| Michael Buckley | |
|---|---|
at Streamy Awards in April 2010 |
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| Born | Michael John Buckley June 8, 1975 Wallingford, Connecticut, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | July 2005 – Present [1] |
| Known for | Comedy, pop culture commentary |
| Internet information | |
| Web alias(es) | YouTube: peron75, WHATTHEBUCKSHOW, bucknews, bucksphone Twitter: buckhollywood, shutupbuck |
| Web hosting service(s) | YouTube, BlogTV, Twitter |
| Signature phrase | "What the Buck?" |
| Website | |
| Youtube.com/WhatTheBuckShow | |
Michael Buckley (born June 8, 1975) is an American Internet celebrity, comedian and vlogger. Noted for his vlog What the Buck?!, Buckley comments on popular culture events and celebrities. He also maintains one of YouTube's most popular channels with several million viewers each month.[2] Buckley "broke all records" of YouTube ratings when four of his shows ended up on the week's ten top-rated videos.[2] Buckley has appeared in magazines and newspapers such as The New York Times discussing Internet entrepreneurship[3] and The Advocate discussing homophobia on the Internet.[4] On March 18, 2008, he won a 2007 YouTube Awards for best commentary with the video "LonelyGirl15 is Dead!"[5][6][7]
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Buckley is one of three children and moved to his parents' summer home on Cape Cod in Massachusetts after graduating from Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire with a degree in psychology. He began working at a group home for children with developmental disabilities.[8] In 2002, he moved back to Connecticut and started a "normal 9–5 office job" at Livenation.[8] After appearing on television with his friend Kristin Tierney for a fund-raising drive for CPTV the two decided to create a public-access television cable TV chat show called Table for Two at local public-access television studio in July 2005. [1][8]
What the Buck? began as a small weekly segment on Table for Two and gave him "a chance to riff and rant on his own."[8] His cousin then posted some on YouTube and "it snowballed."[1][8] Buckley started building a following on MySpace and started his YouTube channel in May 2006, with his main focus centered on celebrities and pop culture, often satirizing and parodying them.[1][2] On September 11, 2008, he quit his low-paying day job as an administrative assistant for Live Nation, a music promotion company and is now earning more money as an online entertainer.[3] Edge Boston summarized his work as: "Three or four times a week, he uploads his slickly made commentaries on celebrities and pop culture that are amongst the snarkiest to be found on the web."[1] His high-energy and rapid-fire delivery and style has been described as being "irreverent, fast-talking, pop-culture-obsessed"; he has been likened to "a living can of Red Bull."[8] He is one of the most subscribed vloggers rising to be the second most popular comedian within the first five months of posting.[2] His online success has led to more mainstream media work including DirectTV, Leeza Gibbons's syndicated radio show, a regular guest spot on Fox News Channel's weekly gossip show Lips & Ears and Red Eye.[8] Courtney Friel, host of Lips & Ears, came across What the Buck? and invited Buckley onto the show, "The beauty of YouTube ... is that they have complete creative freedom."[8]
On September 6, 2007, "The Top (& Bottom) Gays of You Tube!", the first all-gay collaboration video by YouTube's most subscribed video bloggers, was posted by Buckley to create a "YouTube gay village."[1][9] Featuring James Majesty, Chris Crocker, William Sledd,[10] and "Gay God" (Matthew Lush), the video consisted of each of the four bloggers commenting on the others' vlogging, with Buckley acting as host for the various outtakes.[9] As of May 2010 in the rankings of most subscribed channels, in all categories, "What The Buck?" is sixteenth.[11] As of November 2008, the video has been viewed over 1,000,000 times, with over 8,500 comments.[9] On April 23, 2008, Buckley began to broadcast regular live shows on the social broadcasting website, BlogTV. His live shows have already been viewed by over 200,000 people. He appears live on Thursday and Sunday nights on BlogTV. Playing the producer Horace Karmez, Buckley has appeared on many talk shows.
He has recently started a new YouTube channel titled BuckNews, a spinoff of What the Buck? in which he includes content that did not make his main show.[3] Additionally, Buckley has recently introduced two spin-off shows: Pass the Buck and Buck Factor which promote the interaction between him and his fans.
In December, Buckley was part of the BBC's Most Annoying People as an interviewee. In March 2010, Buckley was nominated for a Streamy award in the category of "Best Web Series Host". Additionally Michael has created a new show titled "Dear Buck" where he answers questions posted on his website, Twitter, Facebook, and/or previous Dear Buck shows.
In August 2010, he hosted the red carpet section of the 2010 Teen Choice Awards which was streamed live on the internet. During this he interviewed celebrities, television stars and web stars such as James Majesty.
In June 2011, he took part in the "Who is my Youtube Date?"[12] project hosted by Luke Cutforth.
He was a guest judge on Genuine Ken with Whitney Port.
In late September, 2011, Buckley had a guest appearance as himself in the comedy web series Husbands.[13]
In January 2009, Buckley became 'The Minisode Maniac' by discussing and promoting The Minisode Network's content on the Minisode's YouTube page and Crackle.[14] Michael officially posted his last Minisode Maniac episode in mid-February. To celebrate he ran around his backyard in a speedo in the snow.
Buckley is openly gay and lives with his husband, also named Michael, in Berlin, Connecticut with their five dogs Ellie, George, Colin, Buddy and Lucy.[1][8][15]
Buckley has a twin sister, Debbie. To show his fans his "softer side", Buckley began to vlog about their home life on his peron75 YouTube channel, and also appears live on BlogTV.[8]
In June 2010, Buckley had Lasik eye surgery, but continues to wear empty frames in order to keep his appearance the same and to placate fans who see the glasses as part of his image. Buckley posted a video of his surgery on YouTube, in which he repeated his pledge to continue wearing his glasses on "What the Buck" - though he sometimes appears without them during his BlogTV shows.
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by VenetianPrincess |
Most Subscribed Channel on YouTube Ranked 18th as of 2010 |
Succeeded by TheStation |