Roman Atwood
Roman Atwood | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born | Roman Bernard Atwood May 28, 1983 Millersport, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | YouTube personality, Comedian, Vlogger | ||||||||||||
Website | romanatwood | ||||||||||||
YouTube information | |||||||||||||
Channels | |||||||||||||
Years active | 2009–present | ||||||||||||
Genre | Comedy | ||||||||||||
Subscribers | 20.3 million[1] | ||||||||||||
Total views | 1.39 billion[1] (November 2016) | ||||||||||||
Network | Studio71 | ||||||||||||
Associated acts | Vitaly Zdorovetskiy, Dennis Roady | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Last updated: November 2016 |
Roman Bernard Atwood (born May 28, 1983) is an American YouTube personality, comedian and vlogger. He is best known for his Vlogs, where he posts updates about his life on a daily basis. His blogs have gained a considerable number of views and his Vlogging channel has a total of 10.2 million subscribers.
He also has a second YouTube channel called "RomanAtwood", where he used to post prank videos. As of November 2016, It has been 8 months since he has posted on that channel. His prank videos have gained over 1.39 billion views and a total of 10.1 million subscribers. In all, he has a total subscriber count of 20.3 million subscribers.
He also owns the renowned brand and clothing chain "Smile More" where he sells items with the Smile More logo and the Atwood Guarantee.
Personal life
Born in Millersport, Ohio, Atwood has been filming and producing videos since high school. He was Born to Curt Dale Atwood and Susan Atwood. He and his younger brother, Dale Atwood have faced extreme poverty during their childhood days. He began his independent career by producing a series of DVDs called "The Nerd Herd" which he sold at the Warped Tour in 2006.[2] Atwood has also worked on various film projects and commercials in Columbus, Ohio until 2010, when he decided to focus on his passion of comedy and created the YouTube channel "Sketch Empire".
Prior to his YouTube career, he worked at his family's rope factory called "Atwood Rope".[3] In 2001, he married Shanna Riley, who gave birth to Atwood's first son, Noah Vaughn Atwood.[4] In 2008, after his wife cheated on him with a friend while on vacation, he filed for divorce.[5]
He currently resides in his hometown with his girlfriend, Brittney Smith, with whom he had a second child, Kane Alexander Atwood. He met Brittney at the wedding of his best friend, Chase Gilroy, where Roman was best man. Brittney was the sister of Chase's wife, Veronica and the two started dating from there.[6][7]
In 2013, Atwood founded his own merchandise line called "Smile More", in which he sells T-shirts, hoodies, bracelets and other items.
In November 2016, Atwood announced he was expecting a third child.[8]
Career
YouTube
Plastic Ball Prank
Atwood filled his house with plastic balls 2.5 ft high, turning it into a massive ball pit. As of August 2016, this video has over 77.89 million views. This video was noticed by Nissan, who gave him a 2015 Nissan GTR in exchange to use his video in the "WithDad" campaign during their half-time advert at Super Bowl XLIX. This was awarded the best "Brand Campaign" for the 5th Streamy Awards.[9]
Anniversary Prank
His video "Anniversary Prank Backfires!!" was posted on November 20, 2013, and has over 83.17 million views as of August 2016. It features Atwood pranking his girlfriend on their five-year anniversary by confessing that he has cheated on her. The prank backfires when she sees the camera beforehand and pranks him back by pretending that she has cheated on him too. At the end of the video, Brittney says "I thought you were going to propose".[10]
Killing My Kid Prank
A prank entitled "Killing My Own Kid PRANK!!", posted on November 30, 2014 and has over 47.97 million views as of August 2016. The video shows Atwood pranking his girlfriend, Brittney, by throwing a mannequin in a Spider-Man costume, believe it was Atwood's youngest son, Kane, age 4, over the balcony of their 2 story house. When Brittney runs to the mannequin, she quickly pulls off its mask, realizing it was not Kane, and in fact the mannequin. At this point, she breaks down into tears as Roman enters the room snickering at her. She then storms off, but returns when Roman asks her "Are you really that mad?" She then starts shouting at him and tells him he's "sleeping on the couch".[11]
Film
Natural Born Pranksters
In 2016, Roman Atwood, Vitaly Zdorovetskiy and Dennis Roady released a film produced by Lionsgate, called Natural Born Pranksters[12][13] which has received generally negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an audience score of 43%, based on 1,163 ratings.[14] On IMDb, the movie has an average rating of 3.8 out of 10 stars.[15]
Tour
In 2016, Atwood alongside YouTuber, Yousef Erakat, started a worldwide tour called "Roman vs. Fousey".[16] They have performed shows in the United States, Canada and the UK in the future. [17]
Legal issues
Roman has had several run-ins with the law, often without any prosecution, during the filming of his pranks.
In March 2014, Roman, along with his accomplices, were arrested for inducing panic and disorderly conduct by the Columbus Police Department during the shooting of a prank where he pretended to rob an ATM in public. He was released on bail and was summoned to court.[18] The case was widely contested, with his fans showing up to court to support and watch the case. As a defendant, he won the case on the basis of expression of art and freedom of speech, and the case was settled.[19]
Criticism
Roman has been accused of staging prank videos, as well as violating YouTube's policy for misleading content. In November 2015, YouTube star Philip DeFranco briefly accused Roman Atwood and FouseyTube of staging prank videos.[20] In December 2015, a Youtuber known as The Prank Reviewer, posted a video where he accused Roman Atwood of using actors in his videos and provides evidence for his claims.[21]
Awards and nominations
Year | Work | Category | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Roman Atwood | Pranks | 4th Streamy Awards | Nominated | [22] |
2015 | Crazy Plastic Ball Prank #WithDad, Roman Atwood (Nissan) | Brand Campaign | 5th Streamy Awards | Won | [23] |
2016 | Roman Atwood | YouTube Comedian | 8th Shorty Awards | Won | [24] |
Entertainer of the Year | 6th Streamy Awards | Nominated | [25] |
References
- ^ a b "About RomanAtwoodVlogs". YouTube.
- ^ "the nerd herd Video by roman atwood on Myspace". Myspace. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
- ^ "Atwood Rope MFG : Atwood Rope MFG : Arm Rope, Arbor, Utility, Solid Braid, Dozer". Atwoodrope.net. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
- ^ "Noah Vaughn Atwood (b. 2004)". birth-records.mooseroots.com. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
- ^ TheGeektrick (May 2, 2014), Roman Atwood Speech, retrieved August 19, 2016
- ^ "YouTube prankster Roman Atwood tricks girlfriend into believing their son is dead". The Independent. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
- ^ "Kane Alexander Atwood (b. 2011)". birth-records.mooseroots.com. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
- ^ RomanAtwoodVlogs (November 1, 2016), WE ARE FINALLY HAVING A BABY!!, retrieved November 5, 2016
- ^ "5th Annual Winners & Nominees". Streamys. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
- ^ "Anniversary Prank Backfires!!". Retrieved December 6, 2014 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Killing My Own Kid PRANK!!". Retrieved February 17, 2015 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Natural Born Pranksters the Movie: Official Site for News & Updates - NaturalBornPranksters.com". naturalbornpranksters.com. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
- ^ Atwood, Roman; Pluimer, Ben (April 1, 2016), Natural Born Pranksters, retrieved March 31, 2016
- ^ Natural Born Pranksters, retrieved August 19, 2016
- ^ Atwood, Roman; Pluimer, Ben (April 1, 2016), Natural Born Pranksters, retrieved August 19, 2016
- ^ "YouTube stars Roman Atwood and FouseyTUBE are going on tour". Mashable. Mashable, Inc. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
- ^ "YouTube Pranksters Roman Atwood, FouseyTUBE Join Forces For Five-City Tour". Tubefilter. Tubefilter, Inc. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
- ^ "Famous Prankster Arrested, Video Confiscated for 'Evidence'". Activist Post. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
- ^ "Popular Youtube Pranksters RomanAtwood & VitalyzdTv Arrested For Inducing Panic & Disorderly Conduct Over ATM Prank". WORLDSTARHIPHOP. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
- ^ "FouseyTUBE Responds to Philip DeFranco's Diss: "He's Desperate & Irrelevant!" - Superfame". November 20, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
- ^ The Prank Reviewer (December 2, 2015), The Prank Reviewer Exposed RomanAtwood & SteveGreeneComedy | Same Actor on Pranks!!, retrieved August 6, 2016
- ^ "4th Annual Winners & Nominees". Streamys. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "5th Annual Winners". Streamys. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Ngak, Chenda (April 11, 2016). "Shorty Awards 2016 Best YouTube Comedian". Shorty Awards. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "6th Annual Winners & Nominees". Streamys. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help)
External links
- Roman Atwood at IMDb