You Suck at Reading Essays
Growing up I watched shows on the Food Network with my Mum, and they always had an upbeat smiling host making foods with ingredients I could never pronounce. The camera always stayed perfectly still as they made some fancy dish in a fake kitchen. In complete contrast, the YouTube channel, You Suck at Cooking, uses its platform along with sarcastic jokes and shaky iPhone shots to completely turn the idea of a cooking channel on its head. This new form is important because it breaks down barriers like pricey ingredient lists and daunting images of perfectly cooked meals which previously stopped young people from being comfortable experimenting in the kitchen and preparing a healthy meal for ourselves. These short, funny videos have made me feel more confident navigating the sometimes scary produce aisle and allowed me to make nutritious meals that I’m proud to send a picture of to my Mum.
The anonymous creator of these videos uses a very wry, disinterested tone to create the perfect mix of comedy and actual directions for his videos. He does this thing where he replaces words with slightly different words like instead of saying “the oven’s on 350”, for example, he would say “the undos on three-fundo.” This only makes sense because he is filming himself preheat the oven, so in any other formatted medium like a written recipe, this joke could not be delivered. Another example of his humor in the videos is when he goes to make mac and cheese, he picks up the camera and films his feet trudging through crushed beer cans and red solo cups. In a traditional Food Network style show, this could never happen.
I think that digital media is shifting towards more casual engagement with the audience because it gives more of a relatable feel. Even the shift from consuming hour long cooking shows on TV to shorter Buzzfeed Tasty videos on our phones demonstrates our need for immediate access in a more personalized way. The younger generations expect to be able to choose exactly which video to click on, not have to see what the host is making on TV in that particular episode. This tells us that short, light hearted videos with a wide variety of recipes are what will be most successful, and YSAC is absolutely nailing it. He chooses YouTube specifically because his videos are typically around five to seven minutes long. This is too short to stretch to a whole televised cooking program, even with ads, and too long to post on Instagram, where videos are recommended to be under a minute to keep viewer retention high. YSAC also has the option to generate revenue from ads on YouTube to help him create more content. I noticed that he resists the urge to drag out his content to the ten minute mark, where creators are allowed to insert ad midrolls to squeeze more cash out of the videos. Many YouTube channels have fallen to this temptation, upsetting viewers with diluted content that has disruptions every few minutes. Not YSAC though, his videos end up being the perfect length to both deliver well-timed jokes and cook a delicious, non aesthetically-pleasing or perfect meal.
Another great thing about YSAC’s choice to create on YouTube is the site’s organizational features. Specifically, a creator can make playlists of videos that are meant to be watched together or in a particular order. This makes it easier for viewers to navigate towards a series of videos that they like. It’s also a great way to diversity a channel and attract new subscribers. YSAC utilizes this feature by creating a playlist for The Egg Series, a playlist called Pimblokto, and a playlist which has each episode of YSAC in order. The Egg series is a segment focusing on two eggs named John and Douglas who are detectives. Pimblokto is a robot who tries to cook and make his own YouTube tutorials with the assumption that the creator doesn’t know that he’s using his channel. I strongly recommend both series. The entertainment factor makes it feel like you’re watching a funny show on Netflix, with the added bonus of learning how to make the best breakfast burrito ever.
Personally, I have been subscribed to this channel for a couple years now, and these videos have definitely changed the way I approach cooking. I always wanted to be more or less exactly like Guy Fieri, but I didn’t have the hair or cooking skills to pull it off. With YSAC, I can play the video on my phone as I’m cooking it and rewind it easily with the drag of a finger when I inevitably mess up a step, something that’s harder to do on Instagram where you don’t have control to rewind or on the Food Network when you have to go find the remote that fell into the couch cushions. YSAC also reminds me to laugh at myself and have fun in the kitchen as dumb as that is, it’s something we value more and more as perfection online becomes the constant. I used to get stressed out when dinner time rolled around and I had barely anything in the fridge, but now I have an arsenal of incredible recipes right on my phone.
I have just learned that YSAC is coming out with its first ever hard cover cookbook in October, and I think it will be interesting to see how his shift from a digital platform to a more traditional medium will be. Will it still be funny if the jokes are printed, which will be read in my voice rather than his, what often makes the lines funny. In the preview for the book, the photos are professional yet humorous, like cleaning out an avocado with a sponge. This is probably the only cookbook I will ever own, and I can’t wait to see it on the “What to buy your Annoying Teen for Christmas” list.
