A line of young adults, ranging from high schoolers to college students, stretched around the corner from the entrance of The Middle East in Cambridge Feb. 5. They waited to see YouTubers Cody Ko and Noel Miller perform their hit comedy show titled “Tiny Meat Gang Live.”
Fans in the line managed to find ways to keep themselves busy as they waited to be let into the venue.
Some debated which of Ko and Miller’s videos were the funniest, and others etched some of the comedians’ lines onto the dust of their tour bus. Some of the lines included were “50 Nic,” “Peace Love Crea Tyler,” “Mr. Struggle,” “Short King” and “fair enough.”
Ko, 28, is a successful content creator, with more than two million subscribers on YouTube. Miller, 29, has nearly one million. Their show at The Middle East on Feb. 5 was sold-out.
Like many popular YouTubers right now, Ko and Miller both got their comedic start on the now-defunct Vine. Their paths crossed not through the six-second-long looping video app, but rather when working as coders in Los Angeles. They decided to collaborate and start making YouTube videos.
The videos that brought the duo to popularity are part of a series called “THAT’S CRINGE”, where Ko and Miller react to obscure videos ranging from high schoolers vaping to morning routine videos.
There are always two guarantees with a “THAT’S CRINGE” video — one, it will be cringey, and two, Ko and Miller will come up with some iconic and hilarious comments.
The long line of fans entered the Cambridge venue by 7:30 p.m. The crowd was made up of yellow sweatshirts referencing Ko and Miller’s rap group,“Tiny Meat Gang,” as well as a handful of Patriots jerseys.
Ko and Miller walked out onto the stage to the tune of their popular song, “No Flex.”
Hecklers at most comedy shows would be asked to leave, but at Ko and Miller’s show, heckling was encouraged. When a drunk patron blurted something out, Miller lit up with joy at the opportunity to roast them. He called fans ugly, single-forever and “huge virgins.”
The comics’ relationship with their crowd mirrored that of close friends who always poke fun at each other.
Performers are usually grateful to the fans who come early to sit in the first row, but Ko and Miller seemed to have other plans. The duo sang a 30-second improvised song titled, “F–k the Front Row,” and it was a masterpiece to say the least.
Miller started off the show with a seven-minute bit about getting circumcised when he we was 13 years old. It was cringey. Ko followed suit with stories about getting an erection in his swimsuit while in high school and about the time he got a handjob from his high school girlfriend at her grandmother’s home. Also very cringey.
But how could one be surprised that there was so much penis-related talk at the show? I mean, the the tour is called, “Tiny Meat Gang Live.”
Ko and Miller certainly have different comedic tones. Miller is graphic and blunt while Ko has more of a nice-guy-trying-to-be-edgy vibe. Probably because he’s Canadian.
The duo went back and forth telling stories, almost like a cypher-style comedy set. Visual aids projected onto a screen helped add to the level of cringe of their stories. The screams of the teenage fans when they saw Ko in a swimsuit could have probably been heard from three blocks away.
The funniest part of the show was when Ko and Miller did a live “That’s Cringe.” They watched an episode of “Trending Houses,” which is like “MTV Cribs” for fraternity houses. Ko and Miller have obviously performed this bit at their past performances, but it still felt very natural and unscripted.
For the remainder of the show, Ko and Miller held a Q&A with the audience.
The performance was well thought-out, inviting and hilarious. The highlight, though, was when Miller said, “Y’all got the Tom Brady package. Yeah, he kissed you all on the lips.”
