Tag: youtube

Content Creators: Safiya Nygaard

It’s always fun with these posts to try to figure out which was the first video/blog post/etc. that I saw from a specific creator.

I know the first time I ever saw Safiya Nygaard in a video at all. It was in the video where the Try Guys wore women’s pants for the day. Nygaard came on to talk about the history of women’s pockets and where they went once women changed from foofy dresses to pants.

Now, as for which of her own videos was first, I’m pretty sure it was when she bought counterfeit designer clothing in Hong Kong. I’m hardly a fashion maven or anything, but it sounded like a good time. And it was.

I’m stopping writing to rewatch in hopes of figuring out when I realized that Tyler wasn’t her cameraman but was, in fact, her fiance. I think it might have been when they talked about wearing a couples’ outfit.

I enjoyed that video so much (despite not recognizing half of the referenced brands), that I “sh-mashed that subscribe button” and then went through and watched all of her older videos.

One of the things she does is what she refers to as her “Franken” whatever videos. That’s when she takes as many of whatever as she can find and mixes them together. For example, she went to Sephora and bought every color of lipstick she could, then melted them together into one color of lipstick. The result, called “Berry Me in Lipsticks” in her collab with ColourPop is a nice, well, berry color. I have missed every time she has released the color, so finally I took a picture of it and went to HEB, where the makeup lady helped me pick out something very similar (L’Oreal’s Berry Parisienne). Evelyn, who is a fashion maven, approves, by the way.

Safiya and Tyler had a whole series of videos regarding their wedding, which happened in November 2019 (happy belated second anniversary, guys!) and then they disappeared for about a year. Part of it was COVID, but a lot of it was that having their family and friends visit for their wedding made it clear how lonely they were out in Los Angeles.

So, they moved across the country to Raleigh, North Carolina, where Safiya has returned to making videos. She and Tyler have also started a livestreaming channel where they try out kitchen gadgets, make strange food, and so on. They do their streams on Tuesdays at 5 pm Eastern time, and I’m at work then, so I’ve never actually caught one of their livestreams live.

For today’s Gratuitous Amazon Link, we’re starting Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles series (though I’ve lost the third book and so I don’t know when I’ll finish it). In The Red Pyramid, Carter and Sadie Kane have been raised apart since their mother’s death. Their father picks Sadie up for their annual visit, and dies in an explosion at the British Museum. This leads to the siblings finally living together under the care of their uncle Amos. And that’s just the beginning.

Content Creators: The Try Guys

Last year, I started a tag called “Content Creators” in an effort to scare up something to write about.

Well, once again, I’m trying to scare up something to write about, so here we are again.

I could’ve sworn I’ve written about the Try Guys before, but maybe that was just about the concert that I went to with Ray a couple of years ago.

Try Guys Tryceratops at concert in 2019
Yes. I’ve clearly written about the Try Guys concert, since I had this in my already-posted photos.

First, a small content warning. I love The Try Guys, but a lot of their content is based on food. If videos about food are an issue for you (disordered eating, autism-spectrum sensory issues, etc.) be selective about their videos.

The group of men who call themselves The Try Guys started out as a . . . channel? troupe? theme? on Buzzfeed. They developed a following, so in 2018 they left Buzzfeed and formed their own company. Since then it’s been fun watching them grow.

The four “guys” of the Try Guys are (alphabetically by first name) Eugene Lee Yang, from Pflugerville, Texas; Keith Habersberger, from Carthage, Tennessee (though he went to Illinois State University and lived for a time in Chicago); Ned Fulmer, from Jacksonville, Florida (though he also lived in Chicago for a while); and (my personal favorite) Zach Kornfeld, from Scarsdale, New York.

Over the years since the Try Guys have left Buzzfeed, we’ve watched Ned become a father (twice!), Keith and Becky settle into married life, Zach and Maggie’s relationship, and have gotten to know Eugene’s partner of 9 years, Matt.

The Try Guys YouTube channel has a number of ongoing series, including 4 vs. 1, where the Try Guys collectively try to beat a champion in some area (chess, soccer, poker, etc.). They usually lose, but it’s always a fun time and also very educational.

There’s also Eat the Menu, where Keith, well, tries everything at a (usually chain) restaurant. This has given birth to another feature on the channel, the Food Babies. Two of their staffers (editor YB and associate producer Alex) originally were tasked with finishing up the things that Keith didn’t finish on Eat the Menu. Now the Food Babies have their own series and they also frequently appear in food-related Try Guys videos.

Mostly the Try Guys video is comedy, but they can be educational as well, as when the Try Guys went to Australia, and in the 4 vs. 1 videos, where we learn about the sports/competitions and how they work.

Today we have a not-so-Gratuitous Amazon Link. I think I’ve listed this before, but what the heck. The Hidden Power of F*cking Up, by the Try Guys is a great book in which the Try Guys confront their own weaknesses. For Keith, it’s his health; for Eugene, it’s family love; for Ned, it’s fashion; and for Zach, it’s romantic love (though Zach’s cooking with gas on that one now thanks to his relationship with his fiancee Maggie).