An Interview With Jonny64

Jonny the cootie queen gave me the gift of interviewing him.

BlabberingCollector: How did you get into YouTube?

Jonny64: Ah, let’s see. *5 minutes later.* I was at a weird point in my life where I hit the reset button on everything. I was doing construction management in the Bay Area of California. I had been doing that for a while. I was new in the Bay Area, having moved from central California. My entire friend group was different, and I was like, “I don’t… I am enjoying this, but I don’t know if I want this for my life.” And I was watching YouTube when I came across this one NBA YouTuber called Mike Korzemba, and I really liked his stuff. But when I was watching it, I was like, “I’ve been into this stuff for twenty-five years; I could do this stuff!” That’s really where it started. But I also knew I needed to learn about editing and get a fancy new laptop and that sort of thing. I decided right then and there that I wanted this job. It wasn’t until then that I watched a ton of YouTube. It all just kind of snowballed from there. I learned how to edit and worked on my YouTube channel for about a year before it really took off!

BC: What aspects of basketball do you cover? Anything that just piques your interest?

J: Yeah, I do some modern stuff, but a lot of it is NBA history because I know the game really well. My dad used to record all the games via VHS tapes back in the 80s and 90s, and so stuff that I shouldn’t have seen because I wasn’t born yet, I was watching on repeat during my childhood. And so my video [that blew up] was called “How and why Michael Jordan May Have Banned Isiah Thomas from the Dream Team!” They’re these eight-to-twelve-minute documentaries on basketball, like little documentaries, and apparently, basketball nerds love them! So I just kept doing that.

BC: How did you find Geeks + Games? When did you join?

J: I think it was around the whole Captain Marvel thing. Brie Larson was just saying a lot of crap about men *giggles* and I don’t know why; it kind of hit me. I was living in California, and I was noticing a lot of bitterness towards men in a lot of my peer groups. I was hearing stuff about my privilege, my toxic masculinity; I was noticing myself feeling more and more uncomfortable. And growing up in California, up until that point, I didn’t consider myself a political person or anything like that. So, once I started to hear these things being echoed by Brie Larson and others like her, I found one of her videos and was like, “What the heck is up with this?” Then I saw one of Jeremy’s videos, and I really liked it. And then I found out he covered nerd stuff, and I was like, “Wow, that is really cool!” I found the Mario Kart streams. I found Gary, who is definitely one of my favorite YouTubers; I love Gary, and I love The Lord of the Rings!

It just kind of kept going from there, but because I didn’t consider myself a political person and this whole climate was new to me, I was just lurking for the longest time. Like a realllllyyyy long time, I was just lurking and following G+G and never commenting. And I’ll admit, part of it was fear to get involved, to put myself out there, and have my name and channel be seen. Eventually, I was inspired to put myself out there and, later on, got involved with them. I joined a Mario Kart stream back when G+G used to let anyone join. I played with them and got absolutely destroyed… destroyed by everyone, like Jay, even Jay! *laughs* Everyone was just annihilating me, and I was like, “Holy crap, these guys are really good!” I’ve obviously played Nintendo games all my life, but I didn’t realize how good everyone was. I got motivated to get to the top ranks.

BC: How did you find Locked and Loaded Latinos? You introduced them to Jeremy, right?

J:  It was partially me and partially Rippa, because they had met Rippa before. I believe Rippa had been on their podcast when they were at some sort of meetup together. Jeremy gave me and Rippa each a call, asking us our opinion on them. I got to know them through the premium streams, and usually, when I hear that new YouTubers are starting out, I like to go check them out, and being someone big in the 2A community, I was very curious about them. I fell in love with their channel, and I love the idea of bringing gun advocacy and gaming together! I loved what they stood for. I got to know them well, and I became really good friends with them. So, when Jeremy called, I was like, “Bring them on.”

BC: Why did you decide to make a second gaming channel?

J: Ummmmmm, because I absolutely love Nintendo. There is some bias and nostalgia there, for sure, because I grew up playing Nintendo, but games like Zelda and Metroid have a special place in my heart. It was also to keep me from burning out on my basketball channel. Which is great because I love the game of basketball, but I knew that burnout is a thing for YouTubers, and being able to have a change of pace and something else that you can talk about would be nice too. Plus, it is a nice piece of motivation for me. I don’t want to be seen as “just the basketball guy,” you know? Or one specific specialty. I want to diversify my content and really show that I can get a silver play button with different content. That’s how I think. I want to push myself to be successful in different areas and be proud of that, you know? I don’t know; that’s how I view it.

BC: That works! Do you have any advice for those who want to start streaming or start their own channel?

J:

BC: What are your YouTube and Twitch goals for the rest of 2022?

J: Ummm.

BC: I’m making you think.

J: My YouTube goals are to manage my time better *giggles* because I have so many projects that I am juggling right now that I have to figure out where my priorities lie. I want to produce more content for my gaming channel and G+G Play, so getting a consistency with those is a big goal. Twitch is interesting. I just had this realization that, as much as I enjoy Twitch, I think my skill set is on YouTube. So that will be a fun, recreational thing to do once in a while for me. I think I want to put more of my time into YouTube at the moment. It’s hard to say over the course of a year, but I want to see my gaming channel really take off and be a destination spot for Nintendo news. So I’m going to post over there more consistently.

BC: Well, you basically just answered this, but which platform do you prefer? YouTube?

J: Yeah, I do prefer YouTube over Twitch. I’m not good at speaking off the top of my head. I’m not… you’ve seen this when we streamed together. I just spill over my words…

BC: “I am inferior!”

J: *Laughs* Yeah! I just trip over my words, and I’m a total mess. So I really like thinking about what I’m going to say before I say it, writing it out, doing my research. I like making a thesis. I like making an argument and presenting it to someone and being like, “Here is what I want to say, but now I know I’ve said it well.” With Twitch, that is just not the case. I don’t feel like I’m spontaneous; I don’t feel like I’m good just off the top of my head. I don’t feel like I’m particularly funny. And those are all the things you need to be on Twitch. And so a lot of times when I do say stupid stuff like “I’m inferior” when I meant to declare that “I am superior,” [it’s] because I am nervous as hell because I’m in front of people… live! My basketball channel with over 100K subscribers and such – I’ve never livestreamed over there once. Not one time!

BC: And you never are, are you?

J: I don’t know if I ever want to, but as my audience gets bigger, the amount of nerves that I have about livestreaming only grows!

BC: Well, if it makes you feel better, I was live last night playing BFII, and I said that “Lyndon has lovely balls.”

J: *Laughs* The difference is that, if you say that, people think it’s so funny and are like, “Oh, we love Blabs.” If I say that, I just look like an idiot!

BC: I’m special. If you had to go on an adventure with any character, who would it be?

J: Any character from any fiction? Oh, God! *Ponders for a millennium*

BC: Today, though.

J: I think it would have to be Gandalf. Not only is he powerful and knows magic, but he could teach me all kinds of profound life lessons that I’d never forget. I’ve had Gandalfs in my life, [those] older mentor-type figures, and they’ve always meant a lot to me. So, yeah, I’d pick Gandalf.

BC: If you were stuck on an island, what are two objects and three people you would have with you?

J: Oh gosh! I guess a flint knife *giggles* and a cellphone with a working connection. I don’t know; that is tough! That would take me a bit of time to think about. And then, three people; geeze. I’ll stick with people from the team. I’d take JHaleStorm because he’s a survivalist.

BC: Oh yeah.

J: He’s a survivalist, but he’s also that guy who is scary, but in a  good way. He will do whatever it takes to get off that island.

BC: *Nodding in agreement* He will probably kill someone and be like, “Okay.”

J: If someone went down and we had to meet him to survive, JH would be the one to pull through.

BC: JH would be in charge of cooking.

J: *Laughing* Yes! Let me see. So JH, uhhhh, let’s see. And then Rolo and Jo, because we have that teamwork and their chemistry, and because they are also smart and handy.

BC: How did you get into The Lord Of The Rings?

J:

BC: Who is your favorite Lord Of The Rings character?

J: It actually used to be Legolas because I used to love elves, and I had a big thing for archery.

BC: Of course you did!

J: Yeah, archery, and as I grew up, it turned into guns and stuff. I’ve always liked aiming and shooting things, apparently. But as I grew up into a man, it definitely became Aragorn. Legolas is very much a side character, but with Aragorn, he has people that he is responsible for. He has a legacy that he has to live up to. He has leadership that is thrust upon him, and things like that start to appeal to you as a man, as you start to advance in life and go, “I have responsibilities now; I have things that I have to be a good steward over.” And that becomes very relatable. Now, I’m just really drawn to his character.

BC: Why do you think The Lord Of The Rings is better than Harry Potter? Answer wisely.

J: I think I like the fantasy elements of Lord of the Rings more, and I also like the fact that you are following the perspectives of a bunch of adults and not just teenagers. I don’t know. I like the more mature tones with my fantasy.

BC: *Gives a dirty look.*

J: I get it; that’s fine! You like the “returning to high school” thing. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I was homeschooled! So Hogwarts is an even more foreign concept to me because I never spent a minute in public school!

BC: I’m going to go with that. That’s it.

J: And the music. Howard Shore’s music is incredible. I could listen to it all day.

BC: I listen to “Gollum’s Song” whenever it rains.

J: Wow. Interesting. Just whenever it rains, you just play it?

BC: It’s very green where I live, and when it rains, it kind of looks like you are in New Zealand a little bit. And if you walk in the woods, it is dark and dreary… just play “Gollum’s Song”!

J: I didn’t know that about you! So you’ve sent me Harry Potter merch; it sounds like I need to send you some LOTR merch.

BC: *Abruptly* No, you don’t! I have the LOTR soundtrack.

J: *Surprised* Oh, there you go! Blabs! You’re getting cooler. I’m so proud of you.

BC: You’re welcome. So, I already know this answer, but the rest of the world needs to know. Do you like to collect? If so, do you have a focus?

J: I do like to collect. I’m going to start collecting Rippaverse comics, that’s for sure. I do collect basketball cards, and collected Yu-Gi-Oh! cards throughout my teens. But mostly Lord of the Rings stuff, some Nintendo stuff, and pew pews. I collect those as well. Unless the government asks, I lost them all in a boating accident.

BC: Do you have any haters?

J: Absolutely! From different spheres and areas of the internet, for sure! When I joined G+G, I did lose a couple of followers because I did live in California with a bunch of millennial people, and some of them weren’t aware of who they were, so they don’t consider me their friend anymore. Which is fine; if you can’t handle being disagreed with and you don’t want to be friends, I’ll sleep fine at night. I was okay with them disagreeing with me. So, would they be haters now? Maybe; they pretend I don’t exist. I do have some genuine haters on my basketball channel who just hate my opinions.

I remember there was one guy who was slandering Kobe right after he died, and some of the things he said were distasteful, and I kinda clapped back at him. Now, he hates me and thinks I am a terrible person simply because I said, “I don’t think he’s a rapist because the trial settled where he paid off the woman a bunch of money. It wasn’t due processed; we don’t know! Did he do it? Maybe. Who knows? Kobe, the woman, and God. That’s it! We don’t know!” So, he was calling him a rapist over and over again. And then he was like, “Well, you’re probably a rapist too!” and “Jonny is a terrible person!”

BC: On every video?!

J: Not every video, but A LOT of videos…

BC: That dude needs a life!

J: Yeah, there are definitely irrational people who are just gonna hate you! But he just feeds my algorithm; he raises my engagements on my videos, and I laugh all the way to the bank. I just don’t worry about it.

BC: That is a good way to look at it. Do you have anything you would like to say to your viewers and fans?

J:

Speed Round

BC: Run a mile or change a baby’s nasty diaper?

J: Change my baby’s nasty diaper.

BC: It doesn’t have to be your baby; it can be a baby.

J: Ugh! That makes it weirder. *Incoherent noises* I’d change a diaper.

BC: Do you know how to ride a horse?

J: I do know how to ride a horse, absolutely. My last two ex-girlfriends were horse girls, so I know how to ride quite a bit.

BC: Do you know how to barrel race?

J: Yep, I can ride a horse!

BC: Sweet, dude; let’s go riding someday.

J: *Laughs*

BC: What is your dream car?

J: I think I’m going to have to let it go because of gas prices, but it would just be a modern Chevrolet Camaro. You wanna know why? Because it looks like a Batmobile. I just want a blocky black car that looks like Batman’s car. And I can actually kinda afford it now, but with gas prices, it wouldn’t be smart. I’m approaching my mid-thirties; I should probably smarten up.

BC: Backstreet Boys or OneDirection?

J: Backstreet Boys.

BC: Favorite dog breed?

J: Corgis.

BC: Endor or Narnia?

J: Narnia. I gotta support my boy, C.S. Lewis.

BC: Packing or unpacking?

J: *Thinks for two years* Mmmmm, packing.

BC: Superman or Batman?

J: Batman.

BC: Hogwarts house?

J: Slytherin.

BC: What is your Patronus?

J: I don’t even remember. I don’t care about that! I’m a Slytherin; that is all that matters. It’s, like, some deer or something; I don’t know.

BC: Ha! You’re a deer. Bogart?

J: My what?

BC: The thing you fear! It comes out of the wardrobe, and it takes the shape of that thing you fear!

J: Uhhh…

BC: Feet?

J: I hate them, but I’m not afraid of them. Uhhhhh.

BC: Feet without socks on?

J: Haha. No, I think it would be the feeling that I failed at the end of my life. Being a loser. I don’t think that is going to happen. My entire life is all about winning and what that idea is. So being a good member of this team, being a good father, being a good leader, a good follower of Jesus… in my idea, that’s winning. If I get to the end of my life and reflect on it and go, “I felt like I lost,” that would keep me up at night. But I don’t think that is going to happen.

BC: I don’t think so either. What is your favorite vegetable?

J:

BC: How do you like your steak?

J: Medium well.

Best pause. 😂😂
Caption this?@JonnyArnett64 pic.twitter.com/lSkRdsDDrG

— BlabberingCollector (@BlabberingC) July 26, 2022

Twitter Questions

Twitter: Chihuahua or Teckel?

J: I don’t like chihuahuas, but I did meet one cool one named Felipe who had been attacked by a coyote, and he forever has a crooked neck, and he doesn’t bark! He’s just super cool; I love him! I worked at a dog kennel for seven years. But I would say teckel… which is just a dachshund.

T: What is it like to know the great Fadeaway Pod? And knowing that TD is better than Kobe.

J: *Giggles* This is a buddy of mine that I’ve streamed with. It’s an honor to know you, bro, but no, Kobe is better.

T: Do you have an innie or outie? If an outie, how big, and if an innie, how deep?

J:

T: Why does everyone diss your basketball skills?

J: Ummm, I get destroyed in every poll just because I am the least popular. I’m usually being compared to Rippa or Dan Vasc, Jeremy, and these guys are the figureheads!

BC: Yeah, that’s me with all the other chicks. *Laughs*

J: *Laughing* See? You get it! They are, like, the figureheads of the G+G community, so I think there are a lot of people who are like, “Who the heck is Jonny?” And then the people who do know me as Jonny64 don’t know that I eat, breathe, and sleep basketball. The only time I ever leave the house is to play basketball! They don’t know that! So I’m gonna let it piss me off so it motivates me to do better. So, in Orlando, they are all going to get wrecked!

BC: I can’t wait to see this.

J: Oh, I can’t wait either! But I do understand why there are few votes; most people just don’t know who I am or my career.

T: Pineapple on pizza or pictures of feet?

J: Pineapple on pizza. Easy. Easy.

T: Why do you hate Blabs so much?

J: *Laughs* Alright, I guess I’ll let the cat out of the bag a little bit. I don’t hate you. I very much enjoy your friendship, but if we had a love language between us, it would definitely be condescending remarks.

BC: *Laughing* I hate you!

J: You just have that type of friends that that is just how you connect! That’s our thing. We discovered that really early on, and we just ran with it. We are sincerely nice to each other at times, though.

BC: True.

J: I very much appreciate your friendship, Blabs. I mean that. But yeah, I’m going to go back to hating you after this interview. So, that’s how it works. I expect it in return, too. I will be very sad if you stop being mean to me. Please don’t stop being mean.

BC: Okay, you’re a lint licker. You’re a biscuit-eating bulldog and a cootie queen.

J: What the French toast!

BC: Shut the front door!

J: You’ll just have to end up sharing that commercial on a G+G page sometime so people know what the heck we are talking about.

BC: I will.

Thank you, Jonny, for your time! You can follow Jonny on Twitch, his gaming YouTube channel, his basketball channel, his Twitter, and Instagram!