Ray William Johnson
Ray William Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Ray William Johnson Ray William Johnson | |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | RWJ, Ray Johnson |
| Occupation(s) | YouTube comedian, waiter (alleged) |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Known for | YouTube comedic videos |
| Website | raywj.com |
Ray William Johnson is a comedian best known for his YouTube videos, which have made him one of the most-subscribed content creators on that site as of 2010.[1][2] Many of his videos include commentary on other videos under the show title Equals Three.[3] Many of the videos he comments on often enjoy a sudden growth in popularity, as noted by numerous press reports.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
As of June 2011, his channel is the second most subscribed on YouTube,[10] with over 3.7 million subscribers, and over 1.0 billion video views.[11] Industry watcher Tubefilter has predicted he may become the most-subscribed user later in 2011.[1] In February 2011, one industry publication noted that Johnson currently had six of the top twenty most watched videos of the month.[12]
Projects
Capitol Hill Gangsta
One of Johnson's earlier projects was a segment called Capitol Hill Gangsta in which Johnson discussed current events. All of these videos have since been removed from YouTube.[13][14]
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Equals Three
| Ray William Johnson | |
|---|---|
| File:=3 title card.jpg Logo | |
| Genre | Comedy Reviewing |
| Created by | Ray William Johnson |
| Written by | Ray William Johnson |
| Presented by | Ray William Johnson |
| Voices of | Ray William Johnson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 201 (list of episodes) |
| Original release | |
| Network | YouTube |
| Release | 2008 – present |
| Related | |
| Capital Hill Gangsta, Igual A Tres | |
In Equals Three (stylized as "=3"), Johnson reviews viral videos, adding commentary to them.[3] Equals Three episodes are usually screened twice in a week, every Monday and Thursday. He interacts with his audience, through viewers answering a "comment question of the day" − either on the YouTube comment feature, or networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter – and then featuring comments from the previous video. It is one of the most popular video series on YouTube, regularly obtaining five million views per episode.[15] Since April 28, 2011 episode of Equals Three, Ray announced that he and his friend P-D-Flo created a Spanish language version of Equals Three called Igual a Tres.[16] The show adopts the same format and concept of reviewing viral videos. Because of his partnership with YouTube, Johnson has a salary for every video he uploads so his current work is no longer fair use, which has caused some problems. Some videos have been removed due to copyright infringements as Johnson doesn't always get permission to re-upload videos and most of them do not originate on YouTube.[citation needed]
Fatty Spins
In mid 2009, Johnson started a comedy music project called Fatty Spins in which he wrote and performed the songs "Doin' Your Mom" and "Muppet Sex".[17] The project has since been abandoned. The YouTube channel notes "Fatty Spins was a fun project, but we are no longer making music together. We're leaving these videos up for archive purposes."[18]
Your Favorite Martian
In January 2011, Johnson launched a collaborative YouTube channel called "Yourfavoritemartian", which features animated music videos of comedic nature.[19][20] He writes lyrics, raps, sings, composes beats, and collaborates with other musicians to produce the songs.[21] To date, Johnson has released 11 songs through the channel[22][23]:
- My Balls (Januray 26, 2011)
- Zombie Love Song (February 9, 2011)
- Bottles of Beer (February 23, 2011)
- Club Villain (March 9, 2011)
- The Stereotypes Song (March 23, 2011)
- The Unofficial Smithers Love Song (April 6, 2011)
- Orphan Tears featuring Wax (April 20, 2011)
- Mr. DoucheBag (May 4, 2011)
- Transphobic Techno (Bitch Got a Penis) (May 18, 2011)
- Grandma Got a Facebook (June 1, 2011)
- Tig Ol' Bitties (June 15, 2011)
The music videos to these songs quickly become popular, much like Johnson's Equals Three videos, often appearing on YouTube's 'most viewed' lists.[24]
BreakingNYC / Breaking Los Angeles
A former daily vlog that Ray did over the course of December, 2009 to June, 2010 that took place in New York. After an 11 month hiatus, Ray started to make vlogs again, but now the vlogs are weekly and take place in Los Angeles.
References
- ^ a b Hustvedt, Marc (March 10, 2011). Quick Clicks: YouTube Creator Institute, Vimeo Party, Ray William Johnson, Angry Birds, Tubefilter
- ^ (April 12, 2010). 5 YouTubers On Their Way Up, Tubefilter (noting that Johnson had exceeded Universal Music Group in subscribers)
- ^ a b Gasch, David (February 7, 2011). Pop!shots: ‘Equals Three’ goes viral, Boise State Arbiter
- ^ (March 4, 2011). Lo más visto del mes en YouTube Argentina, Canal-AR (in Spanish, Argentine technology publication)
- ^ Murphy, Shannon (March 3, 2011). Bay City man's Taco Bell order goes viral with spot-on Elmo impression. The Bay City Times
- ^ Vnouček, Petr (March 5, 2001).Nejlepší videa: Bowling s kočkou a polský Pat a Mat, Týden (in Czech)
- ^ Hathaway, Jay (March 2, 2011). Co Za Asy – What Is It, and Why Is Everyone Posting It in YouTube, Urlesque (AOL) ("Superstar YouTuber Ray William Johnson")
- ^ (December 12, 2010). Reinangrep på NRK-reporter sees av millioner på YouTube-kanal, NRK (in Norwegian) (noting rise in popularity of video about a reindeer attack due to Johnson's coverage; notes that Johnson is one of YouTube's biggest celebrities, "en av YouTubes aller største kjendiser," with over two million subscribers, with the largest comedy channel on YouTube with over 373 million views)
- ^ (May 22, 2010). Türkiye'den YouTube'tan en popüler kişi kim?, Beyaz Gazette (in Turkish)
- ^ (January 8, 2011). Secrets of YouTube Superstars: CES 2011 Session Recap, Tubefilter
- ^ "RayWilliamJohnson's Channel". YouTube. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
- ^ Balleck, Matt (February 14, 2011). Three Ways Brands Can Act More Like Partners On YouTube, MediaPost Publications
- ^ "Raywilliamjohnson." MeeFeedia. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ^ "Ray William Johnson First Video." Exploredia. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ^ http://www.abrandedweb.com/2010/08/ray-william-johnson-has-over-2-million.html
- ^ http://www.raywj.com/2011/05/07/igual-a-tres/
- ^ Biggs, John (28 September 2009). “I fell in love at the Apple Store,” the catchiest Apple song you’ll hear all day, CrunchGear
- ^ FattySpins YouTube Channel, Retrieved March 25, 2011 ("About Me: Fatty Spins was a fun project, but we are no longer making music together. We're leaving these videos up for archive purposes.")
- ^ Bradshaw (January 24, 2011). Ray William Johnson's New Project "Yourfavoritemartian" Finally Rolls Out January 26, 2011, www.zimbio.com
- ^ About YourFavoriteMartian. Yourfavoritemartian.com
- ^ e.g. Orphan Tears features Wax
- ^ “My Balls” Music Video by RayWilliamJohnson, BuzzFeed, Retrieved March 25, 2011
- ^ Your Favorite Martian Music Chart Performance Summary
- ^ YouTube spotlight: "The Stereotypes Song". The Independent. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
External links