To say I’ve been around Youtube for a while is an understatement. Back before the reign of the Paul Brothers and James Charles, we bowed down to Fred Figglehorn and the best beauty gurus who only used MAC Cosmetics. There’s actually an awful picture of me on Facebook from 2011 in which I’m wearing a Smosh t-shirt and captioned with a ShaneDawsonTV quote. But in my somewhat recent deep dive into the niche areas of YouTube, I have found some channels that I now couldn’t imagine my internet entertainment life without.
Better known by his previously mentioned alias Fred Figglehorn, Lucas is the 25-year-old failed ex-child celebrity who you can’t help but love. He is lighthearted, living his best life as a gay man, as everyone expected, and is relatable in the way you feel like you’re talking with someone you’ve known for years (and for those like me, you have known him for years). My favorite videos of his are where he commentates on how absolutely terrible his FRED movies and failed TV show “Marvin Marvin” was. It’s like laughing with a friend over a bottle of wine (or sparkling cider if you’re under 21) about how cringy your middle school Facebook posts were.
2. Ants Canada
Not exactly underrated with around 2.5 million subscribers, Ants Canada began as a Canadian website for the sale of ant habitats and advocates for ant keeping. This concept has evolved into a channel dedicated to the dramatic narration of the epic saga in the various pet ant colonies inside Mikey Bustos’s house. Somehow Bustos’s narration makes the normally mundane ups and downs of a functioning ant colony alongside the elaborate colony names, like The Golden Empire of yellow crazy ants and The Fire Nation of fire ants, make ants entertaining. I have become fully invested in the life of a bunch of ants because of this man. If ants don’t give you the heebs or the jeebs, it’s worth a view.
3. Defunctland
Defunctland is a series started by Kevin Purjurer to deep dive into the history of extinct theme parks, themed entertainment experiences, and, as of more recently, television shows. If you are anything like me and have very bizarre memories of theme park rides and tv shows that you weren’t entirely sure were real and not dreams, this might just be the channel for you. My personal favorites are the analyses of old-school Universal Studios Orlando rides because those are what I remember so intensely. It’s also interesting how rides evolve not only in mechanics and realism but in what is trendy at the time.
4. FoundFlix
I love horror movies; I always have and I always will. The issue I find with horror movies is that either 1. I don’t understand the ending or 2. I know the movie is bad and I don’t want to watch it and FoundFlix fixes all of that! Their most popular series are Ending Explained, in which the host gives a quick analysis of the plot and explains often complex endings, and Reviews/Analysis videos. While they are full of spoilers, they satisfy the need to know the ending to garbage movies, explain little details on the good films that you missed, and spark interest in movies you didn’t even know about. The host has such a passion for the genre and speaking about horror that it makes the experience better than should be allowed. Also, there aren’t any jump scares.
5. ContraPoints
ContraPoints is a channel run by a trans woman, Natalie Wynn, a philosopher and self-proclaimed feminist whose videos use multiple elaborate characters alongside dark humor and sarcasm to critique common alt-right, conservative, and traditional “Tumblr-y” left arguments. The production value is phenomenal, her humor is spot on, and her unique perspective keeps the content fresh. It’s the perfect mix of entertainment and education on topics, which many somewhat liberal Millennials and Gen Z-ers are too afraid to speak on in fear of retaliation from the older generations.
Lauren is a full-time makeup artist and Youtube beauty guru who stands out from the rest. She often speaks about her previous makeup addiction in which she would buy endless makeup to feel a sense of fulfillment, influenced by the big beauty gurus of the time. This, I feel, gives a unique perspective of her harshly judging products, avoiding excess sponsored content, and critiquing the advertising tactics used in makeup marketing. She represents a more realistic view of a beauty guru that is much more relatable.