How Ridiculous | |||||||||||||
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![]() New logo from late 2019[1] | |||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born | Brett Isaac Stanford 22 April 1988 Derek Douglas Herron 3 March 1988 Scott Steven Gaunson 3 January 1992 | ||||||||||||
Nationality | Australian | ||||||||||||
Website | https://howridiculous.org/ | ||||||||||||
YouTube information | |||||||||||||
Channel | |||||||||||||
Years active | 2009–present | ||||||||||||
Genre | Trickshots | ||||||||||||
Subscribers | 22.4 million[2] | ||||||||||||
Total views | 13.1 billion[2] | ||||||||||||
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Last updated: 20 August 2024 |
How Ridiculous is an Australian YouTube channel based in Perth, Western Australia. The channel's main personalities are Brett Stanford, Derek Herron and Scott Gaunson.[3] As of August 2024, they have 22.4 million subscribers and more than 13.14 billion video views.[4] They are mostly known for their trick shots and experiments involving dropping objects onto other objects from a great height, typically 45 metres (148 ft). Objects that have been dropped by the channel include, but are not limited to, bowling balls, basketballs, anvils, lifting stones, custom-made heavy metal objects such as giant darts and a Mjölnir-like hammer,[5] household appliances,[6] cars/motor vehicles,[7] and even a small plane.[8] The group also frequently devises interesting targets to drop said objects onto, such as RC car race tracks, giant axe blades, multiple cans of spray paint or silly string taped/grouped together, bedliner-covered obstacles, a bulletproof glass table, and pools full of oobleck.
How Ridiculous also operates a TikTok page, which had 14.7 million followers and over 320 million likes as of August 2024.[9]
History
The group- whose members met at church[10]- began in 2009, with trick shot videos made for fun in backyards,[11] originally with 4th member Kyle Nebel.[12] Historically, the trio's main stunts have been trick shots, finding creative ways to destroy objects, and throwing or dropping objects from great heights. Many of their videos since 2015 are recorded at the Gravity Discovery Centre at the Leaning Tower of Gingin.[13] Recently, the group has also made several videos testing various objects' ability to be thrown or propelled through obstacles, such as weather balloons, panes of glass, and sheets of drywall.
In late 2021, How Ridiculous began releasing a series of shorts on both YouTube and Instagram; some contain clips from longer videos, but most involve multi-step races where competitors must quickly complete challenges such as popping balloons, smashing glass, unlocking doors, and making basketball shots. These shorts, all less than a minute long, became instant viral hits across both websites, garnering hundreds of millions of views and prompting the team to release many longer-format videos with similar themes.[14] Currently, How Ridiculous' most-viewed full-length YouTube video, uploaded November 2021, is a competition between the three stars at RAC Arena in Perth. Stanford, Gaunson, and Herron used various objects to attempt to pop multiple weather balloons in a row, filming the results on a Phantom camera. The best performing objects were an arrow shot from a recurved bow, and a pile of screws thrown all at once, both of which popped 11 balloons.[15] In January 2022, this balloon video displaced the previous longstanding leader, uploaded October 2018, in which Brett Stanford dropped a bowling ball onto a trampoline from 165 metres (541 ft) at the Luzzone Dam in Switzerland.[16] Besides Switzerland and RAC Arena, the group has filmed special videos in many locations in Australia and around the globe, such as Optus Stadium, Perth Motorplex, Texas, Montana, Los Angeles, Utah Olympic Park Jumps, Turkey, Lesotho, Dubai, Serbia, Sheffield, New Zealand, and the Australian Outback.
On 19 October 2018, the group released another highly popular video, in which they dropped a giant metal dart onto a table of bulletproof glass from 45m up. The dart became embedded almost perfectly halfway through the glass,[17] and the image was considered so artistic/iconic that the group saved the sheet of glass and dart as it was,[18] later making a new table out of it which now sits at the Gravity Discovery Centre as an attraction. They also released a limited edition T-shirt of the visual of the dart stuck in the glass.
In recent years, the trio added a fourth member to the recurring team – Jack Wallace[19] aka "Editor Jack", whose primary job is camerawork and post-production editing. However, he has appeared in person in several videos, most notably a video in which he showed his skills at speedcubing while riding a waterslide at Aquaventure in Dubai.[20] The team have also had several friends, celebrities, and fellow YouTube stars occasionally assist with the videos. The most frequently recurring friends are named Harrison, Michael, and Big Nick, and guest appearances include MrBeast, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Mark Rober, Rick Shiels,The Slow Mo Guys, Shadiversity, Team Edge, Matt Carriker, YBS Youngbloods, Gabriel Conte, and Manchester City players Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, and Rico Lewis.[21] Mark Rober, in his appearance, helped the team build a two ton, Kevlar-and-steel trampoline which was featured afterwards in several videos. The collaboration with The Slow Mo Guys, which took place in Montana, also included YouTuber BealsScience, who created two large cannons mounted on the backs of Jeeps for the team to make use of.
On 9 October 2020, How Ridiculous launched a spin-off channel titled HR Gaming, in which the trio, Editor Jack and his brother Toby Wallace competed in various games such as Among Us, Minecraft, Rocket League and Fortnite, often with secondary challenges to make playing the games more difficult.[22] This second channel was not as successful as the main channel, and is currently inactive, with its most recent gaming-related video having been posted on May 7, 2021.[23] As of June 2024, the How Ridiculous team has not expressed any interest in reviving the HR Gaming channel.
Guinness World Records
In 2017, the trio set the current Guinness World Record for "Longest golf putt (non-tournament)" at 120.6 metres (396 ft).[24] The record was achieved by Stanford, who sunk the putt in question at the Point Walter golf course in Western Australia. The shot was covered in one of their videos, uploaded on 23 February 2017.[25]
On 19 January 2018, How Ridiculous uploaded a video in which their basketball shot from 201.42 metres (660.8 ft) set the previous record for "Greatest height from which a basketball is shot."[26] This took place at the Maletsunyane Falls in Lesotho, Africa, and was achieved by Herron. This marked the fifth time that How Ridiculous would hold this particular record, since they first broke it in 2011 with a ball shot from 66.89 metres (219.5 ft) in height.[27] Herron's record would stand until May 2023, when the record was broken by Dude Perfect in Las Vegas.[28]
In a video released 27 August 2021, Stanford also attempted to set the Guinness World Record for "Greatest height from which a ping pong ball is tossed into a red plastic cup". The shot was successfully made from the catwalk of the RAC Arena in Perth, but failed to qualify for the record because the cup in use was 90 millimetres (3.5 in) in diameter instead of the regulation 85 millimetres (3.3 in). How Ridiculous announced that the oversight was completely unintentional, and that they intend to try again at a later date with a correctly sized cup.[29]
Rexy Clothing Line
In May 2019, the trio began to use a Tyrannosaurus rex test dummy that they named "Rexy", to assist with aiming items during their various video stunts.[30] Rexy's debut video currently has more than five million views; the dummy would go on to make appearances in the vast majority of the team's subsequent videos, has its own Instagram page, and is listed on How Ridiculous' website as an official team member.[31] Rexy has become a popular part of the channel, with the original Rexy dummy and various Rexy replicas being used either individually or in bulk for several large-scale stunts. The team also dedicated their 1 Billion Views Celebration Video to Rexy, using over four thousand of the dinosaurs to crush a car.[32]
In October 2023, How Ridiculous launched their own clothing brand, Rexy Clothing, named after and inspired by the success of the dinosaur test dummy on the channel.[33] The brand includes a variety of clothes for adults and children, all with Rexy's name or image on them as a logo, some of which were customized by paint and ink during video stunts.[34] Periodically, the website will also have replica Rexys on offer, usually customized to resemble the worn and stitched up appearance of the original doll, and occasionally customized by paint or autographs during the course of making videos.[35] The launch of the clothing line was announced in a video in which Rexy was sent into the upper atmosphere by Sheffield-based Youtubers SentIntoSpace; this video currently has more than a million views.[36]
References
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- ^ a b "About whoisjimmy". YouTube.
- ^ "About the Team – How Ridiculous". howridiculous.com.au. Archived from the original on 29 April 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
- Messurier, Danielle (23 June 2015). "Perth stunt group How Ridiculous more than a 'one-trick pony'". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
- ^ "Social blade stats". Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ "100kg Thor's Hammer vs. Bulletproof Glass". How Ridiculous. 29 March 2019. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ^ "We Dropped a Fridge Off a 45m Tower!!". How Ridiculous. 17 August 2018. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ^ "Car vs. World's Strongest Trampoline – 15 ft (45m) drop". Mark Rober. 2 March 2020. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ^ "Can We Bounce an Airplane? (not clickbait)". How Ridiculous. 1 May 2020. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ^ "TikTok". www.tiktok.com. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
- ^ "Stunt group more than a 'one-trick pony'". PerthNow.com.au. 23 June 2015. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ^ "Young alumni stories: How Ridiculous!". Curtin University. 14 July 2017. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
- ^ "How Ridiculous back where it all began". The West Australian. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- "The 'How Ridiculous" team (front from left) Scott Gaunson, Kyle ... | Buy Photos Online". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 14 November 2020.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Katzowitz, Josh (15 October 2018). "Watch how high a bowling ball bounces when it's dropped off a 540-foot dam". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
- Katzowitz, Josh (18 August 2018). "YouTubers drop a fridge from 150 feet up, and the destruction is delicious". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
- Illuminati, Chris (14 August 2018). "Watch these YouTube bros drop a giant dart on a big ol' tree trunk". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
- ^ "How Ridiculous Uploads Sorted by View Count". YouTube.com. How Ridiculous. 1 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ "How Many Giant Balloons Stops An Arrow?". YouTube.com. How Ridiculous. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ How Ridiculous (12 October 2018), Bowling Ball vs. Trampoline from 165m Dam!, retrieved 5 May 2019 – via YouTube
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- ^ "Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting". Us04web.zoom.us. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ^ "Can We Solve a Rubik's Cube on a Waterslide?". How Ridiculous. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020 – via YouTube.
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- "Dropping 5000 Bouncy Balls from Warehouse Roof!". How Ridiculous. 28 June 2019. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020 – via YouTube.
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- "MrBeast Balloon Pop Racing Gone Wrong!". YouTube.com. How Ridiculous. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ "HR Gaming". How Ridiculous. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Gaming with a Piano Controller!". YouTube.com. How Ridiculous. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
- ^ "How Ridiculous star sinks world's longest golf putt with 135 yard shot". Guinness World Records. 23 February 2017. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
- Moulton, Emily (24 February 2017). "Perth's 'How Ridiculous' lads land world's longest putt from 120m". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
- ^ How Ridiculous (23 February 2017), The Longest Golf Putt 120m (395ft) Guinness World Records | How Ridiculous, archived from the original on 29 May 2019, retrieved 5 May 2019 – via YouTube
- ^ Katzowitz, Josh (20 January 2018). "This ridiculous basketball trick shot from a height of 660 feet just set a world record". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
- Hart, Matthew. "World's Highest Basketball Shot is the Ultimate Swish". Nerdist Industries. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
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- ^ Smith, Chris (23 January 2018). "This 660-foot basketball shot set a world record, and now it will blow your mind". BGR. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
- How Ridiculous (19 January 2018), World Record Basketball Shot 200m (660 feet) Guinness World Records, archived from the original on 12 May 2019, retrieved 5 May 2019 – via YouTube
- Swatman, Rachel (20 November 2016). "Aussie YouTube stars How Ridiculous break Dude Perfect's record for highest basketball shot ever". guinnessworldrecords.com. Guinness Book of World Records. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ "Dude Perfect Trick Shot Troupe Hits World Record Basketball Shot". SI.com. Sports Illustrated. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "We Dropped 100,000 Ping Pong Balls From Arena Roof!". How Ridiculous. 27 August 2021. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Thor's Hammer vs. Double Bulletproof Glass from 45m!". How Ridiculous. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ "The Team". How Ridiculous. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "4,444 Rexys vs. Minivan From A Crane! (1 Billion Views Celebration)". How Ridiculous. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ "About Us - Rexy". RexyClothing.com. How Ridiculous. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "C4 Paint Explosion vs. 10,000 Shirts!". How Ridiculous. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023 – via YouTube.
- "Splatter Range-Rexy". RexyClothing.com. How Ridiculous. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "How Many Lava Lamps Stop a Wrench Throw?". How Ridiculous. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024 – via YouTube.
- "Accessories-Rexy". RexyClothing.com. How Ridiculous. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ "We Race To Find A Dinosaur Dropped From Space". How Ridiculous. 12 October 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023 – via YouTube.