Brian David Gilbert (born January 29, 1994), also known by his initials BDG,[1] is an American YouTuber, comedian, actor, host, and musician. He worked at Polygon as a video producer from 2017 to 2020, where he hosted the web series Unraveled. Since leaving the publication, Gilbert has written, produced, and starred in horror, comedy, and music videos for his self-titled YouTube channel. He has been the fact checker for the Dropout game show Um, Actually starting from its ninth season.
| Brian David Gilbert | ||||||||||
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 Gilbert in 2024 | ||||||||||
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| Born | January 29, 1994 | |||||||||
| Education | Johns Hopkins University (2012–2016) | |||||||||
| Occupations |
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| Partner | Karen Han (engaged 2022) | |||||||||
| Website | www | |||||||||
| YouTube information | ||||||||||
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| Genres |
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| Subscribers | 1.1 million[BDG 1] (April 2024) | |||||||||
| Total views | 124 million[BDG 1] (January 2024) | |||||||||
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Life and career
editGilbert is from Baltimore.[2] He was born on January 29, 1994, and has two older siblings, Patrick and Laura.[BDG 3][BDG 4][BDG 5][BDG 6] Gilbert graduated from Johns Hopkins University's School of Arts and Sciences in 2016.[3] The following year, 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.[11] 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".[12] 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.[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 Hulu 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 7] 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
editGilbert'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
editTelevision
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref.[BDG 7] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake | The Winter King (voice) | Episode: "The Winter King" | [15] |
Web series
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref.[BDG 7] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Dances Moving! | Instructor | Also creator, writer, composer | |
| 2018-2020 | Unraveled | Himself | Also creator, editor | |
| 2019 | Dimension 20 | Hargis | Episode: "Fantasy High Live in Brooklyn" | |
| 2021 | Asdfmovie | Miscellaneous voice | Episode 13 | |
| 2022 | Make Some Noise | Himself | Episode: "A Villain and Their Real Estate Agent Tour Volcano Lairs" | |
| Puppet History | Himself | Episode: "The Defenestrations of Prague" | ||
| 2023 | Dynamo Dream | General Caput | ||
| Very Important People | Professor Avery Goodman | Episode: "Professor Avery Goodman" | ||
| 2024 | Game Changer | Podium inspector | Episode: "Deja Vu" | |
| Dropout Presents | Himself | Episode: "Chris Grace: As Scarlett Johansson" | ||
| 2024–present | Um, Actually | Himself / Fact checker | 12 episodes | [16] |
Short films
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref.[BDG 7] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | The Fall | Leafie, Dad (voice) |
Gameography
edit| Year | Title | Voice role | Ref.[BDG 7] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Goudreau, Claire (Winter 2023). "Brian David Gilbert wants to make big, weird things". Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (October 23, 2017). "This Stranger Things backtrack reimagines the series as a comedy musical". The Verge. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ Alexander, Julia (October 23, 2017). "Stranger Things' first season is made way better with a musical MST3K treatment". Polygon. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
- ^ Stubby the Rocket (November 9, 2018). "What Are the Best Books in Skyrim? (There Are Only 5, Maybe?)". Reactor. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
- ^ Fossett, Wyatt (April 8, 2019). "Polygon's Brian David Gilbert Creates the Perfect Pokemon Rap". Twin Galaxies. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ Silberling, Amanda (December 31, 2022). "How we covered the creator economy in 2022". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
- ^ a b Coulston, John Connor (December 10, 2022). "YouTube Star and Author Reveal Engagement". Popculture.com. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Diaz, Eric (October 25, 2021). "Vampire Performing an ABBA Song Is Perfect Halloween Silliness". Nerdist. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ Lapierre, Megan (October 25, 2021). "It Turns Out ABBA's Music Is Actually Perfect for Halloween". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ Carrns, Ann (December 9, 2022). "A Guide to Signing Up for Health Coverage". The New York Times. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ a b Searle, Tyler B. (October 7, 2023). "The 10 Best 'Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake' Characters, Ranked". Collider. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ a b Volk, Pete (February 6, 2024). "Um, Actually season 9 trailer has new host, same pedantic trivia hijinks". Polygon. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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":
- ^ a b "About brian david gilbert". YouTube.
- ^ Gilbert, Brian David. "UH OH sincere post time!". YouTube. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
- ^ Gilbert, Brian David (September 30, 2016). My Autobiography (Video).
- ^ Gilbert, Brian David (August 31, 2016). Siblings (Video). Retrieved September 9, 2024.
- ^ Gilbert, Brian David (January 29, 2023). "I am 29 now". Instagram. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
- ^ Han, Karen (January 29, 2024). "‼️ important announcement ‼️ : it is brian's birthday ♥️ happy birthday brian!!!". Instagram. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Gilbert, Brian David. "Acting". Brian David Gilbert. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
External links
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