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Cracked (comedy website) YouTube channel

Started by Joe Qunt, August 10, 2022, 11:39:24 AM

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Joe Qunt

I remember watching a series of videos called After Hours by Cracked, a kind of CollegeHumour-esque website that focused mostly on pop/internet culture. They were funny at the time, especially to a sardonic young man like me. They also did a couple of videos of the thick one (Michael Swaim) adding his commentary to various viral videos. Like =3 but much funnier.

Anyone else watch these? Do they still make them? Were they funny? Or was it shit for cunts?

Pink Gregory

Used to read Cracked when I was a teenager like 15 years ago, surprised it's still going.  Got a bit sick of their list article format after a while but I used to enjoy the monthly caption competition.

They, too, had quite an active forum.

Joe Qunt

Quote from: Pink Gregory on August 10, 2022, 11:51:30 AMUsed to read Cracked when I was a teenager like 15 years ago, surprised it's still going.  Got a bit sick of their list article format after a while but I used to enjoy the monthly caption competition.

They, too, had quite an active forum.

I was always jealous of the cunts who won the Photoshop competitions. It looked a piece of piss but I never had the tools to make something. Could've got hundreds off the cunts.

Pink Gregory

Quote from: Joe Qunt on August 10, 2022, 11:54:33 AMI was always jealous of the cunts who won the Photoshop competitions. It looked a piece of piss but I never had the tools to make something. Could've got hundreds off the cunts.

I remember a couple of weeks of 'ha ha AQUAMAN!' and even then I was like 'state of this mate'.  And this was before total comics culture fuckdown.

checkoutgirl

Quote from: Pink Gregory on August 10, 2022, 11:51:30 AMUsed to read Cracked when I was a teenager like 15 years ago

I used to read the articles too. Never watched any of the videos though, I'm not a complete idiot. It was through a Cracked article that I learned that watching Christopher Guest films was a white person pursuit. I remember being very disappointed by African Americans over this and stopped reading Cracked soon after.

Even the best satirical website is going to get boring relatively quickly. The Onion being another example of this.

Butchers Blind

Didn't Cracked used to be a similar publication like Mad back in the day?

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

Quote from: Butchers Blind on August 10, 2022, 12:36:38 PMDidn't Cracked used to be a similar publication like Mad back in the day?
Yep, began in the late 50s as a blatant Mad Magazine imitation, carried on for years despite being renowned for being crap, and tried to rent and as a Lads Mag type of thing in the early 2000s, but singularly failed in this area, and ceased publication to befome the website it is today.

Famous Mortimer

They used to have some great writers, but David Wong left to write novels (although he does still pop up from time to time), one of them left because of wankbeast shenanigans, and they got rid of the rest in a downsizing. The user-created listicle stuff which is most of their site these days is a bit of a waste of time.

PammySpacek

Quote from: Lisa Jesusandmarychain on August 10, 2022, 01:42:29 PMYep, began in the late 50s as a blatant Mad Magazine imitation, carried on for years despite being renowned for being crap, and tried to rent and as a Lads Mag type of thing in the early 2000s, but singularly failed in this area, and ceased publication to befome the website it is today.

In the late 80s they had a young Dan Clowes doing stuff for them. Rather extraordinarily, all of Cracked's archives prior to 2000 (obviously including Clowes's stuff) had to be destroyed following events after 9/11:

Quote from: WikipediaCracked was near the center of the 2001 anthrax scare. An anonymous letter containing anthrax powder was sent to American Media Inc. in September 2001, killing one employee. Cracked's offices were still in the same building, and thus the magazine was among the publications that had to be evacuated. As a consequence, the company's archives, containing the magazine's original photographic prints of issues from 1958–2000, had to be destroyed due to contamination.

I only ever read one edition of print Cracked, around 1992 when somehow some import copies found their way to a local newsagent (back in the days when that sort of thing could potentially happen - now I just stare at the acres of shit like "What's On TV" and sigh). This was the one:


Brundle-Fly

Quote from: Lisa Jesusandmarychain on August 10, 2022, 01:42:29 PMYep, began in the late 50s as a blatant Mad Magazine imitation, carried on for years despite being renowned for being crap, and tried to rent and as a Lads Mag type of thing in the early 2000s, but singularly failed in this area, and ceased publication to befome the website it is today.

The website only bought the name and distinctive yellow font. Other than that, it has nothing to do with the former comic. I think you were being a little harsh on the old magazine. I have fond memories reading it in the 1970s, but gave up as there only so many Star Wars jokes one could take.

I used to enjoy Cracked dot com too but as far as I can gather, they let go of most of the main contributors (or they left of their own accord) and are now relying far more on readers content. Also, there are only so many Star Wars jokes (and MCU trivia) one can take.

Pink Gregory

Yeah I remember a glut of articles like '5 things they never tell you as a Paramedic' and they weren't up to the standard of the other stuff because, quelle surprise, they're not humour writers.

Joe Qunt


somersetchris

Quote from: Pink Gregory on August 10, 2022, 03:53:12 PMYeah I remember a glut of articles like '5 things they never tell you as a Paramedic' and they weren't up to the standard of the other stuff because, quelle surprise, they're not humour writers.

Funny you should say that, because a number of them work on major comedy shows now. Daniel O'Brien has an Emmy for Last Week Tonight, Soren Bowie writes for American Dad.

somersetchris

To give a full answer, yes Cracked video used to be really good, After Hours and Obsessive Pop Culture Disorder in particular. Escort Mission I liked as well.

They were able to spend loads of money on videos because it was in that era when viral videos were massive and old media decided they wanted a piece of it, some big multimedia company bought them up. Then the YouTube adpocalypse happened, revenue dried up and they suddenly realised that running a YouTube channel like a TV station is ridiculously expensive. Lots of YT channels suffered a similar fate.

They had a lot of really good writers and let most of them go literally overnight. I think this was early 2017? By that point Jack O'Brien, one of the guys who'd bought the Cracked name so he could start it up again, had already left to start the Daily Zeitgeist podcast (which he still does). He was the only one to leave voluntarily, he must have seen which way the wind was blowing as the rest of them were all fired with no notice just a couple of months later. They were left with a virtual skeleton staff, there's one guy who does all the videos now, they're absolutely pitiful, really bad. Alex Schmidt is the only one of the old crew who hung on to his job, I think he was expected to do everything by himself after that.

Most of them have gone on to better things now, Daniel O'Brien of OPCD/After Hours writes for Last Week Tonight, Soren Bowie of After Hours writes for American Dad. Michael Swaim started up the Small Beans podcast network, where a lot of the others like Bridgett Greenberg and Teresa Lee still do podcasts. He works for IGN now, it seems from his various podcast appearances that he had a big alcohol problem in the latter days of Cracked, hopefully he's past that now. Tom Reimann did a film podcast for a while, he's now at Collider, a sort of online film magazine.

Never liked David Wong, he always came across as a complete know it all and totally up himself. And I never understood why someone whose real name is Jason Pargin decides to write under David Wong (and I think still does).

Oh yes, and Cody Johnston and Katy Stoll went on to do Some More News, a sort of YouTube Last Week Tonight which I think started on Cracked. It's pretty good, I'm sure some here would like it. They recently did a long takedown of Jordan Peterson. I think they're the only former Cracked people who are actively putting stuff out on YouTube.

There's nothing new worth watching on the Cracked channel, but the old videos are good.

somersetchris

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on August 10, 2022, 02:36:16 PMThey used to have some great writers, but David Wong left to write novels (although he does still pop up from time to time), one of them left because of wankbeast shenanigans, and they got rid of the rest in a downsizing. The user-created listicle stuff which is most of their site these days is a bit of a waste of time.

Who was the alleged wankbeast?

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: somersetchris on August 20, 2022, 01:49:22 AMWho was the alleged wankbeast?
I can't remember his name, unfortunately (it must have been four or five years ago).

John Cheese! Probably inappropriate to use an exclamation mark. Good call on using a pseudonym, I suppose.