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A Brit and a Yank is the creation of two good friends (John and James) and their comedic take on life, based in Los Angeles. James, the Brit, is a creative director by day, with very particular tastes and very little time for nonsense. John, the Yank, is a celebrity assistant, who is still learning how to properly become an adult. The two became friends through social media and decided their constant back and forth bantering would provide good comedic fodder. Together, the two take Hollywood by storm and deal with a variety of different topics and scenarios. Read our exclusive interview below:
Can you describe how the friendship between the both of you came about.
We actually met online through Twitter and, when we realized that we lived close to one another, we struck up a friendship. We had a lot in common but our opinions on the things we loved were always at odds which led to a lot of witty back and forth banter. Since that truth may be a bit boring, we may start telling people that we met on a safari and bonded after a near death experience with a wildebeest. That’s believable right?
What prompted you both to create a YouTube channel together and when exactly did the idea come up?
Again, social media played a huge role. Some of our followers started noticing our exchanges and would love when we would get into “arguments.” It would usually end with us calling each other something offensive…sent with love, of course. A few people started to say, “You guys should do a show. You’re so funny together.” That idea stuck in John’s head and when he was looking for a creative outlet outside of his job as a celebrity assistant, John immediately reached out to James and approached him about doing videos together. James came up with the name “A Brit and a Yank” and we were off and running crafting ideas with any free time we had available.
You guys do everything from taste test food to recap celebrity award shows – what’s been your favorite episode to tape so far?
Our TONYs recap was a lot of fun to do because so many different pieces came together for it. We were also in a time crunch to get it online as soon as the show was wrapping up live so we could get as many viewers as we could. It was chaotic but fun. Aside from actually providing commentary of the show, we did a song and dance routine which makes us smile every time we watch it. Speaking of song and dance, another fun short episode we did was our Thanksgiving episode which showed us both in giant turkey outfits on a 90 degree day doing some choreography atop the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles.
You cover manscaping on one of your most widely viewed episodes. Can you give us a sneak peek into some new topics that we can look forward to?
We just finished our first short film, which is a mockumentary on the Spice Girls. In it, we tell the story of how the two of us were founding members of the group and present for all their major moments from Wannabe to Geri’s departure…yet we were constantly being hidden from the world against our will. This video (and our delusions) allowed us to live out our childhood dreams. Who didn’t want to be a Spice Girl? It was a lot of work to put together but we had fun. Coming up, we will also be covering the Rio Olympics once they wrap and the MTV Video Music Awards. Awards shows never let us down because there’s always some element of crazy that we can play off of.
What are some of the craziest comments you’ve received on the channel?
A lot of people who come across our channel think we are dating or married. They are always shocked when we tell them we are 100% just great friends and the idea of anything sexual makes us want to lean against a cold porcelain toilet and violently throw up. Yet, we still get some people asking us to make videos of us kissing…or worse. And while we’d do anything for a video…we won’t do that.
What are your ultimate goals for the channel?
The sky is the limit for us. Right now, we love bringing our ideas to life and we are truly having a blast. We’d love to develop a following large enough that would allow us to not only be successful, but to also transition into a longer format show online or in television. We also want to do more hosting, acting, interviews, write books, screenplays, etc. We love the entertainment industry, we’ve worked hard to become a part of it, and we’re just ready to keep working and collaborating.
