Justin Robert Young

Justin Robert Young
Justin Robert Young, 2013
Born	(1983-03-05) March 5, 1983 Ft. Worth, Texas
Residence	Alameda, California
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Syracuse University
Occupation	Journalist and Podcaster
Notable work(s)	NSFWShow G4 Underground The Diamond Club
Website
weirdthings.com http://NSFWshow.com http://iTricks.com

Justin Robert Young (born March 5, 1983)^[1] is a podcaster, blogger and writer. He was formerly editor-in-chief of The Daily Orange student newspaper and was associate producer of G4 Underground's first season. He is currently editor-in-chief of iTricks.com^[2] and WeirdThings.com,^[3] and is a co-host of NSFWShow^[4] with Brian Brushwood. He was one of the people behind the controversial book The Diamond Club.^[5] "He leaves his socks everywhere" - Ashley Paramore ^[6]

Early career

Justin Robert Young is a graduate of the Syracuse University journalism program where he also worked at The Daily Orange, the independent student newspaper of Syracuse, New York.^[7] He has also worked as a newspaper journalist for “The South Florida Sun-Sentinel” of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and “The Morning Call” of Allentown, Pennsylvania.^[3] He decided to include his middle name in his professional moniker, as several persons were already utilizing the name “Justin Young” in a professional capacity.^[8] In his early career, Young practiced and performed stand-up comedy and improv in addition to attempting a comedy podcast.^[8] Young, with Brian Brushwood, later released a comedy album Night Attack in 2011, debuting at #38 on Billboard's Launchpad.^[9]

Journalism and podcasting

Following his brief tenure in newspaper journalism, Young was recruited by longtime friend and magic inventor Andrew Mayne to serve as the editor-in-chief of iTricks.com, published by Mayne.^[10] Young later went on to serve as editor of WeirdThings.com, also published by Mayne.^[3] Young first met podcasting collaborator and magician Brian Brushwood in Florida while interviewing him for iTricks.com and soon after became a regular guest on Brushwood’s BBLiveShow podcast following a swarm of call-in appearances.^[8] Prior to this, Young hosted a short-lived YouTube series called TalkingHead TV in which he interviewed guests from around the world on the topics of tech and pop culture,^[11] including an early interview with future co-host Brian Brushwood.^[12] Young and Brushwood were picked up by Leo Laporte’s TWiT.tv network to co-host a show that went on to be named NSFW and premiered on November 24, 2009.^[4] One month prior in October 2009, Young, with co-hosts Andrew Mayne and Brian Brushwood, began the WeirdThings.com podcast, which has appeared as one of iTunes top science podcasts.^[13] In 2009 he also served as an Associate Producer on the first season of G4 Underground.^[3] Through the NSFW podcast, Young has interviewed AMC network’s The Walking Dead star Michael Rooker who has affectionately proclaimed to be Young’s “stepfather”.^[14] Young has also co-hosted a podcast film festival with film director and producer Christopher Coppola,^[15] and has written advertisements for Greg Grunberg’s website Talk About It, which promotes epilepsy awareness.^[16]

Young was also the lead Writer for the TWiT Network's show/podcast Game On.^[17] Young has been quoted in industry publications.^[18] In February 2013, Young, in the middle of an "indefinite ban" from ad reads on NSFW, created a character called "Ad Dragon"(played by Young wearing a Lucha Libre-style mask) taking over the reading of the ads. Young challenged his alter-ego to an "Ad Read-Off" at NSFW's 2013 "SouthXSoWasted" event in Austin, Texas in March 2013 and won by forfeit when the Ad Dragon "resigned" from NSFW.

Live events and hoaxes

On March 10, 2010 at Digg's South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) festival party, Young, along with NSFW co-host Brian Brushwood, initiated one of the largest Twitter hoaxes ever when they prompted a packed audience to tweet and re-tweet with the hashtag #omgconan that Conan O’Brien, recently departed from NBC, was going to join Revision3, an internet television network co-founded by Digg founder Kevin Rose. Word even spread that Conan walked out live on stage to make the announcement^[19] The stunt was originally orchestrated to set the world record for the “Most Tweeted Hoax”, and now Justin Robert Young currently holds the record at 525 tweets with RecordSetter.^[20] During Magic Month at Seminole Casino, Coconut Creek, Florida (January 30 - February 25, 2011) Young was featured in “Stars of Magic” alongside performer Andrew Mayne. This marked Young’s first performance in magic.^[21]

Advertising

For the 2011 World Series of Poker, Young served as the spokesperson for Bicycle Cards, interviewing players in the tournament and providing commentary. His interactions during the tournament were documented in a series of YouTube videos on the channel Bicyclecards.

Internet podcasting and television

BBLiveShow

Initially started by magician and podcaster Brian Brushwood, Young became a regular guest on the show after several call-ins to the show following a chance meet-up with host Brian Brushwood in Florida for an interview for iTricks.com.

iTricks Magic Week in Review

The iTricks Magic Week in Review Podcast is an extension of the iTrick.com magic news website, for which Young is editor-in-chief, and reviews the latest magic news of the week in addition to interviewing guests from the magic industry.

NSFW

The NSFW podcast is part of the TWiT.tv network, hosted by Justin Robert Young and Brian Brushwood. The show premiered on November 24, 2009. It had its origins in the style and format of the BBLiveShow, hosted by Brushwood.

WeirdThings.com Podcast

The WeirdThings.com podcast is co-hosted by Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood. In it they discuss science, the impossible, and the fantastic.

References

External links

• iTricks
• Weird Things
• NSFW Show
• BBLiveShow
• Justin Robert Young on BBpedia
• Justin Robert Young's Blog
• TWiT Game On