LeafyIsHere

About

LeafyIsHere is the YouTube handle of Calvin Vail, an American video game streamer and vlogger known for his satirical commentaries and narrations while playing a variety of first-person video games, most notably the surf mode in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Online History

On October 7th, 2011, Calvin launched his YouTube channel under the handle "LeafyIsHere." During the early years, LeafyIsHere began growing his audience base by hosting Let's Play-style gameplay videos^[6] of Fallout 3 and Minecraft, before expanding into commentaries on a broader range of topics relating to the streaming subculture and social media at large beginning in late 2013, most notably on the initial reception of Google Plus and its controversial integration into YouTube's commenting system (shown below, left). On July 30th, 2014, LeafyIsHere uploaded his second commentary video addressing the cultures of crowdfunding, donating and advertising on Twitch and YouTube (shown below, right).

Later that same year, on October 28th, LeafyIsHere uploaded a video in which he tells a story of his encounter with a pedeophile, gaining over 1.3 million views in the following year. On November 17th, he uploaded a video wherein he talks about people who threatens others with distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in online gaming communities, gaining over two million views in the following year.

On August 22nd, 2020, his account shut down.

Reception

Calvin's commentary style has often been replicated by other channels, who are often referred as "Leafy clones".^[7] Some notable channels include Pyrocynical,^[8] NFKRZ^[9] and LtCorbis. In middle 2015, Leafy fans started using the catchphrase “Leaf a Like” to spam YouTube comment sections and Twitch chats, initially coined as part of a photoshopped parody series depicting the video game commentator as a reptile.

Online Presence

As of March 2016, Leafy commands over 1,5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, more than 12,000 likes on his Facebook page,^[1] over 200,000 followers on Twitter^[2] and over 1,000 subscribed users on his subreddit.^[7]

Controversies

TommyNC Video

On March 19th, 2016, LeafyIsHere uploaded a reaction video criticizing and mocking the physical appearance and on-camera persona of fellow YouTube vlogger TommyNC2010. The video garnered over 460,000 views in less than 24 hours, though it was removed from his channel shortly thereafter. The same day, TommyNC2010 uploaded a response video in which the vlogger revealed that he has been living with autism and as a result of Leafy's commentary, he has received death threats from his fans. In less than 48 hours, the video gained more than 600,000 views.

On March 20th, 2016, the YouTube channel h3h3 Productions uploaded a rant video criticizing Leafy and the nature of his video content, as well as the mob mentality of his fanbase that have led to episodes of cyberbullying against minors and vloggers with learning disabilities on YouTube. Within a few hours, the video gained over half a million views and 60,000 likes, prompting Leafy to hide the videos in question from his YouTube channel and issue a formal apology via Twitter,^[10] uploading the next day an apology video that got over 800,000 in the following hours.

Feud With iDubbbz

On September 12th, 2016, YouTuber iDubbbz released a new episode of Content Cop criticizing Leafy's videos and referring to him as a bully. Additionally, iDubbbz mocks Leafy's chin for being small, pointing out that he appears to be trying to hide the part of his face when posing for photographs (shown below). Within 48 hours, the video gathered upwards of 4.9 million views and 120,000 comments.^[18] On December 11th, 2019, the video was removed by YouTube for "…violating YouTube's policy on harassment and bullying" in light of changes to their harassment policy.^[18]

After the video was released, many internet users mocked the size of Leafy's chin with the hashtag #nochin. That day, YouTuber Keemstar uploaded a video reporting on the video on the DramaAlert channel (shown below).

Hiatus

After December 12th, 2017, Leafy went on a two and a half years hiatus.^[11][12] Content creator EmpLemon uploaded a video on June 20th, 2018 talking about Leafy's YouTube career and speculating as to why he left.^[13] In two years, the video gained over 3.2 million views. On October 25th, 2018, Keemstar uploaded an interview he did with Leafy, discussing why Leafy left among other topics.^[14] In under two years, the interview garnered over 3.5 million views.

On April 1st, 2020, Keemstar clarified Leafy activities during his hiatus on FaZe Banks and Keemstar's revived Mom's Basement podcast, saying "…For those of you that don't know, Leafy is heavily invested in the stock market, he's basically a stock trader…" ^[15][16]

2020 Return

After a two and a half year hiatus, Leafy returned to YouTube on March 31st, 2020 with a video briefly commenting on iDubbbz's response to the controversy surrounding his girlfriend, influencer Anisa Jomha, having an OnlyFans account.^[17] Within four months, the video gathered over 5.2 million views.

Related Memes

Leaf a Like / Hisss

“Leaf a Like” is a catchphrase used by the fans of Leafy to spam the comment sections of popular video pages on YouTube. Initially coined as part of a photoshopped parody series depicting the video game commentator as a reptile, the in-joke has also spawned a number of other related terms used in the comments section of YouTube, including the Reptilian Army, Reptilian Brotherhood and most notably “Hisss…”, an onomatopoiea of the high-pitched sound commonly associated with reptilian creatures.

Personal Life

Little is known about Leafy's life, except that he was born on August 18th, 1995 and lives in Utah.^[4][5]

Search Interest

External References