2023: It was the best of content. It was the worst of content.
Three selections of my best work last year, and three of my worst. Also, a note on what's next for me.
I have to tell you folks: it’s been a pretty dark time tree- and comedy-wise for me this past four months. Part of that is time and energy-dependent, part of that is political and social atmosphere-dependent, and part of it is that, if I’m being honest, I just don’t think I’m as good at it as I used to be.
And that’s okay! I’ll never have the kind of beginner’s mind that I once did that powered me through most of my videos from 2020-22, where the excitement was the juice. I mean, I have now written a book about trees. Wonder is a bit harder to come by. So my videos on social media are less frequent, and will probably be so for the forseeable future.
What am I putting most of my energy towards now? Well, I’m getting back to my “roots” as a comedic actor and writer—in other words, where I was pre-pandemic. But now, I want to try to get people (read: production studios and associated folks) to understand that people want more nature in their lives, and that this can mean many things. Then I plan on getting them to help me make narrative projects that incorporate all the worlds and people I’ve seen and met in the past few years. Among the projects":
-A subversive nature show called “America the Hideous”.
-An animated show about trees in high school.
-My biggie: a NatGeo-style faux-documentary about the beauty of trees and the eccentric personalities they attract.
I would also like to get back on stage. I miss live performance so very much.
But all in all, I think I’m ready to move on from myself in terms of subjecthood (I’m not that interesting!), and that’s not exactly social media-friendly. So I’m at peace with things settling a bit in that arena.
Making big, funny projects with lots of wonderful people is what I’ve always wanted to do. Now, hopefully, I can make them about the themes and the worlds that are dear to my heart. It may take a while—because it is a sort of starting over—but that’s life. And I’ve done that before. But without further ado, here are three pieces of content from my year that ruled, three that sucked, and some commentary on why. You may have to click-through to watch, my apologies.
The best:
“Pine and Prejudice”
Honestly, just a great pun on my part. Couldn’t believe it had never been done. Will also give myself highest marks for lending Mr. Wickham phallic sugar pine energy, some remarkably expansive dialect and VO work, and a pitch-perfect Colin Firth.
“Please Don’t Hug This Tree!”
I like this one because it accomplishes a lot. First up, you learn a lot about the Ceiba Speciosa (the Floss-silk tree) with its prickles and incredible green photosynthesizing bark. But the video also has old-school JewsLoveTrees vibes: me rubbing my ass on a tree, me being overly neurotic, me talking super quick to avoid getting kicked out of someone’s front yard in Studio City. I also get in a book plug, and, since this one went viral, it helped me move a lot of books. Good vid!
“Making Iron Gall Ink”
It was personally enjoyable for me to both experiment with making ink from oak galls and also play a YouTube-style medieval scribe who gives props to his scribe homies for their “dope S’s”. I also like referencing fake videos within other videos, and had a good time finding the Gregorian chant that served as the background for his “viral hit ‘Making the Magna Carta!!!’”
The worst:
“Bath Tub Time Machine”
I’ll give you $1000 if you can correctly identify the tone in this video: a somber and intense journey into one man’s joyless bathing ritual. The reason you will not get the money is because I do not know myself, nor did I know when I was making it. So you ewill always be wrong. All I know is that I was probably trying to capture a “real” feeling or something and then shoot it like French New Wave and simultaneously crop out my private parts. Lo and behold, the experience of watching the resulting video is like being covered in strange, cold, hairy jelly. I’m sorry.
“Mark Twain Tells you to Come to Tobin Mitnick’s Book Event”
Just pure, unadulterated laziness, this video. Need to promote something? Don’t just slap on a paper mustache, add a steamboat Willie soundtrack, and execute the dialogue with intentional anti-charisma. Don’t be like me—put the work in, guys. I’m sorry.
“Secret Gump House”
Even if you feel a bit burnt out by your chosen subject matter (trees), don’t necessarily go all the way in the opposite direction—that direction being the Cancun Airport, conspiracy theories about Forrest Gump, and a travel Tiktok parody filmed at a Bubba Gump Shrimp. Also, the word “copulated”, which is somehow dirtier than any of its more explicit synonyms, will never be uttered nor written by me. I’m sorry.
Happy 2024!