| Viva La Dirt League | |||||||
| Origin: | Auckland, New Zealand | ||||||
| Nationality: | New Zealand | ||||||
| Occupation: | Sketch comedians | ||||||
| Channel Direct Url: | channel/UCchBatdUMZoMfJ3rIzgV84g | ||||||
| Channel Display Name: | Viva La Dirt League | ||||||
| Years Active: | 2011–present | ||||||
| Subscribers: | 6.4 million | ||||||
| Views: | 3.7 billion | ||||||
| Silver Button: | yes | ||||||
| Silver Year: | 2017 | ||||||
| Gold Button: | yes | ||||||
| Gold Year: | 2019 | ||||||
| Stats Update: | 18 June 2024
| ||||||
Viva La Dirt League (VLDL) are a New Zealand group of professional sketch comedy YouTubers.[1] The founding members are Rowan Bettjeman, Alan Morrison and Adam King, but their productions have featured other regular cast members such as Byron Coll, Hamish Parkinson, David Correos, Britt Scott Clark,[2] Ben Van Lier,[3] Ellie Harwood, Phoenix Cross, Rhiannon McCall, and Robert Hartley.
, their YouTube channel has 6.4 million subscribers and 3.7 billion views. Their second YouTube channel, Viva La Dirt League D&D, has 420,000 subscribers, and over 53.77 million views.[4] They have a Spanish language channel, launched in July 2022, which has 7,840 subscribers and over 920,000 views.[5]
Before forming VLDL, Bettjeman and Morrison's short Beached was selected for showing at the New Zealand International Film Festival in 2010.[6] Bettjeman and Morrison present a weekly news media online clip show "Media Ocre Awards" for the WatchMe.co.nz.[7] The group went full-time in 2017.[8]
The group's sketches have been nominated for Streamy Awards.[9] [10] [11] Fans of the group include English actor Andrew Koji.[12] The group is represented by Creative Artists Agency.[13]
PUBG Logic is set in an online multiplayer battle royale game (ostensibly PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds). Characters are players' avatars and the comedy focuses on the bugs, gameplay limitations, and exploits in the game.[14] [15] [16] Use of the PUBG imagery has been endorsed by the game's creators, and due to the popularity of the game, and the group's sketches, they have attended gaming conventions (Armageddon) and tournaments (League of Legends Pro League) to promote these characters.[17] A supercut of the first season has reached over 17 million views on YouTube.[18] [19]
Epic NPC Man is a sketch comedy set within "Skycraft", an entirely fictional fantasy MMORPG where non-player characters (NPCs) and players interact. Epic NPC Man deconstructs the in-universe logic of role playing games (RPGs), the mechanics of video games and the fantasy genre at large, typically spoofing real-life game franchises such as The Elder Scrolls (particularly Skyrim), World of Warcraft, Dark Souls and The Witcher. The series takes place in Azerim, a sprawling kingdom assailed by the neighbouring Orcish land of Shmargonrog. Initially, Epic NPC Man was presented almost exclusively from the perspective of Greg (Morrison), a lowly NPC garlic farmer and quest-giver in the tranquil but unremarkable village of Honeywood, observing the often confusing activities of players. Other recurring characters include the blacksmith Bodger (Bettjeman), sorcerer Baradün (King), muggers Bernard (Bettjeman) and Charles (Van Lier), poor fruit merchant Fred Orchardson (Parkinson), the continuously crying Eugene (King), town fisherman Baelin (Bettjeman) and self aware gravediggers Grimble (King) and Nut (Morrison).[20] [21] [22] Many scenes have been filmed at Howick Historical Village. Actor John Callen has made multiple guest appearances.
In 2020, the group crowdfunded NZ$660,000 (c. €390,000) via Kickstarter[23] to produce a short film set in the Epic NPC Man universe. Baelin's Route: An Epic NPC Man Adventure premiered on YouTube on 9 May 2021. The film, which was written by Morrison and directed by Morrison and King, stars Bettjeman as Baelin, a non-player character whose normal route, from home to fishing spot, is interrupted by a human player (Ben Van Lier) and a damsel in distress (Phoenix Cross) making him into a reluctant hero.[24] [25] It had over 900 thousand views within 24 hours of its release.[26]
Bored is a series of sketches primarily based in a tech store.[27] [28] [29] New Zealand Radio Award-winning presenter Ellie Harwood co-stars as an employee.[30] [31] Until July 2023, Bored was set in, and filmed inside a PlayTech store (a real computer retail chain in New Zealand), although the sketches were created independently from the company.[32]
As of July 2023, the Bored series is filmed and based in a fictional store called TechTown and is filmed in the new Viva La Dirt League studio.
Starting in July 2019, Viva released a short Dungeons & Dragons series where their Epic NPC Man characters adventured into, with Robert Hartley as Dungeon Master.
Building on its success, in March 2020, Viva launched their second YouTube channel focusing on Dungeons & Dragons content set in the Epic NPC Man universe. In the Adventures of Azerim campaign, King, Morrison and Bettjeman reprise their roles as Greg, Baradun and Bodger, and Van Lier debuts the character Bartholomew Osiris Bladesong (abbreviated as "Bob"). Hartley also returns as the Dungeon Master.[33]
In February 2024, Viva started a second Dungeons & Dragons campaign with Britt Scott Clark, Ellie Harwood, Phoenix Cross and Rhiannon McCall called Tales of the Misfits.[34]
A Kickstarter campaign for a filming studio and office space for the company raised over US$2.5 Million in March 2022, with a location to be determined.[35] In August, the Kickstarter campaign page (Update #38) and the VLDL YouTube channel updated with the news of the new studio location having been secured after a long search. The video shows a tour of the new, unrenovated facilities.[36] The studio has been in operation since June 2023.[37]