9 YouTube Channels To Watch When You Want To Productively Kill Time
If you think that your cable television provider offers the only source of quality entertainment, you haven't spent much time on YouTube recently. Sure, you'll find the occasional shaky home video that a user posts for family members on the other side of the country, but you can also subscribe to channels that regularly publish high-quality material.
Here are nine YouTube channels you probably haven't subscribed to yet, but you might want to give them a look:
1. Smarter Every Day
If you haven't met Gigi the stunt cat yet, you're missing out. Actually, Gigi is the star of just one video, while channel owner Destin Sandlin appears in them all. Sandlin's Smarter Every Day addresses bits of common knowledge that most people accept without knowing the reasons behind them as well as intriguing questions that few think to ask.
Why do cats always land on their feet? What's inside a kangaroo's pouch? How does laser tattoo removal work? You'll learn the answers to these questions (and hundreds more) through Smarter Every Day. It helps that Sandlin has a degree in aerospace engineering and a resume that includes "rocket engineer" as a job title.
2. Super Deluxe
If you need a dose of humor to brighten your day, look no further than Super Deluxe. It first debuted back in 2007 as a standalone site that offered comedic snippets. Turner Broadcasting, the company behind Super Deluxe, shut it down not long after, but just like "Full House" and "The X-Files," it relaunched last year.
Fans of comedy, music and improvisation should subscribe to their YouTube channel. You'll also enjoy this channel if you're a fan of short documentaries and animations. Unlike many popular YouTube series, Super Deluxe offers a healthy mix of different types of content to keep you interested.
3. TED
The tagline for TED — "Ideas Worth Spreading"— encapsulates this YouTube channel well. TED talks span numerous industries and topics, but they're all geared toward inspiring others and sharing ideas. If you're feeling creatively stunted or emotionally dry, you won't feel that way after you listen to a few of the channel's most moving speakers.
TED talks come from all over the world. TED (and TEDx) conferences feature leaders of industry who each give 18-minute speeches about ideas that prove central to their work. They cover topics ranging from education and leadership to gossip and technology, and you can watch them all on the organization's YouTube channel.
4. Laura In The Kitchen
Written recipes are easy enough to follow, but video recipes make cooking and baking far more intuitive. Laura Vitale, author and YouTube personality, lends her wit and humor to her culinary demonstrations. You'll learn how to chop, saute, blend, mince, dice and spread ingredients with the authority of a Le Cordon Bleu-educated chef in no time.
5. Fun For Louis
Maybe you've never come face-to-face with a lion or hung over the edge of a cliff with a video camera in one hand, but you can experience those things vicariously through Australian Louis Cole. He creates a regular travel blog that allows his viewers to experience the wonders of the world without leaving their homes.
His YouTube channel provides excellent production value combined with beautiful views, which makes it a must-subscribe channel. If you love the idea of travel, but lack the funds to actually visit far-off destinations, you can experience the globe-trotting lifestyle vicariously through Louis and his pals.
6. Tin Can Brothers
If you've spent any time on YouTube lately, you know that sketch comedy has become just as popular online as it has been for years on Saturday nights on NBC. The Tin Can Brothers are among the most consistent and hilarious examples of this fad, drawing on inspiration from numerous big-time acts while injecting their own unique brand of whimsy and tongue-in-cheek commentary.
The Tin Can Brothers have enjoyed such popularity on YouTube that they're now producing original live shows in Los Angeles and elsewhere. You'll like this channel if you're enamored with Broadway, mustaches or "The Three Stooges."
7. Dustin And Genevieve
They've only posted nine videos to date, but they have more than five million views and over 25,000 followers. Their parodies of songs such as Adele's "Hello" have been spread far and wide, and their impressive voices are just as enjoyable as their uncanny sense of comedic timing.
Unlike many parodies, the ones by Dustin and Genevieve are well-filmed and completely original. These former wedding singers are now married, and they plan to release more musical parodies in the near future. You might want to subscribe to this channel if you love popular music and if you get a kick out of hilarious social commentary.
8. Just For Laughs Gags
Some of the most popular YouTube gag channels feature mean-spirited pranks, but Just For Laughs Gags offers a refreshing alternative. The channel has over five million subscribers and more than two billion total views, so you won't have to laugh alone. You'll find original videos as well as best-of compilations on the channel.
In addition to their comedic value, Just For Laughs Gags videos feature high-end production quality and very little filler content. Most videos are less than two minutes long, so you don't have to invest much time to enjoy a quick giggle.
9. CinemaSins
Movie buffs will find plenty to like about CinemaSins, a YouTube channel devoted entirely to the parts of movies that just didn't make the grade. Each point the creators make is tied to its own joke, so you'll laugh through these videos, and convenient subtitles ensure you don't miss any of the hilarity.
So far, the channel has covered movies ranging from "Kung Fu Panda" to "Point Break," and just to keep things fair, the creators also made a video pointing out their own "sins." New videos appear on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and after you watch a few, you'll wonder why you ever wasted time reading text-only reviews in the New York Times.
When you can't find anything to watch on television, YouTube has you covered. Subscribe to these nine channels to enjoy more of what online video has to offer.
