Introduction
Gustav Emil Johnson (born June 20, 1995) is an American comedian and filmmaker known for sketch comedy on YouTube.
Early life
Gus Johnson was born on June 20, 1995 to Debra Johnson (née Allaman); his father works for an electric utility company and is a baseball coach and his mother is a volleyball coach and former English teacher. Johnson grew up in Grantsburg, Wisconsin, with three younger siblings, including his younger brother and frequent collaborator Sven.
In middle school, Johnson filmed "stupid sketches that kids would think are funny". He was elected governor of Badger Boys State in 2012 and graduated from Grantsburg High School in 2014. He received a degree in entertainment design from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and later moved to Los Angeles.
Career
Johnson started his YouTube channel in 2010 with his first video, "Ian's Song". He then went on to create meme videos starring himself and friends, which gradually became more popular. His first viral video was "How To Get Free Food From Subway", which has 1.79 million views as of December 2019.
In 2017, Johnson made a podcast with his friend and fellow YouTuber Eddy Burback titled OK I'll Talk. The two later moved from the Midwest to Los Angeles and created a new show, The Gus & Eddy Podcast. This podcast is similar to OK I'll Talk, and occasionally features guests. In late 2017, Johnson also branched into longform comedy, using Kickstarter to raise funds for a comedy series on a run-down golf course called "Par 9".
In January 2019, Johnson received a Shorty Awards nomination for "Best YouTube Comedian". On April 10, 2019, Johnson's channel hit 1 million subscribers on YouTube during his appearance on the H3 Podcast, which he celebrated with a video titled "Thank you for 1 million" in which he thanked everyone who had helped him along the way. He also signed a talent deal with Viacom in spring 2019 to create content for Comedy Central.