6.26.26 - I really like Dan Hentschel
Dan Hentschel is one of my favorite online artists and I find myself frequently hoping he gets a big break. He's clearly very funny, very smart, and is really dedicated to consistent output. Like many, my first exposure to him was his funny relationship advice Tik Tok posts that went viral around Covid. But he also has a really nice YouTube channel with great longform videos recorded in his car. I watch a good deal of these. He has a very natural camera presence, and is effortlessly interesting to listen to. Even though his videos and his more recent premises are all a bunch of nonsense (painting himself different colors, son loaf, etc.)
I like how a lot of his short form videos are clearly and unashamedly optimized for engagement---namely the ones of him just screaming painted a bright color or something. In my view, its sort of a commentary on the incentive structure of these apps and how they change content creator behavior. He's clearly very smart and aware so I'd imagine this is how he sees those videos. But it also seems like they might be his bread and butter as far as engagement and therefore revenue. So its commentary fused with direct participation in the object of commentary.
Really, his whole schtick is distilling the things that "work" on the internet down to their essence, and into a (seemingly) low effort product which becomes absurd enough that you can see the absurdity in the things they're mimicking.. The deliberately bad short form advice/Tik Tok therapy stule videos were the clearest example of this--pure satire. The car vlogs are a familiar format for people who spend too much time on YouTiube. Recently he's been doing these shorts which look like the kind of thing you see on Facebook whenever you accidentally log on ("She's Yellow...for an Amazing Reason!").
His funniest post ever was probably this one https://x.com/danghentschel/status/1841912132742606925?s=20
cheers,
knxnts