— Marcus Perez (@Markaaaay) February 18, 2017 It’s been around for years, but just went viral last month. Interestingly, the actual guy whose face is used in the meme is a recent entrepreneur with the launch of a new travel documentary series that will see him travelling to locations across the globe to create short gaming-centric videos.
Who This Guy Is
The blinking white guy is often misidentified as Michael C. Hall, Tom Brady, or Cary Elwes. He’s really a San Francisco-based video editor named Drew Scanlon. Buzzfeed interviewed him in order to get his thoughts on his new life as a meme: The meme’s origin comes from a now four-year-old gaming video in which Scanlon reacts to a minor revelation. The moment is captured here: While Scanlon said he isn’t too intimidated by the scale or rate that his face is being plastered all over the internet, he does think “it’s a weird thing.”
The video is by the gaming website GiantBomb, where Scanlon worked as a video editor for eight years. Now he’s striking out on his own, with a solo project that is putting those editing skills to a different use.
Cloth Map
The travel doc series Cloth Map will explore a variety of cultures through the lens of games. Here’s how Drew explains it on his Patreon page for the project, which just launched on March 13: The project will rely on the same revenue source that GiantBomb — and any other self-respecting niche community-focused site — relies on: Subscriptions. Gamers in particular are known for having plenty of pocket change, so it’s no surprise that Drew’s Patreon passed the $8,000-a-month mark within three hours of launching. But if it were a surprise, I would have the perfect gif to express myself.
