Zach Anner's (usually) comedic adventures with friends
October 13, 2014 9:30 AM Subscribe
"Hey America, my name is Zach, I'm from Austin, TX. I think we met at Jeanine's party once and really hit it off, but I think we should get to know each other bit better ... I have a lot to say, but I don't know where I would fit, because I have something called cerebral palsy, which I believe is the sexiest of the palsies...." That's Zach Anner's audition for Oprah's Your OWN Show, a reality competition show, where Zach was one of the two winners. His show was called Rollin' Around the World with Zach Anner, which got shortened to Rollin' with Zach, and you can see many clips from that on OWN's YouTube channel. But the show didn't last, and instead Zach and friends turned back to the internet to get involved with a travel show about more realistic travel adventures, called Riding Shotgun (YouTube playlist). But that's not all ...
Zach's first comedy adventures took place while he was a student at the University of Texas, Austin, where he was part of the local access Texas Student TV program That's Awesome!. You can see some clips of Zach from the That's Awesome! YouTube channel. Some of those folks started the Lark the Beard group/troupe (Facebook profile page), and they made the short web series The Wingmen (YT playlist).
Zach got internet fame from his audition video for Oprah Winfrey's "Search for the Next TV Star" show, Your OWN Show, with John Myer supporting Zach (Archive.org copy of John's blog, without the video; POP Sugar video of Johns' support for Zach, with cuts of John's video). Zach responded to John Mayer's video, with enthusiasm for everything, including the offer for a theme song, which John produced, but without any nose flute. And many redditors supported Zach, some going as far as to find possible proof of vote-rigging from Oprah's website against Zach. Whatever happened there, Zach won, and ended up interviewing Oprah as part of the program, for a (mostly) serious side of Zach.
Despite all the support, Rolling with Zach only lasted for six episodes. So Zach and his posse turned back to the internet to make a show that highlighted what people saw as the best of their towns. That was Riding Shotgun, which has its own playlist of behind the scenes videos.
For something more serious, Have a Little Faith (24 video YT playlist) is a series from SoulPancake (previously), in which Zach, the self-proclaimed religious idiot, explores a different religion each week in a light-heated and open-minded way.
Back to the insanity! Workout Wednesdays (15 videos) is Zach, working out (previously). There are a couple other video playlists from Zach, including sketches and shorts (6 videos), even more Zach (12 videos), and press clips (5 videos).
Of course, with more than 150,000 videos posted so far, you watch Zach and his friends for quite a long time.
Zach's first comedy adventures took place while he was a student at the University of Texas, Austin, where he was part of the local access Texas Student TV program That's Awesome!. You can see some clips of Zach from the That's Awesome! YouTube channel. Some of those folks started the Lark the Beard group/troupe (Facebook profile page), and they made the short web series The Wingmen (YT playlist).
Zach got internet fame from his audition video for Oprah Winfrey's "Search for the Next TV Star" show, Your OWN Show, with John Myer supporting Zach (Archive.org copy of John's blog, without the video; POP Sugar video of Johns' support for Zach, with cuts of John's video). Zach responded to John Mayer's video, with enthusiasm for everything, including the offer for a theme song, which John produced, but without any nose flute. And many redditors supported Zach, some going as far as to find possible proof of vote-rigging from Oprah's website against Zach. Whatever happened there, Zach won, and ended up interviewing Oprah as part of the program, for a (mostly) serious side of Zach.
Despite all the support, Rolling with Zach only lasted for six episodes. So Zach and his posse turned back to the internet to make a show that highlighted what people saw as the best of their towns. That was Riding Shotgun, which has its own playlist of behind the scenes videos.
For something more serious, Have a Little Faith (24 video YT playlist) is a series from SoulPancake (previously), in which Zach, the self-proclaimed religious idiot, explores a different religion each week in a light-heated and open-minded way.
Back to the insanity! Workout Wednesdays (15 videos) is Zach, working out (previously). There are a couple other video playlists from Zach, including sketches and shorts (6 videos), even more Zach (12 videos), and press clips (5 videos).
Of course, with more than 150,000 videos posted so far, you watch Zach and his friends for quite a long time.
Workout Wednesdays were pretty much my favorite thing from last autumn; I watched them daily repeatedly in a way I never do for YouTube videos (or really any media these days) and I really look forward to checking back in with Zach.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:58 AM on October 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:58 AM on October 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
"The next thing we're going to learn how to cook...is take-out". Several laugh out loud moments in that audition video. I thought he impressively put his cerebral palsy front and center in a human way while still being hilarious. Well done.
posted by mcstayinskool at 10:14 AM on October 13, 2014
posted by mcstayinskool at 10:14 AM on October 13, 2014
Funny and sexy and adorable. I'll be enjoying more of these.
posted by xarnop at 10:45 AM on October 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by xarnop at 10:45 AM on October 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
"Anyone can have a comeback (from his Workout Wednesdays show). Look at Lindsay Lohan. Sure, she's not back to Mean Girls status, but she has her own show on the Oprah Winfrey Network, and once that happens, you're SET FOR LIFE!"
Love it. Love him.
posted by xingcat at 11:30 AM on October 13, 2014 [7 favorites]
Love it. Love him.
posted by xingcat at 11:30 AM on October 13, 2014 [7 favorites]
Zach Anner is one of my favorite human beings. I love every single thing about him and everything he does.
More Anner awareness means more world happiness, which can only be a good thing.
posted by rorgy at 11:45 AM on October 13, 2014 [2 favorites]
More Anner awareness means more world happiness, which can only be a good thing.
posted by rorgy at 11:45 AM on October 13, 2014 [2 favorites]
You know those icebreaker games where you're asked "if you could spend an afternoon with anyone in the world, who would it be" or "if you could be anyone in the world living or dead, who would you be?". My stock answer for those used to be Mahatma Gandhi. Now it's Zach Anner.
posted by gubenuj at 11:48 AM on October 13, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by gubenuj at 11:48 AM on October 13, 2014 [3 favorites]
Metafilter: Without any nose flute.
posted by gillyflower at 12:16 PM on October 13, 2014
posted by gillyflower at 12:16 PM on October 13, 2014
I could totally see Zach on a mainstream TV show, like SNL or hosting late night.
posted by Soliloquy at 1:50 PM on October 13, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Soliloquy at 1:50 PM on October 13, 2014 [2 favorites]
No obstacle is too big,
no mountain is too high,
no volcano is too hot,
and no Atlantis is too underwater or fictional.
- Zach Anner
posted by davelog at 2:45 PM on October 13, 2014 [6 favorites]
no mountain is too high,
no volcano is too hot,
and no Atlantis is too underwater or fictional.
- Zach Anner
posted by davelog at 2:45 PM on October 13, 2014 [6 favorites]
“My mom always said when life gives you wheelchair, make lemonade! I don’t know what she meant, but I’m going to take her advice!” - Zach
posted by filthy light thief at 5:57 PM on October 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by filthy light thief at 5:57 PM on October 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
How do you make a wheelchair out of lemonade?
But seriously now, I'm glad to hear he's up to making shows still. He seems like a cool dude.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:07 PM on October 13, 2014
But seriously now, I'm glad to hear he's up to making shows still. He seems like a cool dude.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:07 PM on October 13, 2014
Nthing that I think he's a delightful human being with a hell of a sense of humor. If he had a tv show, I would absolutely watch it.
posted by soonertbone at 8:13 AM on October 14, 2014
posted by soonertbone at 8:13 AM on October 14, 2014
I have something called cerebral palsy, which I believe is the sexiest of the palsies...
I'm sure that was a running joke Philip Patston used to use. He was a comedian in NZ about 10 years ago - pretty successful.
Other than having cerebral palsy, he's gay, kinky, a stoner, and a vegetarian (possibly not veggie anymore?), which seemed to provide a lot of material. Can't find much video online unfortunately. Would probably also suffer from having been the 90s, but still.
posted by Elysum at 4:46 AM on October 19, 2014
I'm sure that was a running joke Philip Patston used to use. He was a comedian in NZ about 10 years ago - pretty successful.
Other than having cerebral palsy, he's gay, kinky, a stoner, and a vegetarian (possibly not veggie anymore?), which seemed to provide a lot of material. Can't find much video online unfortunately. Would probably also suffer from having been the 90s, but still.
posted by Elysum at 4:46 AM on October 19, 2014
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posted by IAmBroom at 9:48 AM on October 13, 2014 [1 favorite]