When YouTube Comes to Life

Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three…

The crowd of 1,335 people counted down for the beginning of the sold out show in San Diego’s Balboa Theater. Excitement caused the rest of the countdown to become indistinguishable screams. Everyone, from the teenagers to the parents chaperoning their ten year olds, awaited for the show to begin.

“Roman vs. Fousey” flashed on the screen above the stage as the YouTube stars stepped out wearing boxing gloves and robes, jumping in a fighting stance and throwing fake warm-up punches at each other as the Rocky theme song played. A brightly lit scoreboard flashed in the corner, tantalizing the crowd with the promise for competitive banter.

Roman Atwood, 32, and Yousef Erakat, known to his fans as Fousey (Yousef spelled backwards), 26, are two of the most successful pranksters, motivators, and vloggers on YouTube. Combined, their YouTube channels average a total of 6,260,534+ subscribers. In order to achieve success in this career, a YouTuber greatly depends on the amount of subscribers they can get to support their channel, which is based on the relevance of their content and originality of their work. With the competitive nature of the industry, Roman and Yousef, could have easily decided to be rivals, like everyone expected them to be. Instead they chose to combine their fan base to create the “Roman vs. Fousey Tour.” Sunday, February 28, was the tour's last stop on a five show run in California.

Braden Buckey, 12, said before the show, “They are super energetic and they are just so fun. Their pranks are hilarious. They are just so motivational too, they bump me up every day.”

In a typical YouTube manner, the live show consisted of several skits and challenges for Roman and Yousef to compete in, ranging from rap battles to arm wrestling. Audience participation was also required for most of the challenges. Excited fans waved their hands frantically in the air while screaming, “Me! Roman! Chose me! Yousef!” Their cries got lost in the screams of others. Once one representative of each side was chosen, the challenges continued. A sharp ding marked the earning of points.

After several light hearted moments, things became serious. One of them respectably stepped off of the stage, allowing the other to tell their life story.

Roman told the story of how he originally began his channel, RomanAtwood, to fulfill his dream of creating videos. After several hardship along the way, he chose to have a positive outlook in life, adapting the slogan “Smile More” to his brand as a YouTuber. His goal was to inspire others to move through hard times and follow their dreams. A few years after his first channel gained success, he began to vlog his daily life and upload it onto a second channel, RomanAtwoodVlogs. By recording his every day life style, people began to see that he really was living a positive lifestyle, even through the hard times. This only furthered his career and inspired more viewers.

Sisters, Linda Moreno,15, and Isabel Moreno, 19, have appreciated the positivity of his videos. “Roman is so positive. He just gives you so much energy. At the end of his vlogs he is always saying, ‘Smile More.’ I can't help but feel happy after that,” says Linda.

“Where’re my Roman Soldiers at?” Roman would say to the crowd and Yousef would follow asking, “Now where are my Bruh Bruh’s at?” The crowd cheered louder for the fan name they felt a greater loyalty to. There was no clear distinction of where the cheers of the Soldier’s and Bruh Bruh’s came from, all the screams intermingled with each other, bringing the two YouTube families together.

Ivan Blascacian,17, supporting Yousef by wearing a black shirt that said “Bruh Bruh” in bold white letters, sat next to Justin Brown, 16, who supported Roman by wearing his “Smile More” shirt. Despite their opposing allegiance, the two have been friends for the past three years, initially bonding over their love of YouTube. “They changed a lot in my mind. With me having depression, Fousey would change my mind in what I do,” said Ivan. “They inspire me,” agreed Justin.

Contrary to Roman’s cheerful messages for his channel, Yousef confessed to having more of a struggle being consistently positive in his vlogging channel, DOSEofFOUSEY. Because of his depression, he has been known in the YouTube community as one of the most depressing channels, at least to those who don't understand his situation. For those who relate with mental struggles, he is one of the most motivational.

The simple honesty of Roman and Yousef is what essential attracts the crowd to their show. Michael, 29, says, “I like how positive they are, they have similarities with me so I enjoy watching them on a daily basis.”

Laughs, cheers, and applause increased in the hope that the show did not have to end. Roman and Fousey pulled out their cameras to document the moment. The crowd all jumped up in excitement for the possibility to be a part of tomorrow’s video. Roman and Fousey waved at the crowd as they walked off stage with their cameras still at hand and wide smiles on their faces. Exiting music started playing, and murmurs erupted from the crowd, discussing the events of the show. Slowly the theater emptied out. All the was left was the cleaning staff and the scoreboard reading 32-32.