For my 18th birthday, I received my own video camera. It was one of those Sharp cameras that had the weird tilt to it. I loved the thing. I took it everywhere and started making stuff.
Aside from actually making some stuff, I just took that thing everywhere. I was always a big fan of my friends. That’s why I hung out with them. And I always enjoyed getting them on tape to see what I could get. I often put a camera on somebody just to invoke something awesome on camera, if you’ve hung out with me in these situations. Whether it be hanging out at my place, basically staging small dance parties in my room, or going to the local Perkins after a night working at the Country Club, or after my friends’ band show. I have hours of 8mm tape from this era of my life and the great times we had.
This continues today as I turn the camera on Chachi, talking him into doing a vlog, and bringing people into the Podcasts. Giving someone like Will AKA DJlunchbox and the rest of my Wrestling Mayhem Show friends a place to talk about the thing they love where people can hear it and join in on a much larger conversation. People with personalities I think should be shared with the world at large.
Sometimes being a content creator isn’t so much about creating, as it is about giving people a platform to shine. I love finding people that could benefit from a platform like that, and seeing how they may flourish after the fact. Now Chachi is growing his blog at ChachiSays.net, hosting Unsung, and spearheaded his Chachi Plays charity event, not to mention taken the reigns on other projects in our wheelhouse. DJLunchbox is still a fixture on Wrestling Mayhem for the nearly six years since we started, and has had a great run on his ThoughtfulRiot.com leading to some really exciting potential.
If I’m turning my focus on someone, it’s usually because I see potential. I don’t know if that’s potential to find a new career in entertainment or punditry. Or maybe it’s just stupid human tricks sometimes, but there’s something there. Something that I don’t want to be the lone audience of. I’m not always right, but if people aren’t given the chance to be more than they accept, how will you be surprised?
So take a look around. Why are you so entertained by your friends? Maybe others will be too.