Blogroll

In an intensely political time, comedian Josh Johnson has emerged as one of the sharpest voices cutting through the noise. His stand-up clips regularly go viral, earning him nearly 3 million followers on TikTok and over 2 million subscribers on YouTube, where his commentary travels fast and far.

Yes, his material often tackles politics. But first and foremost, it's funny. Johnson has a gift for threading humor through subjects that feel overwhelming in real time, from elections to civil unrest to the everyday absurdities of American life in 2026. The laughs come easily; the insight lingers.

He has also become a fixture on television, not just a presence in your feed. The 36-year-old steadily climbed the ranks at The Daily Show, moving from writer to correspondent to frequent host. That progression signals more than career momentum. It reflects a growing trust in his voice at a moment when audiences are hungry for commentary that feels both incisive and human.

Johnson’s work ethic is part of what sets him apart. If something seismic happens in the news cycle, chances are he will have a smart, sharply edited clip about it within days, sometimes hours. In a media environment defined by speed and saturation, he not only keeps up, he shapes the conversation.

It is no small feat to make this moment in history funny. Johnson manages to do it without trivializing it, turning confusion and frustration into catharsis.

Jordan Howlett, 28, has become the internet's primary source for testing the hype.

Better known as Jordan The Stallion on TikTok, he's the influencer who zooms in, telling you to "come here" before revealing what he's found. He's racked up more than 17 million followers along the way. You'll often catch Howlett on your FYP, testing some viral recipe, finding an unbelievable gadget, or working with a celeb to promote their latest project. You might've seen him link up with Donald Glover, Glen Powell, Chris Hemsworth, and countless others.

In a 2025 interview with Mashable, Howlett described getting approached by people who recognize him IRL. "It is a pinch-me moment. I'm very grateful every time, because at the end of the day, it is truly a blessing for someone to get excited because you're there," Howlett said. "You know what I mean? It's still baffling to me that people's days feel just a tiny bit better if I'm around. A few years ago, when I was in a room, nobody … their days stayed the same."

For over a decade, Joe Santagato and Frank Alvarez have built their careers around one simple fact: They're genuinely funny together.

The childhood friends from Queens are the hosts of The Basement Yard, their weekly comedy show launched on YouTube in 2015 that has become one of the internet's biggest podcasts, gaining 7.6 million followers across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, and building an audience across Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Patreon. Santagato also brings his own sizable audience to the partnership, with 7.5 million followers alone across Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and X; Alvarez still hits high with 1.5 million across TikTok, Instagram, and other social channels. That's reach.

Despite their colossal online fame, what makes Santagato and Alvarez stand out is that they've resisted the pressure to turn their podcast into something bigger, more polished, or more serious than it needs to be. The show rarely focuses on politics, self-help, or celebrity gossip. Instead, it thrives on the chemistry between two lifelong friends arguing about a vast array of topics, telling stories, and spiraling into absurd tangents.

In 2026, that dynamic translated into major growth. The duo toured nationally with their From the Basement to the World live show, sold out major venues like Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden, and won Best Overall Ensemble at the 2026 iHeartPodcast Awards. They also made a memorable appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers after winning the People “Sexiest Podcasters” reader poll.

Saturday Night Live and Dropout star Jeremy Culhane has had a colossal few years. The 34-year-old comedian debuted as part of SNL's Season 51 cast in October 2025, after becoming a mainstay on streaming service Dropout, especially its viral game shows Make Some Noise and Game Changer.

No overnight success, Culhane's been working at his comedy career for years, performing with the revered Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) — including hosting a viral All-Jeremy Comedy Event, with only Jeremys on the bill and where "Jeremys get in free" — and performing with YouTube comedy collective Smosh.

His popular improv podcast Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists, co-hosted with Kylie Brakeman, Angela Giarratana, and Patrick McDonald, satirizes Hollywood roundtable interviews. Meanwhile, his co-written short film The Sperm Bank premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. When he's not stealing scenes in Netflix's American Vandal and HBO's The Sex Lives of College Girls, he's clocking up 350,000 TikTok followers. 2026 is looking busy for Culhane.

It's not often you get two of the most accomplished NFL players of all time in the same family, but that's the Kelce brothers for you. Travis Kelce, 36, is a Tight End for the Kansas City Chiefs, while his older brother Jason Kelce, 38, was a Center for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2008 until 2024. Jason is widely regarded as one of the best centers in NFL history, while Travis is considered one of the most accomplished tight ends.

Just in case they weren't busy enough, they co-host a weekly sports podcast, New Heights, which has 3.6 million followers on Instagram (@newheightshow) and 3.16 million subscribers on YouTube. In 2024, the podcast signed a deal with Amazon for over $100 million. The name is a nod to the brothers' upbringing in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and the show pulls in big-name guests such as Jon Hamm, Ryan Gosling, and a certain person named Taylor Swift.

Travis and Taylor are betrothed to be wed and announced their engagement in an internet-breaking post with the caption, "Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married." When Taylor made her New Heights debut in August 2025, the podcast achieved record-breaking viewership. The episode gained almost 20 million views in five days on YouTube, prompting a 3,000 percent surge in new Spotify listeners, and a 618 percent rise in female listenership to the podcast.

Travis has 7.7 million followers on Instagram (@killatrav) and 3 million followers on TikTok (@traviskelce), while Jason has 3.2 million followers on Instagram (@jason.kelce) and 626,200 followers on TikTok (@jasonkelce).

If you have a For You Page, Jake Shane has been on it. With more than 4 million followers and a tight-knit circle of famous friends, he’s become a kind of main character on TikTok — the rare creator who feels both algorithmically inevitable and culturally inescapable.

That's not to say Shane, 26, isn't talented. Far from it. He earned his way onto your feed. His early breakout came via quick-hit historical skits — imagining who picked up the tab at the Last Supper or how George Washington felt sitting for the portrait that would land on the dollar bill. The premises were funny; the execution was sharper. Shane’s delivery was unpredictable, his punchlines slightly off-kilter in a way that kept viewers leaning in.

The rise since has been genuinely meteoric. What started as online fame translated into real-world momentum. He parlayed TikTok stardom and legitimate comedy chops into a Broadway debut in All Out: Comedy About Ambition, while his podcast Therapuss landed a Netflix deal.

And through it all, he's never left your FYP — only now are the clips showing him interviewing celebrities, popping up in paparazzi shots with A-list friends, or making late-night appearances. Plenty of creators have tried to leap from internet fame to traditional media. Few have managed it this seamlessly, or this successfully.

iShowSpeed might be the hottest streamer in the world. He did, after all, win streamer of the year.

Real name Darren Watkins Jr., the 21-year-old creator pulls off stunts around the globe, racking up more than 50 million YouTube subscribers along the way. Better known as Speed, he makes videos that typically put his athletic abilities to the test. He's often competing with pros and doing an admirable job keeping up. But he's also known to travel the world, filming as he draws massive crowds and noticeably shaping perceptions of places through his massive audience. He's so big that the Associated Press wrote a piece examining the impact of his African tour.

Speed is a household name, no doubt, and will almost certainly further break into the mainstream. How that looks will be interesting.

Speed's whole persona is outsized, brash, and loud — perfect for an online audience. How his content and personality shift with more time and popularity will be interesting to track.

In an online world where everything can feel awful, Isabel Klee’s TikTok account is a welcome relief. More than a million people follow @simonsits, named after her adorable pup, and the work Brooklyn-based Klee does with other dogs — her many fosters — will leave your heart warmed like a soft buttered biscuit. Klee, 33, often takes in the most difficult cases, nurses them back to health, grants them stability and safety, then sends them off to a forever home. We all learned to be brave like Tiki, for instance, who arrived at Klee's home frightened and fragile and left steady, trusting, and sweet.

That impact has extended well beyond TikTok. Klee has translated her advocacy into a full-fledged career as an animal-focused creator, landing a book deal, major daytime TV appearances, and partnerships that funnel attention and resources back to dogs in need. What could have been fleeting internet fame has instead become sustainable, purpose-driven work.

"I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have made a career doing exactly what I've always dreamed of: helping dogs and telling stories," Klee wrote in a column for CNBC. "I have more freedom, I make more money, and I’m making a bigger impact."

So much of what we see online is powered by outrage, but Klee's platform runs on something quieter: care.

Uggs, orange makeup, visible extension tracks — all the low points of aughts and 2010s fashion and beauty are brilliantly resurrected in Isabel Clancy's channels.

The 34-year-old relives her cringe-worthy Millennial high school and college years on her TikTok (4.4 million followers) and Instagram (1.3 million followers). Clancy’s videos often feature her cosplaying as her younger self, getting ready for a party while obnoxiously chomping gum. Clancy could be spackling on foundation, painting on her infamous “butthole lips,” or trudging through snow in a mini-skirt and peep-toe heels; nearly all of her clips end with a hilarious dramatic spin-turn to reveal her hair extensions clinging on to her scalp for dear life.

Some videos feature Clancy in dual roles: Her fashion-obsessed younger self and her beleaguered mother, urging her daughter to blend her makeup and change out of her revealing statement T-shirt.

Clancy is now a mother herself, and you can see more of her real life on her YouTube channel. Clancy’s knack for comedy shines through in all her videos, especially when she has her current self conversing (and judging) her younger version. Those videos are also catnip to beauty brands like Oil of Olay, with modern Clancy suggesting the products to the trend-chasing younger one. The concept is so funny, the branded spots don’t come across as ads.

"I make tech into culture," reads Ian Bellinger's TikTok and Instagram bios. It's a claim that's hard to refute after seeing just how far-reaching the Atlanta-based techfluencer's posts go. His feed is filled with trendy gadget reviews, sleek cars, and carefully edited videos meant to grab your attention.

Bellinger, also known as @tussalty, knows that technology culture is about more than gadgets, which is why you won't just find him hyping up new tech on your TikTok FYP. You can also catch him vlogging his multiple home renovations to his YouTube followers, sharing aesthetic lifestyle posts on Threads and Instagram, and streaming to Twitch. His fans care just as much about his reviews of exoskeleton legs and overpowered phones as they do about his pets and their raw diet — something you rarely see in the fast-paced world of tech news.

He may be a digital Renaissance man, but technology TikTok is still Bellinger's bread and butter, and he has a fast-growing audience of 1.5 million followers.

In a TikTok with over 1.6 million views, an ecstatic bespectacled woman poses for a hopecore edit with some white high-cut briefs, her last clean pair of underwear. The top comment under the clip reads, "I was weirded out but then I realised it was grace."

That would be Grace Reiter (@reitergrace), and indeed, no one commits to an odd bit as hard as her. The 25-year-old New York comedian, podcaster, and actress is one of the gutsily goofy personalities of the short-form video era.

Reiter's comedy is a specific flavor of shock-absurdism, often by way of physical stunts, body humor, and candid confessions accompanied by a jarringly icy stare. She's shameless in a good way, which feels special on an internet where many strive to present their most sanitized, inoffensive selves.

"Honestly, it comes from a place of connection or reassurance," Reiter tells Mashable of her comedy. "Like, 'Is this OK? … Do you guys think like this?' And usually the answer is, yeah, I think like that. And yeah, I do that gross thing too."

"Grace videos" have practically become their own genre on TikTok, where Reiter has over 3.9 million followers. Another 1.3 million fans keep up with her across YouTube and Instagram.

Reiter grew up watching a lot of YouTube videos, particularly parody songs. She was intrigued that all of the YouTubers she watched were self-made, she says: "Just people making shit 'cause they can."

In that same spirit, Reiter made a Hunger Games parody with friends last year. It's racked up over 11 million views to date, and she's teased a Twilight version.

Also in 2025, Reiter nabbed roles in Tim Robinson's hit HBO series The Chair Company and an off-Broadway parody of The Parent Trap called Ginger Twinsies. The latter is her proudest recent accomplishment, she says, because "I used to believe I had stage fright."

What's next for Reiter? "Five more parody movies. Maybe some real ones sprinkled in there. Become a pop star. Ride a horse. Going to Disney World with my sister …. Be on Dancing with the Stars. Wear a mocap suit for a video game. Read more books. Lose my virginity. Just the normal stuff," she says. Stay tuned.

You might know Gigi Bello better as Eloise’s mom. No, she’s not a mommy vlogger — Eloise is her sourdough starter’s name. Bello is 28 and based in New York, where she works her day job as a senior tax analyst. On any given day, you’re likely to find Bello cramming chili crisp and green onions into unwieldy dough or slapping the hell out of homemade butter. And you’ll definitely catch her throwing a pinch of flaky sea salt over her shoulder into the no-man’s-land behind her oven and on top of her cabinets.

Bello's signature is enjoyable chaos. She has a devoted following of 3.3 million on TikTok, where people have begged to see said cabinet tops and talk about Eloise as if she really were Bello’s daughter. Comfort content lives, and Bello is one of its master chefs. "I just take things day by day and kind of roll with whatever I’m into at the moment," Bello tells Mashable of her future plans. "I don’t plan much — it’s more about what I’m interested in or passionate about right then that I decide to share. Probably has a lot to do with my ADHD too, but I’m working on it. I really want to get more creative, whether it’s with Eloise or other fun projects. There’s so many hobbies I haven’t even tried yet, and I’m excited to mess around, learn new things, and fail a bit — because nothing’s perfect, and honestly, that’s the fun part."

One of the internet's go-to tech influencers, Frank McShan has become synonymous with unpacking (and understanding) the latest in consumer devices.

The 25-year-old, Massachusetts-raised content creator joined TikTok in 2019, posting iPhone tricks and general tech 101 videos, and saw massive momentum over a few short years. Now, he has 2.2 million TikTok followers, who follow him for first looks at major tech releases, especially new gadgets from Apple and competitors like Samsung. McShan has also interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook and run paid partnerships with tech giants like Adobe and Spotify. McShan has also written for MacRumors since 2020.

Luke Magnus Nicolson, more popularly known as Francis Bourgeois, is a trainspotter. But to millions on TikTok, he's the trainspotter. Popularly dubbed "the Train Guy," the engineering student and content creator went viral in 2021 for mounting a GoPro to his forehead when observing trains, capturing his gleeful reactions through a comically distorted fisheye lens.

Such shots have since become a staple of his videos, in which he shares both facts and enthusiasm about trains. Though trainspotting is a relatively niche hobby, Francis' infectious joy and unbridled passion for locomotives have earned him a strong following. The English creator has accumulated 3.3 million followers on TikTok, 2.6 million on Instagram, and 196,000 subscribers on YouTube. When he bought his own train in 2025, the TikTok announcement video saw 12 million views alone.

Francis has also brought his love of trains to television, presenting Channel 4 series Mission to Space and the celebrity-filled Trainspotting With Francis Bourgeois, as well as Francis Bourgeois and Chris Harris: We Saved a Train on Discovery+. Most prestigiously, he replaced Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May as host of motoring series The Grand Tour, alongside YouTube Throttle House hosts Thomas Holland and James Engelsman. He's also caught Gucci's eye, modeling in a collaborative campaign with North Face, and he's published a book, The Trainspotter's Notebook, through Penguin.

Emma Chamberlain first gained a following on YouTube as a vlogger in 2017, posting relatable coming-of-age lifestyle videos. Nearly a decade later, the 24-year-old is now one of the most well-known digital influencers, holding 14.3 million followers on Instagram and 12 million subscribers on YouTube.

Chamberlain is a podcaster, model, and business owner. She hosts a highly rated podcast called anything goes, in which she shares “whatever is on her mind” every week.

She’s also known as a fashion icon, having appeared on covers for Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan. She has also been a regular host at the Met Gala since 2021, interviewing celebrities on the red carpet.

Chamberlain does it all and more: In addition to being a household name, she’s also the owner of Chamberlain Coffee, which she launched in 2019. In July 2025, Chamberlain partnered with Pinterest to launch a limited-release flavor called “Sea Salt Toffee Flavored Blend,” marking the first time that Pinterest launched a co-branded product.

Earlier that year, Chamberlain was announced as one of the cast members of the horror film Forbidden Fruits, her acting debut and first role in a feature film. The film is scheduled to be released in the US on March 27, 2026, so we can expect to see her on the big screen soon.

Chamberlain has already had an eventful start to 2026: in February, she modeled for Stuart Weitzman for their spring Vinnie Sculptural collection. She was also on the cover for the February issue of Vogue Czechoslovakia.

While Chamberlain may have her hands full with her podcast, fashion, and acting endeavors, she hasn’t forgotten to leave some room for coffee. This March, she told Jimmy Fallon that she plans on opening the first standalone Chamberlain coffee location in Venice, California, during the spring.

Chamberlain previously opened a grab-and-go style location in Westfield Century City last January, according to KTLA. "This next one, I think, is really the dream," she told Fallon.

We’ll take a sip to that in 2026, Emma!

Influencer Emilie Kiser, 27, first rose to TikTok fame in the early 2020s through relatable parenting and lifestyle videos that made viewers feel like they were hearing from a friend.

In those early days, while her platform was still growing, Kiser posted Get Ready With Me (GRWM) videos, makeup and hair tutorials, and daily lifestyle content. Now one of the most recognizable "momfluencers" on the internet, Kiser has 5.1 million followers on TikTok (@emiliekiser) and 2 million followers on Instagram (@emiliekiser).

In 2025, tragedy struck when Kiser's three-year-old son, Trigg, passed away following a pool accident at their home in Arizona. Four months after his tragic death, Kiser broke her silence on social media with a moving tribute to Trigg.

"Loss of this magnitude feels impossible to put into words," she wrote. She thanked her audience for the kind, supportive messages and the outpouring of love for her family. "One of the hardest lessons I carry is that a permanent pool fence could have saved his life, and it's something I will never overlook again. I hope amidst this pain, Trigg's story will help prevent other children and families from suffering the same loss."

In October 2025, Kiser explained that her followers were only seeing a "small sliver" of her life as she is "very much grieving," and stated she would no longer post content featuring her children. “I’m not sharing my kids anymore. Therefore, I’m not sharing Teddy and I’m not sharing Trigg.” She added: “I’m doing my best and I’m showing a very small portion because I’m not ready to share other things. I’m not ready to talk about other things and that is OK.”

Since then, Kiser has used her platform to encourage practical water safety measures for parents, such as installing pool fences, multiple safety barriers between water and children, encouraging swimming lessons for children, and stressing the importance of constant supervision of children. By sharing Trigg's story to bring greater awareness to pool safety, Kiser ensures that his life continues to have an impact.

One of the biggest streamers in the game, Duke Dennis commands a huge, loyal audience online. Alongside AMP collective members Kai Cenat and Fanum, the 32-year-old content creator has built a colossal following — we're talking 7 million YouTube subscribers across three channels (Duke Dennis, Duke Dennis Gaming, and DukeDennis LIVE). He also has 6.9 million TikTok followers, 5.2 million Instagram followers, and 3.4 million Twitch followers, bringing him close to 23 million in audience reach.

Dennis built his career on a foundation of NBA 2K streaming and has expanded his highly popular gaming content to embrace high-profile collaborations, his DeeBlock merch line, and music releases. 2025 was a massive year for Dennis, who appeared in Cenat and iShowSpeed's celebrity-filled Super Bowl LIX Flag Football Game. The year also saw Ice Cube praising Dennis' style in AMP's "Freshman Cypher," the group's freestyle rap performance, during Cenat's award-winning Mafiathon 3 explosion. He also captained during Dream Con 2025, and partook in a large-scale hide-and-seek game that went all wrong. In 2026, Dennis is shaking up his gaming chair setting and leaning into the wild world of travel vlogging.

If you’ve spent any time online recently, you’ve probably encountered Druski — whether you meant to or not.

Real name Drew Desbordes, the 31-year-old comedian and entertainer seems to be everywhere at once. Super Bowl commercial? Check. Promoting Timothée Chalamet’s latest movie? Check. Commentating on The Voice? Sure, why not!

Druski first broke through online with sketch comedy and absurd characters that spread rapidly across social media. You might’ve seen him transformed into an overly enthusiastic white NASCAR fan in overalls, or playing a wildly money-hungry mega-pastor. The specifics almost don't matter — the point is that his characters are instantly recognizable and endlessly shareable.

In the years since, Druski has turned internet virality into undeniable mainstream stardom. The internet remains the engine of his brand: His YouTube channel has over 5 million subscribers, thanks to series such as Coulda Been Records and Coulda Been Love, and his clips on TikTok, where he has more than 13 million followers, routinely rack up millions of views.

A year ago, it might have been possible to exist online without knowing who Druski was.

Now, that would be almost impossible.

Delaney Rowe isn’t a terrible actor in real life; she just plays one on social media.

This Idaho-raised content creator found internet fame during lockdown, skewering clichés of film and TV (from "the absolutely insufferable female lead of an indie movie" to "the terminally ill character in every movie with a wry sense of humor and ironic zest for life"), and highlighting the laziness of less obvious tropes ("the found footage of the wife who dies in the beginning of a holiday movie").

Rowe’s 4 million followers on Instagram and TikTok have made her a Fashion Week and red carpet favorite, working with publishers such as Nylon, Marie Claire, and Elle, and drawing major advertisers, including Gucci. Rowe's authenticity comes out even in her paid partnerships, which feel seamless, self-aware, and hilarious. One highlight is a Venmo-sponsored post entitled, “What I spend in a day as a niche micro internet celebrity.” Plus, she's writing her first book of comedy essays.

However, Rowe always keeps her primary platforms in mind.

"I think that TikTok is performing, but it's also writing," Rowe told Mashable a few years ago. "I write all of these videos. And so I just think that it's helped not so much my actual prose, but it's helped to enrich my creativity as a whole. It just makes my life feel full of creative opportunities.

"I can film a video or I can stop and then go write, or I can go audition for something," Rowe said. "And that's the ultimate blessing of this job. It's a day that is rich in creativity. It's helped me take my writing less seriously."

Rowe joked that her writing was "really pretentious" in years past.

"And now it's really weird and much more representative of what goes on inside my head," she said. "That's definitely due to being on TikTok."

With its short clips and bottomless well of content, YouTube feels tailor-made for kids’ programming. But for every Blippi and Ms. Rachel, there are creators offering little more than bottle-flipping or AI-generated slop. Thankfully, Danny Go! is more aligned with the former.

Co-created by and starring North Carolina dad Daniel Coleman, the Danny Go! channel features professionally produced videos that encourage kids to interact with what they’re seeing through song and dance. Most videos feature the exuberant title character and his friends — including Coleman’s wife, Mindy, as Mindy Mango — as they move their bodies and encourage their young viewers to do the same.

Geared toward kids aged 3 to 7, Danny Go! deftly highlights subjects this age group finds irresistible, including cars, trains, animals, pirates, Halloween, and lava floors. Danny and friends also slip in some simple lessons on math, science, and vocabulary.

Since launching in 2019, Danny Go! has amassed over 4.5 million YouTube subscribers, extending its reach through books, toys, and live shows that have the air of a baby rave. In 2026, the show expanded to Netflix.

The latest Danny Go! tour was canceled earlier this year as the Colemans grieve the death of their older son, 14-year-old Isaac, in May 2026 following a devastating cancer diagnosis.

In announcing the cancellation of their tour, Danny Go! made sure to tell their audience, "We love what we do & it's an honor to be a part of you and your kids' lives! Thank you so much for watching our show."