The Key of Awesome (formerly Barely Productions and Barely Political) was a
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel that produced comedy videos starring writer/performer Mark Douglas. "The Key of Awesome" was created by Mark Douglas and
Ben Relles and is the channel's most popular series, mainly producing
viral music videos and parodies. Barely Political was created in June 2007 by
Ben Relles and subsequently debuted its first music video, "
Crush on Obama", starring
Amber Lee "Obama Girl" Ettinger, created by
Ben Relles and Jake Chudnow. Videos on the channel have been seen over 3.37 billion times online. "The Key of Awesome" became the central identity of the channel.
The Key of Awesome created numerous videos covering political topics, the military, and news media. During the
2008 presidential primaries, the channel invited some of the
candidates
A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
* to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs.
* t ...
to be featured in a video, including former Senator
Mike Gravel
Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician and writer who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who later in life twice ran for ...
.
In October 2007, Barely Political was bought by
Next New Networks for an unknown amount which in turn was acquired by YouTube in spring 2011. Herb Scannell, co-founder and CEO of Next New Networks, stated, "With Barely Political, we've added a team that can grow our reach to a very important audience — one that likes their politics with a healthy serving of humor — timed perfectly with the upcoming 2008 election season."
Its videos were mainly directed by Tom Small and feature writing and performances by Mark Douglas,
Todd Womack, Doug Larsen, Anastasia Douglas, Bryan Olsen, and occasionally Lauren Francesca,
Andrea Feczko,
Amber Lee "Obama Girl" Ettinger,
Ewan Gotfryd, and
Michael Stevens.
In 2014, the channel was listed on
New Media Rockstars Top 100 Channels, ranked at #29.
On February 4, 2018, in form of a song, Mark Douglas announced that he would be taking an indefinite break from YouTube, thanking his fans for their support over the years.
Series
In addition to its popular Barely Productions sketches, the comedy group has multiple web series they post on their YouTube channel.
* The Key of Awesome
* Barely Guys
* Rated: Awesome
* The Anti-List
* Reggae Shark
* Barely Ads
* Boob Tattoos
* Super Therapy
* Frank Ruins Movie Trailers
* K-Stew Explains
* Barely Air
* Obama Girl
* YouTube Complaints (2012–2015)
Response to Obama Girl
When asked about the video by the ''
Des Moines Register
''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa.
History Early period
The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junctio ...
'' on June 18, 2007, Obama said, "It's just one more example of the fertile imagination of the Internet. More stuff like this will be popping up all the time." Obama told the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
that the Obama Girl video had upset his daughters and said, "You do wish people would think about what impact their actions have on kids and families."
Special episodes
There were many cross-over episodes and specials involving appearances from other
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channels and characters. In January 2011, the Barely Political team did a special cross-over episode with
Epic Meal Time
''Epic Meal Time'' is a Canadian YouTube cooking show known for creating extremely high-calorie meals, generally out of meat products (with particular emphasis on bacon) and including alcohol (especially Jack Daniel's). It debuted in Octobe ...
called "Epic Mealtime Showdown of AWESOME". The episode featured key figures from both channels engaging in a Super Bowl showdown for who has the most watched channel. The episode gained over 2 million in views.
The episode featured members from The Key of Awesome: Mark Douglas,
Todd Womack,
Amber Lee "Obama Girl" Ettinger, Lauren Francesca,
Ewan Gotfryd,
Michael Stevens, Tom Small, and members from
Epic Meal Time
''Epic Meal Time'' is a Canadian YouTube cooking show known for creating extremely high-calorie meals, generally out of meat products (with particular emphasis on bacon) and including alcohol (especially Jack Daniel's). It debuted in Octobe ...
:
Harley Morenstein, Dave Heuff, Tyler Lemco, Josh Elkin, and Alex Perrault.
On April 24, 2015, The Key of Awesome aired a special episode "The Muppets Destroy the Key of Awesome guys",
with characters
Statler and Waldorf from
The Muppets
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...
made guest appearances to school Mark Douglas and
Todd Womack in the art of heckling.
See also
*
Ben Relles
*
Crush on Obama
*
Todd Womack
*
Michael Stevens
*
Amber Lee "Obama Girl" Ettinger
*
Next New Networks
References
External links
*
ToddWomack.comNext New Networks.comKey of Awesome Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Key
Comedy-related YouTube channels
YouTube channels closed in 2018
YouTube channels launched in 2007
Parody musicians
American parodists
Music YouTubers