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Brian David Gilbert

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Brian David Gilbert
Gilbert in 2024
Personal information
Born1994 (age 29–30)
EducationJohns Hopkins University (2012–2016)
Occupations
  • Writer
  • comedian
  • actor
  • host
  • musician
  • YouTuber
PartnerKaren Han (engaged 2022)
Websitewww.briandavidgilbert.com
YouTube information
Channel
Genres
Subscribers1.1 million[BDG 1]
(April 2024)
Total views124 million[BDG 1]
(January 2024)
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers2022[BDG 2]

Brian David Gilbert (born 1994), also known by the initials BDG,[1] is an American writer, comedian, actor, host, musician, and YouTuber. He worked at Polygon as a video producer and the host of the web series Unraveled from 2017 to 2020. Since leaving the publication, he has written, produced, and starred in his horror, comedy, and music videos on his self-titled YouTube channel, providing voices in animated shows and video games. He has been the fact checker on the Dropout game show Um, Actually for season 9.

Early life

Gilbert is from Baltimore.[2] He was born in 1994 and has two elder siblings, Patrick and Laura.[BDG 3][BDG 4] He graduated from Johns Hopkins University's School of Arts and Sciences in 2016.[3]

Career

In 2017, Brian and Laura Gilbert and Jonah Scott released the comedy musical YouTube video Stranger Sings. It is a backing track that syncs up with Stranger Things in place of the show's audio. It depicts the characters as a boy band and replaces the Demogorgon with the "Jazzman".[4][5]

Brian David Gilbert became a Polygon.com video producer in late 2017. He gained popularity for Unraveled, a series of comedic video game deep dives.[1] In one episode, he reviewed the 337 books that appear in Skyrim.[6] At Pax East 2019, he performed a version of the PokéRap from the Pokémon series that he rewrote to include all 819 Pokémon.[7]

After developing a fanbase on Polygon, Gilbert began to create his own content full-time.[8] He left the publication in late 2020 to pursue writing and voice acting. He started a Patreon for his YouTube channel.[1]

Gilbert began working with Karen Han when she was a film writer for Polygon. After leaving the publication, Han appeared in, filmed, and cowrote many sketches on Gilbert's YouTube channel. The two, along with Laura and Scott, hosted the podcast Let's Make a Music.[9] In October 2020, Gilbert and Han released a YouTube video titled Earn $20K EVERY MONTH by being your own boss. A review by The A.V. Club called it "one of the year's most unnerving horror movies".[10]

For Halloween 2021, Gilbert released a series of monster-themed ABBA covers under the name AAAH!BBA. The series was cowritten by Scott. It began with a cover of "Lay All Your Love on Me" as a vampire, singing "blood" instead of "love".[11] It was followed by "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" sung as Victor Frankenstein, "Money, Money, Money" as a mummy, "Under Attack" as an evil robot, and "S.O.S." as Captain Hook.[12][13]

After a 2021 video in which he invented ice cream flavors, he collaborated with a Baltimore ice cream shop, The Charmery, on a limited-edition flavor.[2] In 2022, he released a 30-minute video explaining the American health insurance system. The video, titled A terrible guide to the terrible terminology of U.S. health insurance, was inspired by his experience losing health benefits from his Polygon job and continuing coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act until it expired. A podcast produced by Kaiser Health News called it "the best video about health insurance ever." The New York Times said it was "silly, but useful," contrasting it with Gilbert's usual "geeky sense of humor".[14]

Gilbert and Han announced their engagement in December 2022. At the time, they were writing a Netflix animated series and an Annapurna Interactive game.[9]

Gilbert appeared in the 2023 animated series Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake as the Winter King, an alternate version of the Ice King.[15] He voiced a non-playable character in the 2023 video game Honkai: Star Rail.[BDG 5] His role was uncredited, but fans recognized his voice.[1] In 2024, Gilbert joined the Dropout series Um, Actually as a regular cast member for the ninth season. He replaced Michael Saltzman as the fact checker, with Ify Nwadiwe as the new host.[16]

Style

Gilbert's work combines comedy, horror, and music. He told Johns Hopkins Magazine in 2023, "When you boil it down, horror and comedy are essentially the same thing. They both require you to have your expectations reversed at some point. And I've always loved music."[3] According to video game scholar Emma Vossen, Gilbert's videos about video games have involved leftist themes akin to BreadTube, such as a video analyzing whether Mario is able to retire.[17]

Filmography

Television / Web series

Year Title Role Notes Ref.[BDG 5]
2019 Dimension 20 Hargis Episode: "Fantasy High Live in Brooklyn"
2021 Asdfmovie Miscellaneous voice Episode 13
2021 The Fall Leafie, Dad
2022 Make Some Noise Himself Episode: "A Villain and Their Real Estate Agent Tour Volcano Lairs"
2022 Puppet History Himself Episode: "The Defenestrations of Prague"
2023 Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake The Winter King Episode: "The Winter King" [15]
Very Important People Professor Avery Goodman Episode: "Professor Avery Goodman"
Dynamo Dream General Caput
2024–present Um, Actually Himself / Fact checker 12 episodes [16]
2024 Game Changer Podium inspector Episode: "Deja Vu"

Video games

Year Title Voice role Ref.[BDG 5]
2020 Fallout 76 Petersen [1]
Maneater Conspiracy Theorist
2021 Kraken Academy!! Player character, Mr. Whistler
2023 Honkai: Star Rail Silvermane Guard
2023 Starfield Phil Hill
2024 Duck Detective: The Secret Salami Freddy Frederson [18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Rowe, Willa (July 13, 2023). "Is Brian David Gilbert in 'Honkai: Star Rail'? An Investigation". Inverse. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Jackson, Christine (September 25, 2021). "The Charmery Launches New Flavor Collab with Video Producer Brian David Gilbert". Baltimore Magazine. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Goudreau, Claire (Winter 2023). "Brian David Gilbert wants to make big, weird things". Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  4. ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (October 23, 2017). "This Stranger Things backtrack reimagines the series as a comedy musical". The Verge. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  5. ^ Alexander, Julia (October 23, 2017). "Stranger Things' first season is made way better with a musical MST3K treatment". Polygon. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  6. ^ Stubby the Rocket (November 9, 2018). "What Are the Best Books in Skyrim? (There Are Only 5, Maybe?)". Reactor. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  7. ^ Fossett, Wyatt (April 8, 2019). "Polygon's Brian David Gilbert Creates the Perfect Pokemon Rap". Twin Galaxies. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  8. ^ Silberling, Amanda (December 31, 2022). "How we covered the creator economy in 2022". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Coulston, John Connor (December 10, 2022). "YouTube Star and Author Reveal Engagement". Popculture.com. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  10. ^ Shoemaker, Alison (October 26, 2020). "Make $20K per month and find yourself in one of the year's most unnerving horror movies". AV Club. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  11. ^ Diaz, Eric (October 25, 2021). "Vampire Performing an ABBA Song Is Perfect Halloween Silliness". Nerdist. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  12. ^ McCarter, Reid (October 26, 2021). "ABBA gets monster mash-ed up with Halloween in covers performed by vampires, mummies, and more". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  13. ^ Lapierre, Megan (October 25, 2021). "It Turns Out ABBA's Music Is Actually Perfect for Halloween". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  14. ^ Carrns, Ann (December 9, 2022). "A Guide to Signing Up for Health Coverage". The New York Times. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Searle, Tyler B. (October 7, 2023). "The 10 Best 'Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake' Characters, Ranked". Collider. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  16. ^ a b Volk, Pete (February 6, 2024). "Um, Actually season 9 trailer has new host, same pedantic trivia hijinks". Polygon. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  17. ^ Vossen, Emma (February 16, 2021). "Tom Nook, Capitalist or Comrade?". Loading: The Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association. 16 (26): 109–134. doi:10.7202/1075266ar – via Érudit.
  18. ^ Murphy, Matthew (May 23, 2024). "All Duck Detective: The Secret Salami Voice Actors". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved September 6, 2024.

Primary sources

In the text these references are preceded by "BDG":

  1. ^ a b "About brian david gilbert". YouTube.
  2. ^ Gilbert, Brian David. "UH OH sincere post time!". YouTube. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  3. ^ Gilbert, Brian David (September 30, 2016). My Autobiography (Video).
  4. ^ Gilbert, Brian David (August 31, 2016). Siblings (Video). Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Gilbert, Brian David. "Acting". Brian David Gilbert. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
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