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Hbomberguy
Brewis in 2019
Born
Harry Brewis

(1992-09-19) 19 September 1992 (age 32)[1]
West Yorkshire, England[2]
EducationAberystwyth University[3]
Occupations
Years active2006–present
YouTube information
Channel
Subscribers1.75 million (hbomberguy)
269 thousand (H.BurgerGuy)[4]
Total views232.2 million (hbomberguy)
4.14 million (H.BurgerGuy)[4]
100,000 subscribers2017, 2023
1,000,000 subscribers2022
Twitch information
Channel
Years active2016–present
Followers74,997
Last updated: 22 July 2024

Harry Brewis[a][6][7] (born 19 September 1992),[1] better known as Hbomberguy, is a British YouTuber and Twitch streamer.[8] Brewis produces video essays on a variety of topics such as film, television, and video games, often combining them with arguments from left-wing political and economic positions.[9][10] He has created videos aimed at debunking conspiracy theories and responding to right-wing and antifeminist arguments.[11]

Content

[edit]

Brewis started the Hbomberguy YouTube channel on 28 May 2006.[12] As of December 2023, the channel has over 1,730,000 subscribers.[12] He also uploads his videos on the online streaming service Nebula.[13]

Brewis' videos often take the format of mini-documentaries, with him talking directly to the camera on a particular topic interspersed with comedic sketches and gags.[14] He consults with experts and fact-checkers for his videos to ensure their factual accuracy.[15] Some of the most popular videos on his channel are his A Measured Response series, which features Brewis critiquing figures such as flat Earth conspiracy theorists, pickup artists, anti-vaxxers, and content creators who believe soy makes men feminine and use the term soy boy.[11][15] Due to his videos debunking right-wing and alt-right ideas, Brewis has commonly been described as a part of BreadTube, an informal network of left-leaning YouTubers;[14][16] however, he does not associate himself with the term.[17] Like other YouTube channels under the BreadTube label, Brewis' political content mirrors the presentation of popular non-political content creators such as pop-culture essayists and gaming YouTubers.[16]

Along with his political analysis and Measured Response series, Brewis has been producing long-form media reviews and video essays on a number of topics, such as television, film, internet culture and video games.[18] In July 2020, Brewis released a video criticising the American web series RWBY. Prior to its release, Brewis attempted to upload the video and found it automatically blocked by YouTube's Content ID system. Brewis opted to extensively re-edit the video to circumvent this automated detection and hire a lawyer to review the content in order to ensure it complied with fair use prior to publication.[19] In an essay criticising the Content ID system, the Electronic Frontier Foundation highlighted Brewis' difficulty as an example of how they believed Content ID "undermines" the intent of fair use.[20]

In November 2022, Brewis published "ROBLOX_OOF.mp3", a video essay which documented many of the high-profile claims that Tommy Tallarico had made concerning his career, including being the creator of the sound effect at the heart of his Roblox legal dispute, his Guinness World Records, and being the first American to work on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and concluded many were either exaggerations or knowingly false.[21][22]

Mermaids charity stream

[edit]

From 18 to 21 January 2019, Brewis continually livestreamed to raise money for British transgender charity organisation Mermaids. He aimed to complete Donkey Kong 64 while finding all possible collectable items and did so in 57 hours and 48 minutes.[23] Mermaids had been designated funding by the British National Lottery, but the funding was withheld and put under review after criticism by comedy writer and anti-transgender activist Graham Linehan and others.[24] This inspired Brewis to stream in support of the charity.

The livestream featured many notable guests, including U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; activist and whistleblower Chelsea Manning; actress Mara Wilson; journalists Paris Lees and Owen Jones; Adam Ruins Everything creator Adam Conover; author Chuck Tingle; Matt Christman and Virgil Texas of the Chapo Trap House podcast; Donkey Kong 64 composer Grant Kirkhope; NFL athlete Chris Kluwe; game designers Rebecca Heineman, Josh Sawyer, John Romero and Scott Benson; YouTubers Natalie Wynn, Lindsay Ellis, Abigail Thorn and James Stephanie Sterling; as well as the contemporary CEO of Mermaids, Susie Green.[11][25][26] Colin Mochrie, Neil Gaiman, Cher, Matthew Mercer, Adam Savage, Hidetaka Suehiro and SonicFox tweeted in support of the livestream and the charity.[27][28] The livestream began with a goal of US$500; it quickly passed that goal and several subsequent funding targets.[29] In the first 24 hours, the livestream raised over $100,000. In total, over $347,000 (£265,000) was raised for the charity through the livestream,[23][30][31] with over 659,000 people watching the stream.[11]

The livestream garnered attention and praise.[30][32][29] The Guardian called it "an antidote to the worst of gaming culture",[11] and it was praised in a motion lodged in the Scottish Parliament by Green Party co-convenor Patrick Harvie.[33] In July 2019, the LGBT magazine Attitude recognised the livestream by honoring Brewis with an Attitude Pride Award.[34] Mermaids thanked Brewis for the livestream on their Twitter account.[35][36][37]

"Plagiarism and You(Tube)"

[edit]

On 2 December 2023, Brewis uploaded a nearly four-hour video essay titled "Plagiarism and You(Tube)", in which he discussed plagiarism and presented accusations and evidence of plagiarism against YouTubers Filip Miucin, Cinemassacre, iilluminaughtii, Internet Historian, and James Somerton.[38][39] The second half of the video focuses exclusively on Somerton, whom Brewis accuses of expansive plagiarism, as well as appropriating content from various other queer writers and content creators.[40][41][42] The Celluloid Closet, a 1996 film based on the book of the same name by Vito Russo, and Tinker Belles and Evil Queens, a 2000 book by Sean Griffin, were among the works Somerton was accused of plagiarizing, in part or in whole, across at least 26 of his videos.[40][43]

In addition to the plagiarism accusations, another YouTuber, Todd in the Shadows, released a video soon after Hbomberguy where he accused Somerton of regularly lying and spreading misinformation and dubious claims in his videos.[40][41]

In response, Somerton removed all of his videos from public view and deactivated his Twitter and Patreon accounts.[44][45][46][7] He removed the website for his film studio, Telos, which was criticised for raising funds without producing any films.[43] Somerton released an apology video, which was widely criticised.[47] In his video, Somerton said he would continue his career, and he re-opened his Patreon account without notifying his patrons. This raised concerns about individuals being charged without their knowledge.[47] Somerton removed the apology video a few hours after it was uploaded and closed his Patreon a second time.[47][48] On 5 March 2024, Somerton posted an apparent suicide note for his social media, sparking concern; however he was later confirmed to be safe on 11 March by Kat Lo, an editor and producer who works with Brewis.[49]

Reception

[edit]

Brewis has been praised by critics for his YouTube channel's format and commentary.[9][50] His 2017 video on VHS, which was produced in collaboration with Shannon Strucci, was praised by TenEighty Magazine as an excellent "deep-dive" in the topic.[51] His video analysis of the Ctrl+Alt+Del comic "Loss" has received critical acclaim: it was selected by Polygon as one of the ten best video essays of 2018 and was nominated three times in the Sight & Sound collection of 2018's most outstanding videographic criticism, with British film critic and filmmaker Charlie Shackleton stating: "The reliably great H. Bomberguy pushed the YouTube video essay into new territory with this Matryoshka doll of an upload: a layered critique of the gaming webcomic Ctrl+Alt+Del, Tommy Wiseau's bad-taste classic The Room and the YouTube video essay itself. To cap it all off, it's a horror movie".[52][53]

Brewis' Climate Denial: A Measured Response was nominated for Sight & Sound's 2019 list of the best video essays of the year with Shannon Strucci saying: "this is the hardest I have ever laughed at any video essay ... and the humor and energy Harris[a] brings to his work without sacrificing sincerity or depth of research is, as far as I am concerned, unparalleled".[54]

Personal life

[edit]

Brewis was born and raised in West Yorkshire.[2] Brewis is bisexual[55][56] and an atheist.[57] He is a socialist and supported Jeremy Corbyn in the 2017 United Kingdom general election.[58] Before focusing on YouTube full time, Brewis worked as an IT engineer[59] then as an animator for The School of Life's YouTube channel.[60][61]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Brewis' first name is often erroneously reported as "Harris" due to his habit of jokingly referring to himself as "Harris Bomberguy" in his videos.[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Brewis, Harry (17 January 2023). "Mega64 Podcast 672 – Interview With @hbomberguy". YouTube. Event occurs at 24:33. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023. I can use this as a source if I say I was born on September 19th 1992
  2. ^ a b Hbomberguy (5 March 2022). Deus Ex: Human Revolution is FINE, And Here's Why. Event occurs at 2:04:03. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022 – via YouTube. Fun fact, I was born and raised in West Yorkshire
  3. ^ Brewis, Harry Michael [@hbomberguy] (2 May 2018). "you went to aberystwyth uni??? i might be going there this year- what did you study? — I went to study english lit with creative writing, and changed my course once I got there to engl..." (Tweet). Archived from the original on 14 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ a b "About hbomberguy". YouTube.
  5. ^ Brewis, Harry [@hbomberguy] (22 December 2023). "Because I call myself 'Harris Bomberguy ' in my videos as a joke, my name is almost always reported slightly wrong. I love the life I have made for myself" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ Brewis, Harry (16 September 2016). "Defective Products: Postal, Hatred, and For-Profit Controversy". Paste. Archived from the original on 23 July 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  7. ^ a b Alter, Rebecca (22 December 2023). "Hbomberguy Didn't Want to Make That 4-Hour Plagiarism Video". Vulture. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  8. ^ Moosa, Tauriq (25 January 2019). "'Success would've been three grand': meet the gamer who raised $340,000 for a trans charity". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  9. ^ a b St. James, Emily (20 December 2018). "The TV Club, 2018". Slate. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019.
  10. ^ Gormley, Connor (19 April 2018). "5 YouTube Gaming Channels You Should Be Watching". Cultured Vultures. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  11. ^ a b c d e Hawking, Tom (22 January 2019). "How a 57-hour Donkey Kong game struck a blow against online toxicity". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  12. ^ a b "hbomberguy – About". YouTube. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  13. ^ Minor, Jordan (6 December 2022). "Nebula Review". PC Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  14. ^ a b Kuznetsov, Dmitry; Ismangil, Milan (2020). "YouTube as Praxis? On BreadTube and the Digital Propagation of Socialist Thought". TripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique. 18 (1): 204–218. doi:10.31269/triplec.v18i1.1128. ISSN 1726-670X.
  15. ^ a b Harris, Nicholas (21 December 2021). "How YouTubers got clever: the rise of the video essay". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 18 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  16. ^ a b Sylvia, J. J.; Moody, Kyle (2022). "BreadTube Rising: How Modern Creators Use Cultural Formats to Spread Countercultural Ideology". CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture. 24 (1). doi:10.7771/1481-4374.4291. ISSN 1481-4374. S2CID 251638800.
  17. ^ Brewis, Harry (2 December 2023). Plagiarism and You(Tube). Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ McMullen, Chris (15 June 2021). "Fallout 76 Is at Its Best When You Don't Know Where You're Going". The Escapist. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  19. ^ Trendacosta, Katharine (22 December 2020). "YouTube's Copyright Filter Is Crushing Video Critique—And It's Getting Worse". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  20. ^ Trendacosta, Katharine (10 December 2020). "Unfiltered: How YouTube's Content ID Discourages Fair Use and Dictates What We See Online". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  21. ^ Yarwood, Jack (18 November 2022). "New Video Examines The Many Lofty Claims Of Tommy Tallarico". Time Extension. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  22. ^ Bevan, Rhiannon (13 February 2023). "Tommy Tallarico Website Redirects To The Two Hour Video Taking Him Down". TheGamer. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  23. ^ a b McWhertor, Michael (20 January 2019). "How Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wound up on a Donkey Kong 64 Twitch charity stream". Polygon. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  24. ^ W-K, Edie (20 January 2019). "YouTuber smashes $69,420 goal for trans charity Mermaids in non-stop Donkey Kong 64 Stream". Checkpoint. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  25. ^ Moyse, Chris (21 January 2019). "YouTuber Hbomberguy's Donkey Kong 64 marathon raised over $340,000 for trans youth". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  26. ^ Evans, Mel (21 January 2019). "Hbomberguy ends marathon 57-hour Donkey Kong session after raising $340,000". Metro. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  27. ^ Grosso, Robert (20 January 2019). "Streamer Hbomberguy Raises Over $230,000 for Trans Charity". TechRaptor. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  28. ^ Suehiro, Hidetaka [@Swery65] (20 January 2019). "Understanding what I have to do. So share this. RT" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2019 – via Twitter.
  29. ^ a b Kent, Emma (21 January 2019). "YouTuber sacrifices sleep to stream Donkey Kong 64, raises $340k for trans kids". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  30. ^ a b Moore, Matt (20 January 2019). "Hbomberguy raises over $100,000 for Mermaids by playing Donkey Kong 64 for 24 hours". Gay Times. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  31. ^ "Gamer Hbomberguy hands funding row charity Donkey Kong boost". BBC News. 22 January 2019. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  32. ^ Sheehan, Gavin (21 January 2019). "Hbomberguy Raises Over $340k for Transgender Youth During Twitch Stream". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  33. ^ Harvie, Patrick (21 January 2019). Online Gamer, Harry Brewis, Fundraising for Mermaids UK. Scottish Parliament (Report). Motion S5M-15504. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  34. ^ Brown, Steve (5 July 2019). "Attitude Pride Awards: The gamer who raised hundreds of thousands for an under-fire trans youth charity". Attitude. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  35. ^ @Mermaids_Gender (19 January 2019). "We've just woken up to see that @hbomberguy has been playing Donkey Kong all night to raise money for Mermaids and is still playing! So far he's raised a staggering $26,000 and still has hours to go! Thank you 🙏🏻 Thank you 🙏🏻 Thank you 🙏🏻" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2019 – via Twitter.
  36. ^ Duffy, Nick (19 January 2019). "Gamer raises $160,000 for trans charity Mermaids by playing Donkey Kong non-stop". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  37. ^ Tsjeng, Zing (21 January 2019). "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Casually Drops in on Twitch Stream for Trans Kids". Broadly. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019.
  38. ^ Ohlheiser, A. W. (7 December 2023). "Plagiarism doesn't need AI to thrive online". Vox Media. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  39. ^ Bailey, Jonathan (5 December 2023). "Responding to Hbomberguy's Plagiarism Video". Plagiarism Today. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  40. ^ a b c Alter, Rebecca (22 December 2023). "Hbomberguy Didn't Want to Make That 4-Hour Plagiarism Video". Vulture. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  41. ^ a b Marshall, Cass (6 December 2023). "Hbomberguy's 4-hour YouTube video about plagiarism set social media abuzz". Polygon. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  42. ^ Tenbarge, Kat (21 December 2023). "A YouTuber was accused of plagiarism. His apology highlighted a larger issue among creators". NBC News.
  43. ^ a b Hansford, Amelia (14 December 2023). "Hbomberguy on James Somerton, plagiarism and queer erasure in THAT viral video essay". PinkNews. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  44. ^ Hansford, Amelia (14 December 2023). "Hbomberguy on James Somerton, plagiarism and queer erasure in THAT viral video essay". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 14 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  45. ^ Hansford, Amelia (6 December 2023). "James Somerton: What has the queer YouTuber been accused of by Hbomberguy?". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 6 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  46. ^ Marshall, Cass (6 December 2023). "Hbomberguy's 4-hour YouTube video about plagiarism set social media abuzz". Polygon. Archived from the original on 6 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  47. ^ a b c Ashworth, Mack (22 December 2023). "James Somerton: Apology Video, Plagiarism Response & Patreon Drama Explained". ComingSoon.Net. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  48. ^ Tenbarge, Kat (21 December 2023). "A YouTuber was accused of plagiarism. His apology highlighted a larger issue among creators". NBC News. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  49. ^ "Concern for YouTuber James Somerton after being accused of plagiarism". Indy100. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  50. ^ Rose, Quinn (26 April 2018). "Six Video Essays You Should Watch". TenEighty Magazine. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  51. ^ Gillard, Sam (9 October 2017). "Video Spotlight: The Power Of VHS". TenEighty Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018.
  52. ^ Schindel, David (28 December 2018). "The best video essays of 2018". Polygon. Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  53. ^ Verdeure, David; Trocan, Irina, eds. (20 January 2019). "The best video essays of 2018". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019.
  54. ^ Avissar, Ariel; DiGravio, Will; Lee, Grace, eds. (14 January 2020). "The best video essays of 2019". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  55. ^ Griffin, Louise (21 January 2019). "Hbomberguy hits back at Graham Linehan after Mermaids charity stream: 'Every time you tweet five people donate'". Metro. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021. As a kid who grew up to be bi
  56. ^ @Hbomberguy (2 May 2018). "mr hbomberguy... i dont mean to step out of bounds but... are you one of us... a fellow... lgbt... — I'm one of those bi men who leans pretty strongly toward women and feels a little bit bad when th..." (Tweet). Retrieved 4 December 2023 – via Twitter.
  57. ^ Brewis, Harry (23 December 2020). The War on Christmas: A Measured Response. Event occurs at 16:44. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022 – via YouTube. Since the 2010s, there has been decisively more nonreligious people in Britain than Christians even. Most of these people still celebrate Christian traditions, they're a common part of English culture. I'm an atheist, and I still celebrate Christmas.
  58. ^ Brewis, Harry (8 June 2017). ELECTIONWATCH 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2024 – via YouTube.
  59. ^ Brewis, Harry (12 February 2018). Soy Boy Diet Aftermath. Event occurs at 1:00. Retrieved 24 December 2023. Back when I was an IT engineer
  60. ^ Brewis, Harry (21 October 2017). Hbomberguy's 100K Q&A!. Event occurs at 19:29. Retrieved 5 January 2024. I started doing animations for the School of Life on their YouTube channel
  61. ^ The School of Life (26 February 2016). HISTORY OF IDEAS – Manners. Retrieved 5 January 2024. Produced in collaboration with ... Harry Brewis
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