YouTube has become the home for — well, everybody. You can find videos on just about anything that comes to mind. A lot of them — a lot — deal with serious issues and opinions. But there’s still room for the lighthearted to exist amidst the more intense. So isn’t it refreshing that a YouTuber spends his time entertaining viewers, unencumbered by the reality of the world away from your phone or tablet or computer? That’s what Ryan George brings to YouTube, and his sense of humor can be infectious.
Who is Ryan George?
He calls himself a writer, comedian, video producer and creative kinda guy. That gives you an idea of what makes him tick. Obviously, he’s not inclined to take himself too seriously, although his credentials could allow for less modesty. A resident of Montreal Canada, Ryan has been writing and performing comedy in one form or another since 2010.
The highlight of his entertainment venture is based on the “pitch meeting.” A pitch meeting, of course, is a conference where someone pitches an idea or a story to an executive in charge of commissioning movies or TV shows. The pitch must provide an exciting summary that will entice the executive into making the movie. Pitch meetings can take place just about anywhere but the end goal is for the executive to “green light” the pitch. As can be imagined, there can be a huge difference between the pitch and the final results. Regardless, it’s up to the one doing the pitch to bring a sense of excitement. At least, that’s how a pitch meeting usually goes.
But what if the pitch happened after the film or TV show was already made. We’d know how it turned out, including all the mistakes, problems and difficulties. That’s what Ryan George focuses on. He plays both sides of the pitch meeting as he strives to convince himself and the executive. This creates a plethora of opportunities to be sardonic and make jokes about the film or TV show in question. These “Pitch Meetings,” covering everything from James Bond to Space Jam 2, have gained over 450 million views on the Screen Rant YouTube Channel, with new episodes uploaded to an audience of 8 million subscribers weekly. Sharp and fast dialogue keeps the viewer engaged — and while it certainly helps if the viewer has some knowledge of the content — like what Star Wars is or how badly a movie did in the theaters — it’s not a prerequisite for enjoying the flow of conversation.
More than meets the pitch
Ryan does more than pitch meetings, however. For example, there is a skit in which he asks “himselfs” to come up with names for various tools, with one coming up with “Hammer” because he’s eating a ham sandwich (which echos George Jessel in comedic execution). But it is fair to say that he does seem to enjoy playing multiple parts in his videos — perhaps acknowledging that he will never show up late or go off ad-libbing from the script. The productions feature simple sets so as to concentrate on the wordplay and spoken content, eschewing music and CGI-type special effects beyond the green screen used for background generation. And of course, there are fast cuts between the characters — it’s just versions of Ryan all the time, after all. Heavily scripted and intensely practiced to flow seamlessly, each video seems continuous.
If a line doesn’t bring a chuckle (or groan), then he hasn’t done his job.
What else is Ryan George up to?
Ryan also produces his own YouTube Channel where his sketch comedy videos have an audience of over 1 million subscribers and have garnered more than 240 million views. In addition to all this, in conjunction with his sketch comedy group ‘Moving Mind Studio’, he has created and stars in an original series, “Campus Law” for Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud streaming service, in association with Lionsgate.
Ryan George demonstrates that you don’t need huge crowds of people or vast locations to create entertaining content. What is needed is a good idea that people find interesting and entertaining. And there’s no better entertainment than that which makes people laugh. Knowing his audience, Ryan creates content that achieves this every time. That is why he is so successful.