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TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com
Michigan experience. Most everyone
knows about the football games, but
for students, what comes before is
nearly as important.
“It’s not all of what college was
about, not all of what the University
of Michigan is about, obviously,
because there’s a lot more to it,”
Schwinder said. “But it does bring
me back.”
Now, the videos serve as a sort
of time capsule for everyone at
Michigan in 2011
and
2012.
And
for
Morris,
the
importance
of
that
capsule
is
even greater than
nostalgia.
A
friend
of
hers
had
been
in many of the
videos,
but
she
has since passed
away, leaving “Pre-
Gaming with Pat” as a window back
to her life.
“That’s kind of the only real way
that we can see her in the flesh still,”
Morris said.
Perhaps
the
most
surprising
sign of the mark the show made on
campus came from the University
itself, possibly the only institution on
campus that might have had a gripe
with the videos. As Stansik’s time
wound to a close, the University’s
official Twitter account (@umich)
sent its respect.
“Farewell
#PregamingWithPat,”
the tweet read. “We can’t condone
you, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t
secretly enjoy your videos. Deuces.”
* * *
There is a certain charm to the
“Pre-Gaming
with
Pat”
videos
that makes it easy to forget that, to
Stansik, the series was more than a
celebration of inebriation. While his
career goals revolve around comedy
writing, those videos gave him an
outlet he could throw himself into.
The
nights
before
game
days, Stansik and
Peterson
would
often
sleep
at
Stansik’s parents’
house, an unusual
thing
for
two
20-something men
to do. For noon
games,
the
goal
was to be out and
filming at 8 a.m.
He was so dedicated that he would
often edit the video while watching
the game to get it posted as soon as
possible. It wasn’t the classic college
game day experience, but he made
them anyway. They made him happy.
“Especially once my athletic career
was over, I was devastated because I
was just like, ‘I don’t know how I’m
going to fill this void,’ ” Stansik said.
“Obviously I knew it was going to
end eventually, and as it turns out,
I mean, doing (video) is arguably
better. It sounds crazy, because, I can
tell you, ‘Oh, the rush of releasing a
video,’ (but) it sounds so corny. The
rush of uploading a YouTube video, it
sounds so stupid to say. But I really
enjoy doing it. I love making stuff.”
Soon, what had started out as a
side project was putting him on the
map.
More recognition came when his
popular YouTube account shifted into
more traditional comedy. His videos
“I’m 24” and “Bros vs. Hipsters” both
got over a million views. “Positive
Decisions,” a music video with his
friend Dan Henig, represented a
notable uptick in production value.
He even did videography for one of
Hoodie Allen’s tours.
And then the videos stopped
coming. When Stansik took a job at
a Los Angeles talent agency, his time
for some of his personal creative
projects dwindled. He has since
left that job, giving him the perhaps
necessary space to again focus on the
short-form comedy videos he enjoys
so much. He has worked on longer
projects, too, though the hurdles
to
production
on
bigger-budget
creations are notably larger.
In other words, Stansik has been
experiencing what most creatives
do when faced with the realities of
making it in Los Angeles.
“It’s been difficult in terms of the
time off, because I had no plans of
stopping, I had no plans of taking a
job that was going to make it really
difficult to film stuff and write stuff,”
Stansik said. “…This time that I’ve
been off, I guess I just want people to
know it wasn’t by choice.”
* * *
By the end of the year, Stansik,
now 28, plans to be in pre-production
for his next videos. It’s a return that
has been a long time coming, and
Stansik seems more aware of that
than anyone.
But while Stansik seems to feel a
certain degree of dismay over the fact
he hasn’t posted in years, others are
just excited to see more of his work.
“I think … the self-deprecating
nature of Pat’s humor kind of
manifests
itself
in
real-world
consequences,” said Stansik’s friend
Devin Rossinsky. “I think he maybe
is a little too hard on himself, and
puts some undue pressure, because
he had this past success with ‘Pre-
Gaming with Pat,’ that he wants to
deliver good content, and he already
has built up a subscriber base and
wants to do right by them and also
wants to do right by himself.”
But if all goes according to plan, the
uploads portion of Stansik’s YouTube
page won’t be dormant much longer.
“I think that he’s excited and has
a newfound spark to really get back
into the production of sketch videos
and musical parodies and the like,”
Rossinsky said. “Because it’s what he
loves to do, and I think enough time
has passed.
“It’s about damn time.”
COURTESY OF PAT STANSIK
Stansik’s videos became known for such characters as Da’Quan, “Handles Guy,” “Over-Under Girl” and Pat’s classic man-on-the-street routine.
“If I run for
president one day
... I will only be
proud of that.”