Back in September I had the incredible pleasure of taking part in a video-chat with Jake and Amir of CollegeHumor fame through the Google+ hangout feature. I was one of a few bloggers invited to participate and we took turns asking the guys questions about school, social media and personal branding. Side note: if you don’t know who Jake and Amir are then a) shame on you and b) go check out their videos now!
Regrettably, Amir’s sound stopped working partway into the interview so he spent the rest of the session typing out his responses and asking Jake to read them in his voice. Most of what Amir typed included the phrase “and now with more cats!” which Jake didn’t find quite as funny as the rest of us (yes, I was the annoying one laughing at everything #fangirlmoment).
One of the best parts of the interview for me was getting to see Jake and Amir just being themselves, rather than acting as their Internet personas. While it is pretty obvious that Amir is a goofball and Jake is the more levelheaded one, the guys are obviously not as black and white as they are made out to be online. For example, I recall Jake mentioning his use of a flesh-colored thong on multiple occasions, keep in mind that the whole interview took less than an hour, (if you’re curious, it was for an episode where he gets his pants pulled down) and Amir gave some tips on how to self-promote.
Lucky for us the guys were great about answering any question we threw at them honestly and they even threw in some funny stories as well. My personal favorite involved a jellybean-spit eating contest (you really don’t want the details on that one, just know there is either one very brave or very stupid CollegeHumor intern involved). The guys also discussed how they started out as writers for CollegeHumor and how the web series developed from there. They shared their belief that their success comes from their dependability and perseverance; the guys have released two videos a week since the start of their online series, regardless of the size of their fan base, which Jake said keeps the fans interested and the show alive. They even answered when asked if being famous helped out their love lives in any way. Jake said not really (though he did meet his girlfriend at work…sad) and Amir responded that he was engaged to a fangirl he met in an online chat. Jake seemed really happy for them.
Overall, it was an amazing experience for me to “meet” the comedians whose videos I quote with my sister all the time (if you’re curious, she’s Jake and I’m Amir). It was incredible to hear about how two regular guys worked to build a name for themselves and ended up famous with a gigantic Internet following. So to all of you out there with big dreams, don’t give up (and maybe team up with a friend who’s a bit nuts).
If you want to know exactly what the guys said, you can find a full transcript of our chat over at CollegeInfoGeek.
Thoughts? Comment below!
Jessica Errera is a Sophomore, double majoring in Dramatic Art and English at The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She loves theatre, reading, tennis and all things FASHION. She is also a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and a contributing writer for TalkNerdy2Me. You can follow Jessica on Twitter at @thisJESStin.