By: Selina
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| Image by GhostGrafx |
Nearly a year ago, Cat went on vacation and I took the time to post about YouTube and my plans. Since then, things have changed. The way I view the creators has altered and my own ambitions have jumped from YouTube to Twitch.
I did actually start a Twitch channel recently,
but it didn’t turn out to be exactly what I thought it would. I figured I’d be
doing various different games, but I fell in love with speed-running and kaizo
levels. So, it’s pretty much all Super Mario Maker.
A lot of that love came from watching streamers and
YouTubers play the game.
It only took beating a few really hard levels with my
friends watching on for me to fall in love with streaming, too.
Despite my ambition switch from YouTube to Twitch, I haven’t
completely left YouTube alone. In fact, I almost exclusively watch that instead
of TV. The content is better, there’s less censorship, and there’s more room
for creativity.
Granted, not everyone is going to be into the gaming videos,
but that’s like any other sport out there. I don’t watch football, it’s as
boring to me as watching Dashie play Resident Evil would be to my mom. However,
there’s so much content that gaming is really only a small section of what
there is to find on YouTube and Twitch. It’s my most preferred genre, but
there’s some great content otherwise.
Below is my revised list of creators, between the two
platforms, that deserve recognition. There’s more knowledge and experience in
my decisions now and the list has been escalated to a top 35 because I just
couldn’t choose.
Enjoy.
This YouTube channel is, shockingly, about food. It’s got
some restaurant highlights and some recipes… but they usually aren’t the kind
of recipes you’re going to want to utilize on a daily basis unless you’re
cooking for an army.
I’m talking about 200 lb candy bars, fast food lasagna made
from upwards of 30 burgers, and so on and so forth.
Despite the fact that these videos can get cringe-inducingly
gross, they are highly entertaining. Couldn’t, for the life of me, tell you
why.
This YouTube channel is censored, but I definitely wouldn’t
call it kid friendly.
34 –
BuzzFeed Video
So, here’s the deal. I relatively despise the majority of
Buzzfeed’s stuff. It’s all click-baity and obnoxious. This is on the list for
one reason and one reason only.
There’s a series on their YouTube channel called ‘Worth It’
and it is really good. It’s reminiscent of stuff like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives from the Food Network. They check out
three different versions of things at three different prices and see which one
is most worth it. The dynamic between the two most-often used hosts of the show
is hilarious and you get some basic cultural knowledge of the subject of each
episode.
If ‘Worth It’ ever moves to its own channel, I’ll have no
more need for Buzzfeed.
33 – Matt & Amanda
This channel used to post more often and it seems to have an
identity crises every few months. It used to be a vlog channel focusing on the
relationship between two well-known YouTubers, then it became a family
challenge channel, and now it seems to be back to vlogs. Regardless of what it
is, the dynamic between Matthias and Amanda is gorgeous. Whether they’re
competing or talking about their baby girl, Luna, they are worth watching.
32 – Lindsey Stirling
Lindsey Stirling is a modern goddess of the violin.
She covers everything with her trusty instrument. From Beauty and the Beast songs to video game
tunes to other popular or random pieces. Her music is absolutely flawless, fun
for the whole family, and the videos that go along with it have incredible
production quality.
Stirling also tends to collaborate with well-known others,
such as Josh Groban, John Legend, and Pentatonix.
She’s a good YouTuber to just sit down and watch or to have
on in the background while you work.
31 –
CinnamonToastKen
CinnamonToastKen is a funny guy.
His is primarily a gaming channel, but Ken also posts vlogs
of him with his family. Both aspects of his channel show unique sides of his
personality. His gaming persona is a little over the top and it makes sense to
hear of him associated with PewDiePie. When it’s just him and his wife (and new
baby) there’s a milder look into his persona – the man behind the public face.
I like stuff like that. People who stream or record often
put on an exaggerated mask of who they usually are, it’s nice to get to peek
behind the curtain sometimes.
There are better gamers out there, but Ken is amusing and
he’s fun to watch.
30 – Not Always Right
This channel isn’t widely popular yet, but I enjoy it
anyway. It’s not a very complex idea they work with, but they post every
weekday and it’s basically horror stories from the point of view of retail
workers. My best friend is a manager at a big retail store and I’m always
absorbed by his stories. This is no different.
Once in a while, they put in some feel-good stories, which
is nice, but otherwise it just puts things in perspective for customers.
Lesson to learn? Don’t be a dick. Retail workers are people,
too.
Also? There’s nothing in the back. Stop asking.
29 – Alonzo Lerone
I’m going to be really honest here, I don’t know why I find
this guy as hilarious as I do. He pretty much just reads viral stuff from the
internet and ‘analyzes’ it in the simplest way possible. Still, it’s hilarious.
He finds some really funny shit and he has some interesting takes on it… even
if he doesn’t know what the fuck a muggle is.
Seriously. Who doesn’t know what a muggle is these days?
28 – Moretoki
You know this guy. You may think you don’t, but you do.
You’ve seen his videos floating around out there from time to time. This is the
guy that lip syncs in his car. I cannot tell you how much I love those videos.
In fact, I love them so much that the last time I saw one on my Facebook I
decided to check out the creator.
He’s got some funny shit.
Moretoki’s sense of humor is juvenile and immature. Which is
fine. Who doesn’t need a little silly in their lives?
27 – RobertIDK
RobertIDK does a bunch of stuff, but it’s his parodies that
I’m in it for.
I can relate to him. Me and Cat are professional fan-girls
and he’s a professional fan-boy. His parodies are about YouTubers that he
adores and are set to the tune of popular songs. They’re REALLY good, too. In
fact, in some cases I can’t even hear the popular songs anymore without
thinking of him and his work.
26 – Random Encounters
I watch very little of this channel. Occasionally I’ll watch
a musical or two, but it’s a single series that has me coming back over and
over. I watch it often, like a favorite movie, and I actively bought it on
iTunes so I could have it on my phone always. I listen to it at the gym or
while on my way somewhere.
Their Five Nights at Freddy’s musical is just the absolute
greatest thing ever. Seriously. Go watch it. Whether or not you like the game
is not a prerequisite.
25 – TearofGrace
TearofGrace is probably the least family friendly of all the
channels listed here, but he’s hilarious.
I, personally, watch him for the Super Mario Maker stuff,
but I’ve enjoyed some of his other gaming experiences. Unlike people like
CarlSagan42 or R3XR4TH, however, I don’t watch him with the interest of seeing
him succeed. He’s MUCH funnier when he’s frustrated.
He also has a pleasant accent made even more pleasant by his
creative cursing.
24 – Movieclips Trailers
This is really just the best place to find trailers. They
have the big blockbusters and lots of indie films as well. They also don’t
bother you with an intro or outro when all you want is the trailer.
These are three different people and I just couldn’t choose
between them. All three of them are pretty well-known Mario streamers and
creators. Their content is about skill more than anything else. All three of
them are capable of some incredibly sick shit.
Although the three of them have a small presence on YouTube,
they are first and fore-most Twitch streamers. That means you get to see every
mistake, every death, every single moment of training to get to their
speed-running best.
For instance, I know Failstream is on his 250th hour of
trying to defeat and upload a level. All of those hours have been streamed.
Along the same note, Xwater became a Twitch partner and did a 24-hour stream to
celebrate.
Clearly, that kind of thing is not for everyone. You have to
have a love for the game, or speed-running, or just one of the creators in
general. If you ARE into any of that stuff, though, watching these behemoths of
the game play is like watching any of your favorite athletes play their chosen
sport.
Except when it includes glitch levels. That shit is art.
22 – Whitney Avalon
The biggest issue with Whitney Avalon is that she doesn’t
release videos very often. In fact, her last release was five very long months
ago. What matters here, though, is the quality of those releases.
Because she concentrates on quality over quantity, her videos
are ridiculous in the best possible way. A lot of her stuff is similar to Epic
Rap Battles of History, only her rap battles are between princesses and often
host guest stars such as Eliza Dushku and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Her princess rap battles are just a start, though. She also
has original songs as well as parodies to work with. There may be an epically
long wait between videos, but I can listen to her old stuff over and over again
in the meantime.
I know this channel’s gotten some heat for overly dumb shit
they’ve done, but that doesn’t change the fact that their videos are incredibly
entertaining. Most of them, anyway.
They have several different series: College Kids React,
YouTubers React, Kids React, Celebs React, Elders React, Teens React, Adult
React, etc. These people are sometimes reacting to viral challenges, films,
games, music, videos, or food… among other things.
Where the drama is concerned, it’s nothing that bad. I’m not
going to report on it, if you’re desperate to know you can find the information
elsewhere. This is not a gossip blog.
20 – WatchMojo
Clearly, here at Trust the Dice, we enjoy our “Top
5/10/20/etc.” lists. That’s basically what WatchMojo does. They examine the top
whatever of film, TV, history, politics, science, and anything else you could
wrap your head around. It’s almost always interesting, even if you’re
unfamiliar with the subject they’re talking about.
They have some other stuff, like comparing the movie version
of Mantis to the comic book version, but they mostly post lists, and they do-so
regularly.
BasementJer is a newer YouTuber. He’s part of a duo podcast
called, “Basement Bookers.”
Now, I’m not a huge fan of wrestling anymore so I don’t tend
to listen to the podcast as often as I’d like to, but BasementJer is hilarious
whether or not you watch WWE. He does gameplay and vlogs. His gameplays are
fun, but his vlogs are where the greatness really is. They’re either deep or
hilarious (sometimes both). Whatever he’s talking about, though, it’s worth a
watch.
18 – Jenna Marbles
Jenna is absolutely adorable.
I don’t tend to watch a lot of YouTubers like her. She does
some make-up tutorials and cutesy stuff, most of which is just not up my alley.
The thing is, she seems to really love what she does, she’s creative, and it’s
impossible to look away from her when you’re watching.
I have actually sat at my computer and watched a full video
of her getting her dogs to marry each other. Weird stuff, but hilarious.
17 – Tasty
Tasty is exactly what it sounds like: all food, all the
time. It shows simple recipes step-by-step. Sometimes the finished product can
get a little weird, or they might use weird ingredients, but that’s fine. It’s
just a good idea to try new things.
I tend to stay away from their ice cream recipes because I
wasn’t a fan, but I’ve made other stuff from them, such as dinners and a
cinnamon roll apple pie, and they all came out phenomenal.
Just remember – for pies – they forget to tell you to proof
the crust. Five minutes in the oven before you add the filling should keep the
crust from getting soggy.
16 – Daquan Wiltshire
This guy is definitely not for everyone. Snowflakes need not
apply.
He is intent on offending everyone that’s has ever, or will
ever, be alive. But it’s a character. Not unlike Stephen Colbert was on his old
Comedy Central show. A very different character, but it’s the same basic idea.
If you are easily offended, Wiltshire is NOT for you, but I
think he is fucking hilarious. He has NEVER failed to make me laugh. His videos
don’t come out often, but they’re always short, successful, and to the point.
Someday… he might just realize he can turn his phone
horizontal.
15 – Matthias
Matthias is the biggest dork I’ve ever seen. However, he
totally owns it. His weirdness is what makes him so good.
He does reviews for stuff from Amazon, or the 99 cent store,
or Walmart, etc. It sounds unremarkable, and on paper, it is. If you’re a fan
of dad jokes, weirdness, and just general family-friendly humor, however, Matthias
becomes more than just watchable.
Now, you know me. I curse so hard I have to invent new ones
to meet my quota. Matthias is as far from that as is humanly possible. He has
an air of innocence that is hard to ignore. That makes him one of the best to
watch with your kids, or your parents, or at work, or out in public. There will
never be an accidental NSFW moment. He’s very careful about it and good at what
he does.
14 – Joe Santagato
Santagato used to upload every single Tuesday. It was part
of the reason Tuesdays were my favorite day of the week. He hasn’t been as
reliable with his uploads, which is upsetting… but I’ll take what I can get. He’s
funny, crude, and raunchy.
Some of my favorite videos of his involve the Mad Libs bit
he does with his brother Keith.
He is a lot of fun to watch.
13 – Poppy
Poppy is not fun to watch. She is creepy and weird and I
kind of hate her. However, I’m also completely fascinated by her. After seeing
someone on another channel react to her videos, I decided I had to see if her
shit was for real or if it was a bit.
I proceeded to watch every single one.
I never miss a video now. It tells a very abstract story
about our society, and it is always fucking creepy.
To be honest with you, I’ve got NO idea why she’s worth it,
but she really is.
12 –
IISuperwomanII
Superwoman is all about the awesome sketch comedy. She is an
activist (not a SJW, just someone who gives a fuck) and she truly seems to care
about her fans. She does live Q & A sessions pretty frequently, as a matter
of fact.
At the moment, she’s on a world tour to promote her book,
but her videos are still going up relatively on time. She’s also had some kick-ass
guests on her channel, like Seth Rogen and James Franco.
Do you like to theorize about video game endings, YouTube
channels, or movies that leave you hanging? Are you known for striking up
conversations about why certain things should or shouldn’t have worked in that
movie you watched yesterday? These are the YouTube channels for you.
MatPat, the guy known for these channels, knows his shit and
uses it to science the hell out of our entertainment. He uses facts about the
films or games you love to answer questions like such as the following:
Is Dory Faking It? (Finding Dory)
Is Daenerys Going Mad? (Game of Thrones)
Why is Mario Mental? (Mario games)
Could People Really Survive in Mirror’s Edge? (Mirror’s
Edge)
What is Poppy’s Hidden Message? (Poppy)
There are a ton of other games, videos, channels, and TV
shows that MatPat attacks with his wealth of scientific, entertainment, sociological,
and meme knowledge.
Have you ever wondered what Julia Child might have thought
about Gordon Ramsay? How about what Romeo and Juliet might have said to Bonnie
and Clyde? Do you daydream about Abraham Lincoln slapping Donald Trump or being
a fly on the wall for a showdown between Walter White and Rick Grimes?
Yeah, me too.
That’s where Epic Rap Battles of History come in. They pit
people against each other from history, myth, and entertainment. I have TONS of
favorites for this channel. Even though they have some ridiculously awesome
guest stars (like Key, Peele, and Snoop Dogg), only a couple of my favorites
involve anyone but the ERB team.
9 – Dashie Games
Dashie isn’t the greatest gamer in the world but I’ll be
damned if he isn’t one of the most entertaining YouTubers out there. I LOVE
Saturdays when he does Super Mario Maker, but I’ll watch him play absolutely any
horror game or virtual reality.
I can’t watch him play Mario Kart, but I can’t watch anyone
play Mario Kart. That’s the game I’m best at and for some reason watching
people fuck up at it makes me angrier than it should.
Never-the-less, Dashie is a genuine, hilarious, caring
YouTuber that’s worth watching, sometimes for hours at a time.
8 – Ryukahr
Watching Dashie for Super Mario Maker is like watching Kevin
Hart for basketball. Watching Ryukahr for Super Mario Maker is like watching
Michael Jordan for basketball – in his prime. Ryukahr is a brilliant Mario
player and creator. He’s not as funny as a lot of the others, but he’s so
talented that watching him play is all you’d need, even if you don’t like
gaming at all – let alone Mario.
He’s just that impressive.
Ryu is a fucking artist and there’s a genuine nature to his
personality. It feels casual and comfortable to watch him play.
7 – Markiplier
Mark is most well-known for his Five Nights at Freddy’s
video series. To be honest, I haven’t seen the majority of them. I watch him play
almost everything else, but where FNAF is concerned I’ve mostly just seen his
Sister Location videos.
When you watch Mark play FNAF, it’s easy to see why some
gamers can be considered a kind of mental athlete. He’s all about completion on
the hardest difficulty – something most people couldn’t touch in their dreams
(called Golden Freddy in Sister Location).
Mark doesn’t only do gaming videos, though those are his
bread and butter. He does 12-hour charity livestreams, skits, he shouts-out to
his fans, he arranges random pop-up appearances at parks where his fans can
meet him, he reaches out to people in his vlogs and tries to bring some
positivity into the world. Markiplier isn’t just a great gamer and a funny guy,
he’s a great person. It’s easy to WANT to like him.
And that’s pretty cool.
6 – R3XR4TH
R3XR4TH was someone I found on Twitch through a raid. (A
raid is when a bigger streamer tells their audience to go check out a smaller
streamer and give them a shot – there’s more to it, but that’s the basics.) I
watched for a couple of hours and just fell in love with his content. In fact,
I credit him as one of the influences that turned my ambitions from YouTube to
Twitch. He made streaming look like FUN.
He’s more Twitch than YouTube, really. I’ve seen his YouTube
stuff, but he’s at his absolute best when you get to interact with him in his
Twitch room.
R3X is a really great Mario player and, though I watch him
primarily for Super Mario Maker, he does other games as well and he’s just as
entertaining with them.
If you’re looking for a great streamer to watch to see if
Twitch is for you, I’d recommend him.
5 – Grand POOBear
Grand POOBear is a speed-running god. I can watch him speed
run any version of anything. He’s got a subtly ‘late night’ sense of humor
without stepping over any lines and his Twitch stream is full of hilarious
memes and rumors (like him not having legs – which he does, promise).
I watched him get the world record on Super Dram World and
it was one of the most impressive things I’d ever seen from a gamer.
My thing with him, is that I prefer to watch his stuff on
YouTube more than Twitch, despite the fact that he’s a Twitch streamer. He never
streams on YouTube, I believe it’s in his contract. However, his edited videos
go onto YouTube and those are awesome to watch.
It’s clear when watching Poo that he loves the game and
speed running. When someone truly loves what they’re doing, it’s easier to love
watching them do it.
4 – Facts.
Facts is responsible for tons of “Irish People
try/do/watch/etc.” videos. The personalities they have on the show are
hilarious and have some wicked chemistry with each other. I’ve been entertained
just watching them taste test peanut butter and jelly before.
It’s a great channel, they’re nearing the one million mark
on subscriptions now and I’m hoping they do some kind of special for it.
Gooooooood Mythical Morning. This channel features Rhett and
Link, the only two hipsters I’ve ever liked. They try weird food, give out
weird facts, participate in weird competitions… and all before noon.
I can’t even open my eyes before noon without being grumpy.
My husband and I watch them every single day that they post.
Normally, they post every weekday morning, but in the summer, it’s just
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I absolutely miss them on those two other
days during that time.
Rhett and Link are awesome people. They give to charity,
they interact with their fans, and they’re quick to tell a joke. Plus, they are
about as family friendly as they come.
Let’s talk about that.
2 – CarlSagan42
Once upon a time, I found CarlSagan42 while searching for
Super Mario Maker levels on YouTube. I watched him for a few months and didn’t
think much of it. Never really hit up his Twitch stream or anything. I judged
him against people like Markiplier and Jacksepticeye and wasn’t as impressed.
Then, it all changed real quick.
I don’t know what changed it, couldn’t tell you. Maybe it
was just as simple as his incredible skill level mixed with his mad scientist
personality, but one day I just woke up and found I had slowly become fucking
addicted to his Brain Power.
Without fail, I watch Carl every time he streams. If I’m not
home, I pull it up on my phone or a friend’s computer. I then watch his YouTube
videos (which are just edited versions of his streams) in the background while
I work.
He’s funny, ridiculously talented, incredibly brilliant, and
a huge nerd – all good things in my book. I have binge watched his videos in
the past, and I will in the future…. Even though I’m at a point where I’ve seen
them all.
His science lessons at the end of his videos alone are worth
it.
1 – Jacksepticeye
Jack is the absolute best ever. I’m a huge fan-girl. I have
merchandise, I watch every video he puts out, I’ve back-watched his videos, he’s
remarkable. Much like some of the previously mentioned gamers, he’s not always
the absolute best at the games, but he’s so much fun to watch that I don’t care
(I still can’t watch him or anyone else play Mario Kart. That’s a constant).
I found him while I was looking for Super Mario Maker levels
on YouTube, but I think his Super Mario Maker series is one of his worst… and
that was the one I decided I liked him after watching. If someone were to make
me guess his best series, I’d be at a loss.
Inside was a great series, but I also loved his Antisepticeye
stuff that he did for Halloween. Night in the Woods was phenomenal. His Portal
2 Co-Op with Bob is always hilarious. He had so much fun with The Last Guardian
that it was impossible to look away. My husband and I watched his Turmoil
series together and had a lot of fun yelling at him through the screen. His
vlogs and fan comment videos are all funny and touching and awesome.
I’ve binge back-watched a lot of Jack and I’ve seen him grow
from a young adult trying to pretend to be someone else (he used to hide his
Irish accent) to a true entertainer living his dream. He loves what he does and
he cares about the people who watch. He often plays games based around anxiety
or other emotional issues, which allows him to touch on trying to get those who
need it the help they deserve. He raises money for charity and he works his
fucking ass off to make sure that whatever he’s doing, his fans get two videos
every day, without fail.
I like being a fan of people who make me want to like them.
Jack is one of those people. He’s a comedian, a voice artist, a decent human
being, and a hell of an entertainer.
