chris ray gun

YouTuber Review: Chris Ray Gun

Continuing my series of YouTuber Reviews, here is my review of Chris Ray Gun, who hosts a comedy show on YouTube. I like Chris. I like Chris quite a bit. I think he’s got a real gift, not only for comedic writing and delivery, but also for film editing. His style of comedy relies on mockery and sarcasm, which can be exceptionally funny, and he’s great at it. His shtick generally consists of him being blown away by something very stupid or silly that society has, in some way or another, decided to take completely seriously.

In that endeavor, Chris is very effective at tearing things down. He finds the most ice cold hot takes on the internet, puts them under a microscope and calls them fat, stupid and unlovable until they shrivel up and die, in a way that is creative and highly amusing. I generally like Chris’s show. However, if Chris targets you, I can imagine it’s hard to like him because his humor is weaponized. It can be hurtful and withering to be the recipient of that level of talented mockery. He is the social media equivalent of a sniper; and that weaponized form of comedy is only functional or appropriate in the sort of culture war that we have now.

Every joke Chris makes needs to have a target. It needs to be “Boomers are idiots” or “The SJWs are idiots” or “Hey, look at these idiots over here”. Which I’m not knocking. I think his delivery is hilarious. But what I’ve noticed from Chris online is that he sort of laments this culture war, and sort of laments the doors of opportunity he’s lost. I have no idea if that’s true or not, it’s just my hot take. And my hot take on that take is that Chris is a soldier who has the skillset of a soldier, and what does a soldier do if the war goes away? Chris needs an opponent for his style of comedy to work. Which is fine. But I also think when you blow someone out of the water, you may not understand the level to which you’ve been hurtful and may not be forgiven; it’s much more forgivable to mock a concept than a person.

I also think Chris has the potential to broaden his comedic appeal. It’s clear that he takes comedy seriously and has comedic influences. George Carlin had the same sort of caustic, weaponized sarcasm, but rarely did you see him aim it at individuals; it was always “us, humans” or “the government” or “society” or some broader concept that people can laugh at even if they’re within that group. Unless, of course, they are humorless scolds, which is a very popular thing to be nowadays.

I also like that CRG sticks up for video games because even though I fucking hate video games because they and everyone involved in them are a tremendous disappointment to me, I also love them because they have so much potential. I will say though that I’m not a big Halo guy — as you know from my site, I almost exclusively play RPGs and Strategy games, so I’m not sure Chris and I have much crossover in our taste. Nevertheless, I think he’s a cool dude and I think he’s funny and I think off-camera he seems like he’s probably a fun guy to hang out with.

Cheers.

That about does it for my review of Chris Ray Gun. Be sure to check out more YouTuber reviews. You might be shocked at the eclectic selection I’ve chosen to review. Everything from comedy, to Japan vloggers, to spiritual channels, to science channels, to skeptics, to just cute girls online. (I have such a crush on Ashley aka Bestdressed you have no idea).

Author

  • Ryan Night

    Ryan Night is an ex-game industry producer with over a decade of experience writing guides for RPGs. Previously an early contributor at gamefaqs.com, Ryan has been serving the RPG community with video game guides since 2001. As the owner of Bright Rock Media, Ryan has written over 600 guides for RPGs of all kinds, from Final Fantasy Tactics to Tales of Arise.

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