I end up working all night EVERY night for the next week. Finding new ways for Frank to be obsessed with hot sauce, staging, filming, editing, adding sound effects, uploading, creating playlists, tagging them, tweaking the tags, responding to people who leave comments—who knew being on YouTube was so much WORK?
Carly’s vlog continues to get tons of comments; she’s got the most viewers and subscribers of all of us, by far. It’s actually infuriating because her videos take a few minutes to shoot, even less to edit, with hardly any pre-production. How can she put in the least amount of work and get the best results? I should realize by now that my accomplishments will NEVER compare to Carly’s. Ever.
Tyler continues to create bizarre YTP videos that have no point to them, which of course IS the point. Matt’s channel is kind of a one-joke bit, but since he uploads a new video every week, he’s gotten a few hundred subscribers. For someone who goofs off as much as Matt does, he is surprisingly focused. He hasn’t said anything, but it makes me wonder if he might end up going into filmmaking for real.
We all knew Umberto’s videos would reach a wide audience; there are other people doing accessibility shows on YouTube but none are as funny—or by someone as young—as Umberto’s. I can’t decide which of his videos is my favorite. I love the one where he’s trying to order a smoothie but can’t see over the counter because he’s in his chair and the guy working there can’t tell where Umberto’s voice is coming from. I also like the one when his shirt gets caught in the mechanism of his wheelchair and he brings pedestrian traffic to a halt as he tries to remove it. I’ve been in the world with Umberto enough to know that he’ll never run out of new material.
Monkey Love Hot Sauce is doing okay; I’ve had lots of great comments and proudly have 165 subscribers. But I barely sleep, barely stay awake through classes, and, most important, I’m so busy MAKING YouTube videos that I no longer have time to WATCH YouTube videos. Unless you count my own.
Is it weird to watch your own videos to increase your views? Are the other kids in this class doing the same thing? Or am I the only loser in the bunch? These are the questions I’m too embarrassed to ask the others, even my best friends.
My parents seem mystified by what they think is my YouTube channel.
“So are you going to take these mash-up action figures and DO something with them? Some Robot Chicken kind of thing?” Dad points to the pile of figures on the kitchen table. He picks up half Batman/half Pikachu and walks him toward me.
Sure, Dad, great idea. Why don’t I create a THIRD show?
Mom just shrugs at the pile of misfit toys. I can tell she’s not impressed. I just want them both to go to bed so I can shoot more secret videos of Frank.
I DID have time to watch Mr. Ennis’s new video a few days ago. In this one, his friend Chris joined him in the weekly digital magic show. Chris has set up a Slip ’N Slide in the yard and Mr. Ennis walks by in a tuxedo. Chris blasts Mr. Ennis with the garden hose and suddenly the tuxedo becomes a tuxedo-printed wetsuit. Mr. Ennis slides down the Slip ’N Slide and lands perfectly dry in his regular tuxedo again.
Carly’s newest videos follow her same vlog format and you can see that the positive response she’s received has made her even more confident. In one, she talks about having lunch with her cousins, then looking in the mirror later and seeing her braces are covered in everything from lunch meat to gingerbread and how embarrassed she was.
“None of my cousins told me my mouth looked like the inside of a garbage disposal,” she says on-screen. “Not one!” As usual, she throws herself onto her bed and fake cries. She ends the segment by saying she’s putting up an AMA video next week. Mr. Ennis says Ask Me Anything videos can be fun but cautions Carly to make sure all the questions are appropriate before she answers them.
I’ll be the first one to admit that I didn’t get Carly’s vlog in the beginning. But the more I see it, the more I understand why others are attracted to it.
People mostly watch videos for entertainment and to learn how to do something, but over the past few weeks, I’ve seen there are also other reasons. To connect with people or to feel like you’re a member of a group. Without planning to, Carly created a forum for other kids to share their thoughts, feelings, and stories about having to deal with braces. And it’s paying off.
“Do you think we were wrong to just go for laughs?” Matt asks.
We’re at my house where he’s helping me set the stage for Frank to forage through the tub of old sports equipment looking for hot sauce. So far, I’ve spent half of my birthday-money savings on ketchup, which Frank has devoured.
“I just wish I’d done something easier,” Matt continues. “I have to get into my caveman costume, put on makeup, find something new to unbox, beg Jamie to drive me to the trail, then film me.… I hate to say it, but it’s not as much fun as I thought it would be.”
“You had me fooled,” I say. “I thought you loved it.”
“I did,” Matt says. “But my channel’s been up for weeks. That’s practically forever in YouTube time. I thought
