Am influenced to watch: American Baron

Entropy is coming for us all, life is absurd. If you can resonate with either one of these statements I believe I have an influencer for you. I present to you, American Baron (real name Baron Ryan.) *waits for applause to die down* a relative new comer (2020 when he got us start.) in the world of content creation originally armed with nothing but a collection of wigs and a phone camera. Now he creates content for his millions of followers (This author among them.) where he simultaneously entertains, provokes (In a I'll make you reevaluate aspects of life sort way not a Proud Boy pointing a gun at your genitals kinda way.) as well as literary advice. If you have a TikTok or Instagram he is well worth spending a few minutes to investigate and if you need more convincing just keep reading…

Videos

Most of American Baron's content is original short video's or skits. He isn't limited to one kind of genre effortlessly switching between comedy, heartfelt, and provocative, often within a singular video. He has a variety of one offs and reoccurring characters and skits. Characters are often differentiated by costume changes or inrare cases a filter. The one unifying feature I've notice about his videos is they all seem to be critical of some aspect of society. I use critical here not to conjure images of him sitting in judgement but in the analytical sense. A perfect example of this is an unnamed alien character simultaneously fascinated and befuddled by humanity who in one video tries coffee, finds it disgusting, only to be told by his human guide to keep drinking it and he'll get use to it. The alien of course cannot understand why we would do this to ourselves becoming more disoriented an flustered at the inanity of humanity and by the end of the video so is the viewer. This is a classic example of American Baron taking something most would view as incredible unremarkable and pointing out its absurdity. His videos rarely don’t leave an emotional imprint and will have you thinking about them long after you’ve scrolled on. While your often laughing your also thinking, I love this dynamic reminding me of one of my favorite quotes by an old teacher, “being serious and being funny are not exclusive clubs.” Some of his video are more on the heartfelt side dealing with relationship problems but even those usually leave the viewer in a contemplative mindset not a dour one. If you have an open mind and are looking for something that isn’t utterly mindless American Baron is the guy for you.

Another aspect I've always appreciated about American Baron is his willingness to rerelease videos if fan feedback noticed a technical or audio glitch. He's obviously not the only creator to do this but that attention to detail and willingness to correct mistakes speaks well for his professionalism and commitment to quality.

Reviews

The other type of video's he’s known for are book reviews. While no where near as numerous (In fact I wish he did more.) his book reviews are often informative and personal. You never go away feeling like he was paid to promote anything, every pro and con feels genuine. Another plus for his review video's is how lively they are, most book review video's are just someone sitting in a chair talking to the camera with a quick flash of the books cover. American Baron on the other hand is active often walking around showing not just the cover but flipping through the pages which gives the viewer a good sense of what the book might feel like in a persons hands. People often forget their is a tactile sense to reading and I appreciate American Baron incorporating that into his videos. You might not always want to buy the book he's reviewing but you'll definitely have reasons why.

Author

This should come as no surprise considering his clear love of literature and his thoughtful nature but American Baron is also an author. He has a collection of short stories out now and I will I assume (Barring some sort of calamity.) be coming out with more writing in the future. I won't detail any of the plots of his short stories but its fair to say if you enjoy his videos you will most likely enjoy his literature. Plus if he does come out with the next great American novel wouldn't it be cool to whip out his first collection of short stories to prove you were ahead of the curve?

In Closing

If I haven't convinced you give American Baron a look I doubt I'm creative enough to do it here (And you probably suck and that's more of a you problem then a me problem.) but if I have his links are below. Also if you haven't already check out a pervious piece I did on a one Stanzi Potenza go check that out too. While equally brilliant she has a very different feel to her videos. I hope this has at the very least broaden your horizons and I hope you'll stop by again soon!

Instagram= @americanbaron

Tiktok= @americanbaron