Jenny Nicholson: a drily sarcastic trenchant pop culture vlogger

Cafe Society
1

I’ve been obsessing over the YouTube channel of Jenny Nicholson – https://www.youtube.com/user/JennyENicholson – and I just wanted to share the love.

She covers pop culture generally, but here main interests include:

  1. Abandoned theme parks
  2. Theme parks generally
  3. Disney everything
  4. Marvel movies and superhero movies generally
  5. Star Wars
  6. Toys: dolls, plush toys, memorabilia, etc.
  7. Harry Potter

She does mostly reviews, like movie reviews or toy reviews. And the is FUCKING HILARIOUS!!!

She has an absolutely dry deadpan sense of sarcasm, but uses that in service of a very sophisticated sense of art, form, logic, and style. Her suggestions for improving things are almost always spot on, and funny too.

And while she’s trenchantly tearing things apart, its clear that she adores the stuff she’s talking about.

Even if she’s covering a topic I have zero interest in, she makes me care, and teaches me things. A lot of her subjects are very “girly,” but she talks about them in a way that’s funny and interesting.

I’m guessing she must be in her 20s, but she looks very young, almost like a child, so I feel like I’m being given a sophisticated lecture by my blazingly intelligent niece. It’s absolutely charming.

Here, she spends 20 minutes relentlessly mocking Hallmark’s “Party 101” YouTube channel. I’ve watched it three times! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHbtaWr6lj8

Here, she reviews Toy Story 4, which she can’t stop watching – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JvJE770-o0

It includes this observation:

Is there actually anything that will make their consciousness exit their little plastic bodies? If hte toys had actually been incinerated, would the have died or would they have been forced to lie for an eternity as a pile of conscious ash? Would the little ash particles be able to get up and hop around or what? …

If they are immortal and more and more are made each year, how is the world going to support the growing toy population?

How are they all going to continue to escape notice? What if you are a rocking horse or [gesturing behind her] a four-foot tall plush Porg? You can’t go run away as a Lost Toy, because everyone would notice you moving around. You’re giant.

Do they get depressed about that? Do they feel upset about small toy privilege?

Here, she reviews a line of Star Wars dolls aimed at young girls, and includes the observation “Jyn Erson canonically died in an explosion, which didn’t happen to one of Barbie’s friends.” – https://youtu.be/H3PKipRZKv0

This is a “how to improve” Fifty Shades Darker review – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzVNYdmS8s8

Here is a travelogue of her trip to acquire the largest spider toy she can find, with a detour to an abandoned Flintstones theme park – https://youtu.be/-CRXUeTmNtE

Here, she ranks all 14 of the Land Before Time movies – https://youtu.be/B-8zmGr0geQ

Here she rates every Porg toy, and apparently she owns all of them – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yw6z9G7p1g

Here, she buys some books claiming to teach real magic spells, and tries to cast some – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv0v0VCVgJ4

Here she re-imagines the pre-prom conversation between Peter Parker and the vulture, if Peter Parker had not been Spider-Man – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcLtyRLpr8k

Here, she buys the cheapest Halloween costumes she can find, tries them on and reviews them – https://youtu.be/K9JttJ_B0PQ

2

She is 29 years old.

3

Heard about her channel from another YouTuber named Lindsay Ellis. I’ve enjoyed most of the videos that she’s made.

4

+1 for Lindsay Ellis.

5

Yes she is quite good.

6

She’s one of my favorite Youtubers. Her Bronycon video is fabulous.

7

I watched a two-and-a-half hour video about a show (The Vampire Diaries) that I had barely heard of and have no interest in seeing. … And I loved every minute of it!

Jenny is truly amazing. Even when she’s covering a topic I have no interest in, she has a lot of interesting things to say, and she is hilarious.

8

I really enjoy her videos and watch everything even if I’m not interested in the topic. Two favorites are her Ready Player One - For girls and her "Why I won’t do ASMR ASMR.

9

I had somehow missed that one! It’s great!

10

Bumping the thread for her latest which is fantastic. Canadian Evangelical pop culture Easter plays. Also go watch her Hallmark one as well. Top form.

11

Oh yes, I’m definitely saving this for a good moment. I’ve been watching her previews on Patreon.

12

Does she only release videos 2-3 times per year? That is what her Youtube seems to indicate.

13

Yes, that seems to be the case. She does post monthly to Patreon, but those are not scripted/edited videos. They’re what she calls “rambles.”

Frankly, I don’t know how she can maintain full time YouTuber status by posting only a couple of times a year. I suspect she has other career activities going on, but I don’t have any idea what that might be.

14

My laugh out loud moment in the church musical video: “I’m walking on sunshine … WAUGHHGH!!!” Not a cheerful “wo-oah!” but rather a strangled cry of pain.

15

So I saw the Iron Man parody a few weeks ago but I didn’t know that there was so much more. I watched Nicholson’s review of it yesterday and it was enthralling.

Say what you will about this church’s intent, message, or talent level but putting End of the World and Tubthumping together like that kind of bangs.