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Rhett James McLaughlin (born October 11, 1977) and Charles Lincoln "Link" Neal III (born June 1, 1978) are an American comedy duo. Self-styled as "Internetainers" (a portmanteau of "Internet" and "entertainers"), they are known for creating and hosting the YouTube series '' Good Mythical Morning''. Their other notable projects include comedic songs and sketches, their IFC series ''Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings'', their YouTube Premium series '' Rhett and Link's Buddy System'', their podcast ''Ear Biscuits'', their novel ''The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek'', and their acquisition of Smosh.


Early life and career

Rhett and Link met on September 4, 1984, the date they started first grade at Buies Creek Elementary School in Buies Creek,
Harnett County Harnett County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,568. Its county seat is Lillington; its largest city is Dunn. Harnett County is part of the Fayetteville Metropolitan Stati ...
, North Carolina. They subsequently wrote a song and made a documentary about this meeting: '' Looking for Ms. Locklear.'' In an interview on '' The Tonight Show'', they stated that they had to stay in during recess because both of them had written swear words on their desks. They were given coloring books to fill out with mythical creatures (such as unicorns), hence their YouTube channel name, Good Mythical Morning. At age fourteen, they wrote a screenplay entitled ''Gutless Wonders'' and began shooting a film based on it. They shot only a couple of scenes, and the film was never finished. This screenplay ultimately was read in multiple episodes of ''Good Mythical Morning''. In high school they shot a 25-minute film-parody on the tragedy of
Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...
. Rhett was Oedipus, and Link was his father's servant. Rhett and Link were both members of a Christian- punk rock band as teenagers known as "The Wax Paper Dogz". In 1996, they started college and were roommates at
North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...
, where Link studied industrial engineering and Rhett studied civil engineering. Rhett graduated
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...
in December 2000, and Link graduated
summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
in May 2001. They worked in their respective fields for a time, Link at IBM and Rhett at Black & Veatch. They also made videos and performed comedy sketches for a religious organization, Cru. During their time at Cru, they began developing their signature comedy style as a duo, subsequently deciding to become full-time entertainers. Rhett & Link quit their jobs as engineers soon after graduating from college to shift their focus to their Christian evangelism with Cru. They made comedic videos for meetings and conferences after being inspired by the host at the first weekly Cru meeting they attended as freshmen at North Carolina State University.Archived a
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Later, they transitioned to making comedic YouTube videos full-time, without Christian ministry.


Media properties

Under their production company Mythical Entertainment, the duo run a number of media properties, some starring themselves and some featuring other performers. * The duo originally released comedy and musical videos on their main channel titled ''Rhett and Link''. As new properties became more successful, the channel became inactive. The channel was revived in December in 2019 with the release of several vlogs. * Their flagship program is the YouTube channel ''Good Mythical Morning'' (often shortened to ''GMM''), which has over 8 billion views and 17.7 million subscribers as of July 2022. It is a talk show airing daily during the week, although in the summer, using the title "Good Mythical Summer", they produce three episodes per week.. Vidstatsx.com (September 17, 2008). Retrieved August 6, 2016. * ''Good Mythical MORE'' (often shortened to ''GMMore'') is the show's secondary channel, with new episodes released simultaneously with ''Good Mythical Morning''. The shows are meant to be watched directly after GMM and is described as the "show after the show". It features a more unscripted, laid-back feeling, and usually expands upon topics covered in ''Good Mythical Morning''. The channel had over 3.97 million subscribers and over 982 million views as of December 2020, * ''Mythical Kitchen'' (formerly ''This is Mythical'', and ''Mythical''), is a cooking channel hosted by Josh Scherer, the head chef on the show. He is supported by other chefs such as Nicole Enayati (née Hendizadeh), Trevor Evarts, and Vianai "Vi" Austin, as well as guest appearances by other members of the Mythical crew. The channel has a number of series on cooking unusual items, such as expensive versions of fast food, or homemade versions of popular snacks. Under earlier iterations, it featured bonus and behind the scenes videos, but has most recently been used for videos produced by and starring their crew. It has over 1.5 million subscribers and over 97 million views as of December 2020. * ''Mythical Bits'' (formerly ''The Hey Hey Show'') consists of skits from Rhett and Link. * ''Mythical.com'' is the merchandising arm of Mythical Entertainment, selling Mythical and Rhett and Link branded products. * The ''Mythical Society'' is the Rhett and Link
fan club A fans club is an organized group of fans, generally of a celebrity. Most fans clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to support them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the per ...
. *Mythical also produces a number of podcasts. ** ''Ear Biscuits'' is a filmed podcast hosted by McLaughlin and Neal that has both audio versions that are released on various podcasting platforms, as well as a filmed version. It was originally presented on the GMM channel but was transferred to this channel on January 7, 2019. It has over 254,000 subscribers and more than 3 million views. ** ''A Hotdog is a Sandwich'' is a weekly audio-only podcast by Josh Scherer and Nicole Enayati of the ''Mythical Kitchen'' team, centering each episode on a different food-related debate. ** ''Trevor Talks Too Much'' is a weekly audio and video podcast hosted by Trevor Evarts of the ''Mythical Kitchen'' team. Each episode features an interview-style discussion with Trevor and popular young creators, streamers, musicians, athletes, and more. ** ''Dispatches from Myrtle Beach'' is a weekly audio-only podcast started in June 2022 and hosted by Link Neal and his father Charles Neal, who lives in Myrtle Beach. ** ''Best Friends Back, Alright!'' is a weekly audio-only podcast started in March 2022 and hosted by executive producer Stevie Wynne Levine and her high school best friend Neagheen Homaifar.


''Good Mythical Morning''

On January 3, 2011, the duo launched a morning talk show, "Good Morning Chia Lincoln" in their studio, located in
Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina Fuquay-Varina ( ) is a town in southern Wake County, North Carolina, United States, lying south of Holly Springs and southwest of Garner, and north of the Harnett County town of Angier and west of the unincorporated community of Willow Spr ...
, with an Abraham Lincoln Chia Pet as a centerpiece, where they picked a topic, usually a personal experience or news story, and stated their opinions on it. The series ended on February 28, 2011, as a result of half of the Chia Pet dying. After the move to Los Angeles and the cancelation of their TV Show, ''Commercial Kings'', the duo launched ''Good Mythical Morning'' on January 9, 2012. The series took the same format as their previous show and added a "Wheel of Mythicality", containing suggestions from fans on how they would end the show, usually with a brief improvised scene. ''Good Mythical Morning'' ran its first three seasons ending on April 5, 2013, as the duo took a break from the daily videos to start a new show with a weekly format, ''The Mythical Show''.Rhett & Link Filmmakers, Video Innovators
New Media Rockstars (July 9, 2013). Retrieved December 29, 2015.
The series won the Best Variety Series at the International Academy of Web Television Awards in January 2013. The fourth season of GMM introduced the "Taste Test" series where the hosts guess the food in blindfolds, challenge themselves to eat something or compare a particular type of food across different brands. Some of the most popular videos in GMM from this series are the "Bug War Challenge", the "Ghost Pepper Challenge", the "Carolina Reaper Challenge" and the "Sriracha Challenge". Season 5 of GMM brought in "Will It" series, where the hosts try and invent different varieties of a famous type of food with unusual and often increasing levels of disgusting ingredients. The first episode was aired on May 5, 2014, on Cinco De Mayo titled "Will it Taco" where they tried pine needles, baby shampoo and pork blood tacos. The series was also featured in '' The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' with episodes of "Will it Tea", "Will It S'more", "Will it Hummus", and "Will It Hot Dog". After the end of ''The Mythical Show'' on July 11, 2013, the duo continued with the ''Good Mythical Morning'' series, now with an addition to the main GMM episode-''Good Mythical More'' ("the show after the show") uploaded simultaneously to a separate channel in addition to their GMM channel. The 'Good Mythical More' episodes held on to their 'improvised on the spot' nature from earlier season of GMM while the main episodes became more and more structured. Season 6 of ''Good Mythical Morning'' premiered on July 14, 2014, with a new introduction sequence with animation by Digital Twigs and music by Pomplamoose. Several notable personalities, including PewDiePie, Mayim Bialik, Shay Mitchell, Bill Hader, Amy Schumer, and Daniel Radcliffe have been guests on the show. The 1000th episode of Good Mythical Morning was uploaded on the morning of October 13, 2016 (4 years, 9 months, and 4 days after the first episode aired on January 9, 2012). The video was titled "1000th Episode Celebration Special" and has received 3.1 million views as of April 2020. On October 19, the first episode of YouTube Red original show '' Rhett and Link's Buddy System'' aired on the Good Mythical Morning channel. In October 2021, they debuted a spin-off of GMM titled Good Mythical Evening, a pay-per-view livestream event that was not available on YouTube. Rhett & Link described the show as a "decidedly R-rated spin on 'Good Mythical Morning' ..featuring cursing, drinking, and adult situations galore." The first edition sold more than 70,000 tickets. The event was announced to be returning in September 2022, available on Moment House.


''The Mythical Show''

On April 25, 2013, Rhett & Link released the first episode of ''The Mythical Show'' on their second channel – a weekly 30-minute variety show on YouTube Thursdays at 5 pm ( EST). Each episode contained a multitude of shorter videos starring Rhett & Link with other actors and YouTube personalities as guests, including Tony Hale, Jill Wagner, Kat Von D, Smosh, Grace Helbig,
Shay Carl Shay Carl Butler (born March 5, 1980), known professionally as Shay Carl, is an American YouTube personality. He has three YouTube channels, two of which ("shaycarl" and "SHAYTARDS") have over three million subscribers. Butler and Corey Vidal ...
, the Fine Brothers, Tessa Violet,
Hannah Hart Hannah Maud Hart (born November 2, 1986) is an American internet personality, comedian, author, and actress. She is known for starring in ''My Drunk Kitchen'', a weekly series on YouTube in which she cooks something while intoxicated. She also ...
, Paul Scheer, Key & Peele, Miranda Sings, and
KassemG Kassem Gharaibeh ( ar, قاسم الغرايبة; born October 10, 1983) is an American Internet personality and host of ''Attack of the Show!'' His YouTube channel Kassem G hosts several hundred videos, most notably the ''California On'', ''Goin ...
. The duo also published individual segments of ''The Mythical Show'' as standalone videos on their main channel. The first season of ''The Mythical Show'' ended July 11, 2013 after 12 episodes. They won the 2014 People's Choice Webby Award for individual comedy short or episode for their "Breaking Bad: The Middle School Musical" video that was a part of ''The Mythical Shows "Middle School Musicals" segments.


''Mythical Kitchen''

On December 20, 2019, their company, Mythical Entertainment, announced their new channel, ''Mythical Kitchen''. The channel is a hub for all food featured videos, and it is run by the Mythical Chefs, Josh Scherer, Nicole Enayati (née Hendizadeh), Trevor Evarts, and Vianai "Vi" Austin. It contains several series such as: "Fancy Fast Food", which takes famous fast food items to the next level and "Snack Smash", a food series that combines two snacks to create one creative concoction.


Guest appearances

YouTube Rewind videos have included Rhett & Link since 2012.
Rewind YouTube Style 2012 ''YouTube Rewind'' (stylized as ''YouTube ЯEWIND'') was an annual video series produced and created by YouTube and Portal A Interactive from 2010 to 2019. The videos were an overview and a recap of each year's viral videos, events, trends, an ...
featured the duo and the Dope Zebra (who was part of LMFAO music video for "
Sorry for Party Rocking ''Sorry for Party Rocking'' is the second studio album by LMFAO. It was released June 21, 2011, physically and digitally by Interscope Records as the follow-up to their debut album ''Party Rock'' (2009). "Party Rock Anthem" was the first single ...
"), YouTube Rewind: What Does 2013 Say?, YouTube Rewind: Turn Down for 2014 and YouTube Rewind: Now Watch Me Rewind had them dancing in ridiculous manners. However, they weren't included in Rewind 2018. Rhett & Link have been guests in three " Epic Rap Battles of History". On February 16, 2012, the duo was featured in a Season 2 episode of the series, playing the Wright brothers, battling the
Mario Brothers is a 1983 arcade game developed and published for arcade game, arcades by Nintendo. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo's chief engineer. Italians, Italian twin brother plumbers Mario and Luigi exterminate creatu ...
. On July 14, 2014, Rhett & Link, along with Smosh, appeared in the season 3 finale of the series, in which they played two of the four Renaissance artists battling against the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Link played the role of Leonardo da Vinci and Rhett the role of Donatello. Their latest appearance was on May 25, 2015, opening Season 4.5 with the battle of
Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
vs.
Bill and Ted ''Bill & Ted'' is an American science fiction comedy franchise created by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. It features William "Bill" S. Preston Esq. and Ted "Theodore" Logan, portrayed by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, respectively, two metalhea ...
. Link played the role of
Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...
and Rhett the role of William Clark. Rhett & Link have also appeared in several videos by the Fine Brothers for the ''YouTubers React'' series, as well as being the subject of one episode of the ''Kids React'' series''.''


Sponsored videos and web advertisements

Rhett & Link's first sponsored video, "Cornhole Song", was made for AJJ Cornhole in 2007, and since then the duo have integrated other small brands like Smule, with "I am a Thoughtful Guy" and iRESQ. Many larger companies have since sponsored the duo's videos including Alka-Seltzer, McDonald's, Wendy's and
Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
among others. In January 2008, they worked as web correspondents on the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
for IGotShotgun.com in partnership with
Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
. Summer of the same year they spent releasing videos for the Alka-Seltzer Great American Road Trip. The series won the Gold award in the Consumer Goods category at Advertising Age's 2008 W3 Awards, as well as best online campaign at Adweek's 2008 Buzz Awards. The series also picked up two Golds (Best Campaign, Best Single) and a Craft award (Music) at the 2009 Bessies and received two golds in the interactive category for Viral Marketing and Business to Consumer website at the 2009 Advertising & Design Club of Canada Awards. Also in 2008, Rhett & Link released web series "Seaborne and Roach", sponsored by SpyAssociates.com, and "Surrogate Sharers" series advertising Starburst candy. In 2009, the duo started to create free low-budget commercials for small local businesses throughout the U.S. in the web series "I Love Local Commercials", sponsored by Microbilt. At first they made 4 commercials for local businesses in their home state North Carolina – TDM Autosales, Bobby Denning Furniture, and Redhouse Furniture. These videos quickly went viral on YouTube, especially the Redhouse video, with its controversial jingle "Where Black People and White People Buy Furniture". The success of these commercials spurred Rhett & Link to continue creating commercials and for that they offered people across U.S. to nominate their favorite local businesses to take part in the web series. The popularity of the duo's commercials garnered the attention of major advertising publications such as '' Advertising Age'' and ''AdWeek'', and their commercials were featured on CNN, NPR, The New York Times, Forbes, and TMZ. A commercial for Cullman Liquidation Center won Best Local Commercial at the 2010 Ad Age Viral Video Awards. In 2010, Rhett & Link produced a commercial for Donut Prince, George Lopez's favorite donut place. Later they appeared in his show '' Lopez Tonight'', where he called them "undisputed masters of bad local commercials". The success of the web series led to Rhett & Link's television show, ''Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings'' on IFC. Every episode, Link's Epic Fail is featured, where Link trips over a cement pyramid and scrapes up his hip and arm. In 2009, Rhett & Link produced "Fast Food Folk Song" as a web commercial for Taco Bell, and in 2010 it won the Contest of Awesome for the Best Comic Music Video of 2009. The contest awarded them a trip to Los Angeles and a cameo in a Weezer music video. In 2010, Rhett & Link created a stop motion video "T-shirt War" as a commercial for T-shirt printing company Rush T-shirts, in which they used 222 T-shirts with unique designs. The video already had 2 million views after only two weeks of being online, and quickly reached 4 million. "T-shirt War" also won in Best Online Promotion at the Apparel Industry category at the 2010 Spirit Awards. After the success of this commercial Rhett & Link received a call from McDonald's and Coca-Cola asking them to make a TV commercial with a T-shirt War theme. The commercial was also uploaded on YouTube, and this video, entitled "T-shirt War 2", reached 1 million views in two weeks. Also in 2010, Rhett & Link released an online music video sponsored by SleepBetter.org – "2 Guys 600 pillows". ''Time'' listed the video as one of the Top-10 Talented Web Videos of 2010, and the video also won Best Editing category and Peoples' Voice Award at the 2011 Webby Awards. Rhett & Link continued working with SleepBetter.org, and in November 2012 they made another music video, "Sleep Tight". In 2011, Rhett & Link made a commercial for Ojai Valley Taxidermy, owned by
Chuck Testa Charles A. Testa (born 1956) is an American taxidermist and owner of Ojai Valley Taxidermy in California.Kelly, David (January 6, 2002)Taxidermist's Work Is More Than Skin Deep; Chuck Testa insists his craft is worthy of being called art. Bears, ...
, as part of their TV show, ''Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings''. After the episode featuring the commercial aired, Chuck Testa uploaded the commercial to his company's YouTube channel. The ad went viral, topping 18 million views (as of December 2020) and spawning the "Nope! Chuck Testa" Internet meme. The Chuck Testa ad was included in ''Time'''s Top 10 Memes of 2011. Also in 2011, Rhett & Link released a music video entitled "PHOTOSHOP Song" which was sponsored by Canvas on Demand. In September 2012, the duo released the video "Epic Rap Battle of Manliness" sponsored by
Build.com Build.com is an online home improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home ...
. In October 2013, Rhett & Link released a music video entitled "Epic Rap Battle: Nerd vs. Geek" which was sponsored by
TigerDirect TigerDirect is an El Segundo, California-based online retailer dealing in electronics, computers, and computer components that caters to business and corporate customers. Previously owned by Systemax, which is known for its acquisitions of the int ...
. They have made other rap battles, featured on their second channel, along with all their other music videos. In December 2013, the duo released a music video in partnership with
Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...
's "In the Moment" campaign entitled "Get Off the Phone". In May 2014, a new segment sponsored by
Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...
was included on ''Good Mythical Morning'' for the week subscription campaign, as well as with the release of the "Kissing Your Face" video on the main channel. In May 2015, the duo released a new music video, "Just Being Honest", sponsored by Wendy's new beverage "Honest Tea". As well as ''Sip Me Up'', a streaming marketing campaign on June 18 where the duo created personalized content for the fans in real time. On May 6, 2015, Rhett & Link teamed up with Hot Pockets and released the "Will It Hot Pocket?" episode in their popular "Will It" series on ''Good Mythical Morning'' where the Hot Pocket crust was replaced with odd items based on fan suggestions. On June 5, 2015, a new segment on ''Good Mythical Morning'' was announced called "The Back Up Plan" sponsored by
GEICO The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is a private American auto insurance company with headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owne ...
, where the duo explore different career opportunities. As of August 2016, there are 10 released episodes. Episodes have featured the duo trying the jobs of beekeeping, real estate sales, commercial cereal production, glassblowing, commercial flavor manufacturing, becoming potential "Marstronauts" at the Jet Propulsion Laboratories, aquatic animal keeping, ice sculpting, livestock auctioneering, and baking pies. The final segment served as both an episode of "The Back Up Plan" and an installment in their "Will It?" series. The segment subsequently ended within the season.


Podcasts


''RhettandLinkast''

In 2007, Rhett & Link created the ''RhettandLinkast'' for iTunes. Originally filmed in a backroom at Cru, the two soon relocated to a spare property belonging to Rhett's father-in-law in Lillington, North Carolina.


''Ear Biscuits''

On September 27, 2013, Rhett & Link launched an audio podcast on
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
, Spotify, and SoundCloud called ''Ear Biscuits'', which airs every Sunday. The podcast debuted in the US on the iTunes charts at No. 22. and it is described as intimate discussions with each other such as how they became blood brothers, their close encounters with death, and more. They also interview other notable Internet personalities such as Grace Helbig, Julian Smith,
Phillip DeFranco Philip James DeFranco (born Philip James Franchini Jr.; born December 1, 1985), commonly known by his online nickname PhillyD, is an American YouTube personality. He is best known for ''The Philip DeFranco Show'', a news commentary show centered ...
, PewDiePie and Rainn Wilson. They've had live recordings on VidCon as well as Rhett-and-Link-only episodes each month. As of July 2015, the podcast was number No. 14 on the iTunes US Comedy Charts. The podcast has won them a Shorty Award for Best Podcast in April 2016. On March 27, 2017, the podcast returned from a hiatus with a new video format on their latest channel, ''This Is Mythical'', and had moved to the ''Good Mythical Morning'' channel. The podcast continued to be released on iTunes and SoundCloud, as well as Spotify. On January 7, 2019, the podcast was moved from the ''Good Mythical Morning'' channel to its own separate channel.


''Ronstadt''

On May 13, 2021, Rhett & Link announced they would be co-producing and starring in a scripted podcast titled ''Ronstadt'', set to release on June 1. McLaughlin portrays the eponymous character, a
9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...
call center responder who handles supernatural cases. The podcast consisted of 9 episodes aired in June and July 2021.


Music


As a duo

McLaughlin plays guitar and Neal plays the recorder and harmonica; they both sing. Rhett & Link perform live musical comedy and have completed two albums. In 2001, Rhett & Link independently released ''Just Mail Us the Grammy'', featuring the popular song "The Unibrow Song". In 2005, Rhett & Link independently released ''I'm Sorry, What Was That? (Live in the Living Room)'', a live album featuring "The Wal-Mart Song". The album is available at the iTunes Store. In April 2007, Rhett & Link placed 3rd in the TurboTax TaxRap Contest, a contest judged by Vanilla Ice. In 2008, Rhett & Link independently released ''Websongs Vol 1'', an online album featuring "Facebook Song", "Cornhole Song" and "Velcro Song". On February 1, 2009, Rhett & Link independently released ''Secret Songs'', a collection of songs that were previously only available to winners of their monthly "Community Building Exercises", a part of their "Quest for the Seven Keys" contest. On December 4, 2009, Rhett & Link teamed up with
DFTBA Records DFTBA Records, commonly known as DFTBA.com, is an e-commerce merchandise company that was co-founded by Hank Green and Alan Lastufka in 2008. Originally a record label, the company now focuses on selling merchandise for prominent YouTube content ...
and created a new album called ''Up To This Point''. On October 4, 2013, Rhett & Link released "Epic Rap Battle: Nerd vs. Geek" which gained 50 million views on YouTube and triggered some internet memes with the "Yeah, nerd!" and the "Yes I am a nerd!", while the music was clearly talking about a nerd and a geek in
TigerDirect TigerDirect is an El Segundo, California-based online retailer dealing in electronics, computers, and computer components that caters to business and corporate customers. Previously owned by Systemax, which is known for its acquisitions of the int ...
rapping to see who is better, after the video was released, their second channel, Good Mythical Morning, released the video "NERD vs GEEK: How to Tell the Difference", which was explaining differences between nerds and geeks. In May 2015, Rhett & Link released a new album with the songs from their series, "Song Biscuits", which involved them writing a song with a guest (or just themselves) within an hour and performing it. This album is entitled ''Song Biscuits: Volume 1'' and is available on iTunes. To correspond with their YouTube Red show, ''
Rhett & Link's Buddy System ''Rhett & Link's Buddy System'' (also known as ''Buddy System'') is an American series produced exclusively for YouTube Premium, created by, written by and starring comedy duo Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal. The series premiered with episodes on ...
'', the duo released the album ''Buddy System (Music From Season 1)'' which includes seven songs, one from each episode. It was released a week before the premiere date in October 2016 and is available on Google Play Music and iTunes.


James and the Shame

In July 2022, McLaughlin released a single titled "Believe Me" under the name "James and the Shame." McLaughlin announced he would be releasing a full album titled ''Human Overboard'' . On August 19, a second single titled "Where We're Going" was released, with the music video being released a day earlier. The song is a duet with his wife Jessie. The full album was released on September 23, 2022. The album was recorded at Finn-land Studios in Burbank, California with Derek Furhmann producing. The album is a country music album, with McLaughlin citing Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers and
Sturgill Simpson John Sturgill Simpson (born June 8, 1978) is an American country music singer-songwriter and actor. As of February 2022, he has released seven albums as a solo artist. His first two albums, '' High Top Mountain'' and '' Metamodern Sounds in Cou ...
as sources of inspiration. McLaughlin performed live at his and Neal's 2022 fan convention, Mythicon.


Film and television

In 2006, Rhett & Link began work on a documentary about their search for their first grade teacher, Ms. Locklear, entitled ''Looking for Ms. Locklear''. The film released in 2008 and won the Southern Lens Award from South Carolina Public TV, which led to the film screening on PBS in South Carolina. The film also won audience choice awards at the ACE Film Festival and the Secret City Film Festival, and won 2nd place documentary at the Secret City Film Festival. The documentary was an official selection at the Real to Reel Film Festival, the Landlocked Film Festival, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, BendFilm Festival, Asheville Film Festival, and the
Cucalorus Film Festival The Cucalorus Film Festival is a film festival held annually in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is one of the largest film festivals in the U.S. South and recognized as a destination film festival for indie filmmakers. MovieMaker magazine recogni ...
.
'Looking for Ms. Locklear' Living]. fayobserver.com (March 25, 2007). Retrieved December 29, 2015.
On September 9, 2009, the duo released the movie on DVD, distributing it over the Internet. Rhett & Link were among the first group of Internet personalities who attempted transitions from the Internet into network television. In 2007, along with
Stevie Ryan Stevie Kathleen Ryan (June 2, 1984 – July 1, 2017) was an American YouTube personality, actress and comedian. She was known for her YouTube videos and starring in the VH1 series ''Stevie TV''. Ryan was born June 2, 1984, in Riverside, Califor ...
and Joy Leslie, Rhett & Link hosted the short-lived series ''
Online Nation ''Online Nation'' is an American reality TV series that premiered on The CW on September 23, 2007. Scouring the endless number of websites, blogs, and user-generated materials on the Internet, ''Online Nation'' featured everything and anything tha ...
'', a show that featured the best viral videos from the Internet, part of the 2007 fall lineup on the CW Network. The premiere episode was seen by 1 million people, but the show was cancelled after only four episodes. As the hosts, Rhett & Link responded with an Internet video.CW Cancels 'Online Nation'
''TV Week'', 2007; The video

/ref> Rhett & Link starred in the IFC (U.S. TV network), IFC original series, ''Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings''. The show chronicled the quest of Rhett & Link as they traveled the country making local commercials for small businesses. Having premiered Friday, June 24, 2011, at 10:00pm ET/PT on IFC, this ten-part docu-comedy is based on their successful web series I Love Local Commercials and features Rhett & Link helping local businesses achieve their goals by creating eye-catching local commercials using local talent. The show was, however, canceled. Rhett & Link served as musical correspondents for '' Brink'', hosted by Josh Zepps, on the Science Channel. They wrote and produced three music videos including "My Robot Girlfriend", "Space Junk", and "The S.E.T.I. Song". They appeared as guests on '' Lopez Tonight''Rhett & Link Make Commercials for George
LopezTonight.com (show recap)
where they were interviewed, made a commercial for George's favorite doughnut place, and were back-up dancers for the remainder of the show after their interview. They have also appeared on '' Last Call with Carson Daly''Rhett & Link on Last Call w/ Carson Daly
CarsonDaly.tv Show Archive
and '' Conan''. Rhett and Link performed on season 7 of
America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...
as a novelty act, being eliminated in the first round. As of August 2018, the duo have also appeared five times on '' The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. Rhett & Link also produced segments for Phil Vischer's " What's in the Bible". In that, they were a singing duo named "The Fabulous Bentley Brothers" performing teaching songs about different books, or topics, in the Bible. Rhett & Link appeared on the WWE Network original series ''Legends House'', judging the WWE Legends' custom commercials. Rhett & Link appeared in the edutainment web series ''Wonder Quest'', and guest starred in 2 episodes as Thomas Edison (McLaughlin) and William Hammer (Neal). Most recently, Rhett & Link created, wrote, produced, and starred in their show, '' Rhett and Link's Buddy System'', which was released on YouTube Red (now known as YouTube Premium). Buddy System was featured in '' Variety'' as the most talked about digital show, beating out Netflix's ''
Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...
'' and Amazon's '' The Man in the High Castle''. In January 2022, it was announced that Rhett & Link would star in a show on Food Network titled ''The Taste Buds''. The show was renamed '' Inside Eats with Rhett & Link'' before its premiere on April 24. The show's first season ran for four episodes.


Discography

* I'm Sorry, What Was That? (Live In The Living Room) * Websongs, Vol.1 * Up To This Point * Song Biscuits, Vol. 1 * Rhett & Link's Buddy System (Music from Season 1) * Rhett & Link's Buddy System (Music from Season 2) * Tour of Mythically (Live from Los Angeles)


Books


''Book of Mythicality''

Rhett & Link unveiled their book, to be published by Crown Archetype, ''Rhett & Link's Book of Mythicality: A Field Guide to Curiosity, Creativity and Tomfoolery'' on February 13, 2017. It was also made available for pre-order from several major online retailers on the same day. The front cover was shown for the first time during an interview with the duo on '' The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' on March 24, 2017. Rhett & Link have described the book as "a hilarious blend of autobiography, trivia and advice" and will include the story behind their friendship and career, as well as tips on how to "add Mythicality" to the reader's life, supported by anecdotes from their own past. The book was officially released on October 10, 2017, and then made it onto The New York Times Best Seller List in the "Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous" section for the week ending October 14, 2017.


''The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek''

''The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek'' was published on October 29, 2019. It is a thriller novel co-written by Rhett & Link and Lance Rubin, largely based on Rhett and Link's experiences in their home town of Buies Creek, North Carolina. The book reached No. 13 on the
New York Times Best Sellers list ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...
.


Tours

It was announced on May 16, 2017, that Rhett & Link would be going on tour around the United States in order to promote their upcoming book, performing at 16 theatres around the country. Tickets were made available for pre-sale the same day. The demand was so high that second shows were added to five of the theatres, bringing the total number of shows up to 21. Tickets were made available to the general public on May 19. A further two early shows were added to theatres in New York and Los Angeles on August 12, with the duo confirming this would be the last addition to the lineup, the final total number of shows at 23. Every theatre sold every ticket for all of these shows. In 2018, it was announced that Rhett & Link would be performing three shows in Australia at the end of July. These shows were performed in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane on July 27, 29 and 30 respectively. Additionally, following the announcement of their Australian tour dates, the duo announced three further North American shows: Toronto, Atlantic City and Mashantucket on November 8, 9 and 10 respectively. It was also confirmed that these would be the last shows in 2018; however, there has been no confirmation that they would be the last tour dates ever. The November 10 show was the final show of the Tour of Mythicality. In February 2019, Rhett and Link held a concert in London as part of Vidcon London. They had a number of other concerts in spring, summer, and fall 2019 under the title Rhett and Link Live. As of June 2021 there has been no other touring announced.


Production company

Rhett and Link founded "Rhett & Link, Inc." in 2009. The name was changed to Mythical Entertainment in 2017. The company produces the online videos, television shows, podcasts, books, recorded music, and live tours, as well as the related merchandise sold through their store and on Amazon. The Chief Operating Officer of the company is Brian Flanagan. The company hired former YouTube executive Neel Yalamarthy as the Vice President of Strategy and
Business Development Business development entails tasks and processes to develop and implement growth opportunities within and between organizations. It is a subset of the fields of business, commerce and organizational theory. Business development is the creation of ...
in February 2021. On February 22, 2019, it was announced that Mythical Entertainment had acquired the Smosh brand (Smosh, Smosh Games, Smosh Pit, and others) after the channel's former parent company, Defy Media, had gone into
liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...
. Ian Hecox, the co-founder of Smosh, explained that under the Mythical Entertainment banner, the channel would have full creative freedom and launch its own podcast, known as the ''
SmoshCast Smosh is an American YouTube sketch comedy- improv collective founded by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. In 2002, Padilla created a website named "smosh.com" for making Flash animations, and he was later joined by Hecox. They began to post vide ...
''. In July 2021, Rhett and Link announced the launch of the "Mythical Accelerator Fund", five million dollars they plan to use to continue to acquire ownership stakes in other social media stars’ businesses. The first investment made with the fund was a minority stake in content creator Jarvis Johnson's company. The second investment made with the fund was in musician Daniel Thrasher's channel in April 2022.


Productions


Awards and nominations

In 2009, Rhett & Link were named No. 22 on Business Insider's Top 25 Most Creative People in Advertising List. In September of the same year, they joined the Collective, a media company in Los Angeles. In 2014, the Rhett & Link YouTube Channel was listed on
New Media Rockstars ''NewMediaRockstars'' (''NMR'') is an online magazine which was launched in December 2011 and primarily covers YouTube performers, entrepreneurs, and artists with videos and interviews. In 2013, ''NewMediaRockstars'' closed because of lack of fund ...
Top 100 Channels, ranked at No. 35.


Personal lives

Rhett and Link currently live in La Crescenta-Montrose, California, where they run a
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
-based production company named Mythical Entertainment. Rhett and his wife, Jessie, have two sons. Link and his wife, Christy, have two sons and a daughter. McLaughlin and Neal were both raised as Christians and previously worked as full-time missionaries while attending college. In 2020, both described their changes in faith in separate episodes of their podcast ''Ear Biscuits''. Both said they are no longer evangelical Christians, with Rhett saying he would call himself "a hopeful
agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
" and Link saying he would call himself "an agnostic who wants to be hopeful".


Notes


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhett and Link 21st-century American comedians America's Got Talent contestants American agnostics American bloggers American comedy duos American comedy musical groups American former Christians American male bloggers American YouTubers Comedy YouTubers DFTBA Records creators Internet memes American male YouTubers North Carolina State University alumni People from Buies Creek, North Carolina People from Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina Video bloggers Viral videos