Back in the early days of YouTube, before it became the bloated money-making sweat shop we know today, being a YouTube star meant something very different. You weren’t expected to have well-edited, highly produced videos. You weren’t expected to crank out content on a rigid schedule, endlessly catering to the demands of your rabid fan base. You weren’t even expected to have a real concrete reason why you were making videos in the first place. It was in this era that Mr. Chi City first rose to fame.
An early viral sensation, Mr. Chi City produced about 40 videos depicting various mundane activities like ordering food from a McDonald’s drive-thru, playing T-ball in the park on a Sunday, or, most famously, detailing every drink in his impressively well-stocked fridge.
The only constant throughout all these videos was Mr. Chi City’s unfailing ability to crack himself up and his contagious positive attitude toward every aspect of life. Though his number of fans (just under 200,000 followers) pales in comparison to modern-day YouTube stars, his success was notable for the time.
Then, five years ago, Mr. Chi City called it quits.
And now he’s back!
With a new 34-minute livestream video ominously titled “SUP BROSKI. 😉,” Mr. Chi City picks up right where he left off: making poorly shot POV-style videos where he’s just hanging out, shooting the shit, and laughing his ass off. Prompted by questions from the comment section, Mr. Chi City also gives a bit of an oral history of the early YouTube community, back when people were just making videos to make videos. Younger viewers may not understand the appeal of Mr. Chi City, but at a time when online content is so precisely manufactured, it’s refreshing to watch something grounded in an authentic, charming personality.