Nowadays, it’s pretty easy to become a household name. All you have to do is make a great video, post it on YouTube, and sit with your fingers crossed as you hope it goes viral. Sounds easy, right? Jon Cozart – a self-proclaimed YouTuber – did just that. However, in his show Laughter Ever After, he takes us through his experiences and gives us an insight into how it’s not as simple as we’d think.
Cozart began his career in YouTube ten years ago when he started making videos for fun and posted them online. As he became older, and after an unsuccessful Glee audition, he started to release parody songs of things that he liked. In 2011, he uploaded “Harry Potter in 99 Seconds,” which quickly went viral and launched him into the limelight. He then went onto make “After Ever After” in 2013. The song, which explained what happened to Disney Princesses when the movies ended, became an even bigger hit than his previous video. Currently, the song has over 52 million views – not a bad piece of work for a guy from Texas who graduated college last week.
In his first time at the Edinburgh Fringe, Cozart takes us through his quick rise to fame so far. He’s likeable, friendly, humble, and has a killer set of pipes on him.
This really was something different and it was great to see someone who has such talent perform live. His blend of storytelling and songs mixed well together and it was clear the love of what he does shines through in everything he makes. His parody on Christmas songs was hilarious – along with a song written for a musical he planned to write, but realized it was actually pretty hard to write a full musical.
The mix of technical elements and live performance didn’t hinder him in any way and the crowd – mainly the YouTube Crowd – seemed to lap it up. But that’s not to say the show isn’t accessible for all. He even did a short Q&A at the end.
If you’re looking for something light and an insight into the Viral Video World so many seem baffled by, make sure you give this a go.
August 10th - 31st (Not 19th) @ 5:15pm, Tickets - £10 / Concession - £9