Dan Howell

Dan Howell

Howell in 2014
Personal information
Born Daniel James Howell
(1991-06-11) 11 June 1991
Wokingham, England,
United Kingdom
Nationality British
Residence London, England,
United Kingdom
Occupation
  • YouTube personality
  • radio host
YouTube information
Channel danisnotonfire
Years active 2009–present
Subscribers 6.0 million
(August 2016)
Total views 571.7 million
(August 2016)
Associated acts Phil Lester
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 19 August 2016.

Daniel James "Dan" Howell (born 11 June 1991)[1] is a British video blogger and radio personality. He is best known for his YouTube channel danisnotonfire, which has reached over six million subscribers. Together with frequent collaborator Phil Lester, Howell presented Sunday night entertainment show Dan and Phil on BBC Radio 1 from January 2013 until August 2014, and presented the station's Internet Takeover slot from September 2014 til April 2016.

Personal life

Howell was born and raised in Wokingham, Berkshire.[2] He has a younger brother, Adrian.[2]

Before starting his YouTube channel, he worked in retail chains Focus DIY at the age of 16, and later at supermarket Asda.[3] After attending The Forest School, Howell went to the University of Manchester in 2010 to study law, but dropped out in order to pursue video blogging as a profession.[2]

Howell has lived with best friend and fellow YouTuber Phil Lester since August 2011,[4] and the pair moved to London together in July 2012.[5][6]

During a YouNow live chat with fans in August 2015, in response to a query as to whether he was a feminist, he replied "absolutely" before criticising jokes, misunderstandings and ignorance surrounding feminism. He also described the ignorance surrounding feminism as "honestly terrifying and dangerous" and commented that the way in which feminism is viewed by general society makes him "panic for the future of humanity".[7]

Career

YouTube

Howell uploaded his first YouTube video titled "HELLO INTERNET" on 16 October 2009.[8] He was encouraged by "some friends" including Phil Lester to continually upload videos to the site.[2]

He also has a second channel, danisnotinteresting, which has over 1.5 million subscribers and 39.5 million views, as of August 2016.

In 2012, He won the YouTube competition "SuperNote" run by Rhett and Link.[9] He also featured in the weekly video series Becoming YouTube created by Benjamin Cook which looked at the different aspects to becoming an internet celebrity.[10] He also wrote a blog for The Huffington Post, in which he wrote about the creative process behind making his videos.[11]

Howell and Lester collaborated on a YouTube channel for My Damn Channel, entitled The Super Amazing Project, in which they investigated paranormal events.[12] In October 2014, it was announced that as of that month, the duo would not carry on working on the project, in order to concentrate on their Radio 1 show.[13] It was later announced that the Super Amazing Project would continue production, but hosted by different presenters, scouted by the My Damn Channel network.[13][14]

On 12 September 2014, Howell and Lester posted the first video on their new gaming YouTube channel, DanandPhilGAMES.[15] On 8 March 2015 the channel hit 1 million subscribers.[16] It was officially the fastest growing channel on YouTube.[17]

On 1 April 2015, Howell and Lester launched a spin-off channel, DanAndPhilCRAFTS, as an April Fools joke. It features a single video of them creating square snowflakes out of paper, with an amateur editing style and humour throughout. It reached over 154,000 subscribers and 500,000 total video views in one week.[18] "Don't cry, craft" became a popular meme from that video, being posted by fans in comments of other youtube videos and all over the internet. The channel was awarded the YouTube Silver Play Button at Summer in the City 2015. On 1 April 2016 Howell and Lester made a second video for that channel in which they did another joke tutorial, this time on making glitter faces. It has been said that if they were to upload another video in 2017 the channel would continue to grow and they would be awarded a YouTube Gold Play Button.

BBC Radio 1

Main article: Dan and Phil

In January 2013, Howell and Lester became the presenters of BBC Radio 1's Sunday evening entertainment and request show.[19] They had occasionally worked with the station before, producing videos for the station's YouTube channel for Edinburgh Festival Fringe and presenting two Christmas broadcasts. The show was designed to be interactive with the audience, featuring amateur music videos from listeners, challenges performed on air by the presenters and song requests.[20] Four months after starting the show, it won the Sony Golden Headphones award.[21]

Howell and Lester presented at the Teen Awards in 2013 and 2014, as part of the BBC online coverage and their Radio 1 show.[22]

In August 2014, it was announced that the last Dan and Phil show would be broadcast on 24 August, with the duo moving to a different show on Monday nights, featuring other popular video bloggers.[23] This new show was titled The Internet Takeover, and featured Howell along with Lester live on the first Monday of every month, before coming to an end in April 2016.[24]

TV and film

Since 2014 Howell and Lester have hosted the worldwide YouTube livestream of the Brit Awards as well as making backstage videos for their channel.[25]

In 2015, Howell, along with Lester, had voice cameo appearances in the UK cinema release of Walt Disney Animation Studios' Big Hero 6 as Technician 1 & 2.[26] However, this version is not in the UK home release.

On 2 February 2016 his BBC Three esports documentary The Supergamers aired.[27]

Howell and Lester voiced two gorilla princes in a December 2016 episode of Disney Junior's The Lion Guard.[28]

The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire and The Amazing Tour Is Not On Fire

On 26 March 2015, Howell and Lester announced they had co-written a book through a trailer on his channel called The Amazing Book Is Not on Fire (TABINOF).[29] It was released in the UK on 8 October 2015 and worldwide on 15 October 2015, published by Ebury Press and Random House Children's Books.[30] The book topped the General Hardbacks Sunday Times Bestsellers list having sold 26,745 copies in the UK in the first week of its release.[31] It also became a #1 New York Times Bestseller in the young adult hardcover list.[32][33]

In the same trailer the pair announced their theatrical stage show The Amazing Tour Is Not on Fire (TATINOF) which travelled around the UK during October and November 2015, ending at the London Palladium.[34]

On 22 April 2016 they took the tour to the US which began at Playlist Live in Orlando, Florida and ended on 24 June 2016 at the Dolby in Hollywood, CA.[35] It was the largest tour ever by YouTube creators.[36] They also toured Australia in August 2016 starting in Perth and ending in Brisbane.[37]

Youtube Red Originals and Dan and Phil Go Outside

On 24 June 2016 they announced The Amazing Tour Is Not on Fire is to be released later in the year as a YouTube Originals film along with a making of documentary.[38] They are the first British YouTube creators to release content on the YouTube Red platform.

Alongside this in November 2016 they are releasing a photobook named Dan and Phil Go Outside which includes a personal collection of candid photos and insightful stories from their tour[39]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Nominee Result
2013Sony Golden Headphones AwardDan and Phil on BBC Radio 1Won[40]
2014Teen Choice Award - Web CollaborationThe Photo Booth ChallengeNominated[41]
2014Lovie Internet Video Person of the Year AwardDan HowellWon[42]
2016 British Online Creator Awards - Film of the Year The Amazing Tour Is Not On Fire - Official Movie Won[43]
2016 British Online Creator Awards - Collaboration of the Year (With Phil Lester) Phil is not on fire 7 Won[44]
2016 British Online Creator Awards - Collaboration of the Year (With Phil Lester) Dan & Phil's Story of TATINOF Nominated[45]
2016 British Online Creator Awards - Series of the Year Internet Support Group Nominated[46]
2016 British Online Creator Awards - Collaboration of the Year (With Louise Pentland) Our Awkward Fancy Meal Nominated[47]
2016 British Online Creator Awards - Best Use of Tech in a Video The Dan and Phil 3D AUDIO EXPERIENCE Nominated[48]
2016 British Online Creator Awards - Creator of the Year Dan Howell Nominated[49]

References

  1. Howell, Dan. "@danisnotonfire". Twitter. Archived from the original on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2015. thanks to everyone celebrating my 22nd year into the countdown of death!
  2. 1 2 3 4 Howell, Daniel. "Draw My Life - Dan Howell". YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  3. Dan Howell (29 February 2012). How I got fired (video) (YouTube). Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  4. Dan Howell (11 August 2011). HOT BOYS on Teen Cribz (video) (YouTube). Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  5. Lester, Phil. "@hi_jimmy we move next week! Yes we should :D you can teach me what an oyster card is". Twitter. Phil Lester. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  6. Perry, Alex (23 January 2013). "The Next Big Thing? Interview: Dan Howell (danisnotonfire)". The Huffington Post UK. Retrieved January 2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  7. Dan Howell (18 August 2015). cheeky knee. YouTube.
  8. HELLO INTERNET. YouTube. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  9. Howell, Daniel. "LLAMARMY ULTIMATE GALACTIC VICTORY". YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  10. Cook, Benjamin. "Anatomy of a YouTuber BECOMING YOUTUBE Video #1". YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  11. "Daniel Howell's Huffington Post blog". Huffingtonpost.co.uk. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  12. The Super Amazing Project (26 September 2011). "The Super Amazing Project". YouTube. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  13. 1 2 Howell, Dan (1 October 2014). "Danisnotonfire on Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  14. Lester, Phil (1 October 2014). "@amazingphil on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  15. DanAndPhilGAMES. YouTube. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  16. "Dan Howell on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  17. "SITC 2015". Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  18. "DanAndPhilCRAFTS". Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  19. Lazarus, Susanna (9 November 2012). "Vernon Kay and Reggie Yates to leave Radio 1". Radiotimes.com. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  20. Cooper, Ben (11 September 2012). "Radio 1 announces changes to its weekend schedule". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  21. "The Sony Golden Headphones Award - winner announced!". Sony Golden Headphones Awards. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014.
  22. "BBC Radio 1 - Dan and Phil - Dan and Phil at the Teen Awards!". BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  23. Cooper, Ben. "New youth presenters for Radio 1". BBC. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  24. "BBC - Radio 1 announces new student radio curated playlist show - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  25. "Dan & Phil at the BRITs | BRIT Awards 2014". BRIT Awards. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  26. Sutton, Chris (6 January 2015). "Dan and Phil to appear in Big Hero 6". Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  27. "The Supergamers - BBC Three". BBC. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
  28. "Dan Howell on Twitter". Twitter. November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  29. The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire – Reveal Trailer. YouTube. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  30. Lester, Phil; Howell, Dan (13 October 2015). The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire. Random House Children's Books. ISBN 9781101939840. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  31. "dan hOGREwell on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  32. "Phil Lester on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  33. "Best Sellers - The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  34. The Dan and Phil BOOK & TOUR!. YouTube. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  35. "Dan & Phil - The Amazing Tour Is Not On Fire". danandphiltour.com. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  36. VidCon (2016-06-24), YouTube @ VidCon: Susan Wojcicki Keynote, retrieved 2016-08-03
  37. "Dan Howell on Twitter". Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  38. "Dan Howell on Twitter". Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  39. "Dan & Phil Go Outside - The Book - Preorder Now". www.danandphilgooutside.com. Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  40. Lucey, Kate (13 May 2013). "Dan and Phil win a Sony Radio Academy Award all suited up". Sugar Scrape. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  41. "Teen Choice Awards News". Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  42. "LOVIE INTERNET VIDEO PERSON OF THE YEAR". Lovie. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  43. "BONCASawards on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
  44. "BONCASawards on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
  45. "BONCASawards on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
  46. "BONCASawards on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
  47. "BONCASawards on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
  48. "BONCASawards on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
  49. "BONCASawards on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-11-22.

External links

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