Jacksfilms

"Jack Douglass" redirects here. For people with similar names, see Jack Douglas (disambiguation).

jacksfilms
Douglass on the Cold Ones podcast in 2019
Personal information
Born
John Patrick Douglass

(1988-06-30) June 30, 1988 (age 36)
Columbia, Maryland, U.S.
Other namesJack Douglass
EducationAmerican University
Occupations
Spouse
Erin Breslin
​
(m. 2018)​
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2006–present
Genres
Subscribers
  • 4.96 million (jacksfilms)
  • 657 thousand (jackisanerd)
  • 40 thousand (SHUTUPDENNIS)
  • 3.74 thousand (featuredfridays)
  • 593 thousand (JJJacksfilms)
  • 30.7 thousand (YAIY)
[1]
Total views
  • 2.75 billion (jacksfilms)
  • 79.5 million (jackisanerd)
  • 6.24 million (SHUTUPDENNIS)
  • 58.1 thousand (featuredfridays)
  • 50 million (JJJacksfilms)
  • 962.8 thousand (YAIY)
[1]
100,000 subscribers2010, 2013, 2022
1,000,000 subscribers2013
Twitch information
Channel
Years active2018–present
Followers498 thousand
Last updated: October 26, 2024

John Patrick Douglass (/ˈdʌɡləs/; born June 30, 1988), better known as jacksfilms, is an American YouTuber, videographer, musician, and sketch comedian. He is best known for his series Yesterday I Asked You (YIAY) and Your Grammar Sucks (YGS), in which he commentates on content sent by fans. Douglass' career on YouTube spans over 18 years.

Born in Columbia, Maryland, Douglass created his main YouTube channel in 2006. His content was initially focused on parodies, music videos, and sketch comedy, or a combination thereof. Douglass has referred to this series of videos as PMS (parody, music, sketch). His musical output includes both parodies of popular songs and original content. In 2011, Douglass began Your Grammar Sucks, in which he reads comments with excessive grammatical errors. Douglass created the Jackask series in 2014, where he answers user-submitted questions satirically.

In 2015, Douglass started Yesterday I Asked You, originally a segment within Jackask, where he asks his audience questions and reads humorous responses. Originally intended to be a daily series, new episodes are released every few days. Yesterday I Asked You is Douglass' most successful series, with over 600 episodes as of 2024. He has adapted it into various other formats, including a board game, a book, a YouTube Originals show, a tour, and an online party game with Be Funny Now. Since 2018, Douglass has streamed regularly on Twitch. In 2023, Douglass created a new channel, JJJacksfilms, where he reviews and critiques reaction videos.

Douglass has collaborated with a variety of other YouTubers, including PewDiePie, Markiplier, RoomieOfficial, h3h3Productions and Dan Bull. The hundredth installment of Your Grammar Sucks includes contributions from jacksepticeye, Rhett and Link, Ryan Higa, and Vsauce.

Early life

John Patrick Douglass[V 1]: 0:23  was born on June 30, 1988[V 1]: 0:08  to David Douglass[citation needed] and Donna Douglass.[V 2] He grew up in Columbia, Maryland,[V 1]: 0:08  and is primarily of Irish ancestry.[V 3] During high school he started to develop a love for music, learning to play the French horn and the piano.[2] In May 2006, during his senior year of high school, he created short video sketches for a school assignment, leading him to decide to create films. The next month, he started using YouTube and uploading videos.[3][V 1]: 4:48  After graduating from high school, Douglass attended American University, where he majored in film and minored in music theory.[4]

YouTube career

Douglass at VidCon 2012

Early career (2006–2010)

Douglass launched his main YouTube channel jacksfilms on June 26, 2006.[5] He uploaded "The WTF Blanket (Snuggie Parody)" on January 22, 2009,[4][6][7][8] and it remains his most-viewed video as of September 2024, amassing over 25.8 million views.[9][10][11] Many of Douglass's early videos consisted of sketch comedy, music videos, or parodies, often about infomercials, and Apple or Samsung phones.[12][13][14]

Douglass has subsequently grouped these videos as part of a series called PMS (parody, music, sketch). Although Your Grammar Sucks and Yesterday I Asked You later became the main focus of his channel, Douglass continues to upload PMS videos.

Your Grammar Sucks (2011–2021)

On June 20, 2011, Douglass began the series Your Grammar Sucks (YGS), mocking internet comments with excessive grammatical and spelling errors. Your Grammar Sucks would ultimately be the catalyst that jumpstarted Douglass's popularity on YouTube, and on June 27, 2013, the jacksfilms channel reached 1 million subscribers; this sits at a combined 6.18 million across his YouTube channels as of March 2024.[15] In 2014, Douglass's channel jacksfilms was listed on NewMediaRockstars's list of the top 100 YouTube channels, ranked at #54.[16]

A typical episode of Your Grammar Sucks is between 2 and 8 minutes long, and consists of Douglass reading the comments aloud word-for-word. Some episodes feature Douglass adapting the grammatically poor comments into a rap, a drinking game, or a sketch. An hour-long special, Your Grammar Sucks #100, premiered on November 2015. It features several other YouTubers, including jacksepticeye, Markiplier, Rhett and Link, Ryan Higa, and Vsauce. As of 2024, it remains the most viewed instalment of Your Grammar Sucks to date.

Around 2017, episodes began to be released less frequently under an inconsistent upload schedule, with plans to end the series due to repetitiveness. On May 8, 2021, Douglass switched over to the blind format where his team picks posts for him to react. On September 18, 2021, episode #145 was released, and the series came to an indefinite halt.

In 2014, Douglass created the Jackask series, where he gives satirical answers to user-submitted questions. Since the introduction of a blind format in 2021, his responses have become more genuine. As of 2024, Jackask has over 100 episodes.

Also in 2014, Douglass created the Gamergod88 series, which parodied Let's Play videos on YouTube. Gamergod88 was short-lived, and the last episode was uploaded in the same year.

Yesterday, I Asked You (2015–present)

Douglass at VidCon 2014
Logo used for the web series YIAY since 2015

Douglass created the Yesterday, I Asked You (YIAY) series in 2015, which involves him asking various questions to his audience and reading his favorite responses.[17] The series was inspired by a segment on Jackask where the roles between him and the audience were switched. Originally intended to be a daily series, as implied by the title, new episodes are now released on a weekly or semi-weekly basis. In a typical episode, Douglass reads and reacts to answers submitted by his audience in response to a previous question. At the end of the episode, Douglass proposes a new question.

Throughout 2016 and 2017, Douglass released a series of phone commercial parodies, on the first-generation iPhone SE,[18] Galaxy S8,[19] and iPhone X.[20][21] These parodies received media attention from CNET[21][18] and Kotaku.[18] On April 15, 2018, Douglass won the 2018 Shorty Award for YouTuber of the Year.[22]

After Douglass made videos poking fun at The Emoji Movie, he received a package from the film's marketing team on July 20, 2017, thanking him for being "the [No. 1] fan of The Emoji Movie".[23] They invited him to the world premiere on July 23, and sent Emoji Movie–related merchandise.[23]

Douglass launched a Kickstarter campaign for YIAY: The Board Game on October 28, 2020,[24][25] transforming the YIAY video formats into a board game which combined the Cards Against Humanity format with YIAY-themed questions.[26][27][28][29]

On January 4, 2021, Douglass announced YIAY TIME: The Game Show, a new YouTube Originals show.[30] It premiered the next day on January 5, 2021, for free on Douglass's YouTube channel.[31] The first episode was poorly received by viewers, with many criticising the sound design and lack of the series' usual adult humour. In response to this criticism, Douglass re-edited the following episodes to be more in line with what fans expect from the series.[32]

On May 17, 2022, Douglass and Galvanic Games released Be Funny Now!, a free-to-play online party game for iOS, Android, and Steam, where players compete to answer prompts in the funniest way possible.[33] On November 8, 2022, the game received a 2.0 update, which introduced a revamped voting system.[34] The game ended service in 2024.

On April 24, 2021, Douglass reworked the series to a blind format, where his team picks the answers for him to react on camera. This would be the format that he would use from then on.

On April 30, 2024, Douglass created the channel YAIY, where he reads and reacts to scripts for YIAY episodes created by a generative AI.

JJJacksfilms (2022–present)

See also: SSSniperWolf

Since 2022, Douglass has criticized YouTuber Alia "Lia" Shelesh, better known online as SSSniperWolf, over her reaction video content. Douglass's criticisms stemmed from Shelesh's use of viral videos from TikTok without attribution. Douglass also characterized her commentary as "extremely base-level" and not sufficiently transformative to qualify as fair use.[35] Douglass had previously engaged in similar criticisms of reaction channels such as Jinx and LeafyIsHere.[36] Douglass created the channel JJJacksfilms, and began uploading videos reacting to Shelesh's content.[37] In response, Shelesh made several social media posts accusing Douglass of sexism and content theft.[35]

On October 14, 2023, Douglass accused Shelesh of stalking and doxing after she posted information about Douglass's residence online, including recording a video of herself outside of his home on Instagram.[38][39][40] About a week later, YouTube temporarily demonetized Shelesh's entire channel, writing on Twitter: "off-platform actions that put others' personal safety at risk harm our community & the behavior on both sides isn't what we want on YT. Hoping everyone helps move this convo to a better place."[41][42] On October 20, 2023, Shelesh issued an apology to Douglass, her fanbase, and to the wider YouTube community, in the form of a Twitter post.[43]

On November 3, 2023, Douglass posted a video to YouTube about the situation. He revealed that he and his wife had been doing "pretty rough to say the least", and said that they were scared to leave their home after the doxing, and were considering moving out. He also thanked his fans for the support after the doxing incident, and revealed his plans on repurposing the JJJacksfilms channel with a new series called Creator Bingo. He stated that viewers could send him content through a Google Form, and that he would react to it, giving constructive criticism and advice in order to better their content, along with marking a Bingo board based on what happened in the video. He continued to stress the importance of crediting the creators, providing links to videos submitted and only reacting to videos he had permission to react to.[44][45]

Personal life

Douglass currently resides in Los Angeles, California.[46] In 2018, Douglass married his long-time partner Erin.[47] They have three American Eskimo dogs which are named after ice cream snacks: Klondike, Sundae, and Chipwich. In 2021, Douglass and Erin created a joint podcast series, Erin is the Funny One, where they discuss various topics including pop culture, tech, and celebrity news.[48]

Filmography

Douglass performing with Toby Turner at VidCon 2012
Film
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2015 Bob Thunder: Internet Assassin Pippen [49]
Web
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2012–2014 MyMusic Intern 2 Main role [50]
2014 16-Bit High Jimmy Sparton [51]
2014 Katie Himself Guest [52]
2016–2017 YouTube Rewind Himself [53]
2017 Darkiplier vs Antisepticeye JacksKills Cameo appearance [54]
2021 Scott the Woz Hector Andfriends Cameo appearance; Episode: "Borderline Forever" [55]

Gameography

Year Game Type Platforms Developer Ref.
2021 YIAY: The Board Game Comedy Boardgame YIAY team, Juniper [24][25][26][27][28][29]
2022 Be Funny Now! Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS Galvanic Games, New Beings [56]

Awards

Year Nominated Award Result Ref(s)
2018 Shorty Awards YouTuber of the Year Won [22]
2018 Streamy Awards Overall Comedy Nominated [57]
2019 Comedy Won [58]

References

  1. ^ a b "About jacksfilms". YouTube.
  2. ^ jacksfilms [@jacksfilms] (April 6, 2011). "@timheidecker What kind of horn? French? I played a mean French horn" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ Handy Pen. jacksfilms. June 27, 2006. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ a b "Cashing in big on viral videos". The Washington Times. November 11, 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  5. ^ "jacksfilms". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  6. ^ Popken, Ben (January 31, 2009). "You Say Snuggie, I Say WTF Blanket". The Consumerist. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  7. ^ "The WTF Blanket". CollegeHumor. January 26, 2009. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  8. ^ Nudd, Tim (February 12, 2009). "Be an utter tool, order the WTF Blanket now". Adweek. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  9. ^ May, Brookes (October 25, 2009). "Student strikes YouTube gold". The Eagle. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  10. ^ The WTF Blanket (Snuggie Parody). jacksfilms. January 22, 2009. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ "jacksfilms – YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  12. ^ Kaiser, Lukas (2010). "The Commercial Parodies of Jacks Films". About.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  13. ^ Miragliotta, Joe (October 5, 2011). "THE NEW IPHONE 4S (PARODY) BY JACKSFILMS". Joe's Daily. Archived from the original on June 12, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  14. ^ "The Magical iPad(parody)". MMGN. September 13, 2010. Archived from the original on September 18, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  15. ^ Gutelle, Sam (July 18, 2013). "YouTube Millionaires: Jacksfilms Now Has Over One Million 'Biches'". Tubefilter. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  16. ^ "The NMR Top 100 YouTube Channels: 75-51!". NewMediaRockstars. December 30, 2014. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  17. ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (August 30, 2018). "YouTuber Jacksfilms' popular web series YIAY is heading to Twitch as a game show". The Verge. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  18. ^ a b c "iPhone SE parody commercial says what everyone's thinking". CNET. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  19. ^ "Samsung Galaxy S8 video trending on YouTube isn't flattering". CNET. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  20. ^ "It's What Steve Jobs Would've Wanted". Kotaku Australia. September 14, 2017. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  21. ^ a b "Apple iPhone X parody video snarks at '$1,000 emoji machine'". CNET.
  22. ^ a b "YouTuber of the Year". Shorty Awards. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  23. ^ a b Dryden, Liam (July 21, 2017). "JacksFilms Got The Best Response After Trolling The Sh*t Out Of 'The Emoji Movie'". We the Unicorns. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  24. ^ a b YIAY Board Game [@yiayboardgame] (October 28, 2020). "We hit our goal in 24 MINUTES 😳 thank you, we love you, but we still have lots planned over the next month so stick around 😉 https://t.co/s3CfnK8zrn" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via Twitter.
  25. ^ a b "Track YIAY: The Board Game's Kickstarter campaign on BackerTracker". BackerKit. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  26. ^ a b Writer, Alex Meehan Senior Staff (November 30, 2020). "YouTube creator Jacksfilms turns hit YIAY series into a party board game". Dicebreaker. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  27. ^ a b "YIAY: The Board Game". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  28. ^ a b Entertainment, Markley Bros (September 6, 2021), YIAY Board Game!, retrieved April 14, 2023
  29. ^ a b "Jacksfilms Will Take On Fellow YouTubers In 'YIAY: The Board Game' For Charity Live Stream". Tubefilter. November 19, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  30. ^ "Jack Douglas hosts New YIAY Live Game Show". www.tubefilter.com. January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  31. ^ "Jack Douglass Teams With YouTube To Turn Hit 'YIAY' Series Into Live Game Show". Tubefilter. January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  32. ^ Wow, you guys didn't like this, January 8, 2021, retrieved April 30, 2024
  33. ^ Nelson, Jared (May 3, 2022). "'Be Funny Now!' is a Competitive Party Game from YouTuber Jacksfilms that's Coming to iOS, Android, and Steam May 17th". TouchArcade. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  34. ^ Yingling, Nathaniel (January 4, 2023). "Be Funny Now! Review: Saved by 2.0? (PC)". KeenGamer. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  35. ^ a b Mather, Katie (August 1, 2023). "YouTuber Jacksfilms alleges SSSniperwolf, one of the highest-paid creators on the platform, 'steals' content: 'Disheartening'". Yahoo News. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  36. ^ Reacting to an awful react channel, December 10, 2015, retrieved December 2, 2023
  37. ^ Shuttleworth, Catherine (October 21, 2023). "What happened between SSSniperWolf and JacksFilms? Biggest feud on YouTube explained". Indy100. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  38. ^ Vaishnavi, Arya (October 14, 2023). "Jacksfilms accuses SSSniperwolf of 'doxxing' him, asks YouTube to demonetise 'dangerous creator'". Hindustan Times. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  39. ^ Gutelle, Sam (October 18, 2023). "Jacksfilms urges YouTube to "step in" after SSSniperwolf doxxing allegations". Tubefilter. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  40. ^ Dodgson, Lindsay (October 16, 2023). "YouTuber Jacksfilms says a streamer he criticized showed up to his house and doxxed him to her 34 million followers". Insider. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  41. ^ Mendez II, Moises (October 20, 2023). "Two YouTubers Fought Over Doxxing Accusation. YouTube Criticized For Slow Response". TIME. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  42. ^ Rosenblatt, Kalhan; Yang, Angela (October 20, 2023). "YouTube demonetizes prominent creator Sssniperwolf's channel following accusations of doxxing fellow creator". NBC News. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  43. ^ Rosenblatt, Kalhan (October 20, 2023). "YouTube demonetizes prominent creator Sssniperwolf's channel following accusations of doxxing fellow creator". NBC News. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  44. ^ Zulkiflee, Dshae (November 7, 2023). "Jacksfilms reveals plan after SSSniperWolf doxxing incident". Esports.gg. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  45. ^ Dodgson, Lindsay (November 5, 2023). "SSSniperWolf doxxing scandal update: JacksFilms opens up on future plans". Insider. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  46. ^ jacksfilms (October 18, 2010). Moving to LA. Retrieved November 16, 2024 – via YouTube.
  47. ^ "Instagram post by E.E. 🍀 • Jan 27, 2018 at 4:20am UTC". Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2018 – via Instagram.
  48. ^ "Erin is the Funny One". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  49. ^ "Influencer Comedy Film "Bob Thunder: Internet Assassin" Trailer Debuts". Reuters. September 25, 2015. Archived from the original on April 26, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  50. ^ Amanda Walgrove (September 6, 2013). "Jack Douglass And Adam Busch On "MyMusic" Season 2 And Making YouTube Magic with the Fine Bros". What's Trending?. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  51. ^ Jarvey, Natalie (March 7, 2014). "SXSW Exclusive: Smosh Games Launches Two New YouTube Series (Video)". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  52. ^ Douglas, John. "Big day today!! New YGS and I'll be on the Katie Couric Show at 3pm on ABC! Set your DVRs!". Twitter.
  53. ^ YouTube Rewind: The Shape of 2017 - #YouTubeRewind. YouTube. December 6, 2017. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via YouTube.
  54. ^ DARKIPLIER vs ANTISEPTICEYE. Markiplier. July 28, 2017. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via YouTube.
  55. ^ Borderline Forever - Scott The Woz, May 23, 2021, retrieved January 2, 2024
  56. ^ "'Be Funny Now!' is a Competitive Party Game from YouTuber Jacksfilms that's Coming to iOS, Android, and Steam May 17th – TouchArcade". May 3, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  57. ^ "8th Annual Nominees". The Streamy Awards. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  58. ^ "9th Annual Streamy Nominees". The Streamy Awards. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
Primary video sources
  1. ^ a b c d Douglass, Jack (July 19, 2013). DRAW MY LIFE – Jack Douglass. jacksfilms. Retrieved August 30, 2022 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ Douglass, John Patrick (February 14, 2023). Are you funnier than a YouTuber's mom?. jacksfilms. Retrieved May 31, 2024 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Douglass, Jack (January 13, 2017). The CLICKBAIT Game (YIAY #304). jacksfilms. Event occurs at 3:50. Retrieved January 13, 2017 – via YouTube.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jack Douglass.