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Hank is Maybe Crazy

2012-06-22 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:44 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life (also: Science & nature) · mode: Personal update · tags: self promotion

In a self-described crazy, rambling catch-up before VidCon, Hank acts out a dream video idea, satirizes NutraSweet with a SciShow obesity fact, shows gifts and gear, and asks 30,000 viewers to watch The Lizzie Bennet Diaries so it can pay for itself.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Skit: a man who hears every step by pressing his ear to the ground; Hank's dream of it as a Vlogbrothers video idea

  • ★ After acting out a skit, Hank says he dreamed last night of a Vlogbrothers video idea: a man who can put his ear to the ground and hear everybody. (playful) — 00:00:18 · Vlogbrothers

00:00:33 — Ticky tacky / Blu-Tack, accidental inventions, NutraSweet satire, SciShow fact on Americans' weight

  • ★★ Stretching Blu-Tack ('ticky tacky') for stress relief, Hank says he read its whole Wikipedia page and that it was created completely by accident, like many of science's greatest accomplishments. — 00:00:33 · Wikipedia
  • ★★ Hank sarcastically calls NutraSweet a fantastic scientific accomplishment for decreasing America's weight, then shows a graph of NutraSweet use and Americans' weight and feigns alarm. (satire) — 00:00:57 · United States
  • ★★★ Citing a recent SciShow episode on Americans' increasing weight, Hank says that if the whole world were the size of North Americans, it would equal almost a billion new people. — 00:01:14 · SciShow

00:01:26 — VidCon on his mind; shirts from Ningmaster Tom; new tripods; pay-Hank-to-say-anything business model; French moustache

  • ★★ Hank doesn't want to say much about VidCon because tickets are no longer on sale and viewers would be sad, but it is the biggest thing on his mind. — 00:01:27 · VidCon
  • ★ Hank shows a shirt from Ningmaster Tom that mixes a video-game code with quark names, and an art-history video-game nerd shirt. (playful) — 00:01:37 · Ningmaster
  • ★ Hank says his new tripods are from Ravelli, which didn't pay him to say so, since no one ever pays him to say anything; he jokes about charging $5 per message. (playful) — 00:01:58 · Vlogbrothers

00:02:39 — The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: steady 70,000 views per episode, 30,000 short of paying for the show; ask to watch

  • ★★★ Hank says The Lizzie Bennet Diaries gets about the same number of views every episode, rare for a web series: around 70,000, roughly 30,000 short of paying for the show. — 00:02:39
  • ★★★ Hank asks 30,000 viewers to go and watch all the episodes of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. — 00:02:58

00:03:04 — New business cards for VidCon; one more video before LA; 'crazy times two'; battery and card full; sign-off and outtake

  • ★★ Hank is getting new business cards for VidCon and has one more Vlogbrothers video to make before VidCon, when he will be in LA. — 00:03:04 · VidCon, Los Angeles

In the description and comments

  • ★ Hank says things are so busy with VidCon and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries that he had no time to prepare this video, and that it mostly conveys that he is stressed out. — video description · VidCon

Humor (significant)

  • Hank acts out a man pressing his ear to the ground to hear every step, then says it was a dream idea for a Vlogbrothers video. — 00:00:25

    “including you on your way to get cookies at the grocery store.”

  • Hank praises NutraSweet for decreasing America's weight and shows a graph of NutraSweet use against Americans' weight. — 00:01:05

    “Wha- How did that happen!?”

  • Hank proposes a business model: give him five dollars and he'll say anything you want in a Vlogbrothers video. — 00:02:12

    “Fart fart fart”

  • For ten dollars, the paid message gets an upgrade. — 00:02:20

    “I'll put on my French moustache while I'm saying it.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Also: Projects: SciShow · VidCon

Organizations: Ravelli · Wikipedia

Concepts: obesity

Places: Los Angeles · North America · United States

Products: Blu-Tack · NutraSweet

Memes: Konami Code (“Up Up Down Down”)

Only in the description or credits: Ningmaster Tom

Also centred on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Introducing Lizzie Bennet · TFiOS Movie, Emma Approved, Subbable Update, etc

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