not. This was like very shortly after, like, my face reveal, a guy came up to me.

And he was like, um, Super I vatch Wolf. And I was like, oh, that is the name of my YouTube show. I had no, like, flow where I had no idea how to handle this interaction. And then he goes, oh man, love your videos. And then he kind of goes, just so you know, I'm straight, which immediately I was like, and then he just goes. And like he says it so casually, he just goes, but I'll suck your dick. And I was just like, he said it in a way that was really just like, this is not a weird thing to say at all.

And so I just kind of went like, well, good to know. I'm cool. But thank you for watching my videos. I just like, you have something like the wildest stories of like some fans, considering you do like just like video essays, you know? Like I can like I've seen obviously, you know, with some people who show their face a lot and do kind of like maybe content like where you get like a relationship,

like a parasycial relationship. But you just, you just fucking started talking about anime making like cool, interesting stuff. And you have some wild story sometimes, which is why I was very surprised. When he went to AX this year, you did not, like, you just went,

you just said like a meet and greet in public. So it had been like three pandemic since the last time I'd done that. And I thought, like, this will go fine. Yeah. And it was fucking not. We got moved. Immediately and then immediately and then it was a fire hazard immediately.

It was, I felt so bad because I was like I said, but I think the lesson there is don't fucking do that. Yeah. Because I remember like, we had that wake up call in MCM last year. Oh yeah, yeah. Because you never want to like admit that you've got to be like, no, I need people to manage like. Yes. We don't need security. Yeah, I don't need like, I don't need security.

I don't need people to manage my fans. That's like, I'm one of them. Yeah. You never want to admit that you've gotten to the point where you're like, like, oh shit, this is beyond my control now. Yeah, and like, I think even on my way to that meetup, I was like, something doesn't feel right here. Like, this is, this might be a bad idea.

How many people showed up? So, like, I don't know because the first one was shut down immediately. I didn't even get there. And so then we had to move it to a second place and people started showing up. And it wasn't even that many people. But like, one of the con workers were like, what the fuck is this? And then I just moved and then had to move to a third. And like, by that point, there weren't that.

many people because it was just like, I think, I think it moved you three times. Exactly. It's just a treasure hunt at that point to find you. I've noticed you've been showing your face more often as well. Yeah, I kind of just, there's more you can do and there's more jokes you can make. Like, sometimes I write a joke and I'm like, this will be funnier if you can see my face. Yeah. But I think part of that is just like, I just, I like try a new shit, you know, and I like,

I like just kind of. It's respectful. If I, but if I don't do that, I'll get. bored. And I have always felt like the biggest danger to my channel, like it's not YouTube or it's it's not like, you know, just weird shit you can't control. It's me losing interest. And so I have to do my best to keep it interesting for me, which is why the topics I do tend to kind of vary so much. Yeah. It's that fear of like getting into a routine. Right. That's like, that's why I stopped making the why you should watch videos that I used to make because I was like it got to a point where

it felt like I could pull some levers and shit out of video. And I hated that. You know what I mean? Everything's got to be a struggle. Yeah, yeah. If I'm not in some amount of pain, I'm not doing it right. What do you think about this new, like, current trend of just video essays? Okay, so you've made some long video essays before, right? I can't imagine how much work they take, but I've noticed as a trend where video essays have just gotten longer and longer to the point where it's just like, now we have like a four-hour video essay.

Yeah. And what do you mean? There's like eight hour. Yeah. nine hours. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, it's a lot. Dude, I watch the six and a half hour Toki Mickey Memorial breakdown video. Which is like one of the best. Which is one of the old time. It was amazing. It was so good. Incredible. I see, I don't even know what that is, but I'm willing to give it six and half hours because if someone is that passionate about a topic that they're willing to do six and a half hours of editing, then I will watch it.

It's by Action Button and that's the guy makes that's called Tim Rogers and he's been a journalist for like ever. So like he really knows his. shit and he is really knowledgeable and he's the perfect kind of person to make a video like that he's also just really fucking funny yeah yeah I hate that guy just I watch his videos I'm like god fucking down but in terms of like the the like larger trend to be honest with you like I'm never gonna make an eight hour video but hell if someone can do it and keep it compelling more power to them like I don't know man I didn't know I didn't know someone can make a two-hour Garfield video so

But I mean, like, you know, I'm sure there's a lot of bad eight-hour videos. I'm sure there's a lot of one-hour, bad one-hour videos. I've probably made someone like me, you know? It's like... Bleach fans be like, oh, well, actually. Yeah. But I think it's very easy with YouTube to get caught up on what other people are doing. And I think ultimately, like, the healthiest thing is if there are just lots of different videos being made in lots of different ways and lengths and styles.

And like, they're not all going to be for you, but they don't have to be. It used to be that, like you mentioned earlier, like if you made a bleach video or you made a anime video, you were normally the one video. And it's kind of getting, it kind of used to be like that generally about a topic. But now when there's like a kind of a cult game or a cult kind of piece of media,

everyone's kind of scrambling to make a long-form essay video about it. Does that thing you ever have to consider? Or if someone else makes a video, you're like, oh, I can't make my video. No, because I feel like if I really make a video right, no one else would have made that video the way I would have made it. Yeah, that's fair.

You know, because, like, I'm never going to do, like, a review of Starfield because I don't fucking care. It's like, I'm never going to make a video. I don't really give a shit about it.

And if I really give a shit about something, it's not going to be like anyone else. And that's not unique to me. That's like anyone who's really going to put their own individual take on a video. Yeah, absolutely. I mean,

sometimes you've made a video. I'm like, Fuck, John could do it better than any, like, than I ever could. Fuck, I can never make a, really? Yeah, your Bakke video? I'm like, well, fuck, I can never make a Bakke video again. Oh, I would fucking kill for a gig of Bakke video. What are you talking about?

That's insane. You did it so well, though, man. Yeah, but, like, I did it well because you're watching the end product of what I did. If that went through your pipeline and your, dude, that video would be fucking hilarious. What are you talking? Make a backy video. video. Shut the fuck out, make a

pocket TV. You're both fans of each other. You're both sucky each other's dear, right? No, no. I just want to see him make a backy video. That's why he's the goat, man.

That's why he's the goat. Has there ever been someone in who is in your community who has just been extremely persistent emailing you to make a video about one topic and has not given up? Oh, constantly.

Yeah. And on, like, there's one guy and I think it's it's like this this Lego thing I think it's called Zoids I've been getting emails from him

for about six years and I'm like I never know what Zoids video from you would be fucking awesome I don't know anything about it and I just look it up and I'm like what the fuck like

but the thing I always say is do you know who should make a video about that, him. And it would probably rule. Yeah. You know, if he took a fraction of the time he spends writing me emails and made a video about it,

probably be class, you know? You brought up a very interesting point with how you started YouTube, which is, if we've said anything to piss you off in our videos, make it, let it cook, and then just do a John and just make a video. Make a video. And then make a career out of it.

Yeah, then make a career out of it. Totally. You know. End up on an extremely successful podcast for reasons you're Not quite sure of. Do you ever miss, like, old Antitube? Like, no. Me too. Me too.

I mean... I feel like Anitube there is, because our audience is so new and so different. I feel like it doesn't hold the same weight, I think that it does not. To you, that it might have to the audience. I mean, Anitube for a time was actually a genuinely, I think, really special, interesting thing.

And, like, you know, a lot of great videos came out about that. And, like, it did really deepen a lot of my understanding. about anime and like just how to appreciate media in general. Yeah. It's also just a lot of bullshit. Yeah. A lot of petty bullshit. Yeah.

And it's just a lot of like, well, I think this. And it's like, okay, that's cool. And then it's like, well, no, argue with me. Well, the whole space is matured, right? Yeah, I think so. When people start making their livelihood on it, you're like, actually, now I, I don't want to ruin someone's job or life or get in fights with people. I feel like it's, I would just want to work.

And like, it does get to the point as well. though, where like, it is hard to deal with any kind of, like, um, conflict in a fair way because I don't know if you ever have that thing where like someone will like, I don't know, say something dumb on Twitter. And then you'll be like, you'll, you tweet back and you're like, listen, mate, you're being silly. And then every, then like 40 people who follow you are like, yeah, he's right. You're being silly and you should fucking die.

And it's like, well, now I didn't say that, you know. You're really paraphrasing when I just said. Yeah. No, yeah, that's why, you know, sometimes you get a comment, you're like, I want to respond to you. Yeah. But maybe that's why some people have alt accounts, you know. So, so, because like, the alt-account is weak. Sorry?

It's weak to have an alter account. Yeah, but sometimes I just want this person to know that I disagree with him without millions of like my, like, it almost feels like when I have like followers that back me up, I'm like, guys, I don't need you help. I got this, okay? I got this, okay? Don't worry, no worry. There's always going to be that your platform and size behind it there, regardless of it's an alternative. No, exactly. But like, I have, like, responded to people, like, a bunch of times and, like, more than I should have.

And every time I always think it's going to feel great, it always feels just bad. Yeah, that's fine. You just don't. You just don't. Yeah. You just sit there and you let it stew. But there's that instinct, you know, where you just see, like, a really shit take, and you can just feel the vein in your forehead thickening.

Yeah. It's just like, God, I just want to destroy. Out of that fury comes, like a clever comment. Yeah. It's like, I just thought of a great dunk. Those five minutes where you've drafted the tweet, but you don't post it are the most powerful, powerful mental. There's actually a wrestler who I think has found this really beautiful solution to this.

Whenever anyone talks shit to him on Twitter, he goes on their profile, he finds a picture of them, he copy and paste the picture and just replies with that. That's so cruel. This shoe? It is often the people who have like the most weirdest fetish porn shit on their account that took the maddest shit.

Oh, of course. Yeah. Yeah, I remember a guy tweeted something at me that was rather insulting and I was like, what the fuck is this guy? I clicked on his profile and it was like, it was like inflation porn only. And I was like, what the fuck? You're dealing with a man who has nothing to lose.

Yeah, I'm like, what the fuck is this? I can't, what the hell? What the hell? Yeah, I was done. Yeah, I mean, it's a meme. but it is always the anime profile pictures as well. It's the Kyoto animation profile pictures. Oh, it's...

You know, you know that's all too well, John? I'm getting fucking warflats, folks. Never understood the, like, overlap there. Just these really positive anime about these girls, learn to play music and befriend each other. It's just the fucking most insane people you will ever meet. Yeah, I love it. And, you know, you can always tell when you piss off, like, a fandom

because, you know, there's just some sort of irony in here where it's just a person criticizing you for, you know, talking about bleach or something. And it's just like the most obvious bleach fan accounts who just like goes home, sleeps, worships Kubo. I remember one time the best example of this I've ever gotten was someone got really mad at my Shenmu 3 video. Yeah.

It was a bad game. And I think so. I thought the critical consensus was that it's bad. Yeah. Yeah, but you know, what are the critics? Yeah, but like, look, if someone, someone is not like de-legitimate for liking that game. I'm not saying that, but this person, they had Shenmu in the title of their, but I responded back to them just being like, okay, person with Shenmu in their tag.

But then when I looked at their profile picture, it was them. with the it was them with you Suzuki the maker of Shenmu so this person I think it's you Suzuki maybe I'm fucking that up no it is and it was so like actually yeah like it was them at a fan meet and greet with that person and look that guy love Shenmu yeah yeah yeah you're never you're never gonna change that man's my yeah yeah yeah no was it was ever a video you started making and thought no I just can't I can't I can't I can't finish this one or that you just didn't you scrapped it for whatever reason second video ever and that's the only time it's happened. I am I done the hunter hunter

hunter video and I was like okay now I'll make and I didn't really talk about Kiloa in the hunter hunter hunter video even though I fucking love that character and I was like okay cool I'll make a clue a video because you know I've already recently you know re-read and re-watched a bunch of hunter hunter hunter and like it'll you know everyone who already likes hunter hunter hunter will watch this video then like that'll work yeah yeah and then I was like but I don't want to And then I was like, and I also, I don't want to be like the hunter, hunter guy. Yeah. And I was like, I think I'm more excited to make a different video.

And then I made a different video. And that's kind of been my whole career. What's the video you've spent the most time on? Because I like, even for me, doing a half hour video is just, I dread it sometimes. Just like, even the half hour runtime, I'm like, this is so much fucking work. You've done like hour, two hour videos before. I would say probably the two hour video. So I had two, two air of videos.

One was the unreality of pro wrestling, which was relatively recent. Right. And maybe that was an hour and a half. I can't remember. But probably the biggest one was why you should still read Berserk, which was an absolute fucking journey to make that video. Yeah. Yeah, because there are some shows where I want to make a video on, but I just like,

I sit down just like try and start writing the script. And I'm like, I don't know if I can do this justice, you know? I'm sure people will think I do justice, but I, you know, proving it to myself that I can make my... But if you aren't a little bit afraid, like, I have to be, I have to feel that to make a video, you know, like, I like that, fuck, I don't know if I can pull this off. Like that, that will make me make a video because you just, you just got to write the fear, Gerns.

Yeah, I've done that a few times, but it's just like, it's been one of those videos where I've started, I write a sentence, and then it's like a year-long process of me, like, sliking myself up to do this and then I do it and then I'm like okay that was great and then I'm like but I gotta do it again baby that's me that's me that's me that's me that's me that's me pun-pun-pun video I've been trying to write for like four years and I just like I just can't every time I rewrite or reread the script I'm just like it's not good enough yeah and I think it's just because like it's such an important series for me where it's like a difficult one to write about a difficult one to write about too especially without like giving away spoilers and stuff like that you know so

like I've just been sitting on this video for like four years. I still get people coming up to me every now and then being like, so that Poon Poon video. Where's it out? I hate talking about stuff I'm working on. Yeah. Because sometimes, you know, something just happens and something doesn't pan out. Yeah.

And people are really excited about it. And I'm like, fuck, I shouldn't have said it. Yeah. And I go, or I can just pleasantly surprise them when it comes out. That's why I've stopped doing that as well. Yeah. It'll come out when it will come out. And if we've got to cook, we got to cook.

I just don't even tell it exists. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It comes out. It comes out. Totally. So is on that topic, is there anything you want to do that you haven't been able to do on YouTube yet or anything like any dreams that you want to do? So yeah, there's some stuff. I really want to do a video on the movie Jingle All the Way, which is the Arnold Schwarzenegger Christmas movie and legitimately one of the greatest movies of all time.

I love the lengths they go to in that film to get a fucking toy It is a good movie Fucking brilliant I think I've rewatched that recently Yeah I've rewatched it recently

Every year for 30 years Um Oh no No don't don't know Okay we can't put that on there We can't put that on there Yeah Yeah

He'll shoot find out Wow yeah he really does have Shenmoon his name Yeah That is an amazing film not that I think about it. And then I also made, I think probably the most unhinged video I ever made was called Space Jam 2 is a lie. Oh my God, I love that. And I have a video that is a sequel to that video. But when you click on the video, you won't know it's a sequel to the Space Jam 2 video until like 40 minutes in. And that to me would be like so fucking. weird and it makes me so excited to do it but it's like it's kind of things need to say yeah it would be um and i'd love that because i know a certain percentage of my audience would fucking hate it

that always makes me pretty excited yeah you're just like at some point i think you're like the most eloquent fucking anime ass or fucking just video sas on the fucking youtube and sometimes i just think you're a massive troll and i can't decide which which side of the fence you are i i don't know. I have a question. Where did you get your narrating style from? It's a really boring story. But like, so I started doing YouTube and I just didn't know how to talk and so it's just, it's just real monotone. But then I started getting comments from people who English wasn't their first language and particularly people who English wasn't their first language who had learnt English in like America. And they were saying, that like I can't really understand you a lot of the time.

Could you slow down? And so I started slowing down. But then like when I started talking slower, my voice kind of dropped an octave. And then that kind of became like this. And it just naturally went that way. And it's weird because like sometimes like whenever I see like one of my videos pierce like outside my bubble. Yeah.

I get so many. I see so many people being like, why does he talk like that? You know? and like Joey I saw you recently or not recently but I got sent the clip of you saying that I talk too slowly in videos and that you speed up my... But the thing is...

No, no, no. No, okay, because sometimes I'm just like, all right, I really want to know what John's gonna say on this topic, but I know the speed at which Super Outfash can talk and sometimes I don't have two hours to kill. So I'm just like, sorry John, I'm gonna up it just a tiny little bit. See, Joey, I know that you do that now, so I have been narrating all my videos at 0.75 speed.

So that you are watching at the correctness. I think like ultimately at the end of the day, it's the way I like to narrate videos. And like I get it's not for everyone. That's cool. But like, I don't know if you guys can. Intel for my videos, I stopped trying to please everyone a long fucking time ago. And I just like making them the way I like making them. If people want to watch, that's cool.

And people don't. I just love the jury call out. Oh, I've had that cook in the entire. Finally on the show now, I can say it. I mean, do you feel that it's, do you care if anyone watches it like 1.25 or 1.5? Or is it just like? Oh, not really. Like, fuck, life's hard, too.

You got to do. You know, like, if. I just have people like, no, the creative. integrity, the timing. I time to... Hey, it's not every video I do that with it. It's only the long ones. But no, I mean, like, look, if my videos

provide any fucking enjoyment to someone, enjoy them how we want, tab over them all the way through, okay? So you've got to give you credit for that. I'm like, this guy, yeah, exactly. I stopped for two minutes and exits out. It was the one. You know which one I distinctly remember which one it was. It was the one where you talked about a horror manga with a girl or something

and someone dies. She knows what, yeah, and I was like, this sounds fucking sick. I'm going to read it. I just didn't. And every single time I think about reading it and I, I, I, I like, man, I can't, I can't keep clicking on this video and clicking off it. This is psychotic.

YouTube's going to think I hate this video. So, yeah, I've got to read it. I will. It's a fantastic manga you should read it. It's very good. Yeah. And like, you want to talk about like human horror. Yeah, yeah, that's why you really sold me on the concept of it.

And for some reason, I just haven't read it. I guess the next time you can. on the show, I will make sure I wrote it. It's promise. I promise. I just have to click on and off your videos. I'm going to try and not do that as much. Yeah, you're killing me here, Connor.

I think I, YouTube though, will automatically put, and I don't know why it does this for me, it'll keep replaying your goddamn liminal space video for me. Like, I will leave my YouTube on on the side and then two hours later, whatever I've left it for some reason, I'm back and I'm an hour into the liminal space. I'm like, man, they really. want me to watch shots videos. I have like a personal account on YouTube. It constantly recommends me my own videos. And my reaction is always like, oh, fucking God.

I hate this guy. I just don't understand why it keeps recommending me this one video. Like I'm obsessed with limit. I don't even watch anything about liminal spaces. I don't, I've never watched it. Well, how would you know if you don't like it? If you haven't watched it, come on. No, I've seen it, but I clearly don't search out for it or click on many of the videos.

For some reason, your goddamn video keeps getting auto-played for me. I click off two minutes in. You can't every single time. I keep telling it, this video is not for me. But I did that for like someone else as well, and it kept replaying the like H-Bomber guy Roblox video. I don't know why. I would finish a video and it would auto-play that video.

And even I watched it. Great video, but it was, yeah. No, that's me. Like, I think I've talked about this briefly before, but that's me and like... You should look out for this. I swear it does this. I swear YouTube does this. It'll keep recommending, it'll keep auto-playing one video.

Yeah, so I fall asleep to like certain videos And like recently it's been like the history of the universe Where it's kind of like I've told us about this before I don't think I've finished a single video Because I because they're about an hour long I get 20 minutes in and then I'm asleep You get so much mileage out of one video Yeah

Because I fall asleep four separate times I'm like all right this time This time I'll get further I get like 25 minutes And then I'm like I don't remember anything About the rest of the video So one time I'm going to like finish a video and know what the end of the story is.

But until then, it's great. It's very, very interesting content. But also, it's just so good to sleep too. Yeah, it's so calming, right? Yeah, it's so calming, yeah. But, yeah, John, thank you very much for coming on Trash Tate for today. Strong guy, is a pleasure, genuinely.

He flew in from Ireland just to come here to our long studio today. He's only like a airplane. No, no, it's a big deal. When you come to Japan, you can come home again. Yeah, yeah, happily. No, that'd be great. Yeah, thank you very much for coming to our show as well.

Anything you want to shout out? Sure. You can find me on Super iPch Wolf. I also do have all my like streams on regular iPch Wolf. And IPatchWolv.com for like merch. Get the merch. If you're interested in a weird concept that barely makes sense on a t-shirt. What a pitch.

But yeah, no, thanks so much, guys. It's been a long time coming. We've all been close friends for a very much. for sure. And I'm glad I got to gush about O'G Annie 2 for a while. Before it's completely lost in the dust. But hey, look at all these patrons though. John, do you see all these patrons on screen? Point to your favorite one. It's got to be this one. What a scamp.

Seems like a good-looking bunch. This is a Shenmoo fan, actually. Yeah. Oh, really? Is it the guy from earlier? Well, that's a bleach fan, actually. I'm sorry. God damn. But hey, if you want to support the show, then head on over to our Patreon. Patreon.com slash trash taste.

Also follow us on Twitter. Send us some memes on the subredder. And if you hit our face, listen to us on Spotify. And yeah, obviously go check out John's stuff. Links in the description below. And thanks for coming out. See you guys next week. Bye.

Bye.