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10: 8-Bit Mickey: I will admit that I do not like 8-Bit Mickey's humor. I don't find him funny, at all. But, I have to respect him for two things. The first being going out on "The Tester." He tried to do something he loved, and had fun with it. The other thing, and the most important reason he's on this list, is his video about the Westboro Baptist Church protesting the Holocaust Museum. He first stated that he was going to run around in a speedo with a vuvuzela. Instead, he interviewed both sides, and made his personal judgment known to his fans. He didn't feel a need to make a joke out of it after seeing how serious it was to both sides, as well as himself. Doing what he did took balls, and I respect that. He may be # 10 on this list, but he's higher on the list of people I respect.
9: Guru Larry and Wez: I first saw Larry Bundy on Screwattack Europe's website, when his shows were "Retro Corner" and "Games That Yanks Can't Wank." As much as I liked those early efforts (from what I've seen, anyway), he's only improved. He expanded his "Can't Wank" series to British PSA's that are incredibly morbid for what they were supposed to be, and made a smaller series of videos where he and Wez find the biggest assholes the internet has to offer in multiplayer games, and give them a test of their own medicine. There is only one other English person I can think of that can do a gaming show, but with a different brand of humor.
8: Ashens: Ashens isn't your usual personality. He has a Doctorate in Psychology, and a dry sense of humor. I first saw his reviews on YouTube, as well as some his other works. He's now doing a series about bad games, giving thoughtful analysis of why they're bad, and why "professional" reviewers are not to be trusted. All of this, and a dry, sometimes self-depreciating sense of humor thrown in for free, makes Ashens worth keeping an eye on.
7: Linkara: Last year, Linkara would've been a lot higher. I don't know if it's because of stress (with a move and fans demanding a new episode about Power Rangers), but outside of Atop the Fourth Wall, he has seemingly become a jerk. Yet, I can understand why he would be upset about certain things, such as when Blogger screwed up, and told people that it wouldn't publish their comments unless they were smaller, yet did anyway after three (at least) people had to edit them down (admittedly myself included). All of them, again, myself included, apologized about the mix-up, and explained it to him. That being said, he does make up for it in his videos, and his comments.
This one is going to be a bit long, so bear with me. One episode of Fourth Wall involved two comic characters, Big Barda and Superman, being forced into porn by a villain named "Sleeze." Linkara went on a rant about how this is rape, and should not be used as a character building device, like this. While he made a point to say that it was an over used trope, and he disapproved of it, never once did he tell people who disagreed that they were wrong. He respected their opinions enough to publish them, and not say that they were wrong as long as they made their points civilly. That says something about the character of the man behind the character.
6: Bennett the Sage: When I first saw Sage, my initial reaction was that he was a self-important prick. After seeing a few of his later reviews, and guest appearances on some other webshows, I have to say, I was wrong. Again, he has a dry sense of humor, yet, he isn't afraid to get a little crazy at times, too. But, it's his game reviews that got my attention. I may not agree with all of his points, but I can trust his opinion more than other reviewers due to the fact that Sage isn't a reviewer first; he's a gamer first.
5: Papa Burch: How can you make a show about an obnoxious, child-like girl and her straight-laced, game article writing brother funnier? By making their father a foul mouthed, womanizing slacker. Papa Burch doesn't do anything but say offensive phrases that you wouldn't expect from an old man, such as "I'm in it for the hoes," or "When I grow up, I'm going to fuck your mom. Then I'm going to have a little girl that looks exactly like you, and make her life a living hell." What makes Papa Burch work so well is that he does this with a straight face, as if this was how he acted normally. If it is how he acts... God help us all. If it isn't, then the man needs an acting career on the internet. Want to know how not to make the show funnier? Base two episodes off of a guy beating his pregnant girlfriend.
4: Angry Joe: Another show I didn't like when I started is The Angry Joe Show. In fact, I still don't like it. But, I like Angry Joe for the sheer fact that he seems like a genuinely good person. When he was supposed to interview Geoff Keighley, Keighley immediately put Joe on the spot, and tried to make him look bad. Despite wanting to make Keighley look like the ass that he is, Angry Joe repressed it. He kept his professionalism about him, and drove on. It takes a big person to do that. Also, I have to admit, some of his reviews do bring up good points. The only big set back is his humor, but that's just my taste. And I can't fault him on that.
3: Allie Brosh: "How can you make a blog that's about your life interesting? Why would anyone want to read it? What makes your life so interesting, that people need to read it?" Those aren't the questions you ask when reading Hyperbole and a Half. Her articles cover topics such as dogs not handling a move well, the childhood fascination with cake, shower products for men, bad grammar, and how bad days work. And, to make it better, all of the posts are illustrated with purposely badly drawn art, just to add to the emphasis of the ridiculousness of it all. Want a laugh? Read "Sneaky Hate Spiral." You'll be glad you did.
2: Brad Jones: You have to give props to a guy who eats chocolate covered bugs at the request of his viewers. And that's not the worst thing he's done, either, for his fans. Taster of questionable drinks, watcher of bad exploitation films, and sleazy promoter of big box movies, Brad Jones has to be one of the most strong willed people on the internet. After seeing some of the movies he has seen, I don't think I would be sane (... says the guy who watched ThanksKilling...). Yet, he still shows that he enjoys doing what he does, even if he's acting jaded. I don't think I've seen anyone take more of a beating on the internet, and still come out of it smiling. Even better is the fact that his different characters are diverse in nature. You can bet that no matter what you watch on his site, you'll find something that will make you laugh.
1: The Spoony One: Let me put this out here: this isn't just Spoony so much as it is the site itself. His girlfriend runs a lot of the behind the scenes work on the site, and does an excellent job keeping up on it. But, Spoony is the one people see, and have come to see on the site. Instead of focusing on different characters for different niches, Spoony decided to make almost every review a different experience. From having clones of himself to watch a movie about Bruce Lee clones to watching a Ring-esque video edited from an FMV game, he makes sure to keep the audience watching by trying something different, and possibly embarrassing... such as dressing up as a teenaged girl. He has been the one internet personality that I've seen that has been consistently funny and clever.
To make it better, he has done things for his friends that are commendable. When Brad Jones's YouTube channel was shut down, Spoony posted the videos to get the Cinema Snob's name out (which is how I heard of him). He still posts Guru Larry's videos up. He even shows a rapport with his "Channel Awesome" buddies that I don't see with a lot of the other guys. While Spoony's in it to have fun, he doesn't seem to let it dehumanize him either. Being as popular as he is, too, that says something about the staying power of his web-persona as well as himself.
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