Vic Berger IV
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About
Vic Berger is a video editor, satirist, and musician most well-known for his humorous Vine edits during 2016 Republican Presidential Primary and for trolling Jeb Bush during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Online History
Berger has maintained a YouTube account since August 2006, although there are no videos uploaded to the account before 2012.[1] He joined Vine in June 2013 and began uploading edited videos to the social network when that functionality became available in 2014.[2]
On April 28th, 2014, Berger created a video on YouTube called "E-ZPass has the worst on-hold music I've ever heard." The video, which featured a recording of the strange sounds callers heard when trying to speak with an operator for the automatic toll pass company E-ZPass, received over 187,000 views as of February 2016. In addition, it was posted to the subreddit /r/politicalvideos, where it received 2,371 points (94% upvoted),[3] and was spotlighted by New York City news anchor Pat Kiernan on Twitter.[4]
On Vine, Berger began gaining attention to his videos with a series in early 2015 on Chubby Checker, the original singer of "The Twist," who still makes many television appearances. The videos of Checker were often humorous out-of-context snippets.
Berger produced videos consistently on both his Vine and YouTube channels, often targeting Guy Fieri, Jimmy Fallon, televangelist Jim Bakker, and Chubby Checker, among other celebrities. In the summer of 2015, when candidates began announcing their presidential candidacies, Berger created a series of videos in which the candidate's announcement speeches were edited humorously; several of these videos became popular.
Throughout the presidential campaign, Berger has created popular videos on both his YouTube and Vine accounts and also for the online content portal SuperDeluxe[5] about the 2016 Presidential Campaign. These videos have been described as "surreal" and "absurdist." The writer Dan O'Sullivan has praised Berger's satirical videos, saying "Vic Berger IV might be this election's Ralph Steadman, but with Vine footage instead of dripping pens."[6]
#Jeb4Prez Tattoo
On July 16th, 2015, Berger created the Vine "Jeb Bush loves technology. #JebBush," in which Jeb names several Apple products, including an Apple Watch. The video has gained more than 7.9 million loops as of February 2016.
On July 25th, Berger tweeted that if the video received 1 million views by the end of the following weekend, he would get a #Jeb4Prez neck tattoo. The tweet was retweeted over 1,077 times and favorited 826 times.[8] On July 26th, Jeb Bush tweeted about the video, saying "I'd like to make Vic get a #Jeb4Prez tattoo. He's halfway to 1mil, give this Vine a few views…"[9] According to the Daily Dot,[10] Berger was contacted by the communications director for Bush's campaign, who encouraged him to get the tattoo; following the meeting Berger changed the rules to the contest, saying that he would receive the tattoo whenever the video hit 1 million views.
On August 11th, Berger tweeted several photos indicating that he got the tattoo, and was immediately contacted by several news outlets, who published stories about his support for Bush. However, in a later story with CNN, he explained that the tattoo was a hoax.[11]
The Vic Berger Election Special
As part of the coverage of the 2016 United States Presidential Election, Vic Berger and comedian Tim Heidecker travelled to both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. According to Berger, he was determined to speak at the Conventions (shown below). The series was split into two parts, with part one being released on July 25th, 2016, and part two on August 1st, 2016. The videos gained widespread attention from various news outlets such as The Washington Post,[12] A.V. Club,[13] and Daily News.[14]
Personal Life
Berger lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania with his family. He is a longtime collaborator of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim of Tim & Eric, with whom he works as a video editor; he also works freelance in this capacity.
Search Interest
External References
[1] YouTube – Vic Berger IV
[2] Vine – Vic Berger IV
[3] /r/politicalvideos – E-ZPass has the worst on-hold music I've ever heard
[4] Twitter – Pat Kiernan's Tweet
[5] YouTube – Super Deluxe: Vic Berger IV
[6] Twitter – Bro_Pair's Status
[7] Vice – Vic Berger IV Is Vine's Strangest Political Satirist
[8] Twitter – Jeb Bush's Tweet
[9] Twitter – Vic Berger IV's Tweet
[10] The Daily Dot – If this guy's vine reaches 1 million views, he'll get a Jeb Bush neck tattoo
[11] CNN – How one man pranked the presidential race
[12] The Washington Post – Tim Heidecker and Vic Berger reveal the secrets behind their convention pranks
[13] A.V Club – The Vic Berger Election Special ventures awkwardly into Trump territory
[14] Daily News – Video editor Vic Berger and comedian Tim Heidecker explain absurdist RNC video starring Trump, Giuliani, Baio
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