You Suck at Cooking

Comedy cooking YouTube channel
  • You Suck at Cooking
Years active2015–presentGenres
  • Cooking show
  • satire
  • absurd comedy
Subscribers3.22 million[1]Total views408 million[1]
Last updated: December 4th, 2023

You Suck at Cooking (YSAC) is an absurdist culinary YouTube channel that started in 2015. It is presented by an anonymous narrator. The channel has gained over 3 million subscribers and 300 million views.

Overview

You Suck at Cooking parodies the genre of online cooking tutorial videos.[2][3] The videos, set in a home kitchen, are shot on an iPhone from a first-person perspective that shows only the kitchen counter and the narrator's hands.[2][4] The visual style has been described as "deliberately gritty", with lo-fi editing, poor lighting, shaky camerawork, and an "unapologetically messy" cooking environment.[2][4]

The narrative style has been characterized as "chaotic but self-aware" and seemingly but not really "effortless" and "haphazard".[2][3][4] The narrator's "wry [and] often exasperated" persona speaks with a brisk deadpan tone and repeatedly goes on absurdist riffs.[4][5] The videos often feature irreverent skits; simple, quirky songs; and absurd visual gags made with jump cuts and stop motion.[4][6][7] These gags regularly depict bizarre ways of gathering or processing ingredients (e.g., chopping vegetables by smashing them with a baking sheet).[2][4] Despite the levity, You Suck at Cooking does genuinely relate recipe instructions and culinary advice.[5][7] The recipes are intended for novice chefs; the dishes on the channel rarely end up looking picture-perfect.[4][8]

You Suck at Cooking has developed a number of inside jokes and running gags.[4][9] In one recurring storyline, talking eggs act out a police drama; in another, a robot named Pimblokto tries to cook.[4][6] The narrator of You Suck at Cooking coined his own terms for several kitchen items; he refers to the oven as an "onion" or "undo" (/ˈʌndoʊ/ UN-doh), spatulas as "wangjanglers", and ground pepper as "pepper pepper pepper".[3][10]

History

You Suck at Cooking uploaded its first video to YouTube on January 13, 2015. There are over 150 episodes as of 2023[update]. While the narrator sometimes invents backstories for himself (and other characters), his real identity is unknown and subject to some fan speculation.[4]

A parody cookbook by the YouTuber, You Suck at Cooking: The Absurdly Practical Guide to Sucking Slightly Less at Making Food, was published in 2019.[7][11]

Reception

In 2017, You Suck at Cooking was recognized at the 9th Shorty Awards with a nomination in the 'Weird' award category.[12] Celebrity chef Jet Tila once named You Suck at Cooking as his favorite show.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "About You Suck at Cooking". YouTube.
  2. ^ a b c d e Sichynsky, Tanya (March 12, 2019). "This lo-fi cooking YouTube channel is the antidote to hyper-stylized Food Instagram". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Halliday, Ayun (December 29, 2022). "Watch You Suck at Cooking, a Hilarious Source for Tasty Recipes and Food Hacks of Questionable Veracity". openculture.com. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Johnson, Thomas (March 18, 2019). "You Suck At Cooking won't make you hungry, but it will make you laugh". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Decaille, Nia (March 21, 2019). "These 'how to' videos on YouTube won't teach you how to be a better adult. But they're not supposed to". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Parker, Jason (December 7, 2016). "Why 'You Suck at Cooking' is one of the best channels on YouTube". CNET. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Amuh, Kwame (March 13, 2020). "'You Suck at Cooking' deviates from the Youtube cooking channel formula". The Triangle. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  8. ^ Wessendorf, Tanja (October 11, 2020). "3 Rezepte für alle, die bisher in der Küche versagt haben" [3 recipes for everyone who has failed in the kitchen so far]. Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  9. ^ Wang, Peggy (March 15, 2020). "24 Incredibly Bingeable YouTube Channels For When You've Watched Everything On Netflix Already". BuzzFeed. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  10. ^ You Suck at Cooking 2019, pp. 19, 22, 29.
  11. ^ Felts, Susannah (October 2019). "Lifestyles: October 2019". bookpage.com. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  12. ^ "You Suck at Cooking". Shorty Awards. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  13. ^ Subramaniam, Arthi (November 14, 2018). "7 takeaways from chef Jet Tila's shrimp spring roll lesson at CM". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 14, 2023.

Bibliography

  • You Suck at Cooking (October 15, 2019). You Suck at Cooking: The Absurdly Practical Guide to Sucking Slightly Less at Making Food: A Cookbook. Clarkson Potter (Penguin Random House). ISBN 9780525576556.

External links

  • Official website