The Melancholy of “Brilliant Shane”
A pseudo-intellectual exploration of humor, inspiration, and emotion in the modern era.
I very specifically remember the moment I discovered Brilliant Shane.
It was a fortuitous accident.
According to my YouTube like history, this discovery happened in early 2016. In case you and I are unacquainted, I’m addicted to shitposting and had found myself in an INTERNET argument (as I often do). This argument was a classic — one where I was intentionally playing the fool.
I periodically go through moments of crippling anxiety, I tend to purge accounts I own. There’s no conversation chain that exists, so you’ll have to just take my word. “I swear, I was only pretending to be retarded.”
I was passionately arguing at someone who was asking for a cheap audio speaker solution. I proclaimed:
If you jam headphones up your nose, you can use your mouth as a speaker.
The archetypal classic “Proofs” card was played, so I did some quick googling. At the time, there wasn’t much in the way of it — most of the results were actual idiots on YouTube trying to seem smart by disproving an absurd premise. Others were the desperate, trying to make a quick buck. One was Brilliant Shane. The video, “How To Turn Your Mouth Into A Speaker By Putting Headphones Up Your Nose” looks and sounds legitimate. One of those trendy, “Didja know” style videos. The video amicably begins with a nice smooth audio track, accompanied by a well-dressed & handsomely bearded male.
“A friend of mine told me about a neat trick…” Shane begins.
You can always trust a friend. A conventional trope for persuasion. After this, there’s a solid 30 second build up of this man getting ready for the experiment. The build creates antipication, making the latter half of the video both fantastic and brilliant. It’s only a 50 second video, but there’s a perfect juxtaposition between cheap humor and subtle, nuanced high comedy. I keep hitting replay. I watched it several times, wondering what I’d stumbled on to and then digging through the rest of the channel’s videos.
I ended up linking Shane’s video in my argument, but I just got called an idiot. I laughed — anon clearly didn’t get it or was already too in too deep to acknowledge my argument’s absurdity and Shane’s genuine tutorial video.
What worked about this video? At first I thought it was…
1.The post-post-ironic sincerity
2. The subtle tics and camera work, with the Brazzers logo in the background (which I didn’t catch on my first viewing)
3. The description of the video
4. The satirical nature of content creation
5. The pain of the human experience
6. The surprise twist and following silence.
This video was clever, but the deeper I dug… I realized had not scratched the surface of Shane’s brilliance and his unique brand of “comedy”.
Humor and Modern Internet Culture
We live in some pretty wild times. While we’re dying a lot less from famine, plague, and general things that humans have died from, this prolonged life span and constant exposure to media is wreaking havoc on our souls.
I’ve written long, delusional ramblings about conspiracy and reality — because it’s both fun, and cathartic. I have a difficult time accepting some of the inherent laws of our universe, because seemingly they can bend based on group consensus and faith. It also seems that every thing I expect to happen does and quite honestly that’s a curse.
You’ve got a few different types of people who live in this connected simulation. You might try to classify them by generations, but the rule doesn’t hold true across the board. For instance, a “boomer” or a “senior” may have spent their entire life curious about technology and kept up with the trends, while a Gen Zed may live on a farm with no access to media outside of some old Speed Racer tapes he found in the attic. So, keep that in mind.
The Elders:
These are the people who are classically seen as the wise. Most of their media consumption now comes from 24 hour news, but not so much from the internet or mobile devices.
The Hardened:
Born in the 60’s, saw technology grow, peaked in the 90’s. Everything after is a nuisance, but they use it fine. Less likely to censor themselves on social media. Watches a lot of TV. Has a cable subscription.
The Jaded:
These are your Gen X kids. They get the tech, but keep killing themselves in their 40’s. These folks are stuck in the center.
The Lonesome:
This is me! Born in the 80’s, either grew up with computers, experienced the rise of the internet , and understand it better than anyone else… or missed the boat and only got on the internet outside of school once iOS came out. Disconnected from everyone.
The Lost:
Born in the 90’s. Their parents were distracted. They are lost.
The Loveless:
These kids are scary, smart, and capable. They can access information instantly, but live in online communities built around references. Because of the ecosystem the rest of us built — may become easily hostile. Memes.
I think it’s important to clarify this, because the Lonesome, Lost, and Loveless have a strange sense of humor. One that starts at the top with an intense sincerity, until the Loveless manage to create a machine of self-replicating memes based around said ‘joke’.
I’ve always preferred the comfort of the internet. I’ve lived here a very long time. The Hardened & Jaded helped build the playpen which I got to take for granted. It’s almost a scene from a film. Sitting next to Dad, listening to the modem, as he teaches you about the internet.
“Don’t believe anything you read on here… oh and here’s how E-mail works”.
Yeah, we used to capitalize the ‘e’, for some reason.
So, lots of us used to internet to try and learn, make shitty websites on Geocities, play games, not pirate digital media, and chat. But damn, it’s all so loud and lonely now.
There’s a lot of crazy shit that can happen to a person when they are fed knowledge. You see some shit. I wouldn’t change anything that’s made me who I am, but desensitization happens across the gamut. Sexuality, humor, horror, sadness — too much information makes it difficult to be moved by these things. Digital retreats are a mental treat, but dopamine receptors are stronger and compel me to stay connected.
I can’t laugh at Weird Al anymore. I can’t laugh at Late Night talk shows. I can’t laugh at 90% of YouTube videos. I don’t laugh often in real life. I make a show sometimes, a few exasperated huffs — if I find something remotely amusing (just so the friend feels acknowledged), but genuine laughter… was a thing of the past.
This long-winded preface isn’t meant to seem sad, or be sad. I know that I’m not alone in this. The problem was that basic humor seemed shallow — that I couldn’t connect with a face on TV sitting in an armchair selling me latest celebrities’ films. We first descended into irony.
This happened for two reasons:
- People complained about shitty memes and shitty jokes.
- People complained about ironic jokes.
What is irony?
the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
The problem with irony, is that it’s hard for some people like the Loveless to recognize it. They adopt it as their basic form of humor. Then it becomes mainstream and shallow, so it no longer amuses us.
Then we adopt post-irony. Post-irony is where irony and sincerity are married so it’s difficult for the audience to know which is which. The problem with post-irony is it has become irony. You don’t hear anyone say “I was just being ironic” these days. Now you hear “I was being post-ironic”.
I’m sure you’ve seen the layers of irony memes on the internet. This is the major irony of living in a post-ironic mindset. There are no layers of irony after post-irony. What comes after post-irony is a return to sincerity.
And sincerity is what I’ve missed most of all.
Labels and the Cult of Content
I hated labels growing up. Every generation has had them. We even had a label for people who hated labels. But labeling people and genres is a pain in the ass. It creates a limit… and an expectation.
Look, if Childish Gambino can be an actor, writer, producer, comedian, rapper, singer, songwriter and have incredible hair — let him. But that’s a lot of labels. Why not just call him an artist?
Labels are what we use in marketing because our society encourages us to label ourselves. YouTubers are “content creators”, Marketers are “content creators”, Writers are “content creators”. It’s just a stupid rebranding of the term artist. Plus, it’s dehumanizing.
Reminder:
art
the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
An artist creates art. Art has as much meaning as the viewer, listener, creator makes it have. It is meant to evoke emotion or display emotion but sometimes it can do neither. It is subjective and great.
A content creator creates “content”.
Content Creation is the contribution of information to any media and most especially to digital media for an end-user/audience in specific contexts.
That’s a sexy damn definition. I fucking love content. Especially content tailored towards my specific interests.
There are a few people out there on internet land who make things they like because they like making them. You can tell who they are when you find them. You can tell who they WERE when they leave it behind.
I think @pewdiepie is a good example. He is the “king of YouTube content creation”, but he’s also a great lesson in the roller-coaster of appeal vs enjoyment. His early videos he had fun. Even midway into his career he was having fun. Then it’s a job. Then there’s Public Relations and Views and Stale Jokes and Bullshit. People may have given up on him, but I recommend you do an experiment.
Watch 2 videos from each year of Pewds’s career. You’ll find the transformation there. The beautiful thing is that pewdiepie has returned to having fun with his videos. He’s transcended the bullshit and returned to sincerity, and while this return may have pushed some viewers away — sincerity brings in those who were lost and you get to go back to having fun doing the things you love.
Personal story time. I spent over a decade drawing comics and webcomics. I started in 5th grade. In 7th grade, I would draw and write full-length comic books and pass them around to my friends to read. When I was a senior in high school, I started publishing a webcomic, something I had put off for years. That webcomic turned into 3. That webcomic made me some of the best friends I have today. That webcomic made me experience a little bit of e-fame. That webcomic made me stop drawing for 9 years and stop writing for 4 years.
I think I have pretty thick skin and when you’re making stuff because you love it, you can bat most negativity away and continue creating. But when you’re making things because you feel pressured to make them… that’s a different story. While I had fun in the early days with my book, I should have dropped it without making promises I’d return. After a stint at Disney World, I’d pretty much stopped writing and drawing my book.
I started talking to some old acquaintances about it and got that compulsive spark to create and write more. My final semester of University, I got that irrational spark again. I decided I’d do a reboot. I knew that I didn’t have the time to draw (and lacked the confidence to just do it) so a good friend agreed to do the art. She’s fantastic and we worked really well together at first. But, over a holiday and about 10 pages into the second issue of the reboot— we got behind on schedule. Someone left a comment.
I still remember it today, because it was the most fucking pompous, entitled, and realistic thing ever posted by a fan.
You can only focus on three or four things in your life. Most choose them to be Work, Family, and God. You can only choose between school, work, family, friends, and your comic — but you can’t have them all. So, either commit to this or just end it. Stop stringing us along.
I ended it a few months later. He was sort of right. Not only was I disappointing readers, I was spending time feeling guilty for nothing. I’ve thought about bringing it back, but I have no time to and it wouldn’t be fun.
In the past year and a half, I’ve had more fun writing and drawing and coding with a community of friends that I’ve made on a niche social network, than I’ve had in years. I am inspired and love writing this shit, even though most of the time it’s dumb as hell. I am surrounded by people who express themselves with sincerity and selflessness. I am always on the lookout for more.
Brilliant Shane and How I Relearned to Laugh
Remember above when I said you can spot sincerity? Shane’s artistry shows a lot of emotion and sincerity. At a casual glance, you may assume that his channel is CONTENT STYLE: POST-IRONIC META HUMOR ABOUT DEPRESSION. But you would be so incredibly wrong.
Shane is basically the Edgar Allan Poe of comedy. Not in the sense that his jokes are depressing, but because they flow with a cadence that reflects feelings many of us can’t express. Poe’s genre was commonly referred to as dark romanticism. Poe told people that he precisely calculated the direction of each piece — to hold a single theme and be almost literal with no sense of allegory.
I think if Poe was full of shit when he said that and if he were around today, he’d be a shitposter as his work is full of allegory, allusion, and multiple arching themes. He also wrote satire, humor, jokes, and FAKE NEWS. Many of us see him as that Goth dude who wrote the Matrix, but he really can’t be pinned to one genre.
Shane is hopeful, dark, romantic, and real.
While some may feel I’m exaggerating for dramatic effect, I encourage you to dig through his archives. Here are just a few I love.
The Crow:
The crow is basically a modern version of The Raven. Well, that may be an exaggeration, but I love it for a few reasons. It could mean absolutely nothing, be a literal story dictated by a character Shane is presenting, who may be a bit of a dimwit. I connected with it, because Shane’s using of dramatic timing and inspirational music, sets an expectation in my mind. When the character, explains his fascination with crows, the easy laugh is the portrayal of the character’s mundane hobby — but the the deeper laugh and emotional point how mundane most of our interests are to others.
When the character shouts words of encouragement to the crow, we expect a stunning conclusion, something motivational and miraculous. The surface laugh is the juxtaposition between the end result and the build up, but it hit me hard. We see a man making an assumption about a bird on a surface level. He believes he can give this crow the push it needs to change its life. However, it doesn’t matter. The crow was fine, it doesn’t understand us anyways. At the end of the day, no matter how hard we believe that we can move mountains, the meaning we seek in our lives is created by ourselves as individuals. Be the crow.
Maybe the joke is that there’s no reason to give a critical analysis to a silly video, but the fact that it’s possible makes it brilliant.
Frank
Frank is conversation between two characters. However, it feels more like the conversations I have with my inner dialogue. I fucking love it.
Banter
Banter is a simple piece that’s funny and easy to understand. We have a lot of conversations with a lot of people these days, but most of them feel superficial. It’s easy to talk shit, rib at each other, and have a quick laugh — but there are few people out there who want to feel or deal with the hard stuff. Banter!
Stand Up
Since I’m in the States, I haven’t been able to make it over to whatever magical place Shane is from. He posts stand-up on his social feed sometimes, and it looks like a treat. It’s a difficult persona because it’s so personal, but it seems he gets a good reaction and maybe a genre of sincerity isn’t as niche as I thought.
I’ve been working on this piece for several months. I make a lot of assumptions about motivation and I hate doing that. I reached out to Shane and after several weeks of sending transatlantic carrier pigeons, had an engaging conversation. To conclude, I’ll leave you with it.
An Interview with Brilliant Shane
RW: Why do you create content?
S: First of all. I hate the phrase ‘content’, it gives me anxiety in my fingernails. I make videos and write little comedy things because I like doing it. Some people like collecting stamps or eating ice cream or disco dancing but I like making things. Then sometimes a small amount of other people also like the things I do for whatever reason. This makes me happy.
RW: How long have you been doing stand-up?
S: I think that I have been stand-up for a year this month. They say it takes about 10 years to be any good so I have a long way to go
RW: Comedy is an ________ for you.
S: Escape. Escape from real life, when you can’t feed your self or your newborn baby you can laugh at someone getting a pie in the face and forget about it for a minute.
RW: Are you making statements on internet culture or content creation practices?
S: No. Well, maybe sometimes. I don’t know.
RW: What style would you call your comedy?
S: I’d like to think it’s absurd but at the moment I just think it’s a lot of shit
RW: Thoughts on “post-irony”, “post-modernism”, genuine comedy.
S: I hate all that stuff. I hate labels. I think that the first thing that comedy should do, especially stand-up, is make you laugh. Then if there is any social criticism or emotion then that comes way down the line.
Videos might be different. Also I’m not sure about Irony anymore. I think it’s much easier to be ironic than be sincere. Most people are ironic because they are afraid to be sincere. So I am trying to be more sincere.
RW: I relate to a lot of your work, for several reasons. The charm and approach is funny, but on a more emotional level — it helps me feel better about the state of life. There seems to be several levels of emotional depth, some of it related to anxiety, depression, compulsiveness, mania, and questioning the Why behind every day life. I relate to it because it helps knowing that others experience and are able to cope and create with many things I struggle with. It’s encouraging and inspirational. I may have the wrong impression though… and yeah.
Do people ever tell you that you help them?
S: Thank you. Yeah I get that write a bit and I am happy that people can relate or feel empathetic, I usually don’t plan that stuff. I just write about myself and what goes on in my head and my life.
I like to talk about mental illness cause it’s something that has affected me and people around me since birth. If someone was in a wheelchair all their life they might write comedy based on that. I try not to analyze the psychology of it because I think comedy loses something when you do that.
RW: Do you consider yourself a comedian first, artist, or what?
S: I don’t know. Definitely not an artist and I even cringe when people call me a comedian. I suppose I am a comedian now… I just don’t have the self-belief or self-delusion to go around calling myself one.
RW: What’s your most popular video. How do you find people discover you?
S: Aw Class. I have no idea how people discover me really. I’m pretty small time so probably not enough people have discovered me for there to be a main way of discovering me. People tell me they send videos to their friends. I don’t think my stuff is very mainstream so if something gets popular it’s usually by accident
RW: What sort of things entertain you online?
S: Reading about murder and unsolved mysteries. That’s very morbid but it’s the truth. I’ve seen every murder documentary and read every murderer wiki page so I’m always looking for new ones. Also I recently finished up my own online investigation of the JFK assassination and I now believe that Oswald did it alone. Even though I really want to believe in a FBI/CIA/Mafia conspiracy.
RW: I believe in every conspiracy
If you’re a speculator of future celebrities, comedians, YouTube stars — stake on Brilliant Shane. He’s a bright star in a very insincere internet. He’s also one of the few comedians I’ve discovered who makes me laugh until I cry. I find artists like Shane to be inspirational — and if you’re like me, his work will motivate you…
…at least enough to write 20,251 characters and draw a few pictures, and for someone like me, that makes me happy.
