The legendary YouTube duo share their musings on the internet, IRL queerbaiting and accidentally parenting an entire generation of terminally online kids
By Ella Miller
I have been to shows at Massey Hall before, but none have ever shaken the rafters of the iconic venue quite like two British YouTubers trying to prevent the inevitable twink death of the universe.
The Terrible Influence tour made its only stop in Canada at Toronto’s legendary Massey Hall on November 5. The tour is a commemoration of Dan and Phil’s 15th anniversary… as YouTube collaborators, duh.
Through the medium of self-referential gay jokes and weaponized brain rot, Dan and Phil explore what it means to be an influencer and whether or not the 15-year-long social experiment they call their career has been a good thing–these are questions lesser YouTubers might leave to a five-hour long video essay. Dip and Pip knew the “Phandom” would show up for them though.
And show up they did.
Arriving at Massey Hall with my gay, asexual, furry twink companion, we were forced to walk two blocks south of Massey Hall and into an alleyway just to wait to be let in the door. Through our near-half-a-kilometre trek, I came face to face with my fellow Phans, let out of their cages for one night, and left to run feral through the streets of TIT-ronto; it was a line party featuring a plethora of cat whiskers, nun costumes and terrible emo haircuts.
It was a collection of fans amassed over more than a decade of community building through shared experiences and understanding. While online personalities can often be criticized as disconnected from the real world and even the experiences of normies like us, I cannot charge Dan and Phil with that crime.
I have never been to a pantomime, but I truly do hesitate to say that because I wholly believe the camp stylings and audience participation aspect of the Terrible Influence tour was meant to resemble one. They know their Phandom so well and the beats of the show were catered to elicit a laugh, applause, and maybe even a tear or two.
Every reference to the source material, DanAndPhilGames, was met with raucous cheers from the audience who have poured over their videos and were poised to catch split-second nods to golden pigs, “the equally sexual Father Philip” and fight or flight inducing apartment layouts.
The level of brain rot needed to catch all of these jokes is acknowledged within the show and is the inciting incident Dan and Phil used to start their conversation about the ethics of inadvertently becoming the Internet’s dads.
Now the most significant change in the world of Dan and Phil since their last tour as a two-piece unit in 2018 is that…they’re gay now! But for a long time, that was not something the two were not open about and in a web of online conspiracies to rival Larry Stylinson, fans had attempted to forcibly out them for years.
In between jokes about Timbits and Canada geese, Dan and Phil laid out how it feels to have a fandom simultaneously being your greatest supporters as well as serious threats to your personal security. It’s an intriguing conversation and something vital to be spoken to live in front of the people who both upheld and at times persecuted you.
But by the end of this rumination, a sense of solidarity was reached, because left in that room are all the people who care the most. It was a room full of people who understood what it feels like to be picked apart from the inside out: Dan and Phil’s fellow queer and neurodivergent folks who saw themselves in these two awkward twinks.
Yeah, my gay, asexual, furry twink companion? He was not in the minority at Massey Hall that night. The show was a Troye Sivan, Chappell Roan-infused celebration of “girls, gays, geeks and goths,” and their emotional support straight boyfriends. I will maintain that the Terrible Influence tour was gayer than Toronto Pride (the only corporate sponsor at TIT was NordVPN).
But man cannot survive on fan service alone and the question remains: is the Terrible Influence tour deserving of its name? Well…that’s where we lose the plot a little bit.
A two-hour show probably doesn’t merit a 30-minute intermission, especially when the middle is as soggy as it was. I understand that it is probably difficult to figure out how to entertain a theatre full of brain-rotted Gen Z-ers–they played Subway Surfers clips at one point so that was good–but more emphasis could have been placed on those great conversations about parasociality since this tour was in such a unique vantage point to do so.
My advice if there is ever a revamped version of Terrible Influence: cut the YouTube boxing bit. I like to clown on the Paul brothers and other YouTuber boxing events as much as the next guy, but WWE was not it. Dan and Phil should know better than to make an attempt at athleticism. Trends come and go so quickly these days and that middle chunk could be spent being more touchy-feely–ew, I know–and I am sure that the people who sat through Dan’s coming out video are prepared for it.
Plus those sluts will do anything for the promise of a little Sister Daniel action.
Despite these flaws, I had a blast and was not left disappointed. I will forever remember hearing someone come out as trans to their friends as everyone left the venue. It was a time for queer solidarity that most will remember as the night a certain Southern neighbour elected to potentially revoke LGBTQ+ rights.
The Terrible Influence tour will be remembered as a convergence for all the Internet-addled lesbians, t-boys and anxious, AuDHD emos of Toronto. It just needed a little more time in the oversized microwave.
Leave a Reply