Everyday life makes 19-year-old Youtube star

Jack Catford, jmcmax Youtube

If sharing the most banal and irrelevant information on the web was a competition, Youtube would far outshine the likes of Twitter and Facebook in the nonsense stakes.

Jack Catford, 19, is no stranger to the tedium of the Internet. Born in Croydon, Jack has spent the last four years drifting between college in Reigate and work at the Priory Farm shop in Surrey. Still living at home with his parents and two older sisters, this self-proclaimed “normal guy” epitomises both the familiar and the mundane.

Armed with a cheap video camera, Jack takes you on a bizarre journey through his everyday life as a shop assistant. No, this isn’t someone taking pictures everyday for ten years or dancing around the world – let’s face it, life just isn’t always that exciting. Instead, through 79 (and counting) daily-updated Youtube videos, Jack’s audience can discover interesting facts such as what Jack eats for breakfast, what he eats for dinner, and…err…what he eats for lunch.

Ruthlessly documenting the minutiae of real life, Jack is the antithesis of shows like ‘The Hills’, or ‘The Only Way is Essex’. He forces us to face the raw truth that growing up isn’t actually all its cracked up to be. And it’s humorous – when you don’t want to weep from sheer despondency.

As we, the sufferers of 2011, bask in the realisation that somebody’s life is more dull than our own, Jack effortlessly captures the apathetic gloom of a bored teenager living in south London. It’s impossible not to relate to, and fast on its way to becoming either an internet phenomenon or a work of art. Gems such as: “This juice tastes slightly like barley. Oh, it’s barley juice” make for compulsive viewing, taking you from pity, to empathy, to bewilderment, and finally to utter adoration.

“The most important lesson I’ve learned from life?” ponders Jack, “You only live once, so use your time wisely.” Does he grasp the irony there? It’s doubtful. And that’s why you can’t help but fall in love with this awkward, but refreshingly honest, Croydon teenager.

Click here for Jack’s youtube channel.

Tabatha Kinder

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