Social Senseis

Max Rubin -

 

Being online recently, I’ve noticed an uptick in a certain model of comedy. It’s what I would describe as “Pov socialization”, stemming from the idea of hidden camera pranks, but with a more free flowing bit that unfolds adaptively depending on what comes of the encounter, less of a “gotcha”.

I know of a few people making these types of videos, and from afar they seem like people you’d meet on the bus that would refer to themselves as ‘the mayor.’ Probably every town has a similar socialite that materializes on any sunny day downtown to talk strangers ears off. A select few of them have taken their perspective to the internet.

‘Johnny Hamcheck’ is probably the most popular social sensei. According to Reddit user Edward5996, he walks around Columbus, Ohio with his phone recording from a sleeve in his backpack strap. He has resident bits where he harasses the seasonal photo pop-up people at the mall, or where he pulls up to construction sites and claims he has materials for them from a guy named ‘Balboni’. Some of the hardest to watch ones are just him carrying a long conversation with dog owners on the street. 

His bizarre bits are held up by the politeness of Ohioans – people who don’t quite know how to say ‘shut up’, or are still trying to track down where they know this guy from. He leans on people presuming he’s a guy they met once at a bar or jobsite.

With the emergence of more discrete wearable tech like Meta glasses, we can probably expect more of these faceless comedians to pop up. They direct their bits on the fly, making cast members out of strangers that will hear them out, unknowing that they’re performing for an online audience. 

Surely, there will be more outlandish jokes as cameras become more discrete. However, as people are flooded with anxiety breeding content, there’s a lot of comfort in cracking jokes with a middle aged guy eating ice cream in a suburban Walmart.