I livestream video games on Twitch.tv. Nightly. Where you ask? Here: http://twitch.tv/misterniceguy425.

This basically helps fill the void of not getting to perform in front of a live in-your-face audience as much as I would like. Not to mention that it’s a great excuse to play video games while riffing with my viewers. For the uninitiated, Twitch.tv is a place where people can play video games and broadcast it over the internet with a live camera shot of themselves. I know what you’re thinking; “doesn’t that have the possibility to get out of hand? Someone could broadcast (fill in the blank).” All of the vulgar possibilities that you’re imagining have probably happened, and there are people way more creative that you thinking of other crazy stuff to broadcast as you’re reading this. Never fear, my stream is pretty tame.

When I first started streaming, I’d never have imagined that there would be “hecklers” on the internet. You may know them as trolls, or keyboard warriors; people who do whatever they can to get an angry reaction out of you. Now that my stream is gaining a little (strong emphasis on “little”) traction, I have a few regular trolls who pop in every night and spew negativity in the chat. This post is not intended to bring attention to these hooligans (and I use the term ‘hooligans’ ironically, I’m well under 50 years of age), but rather to express my confusion.

In a comedy club someone who hecklers a comedian gets to see their reaction, and at least takes some ownership for their terrible actions. They might get kicked out of the club, cursed out, invited on stage to see if they can do better than the comedian who people actually paid to see (this is rare), or in extreme cases beat up. On the internet when someone heckles during a livestream, they do so somewhat anonymously and have to wait 30 seconds (twitch has a delay) to see the streamer’s reaction. By the time they see that reaction the zinger that they thought was so brilliant 30 seconds ago is now irrelevant and they look stupid.

My hecklers usually point out the fact that apparently I look like every single African American celebrity that has ever been on television. I find this hilarious because the comparisons are so over-the-top. I’ve been compared to: Cleveland Brown, Oprah, Rerun (yes, Rerun), Carlton from Fresh Prince, Steve Urkel, Barrack Obama, Denzel Washington, Stevie from Malcolm in the Middle, and Kenan Thompson. If Kenan Thompson, Oprah, and Denzel Washington were all at a Dinner party, nobody would go up to them as ask “hey are y’all related?” Yet somehow, I look like all of these people.

Regardless, streaming is awesome and has been a legitimate job for a lot of people. I stream nightly (here’s the link again in case you missed it earlier: http://twitch.tv/misterniceguy425) at 8PM MST. Come hang out, laugh, and compare me to celebrities of color that look nothing like me while I play videos games.