Lockdown has been a long and boring (albeit necessary) slog. There is only so much Scrabble, theme dinner nights, and walks around the block you can grimace through until you want to scream like a stuck possum. When you need to mentally check out, You Tube is a pretty good way to distract yourself for a few hours. Since my fave ever creator Jenna Marbles quit and took the majority of her content down, I’ve been forced to look for new channels to watch while I ignore my giant to-do list. Here are seven of the best channels I found this year.
Nats What I Reckon – Nat is a sweary, metal loving bogan who loves real food. I can’t imagine why he would appeal to me, a sweary, metal loving bogan who loves real food – I guess we’ll never know.
Nat is on a mission to banish jars, packets and pouches of premade sauce and get us all back to cooking meals that taste great yet don’t require a doctorate in culinary arts to achieve. Both funny and relatable, he’s got people cooking meals from scratch who in January 2020 struggled to boil the jug. I’ve made most of the meals from his tutorials and I can say first hand they are fucking amazing. Came for the cooking, stayed for the puns… and the cooking. Check out this champion’s channel by clicking here
Whispers Red – During this second wave of lockdown I’ve been feeling pretty crap – frustrated, stressed, anxious, and generally unable to get my shit together. Something that really helps me relax and sleep is ASMR.
For those that have never heard of ASMR, here’s the science bit “Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), sometimes auto sensory meridian response, is a tingling sensation that typically begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine. A pleasant form of paresthesia, it has been compared with auditory-tactile synesthesia and may overlap with frisson.
ASMR signifies the subjective experience of “low-grade euphoria” characterized by “a combination of positive feelings and a distinct static-like tingling sensation on the skin”. It is most commonly triggered by specific auditory or visual stimuli, and less commonly by intentional attention control”.
Got all that?
Emma “Whispers Red” is one of my favourites at the moment. Her soft northern English accent and lovely mannerisms make me want to be a better person. Of course I won’t be, but the thought still counts right? Check out her channel right here
Christian Hull – Christian uses an awesome combination of keen observation and a flamboyant personality to produce funny and relatable comedy sketches about the struggles people face in their jobs, families, and life in general.
His alter ego “Trish” is like Barbie – There isn’t a job out there this bitch hasn’t done. Much like Chris Lilley played an unnervingly convincing teenage girl, Christian somehow plays a middle aged mum and career woman with aplomb. Check out Trish, and the rest of his videos by clicking here
Naomi John – I discovered Naomi from the viral video of her fucking up henna freckles in the cutest and best natured way possible. While she fits the young and gorgeous online creator stereotype in appearance, she is also extremely sweet, funny and likable. Not many people can respond with laughter and humour with dark orange dots all over their face.
She often appears on camera snacking, switching between speaking her native German and English, having fun and generally not taking herself too seriously. She puts out pretty fire makeup looks in between trying on Wish dresses, playing with her cats, and hanging out with best mate Vincent. If you haven’t already, check out this little broccoli’s channel here
Cian Twomey – Aside from Jenna and Julien I don’t generally like couples who You Tube together. I’ve seen way too many uncomfortable and just plain mean boyfriend/girlfriend “prank” videos so now I try and avoid that cringe-fest as much as I can.
Although Cian’s whole schtick is parodying girlfriend Emily, it’s definitely funny without being cruel and Emily herself often features in the videos as the voice of reason when pretend Emily goes full diva. Currently my favourite online couple and not a chilli tampon in sight, Check out Cian’s channel here.
Big Friendly Grub – Matt, AKA Big Friendly Grub, teaches us how to cook up classic dishes, fake aways, and easy home baking. His videos are super easy to watch and his calm, friendly demeanor make me want to adopt him as my big brother immediately.
Like with Nat’s channel I have made quite a few of Matt’s recipes and they have turned out perfectly, unlike Nat his videos are ok to play in earshot of your Nana. If you’re looking for some cooking inspo or just a big virtual hug, I massively recommend checking out BFG by clicking here
John MacLean – I’m absolutely in awe of John. This quietly spoken Scottish beauty guru doesn’t seem to belong to this plane of existence. Unlike others in the beauty community, John transcends above the petty drama and squabbling to bring us sublime make up videos and tutorials.
John’s channel is a great way to discover what You Tube would have been like had it been around in the renaissance era. To sum up, if John started a cult, I would absolutely join. Check out his lordship’s fil-ums here.
