They’re not on TV shows, in films or on Spotify, but they’re among the most famous people in the world. From their homes (or even their bedrooms) the world’s most popular YouTubers create videos and vlogs that are viewed by millions.
From videos on beauty, cooking and DIY, to vlogs (video blogs) about viral videos, sporting or news items, or just everyday life, there’s a YouTube channel for everyone and every age.
And the most popular YouTubers – who range in age from children and teens to adults – are raking in millions through advertising and sponsorships, including right here in Australia.
Standby for ten of the most successful and famous Aussie YouTubers.
(And be warned: many of the videos have explicit language.)
10. Georgia Productions
She’s a 19-year-old Aussie YouTuber famous for her comedy skits. Georgia has an audience of over 850,000 followers worldwide (mostly in Australia) and her comedy videos have had 45 million views in total. Her videos include “Gymnastics with Grandma”, a rant about her lack of popularity in the US, trying on her mum’s clothes, and making fun of …. YouTube. Her success has led to a book – The Amazingly Disorganised Help Dictionary, published by Penguin.
9. Fairbairn Films
“We are Lachlan and Jaxon Fairbairn,” say the channel’s creators. “Welcome to our trash.” That so-called “trash” are comedy videos that have has accumulated more than 70 million views. The brothers, from Murray Bridge, SA, release a sketch comedy video each week. Their videos have become so popular they toured a national comedy show in 2018.
8. Community Channel
Run by the funny and super-smart vlogger Natalie Tran, the Community Channel includes vlogs and comedy sketches, often about social scenarios (with the multi-talented 33 year old playing all roles). The Sydneysider, whose parents were Vietnamese refugees, has over 1.8 million subscribers and her videos have been viewed a total of more than 600 million times.
7. Ozzy Man Reviews
Call him one of the world’s most popular bogans. Comedian Ethan Marrell (or Ozzy Man) reviews wildlife, sport, viral videos, Game of Thrones eps and the occasional flick – in a hilarious larrikin style (with lots of profanities). He’s amassed 3.48 million subscribers from his Perth home. “Bloody tellin’ it straight,” he states on his homepage. “No bullsh-t”. He began the channel while studying for a Bachelor of Arts at Perth’s Curtin University.
6. Lauren Curtis
One of the original beauty YouTubers, her phenomenally popular channel focuses on makeup, hair tutorials, product reviews and clothing hauls. The influencer has a loyal fanbase of 3.5 million subscribers, and doesn’t shy away from showing herself without makeup. “I started my YouTube channel back in 2011 when I was 18,” the Perth 26 year old told Vogue. “I had only just begun experimenting with makeup. It was all so new and exciting to me. I wanted to share my journey and any great products that I found with others.”
5. How To Cook That
How do you cook up more than 600 million views and 3.6 million followers? Make a YouTube channel about whipping-up amazing sweet tweets. Since 2011, Ann Reardon, who is based in Sydney with her family, has been making videos of cooking “creative dessert, cake and chocolate.” She releases a new video every second Friday.
4. Planet Dolan
Daniel Johnson is an Australian YouTuber known for his countdown videos on his Planet Dolan YouTube channel, such as “10 Strangest Things Accidentally Filmed in Movies” and “15 Worst Conspiracies Of All Time.” He also makes videos based on Reddit threads (see below). He has over 5 million subscribers on Planet Dolan alone, but has multiple other YouTube channels.
3. Troye Sivan
After catching the world’s eye through YouTube videos as a teen, on Perth’s Seven Telethon (with Guy Sebastian) and in talent competitions, Sivan, who was born in South Africa and grew up in Australia, signed with EMI Australia in 2013. Since 2012, Sivan has been vlogging on YouTube and has gathered more than 7 million subscribers.
2. How To Basic
You might have been drawn into one of these videos, thinking it’s an actual “how to” tutorial, before it all goes horribly, violently and disgustingly wrong. Run by an anonymous Australian who likes to make an awful mess, the How To Basic channel features what appear to be instructional videos that turn bizarre and destructive. Take “How To Make a Vegan Lasagna” – it begins promisingly with lots of veges and sauce before there’s a layer of barbecue meat, followed by a whole raw chicken (and a weird stop-motion chicken breast in-between). The channel has 13 million subscribers and a total of more than 2 billion views.
1. Lannan Eacott
He could well be the most famous person you’ve never of. Better known as LazarBeam, Lannan Eacott, who lives in Sydney, is a gaming YouTuber known for his videos on games like Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto 5, Fallout 4 and more. He also posts vlogs and gameplay videos. He worked as a construction worker before he found his fortune through his massive fan-base on YouTube. His main channel has a whopping 11.5 million subscribers and his many videos have total views of – wait for it – 3.5 billion. Wow.