[Essay] Youtube Spotlight: Tiny Tim Rauscheder

The Greatest Love of All

I want to spend some time today talking about a somewhat lesser-known Youtube personality. This is a man who has given me great joy over the years but also, more importantly, has caused me to think in great depth about the source and nature of that joy. The man is Tiny Tim Rauscheder, Tiny Tim hereafter for brevity’s sake. His all-time-high subscriber count is a little difficult to pin down, for sad reasons that will be discussed at length later on, but currently his combined video view count is just over 5.6 million views. If you’re unfamiliar with Tiny Tim, his channel can be described as a very laid back halfway point between L.A. Beast and The Report of the Week. And somehow, through the unlikely combination of 40 ounce chugging records, eating challenges, and earnest fast food reviews, I learned a lot from Tiny Tim about the value and cost of being yourself. 

I first encountered Tiny Tim in college, browsing Youtube one evening, because of a video boldly titled “World Record 11 Second 40 oz.” I was skeptical as soon as the video length turned out to be 1:27, but as I watched the video, that skepticism melted away. Not only does he actually down the 40 in 11 seconds flat, but the rest of the video was just a joy to watch because of how much personality he puts at either end of that feat. He thanks his brother for buying these specially for him in Ohio, tells us he liked the older bottles’ logos better, and even lets us see the aftermath of the ordeal, including a solid four-second belch (if that doesn’t sound impressive to you, do anything at all right now for four seconds, then imagine it was belching after ingesting 40 ounces of malt liquor while managing to bring precisely none of it back up). What he did was undoubtedly impressive, but there was just so much warmth cushioning it. You had that relaxed feeling of just shooting the shit with a friend. As I watched more of his videos, I’d find that as a constant hallmark of his work. 

As much as you can in his particular genre, Tiny Tim did a great job of varying his content. Clicking around his channel you’d find chugging videos, insane eating challenges like 4 McRibs and a 40 or an entire Burger King Family Bundle, but then nestled between you’d find easygoing videos where he just wants to show you some new fast food he enjoys, like the Hardees Monster Thickburger or the Little Caesar’s Smokehouse Pizza. Often he’ll specifically mention not eating lettuce or vegetables because he considers them “rabbit food.” 

As you can imagine if you’ve made it this far into this piece without watching one of his videos, Tiny Tim is a very large man, of a build that you reactively associate with poor health choices, and no content in his channel does anything to dispel that impression. Dig deep enough into the comment section on any of his videos and you’ll find those looking to shame him or expressing disgust for his actions/lifestyle, and I certainly don’t mean to lionize unhealthiness in this piece at all, but the context that I think is important to keep in mind with Tiny Tim is that I don’t believe he was working to lionize that behavior either. 

Tiny Tim always greeted you with a smile. Oftentimes in his videos the camera placement was such that you were seated directly across from him at his dining room table or down in his rec-room-style basement. He never shied away from the grosser aspects of what he was doing, in fact often going out of his way to emphasize them, just enough that we get a little chuckle and the feeling of being let in on the joke. One particular video comes to mind in which he tries (and fails) to eat 100 Vienna Sausages. Not only does he proudly upload this video despite the fact that he failed (he doesn’t even really come close), he makes a point to show us the revolting, gelatinous, oversight-of-a-just-and-loving-God mess left on his plate afterward. Oftentimes he’d be visited mid-vdeo by one of his cats, interested to observe the action. His videos are all shot with a fixed camera and no separate sound capturing, and the editing was extremely minimal, often just a slight speed up and maybe a little music to overlay whatever fast food feast he was assailing. My point in all of this is that Tiny Tim always came across to me as someone who was extremely happy and comfortable with himself. He did these things for fun, and he invited you to come along too if it meant a smile or a couple of laughs. He embraced his failures as well as his triumphs with good humor, good faith, and good cheer. 

Debate can certainly be had about the validity of such a hedonistic lifestyle, but sometimes, especially with the rigors that we so often subject ourselves to in the pursuit of happiness and contentment, it is nice to be reminded of the simple joy of being comfortable in one’s own skin, doing what they love. For me, that was driven home with a sharp point on a day a few years back when my girlfriend (who is also a big fan) and I were looking through some old Tiny Tim videos to pass the time. We came across a memorial video called “Rest in Peace my Love” posted by Tiny Tim’s wife, confirming that her husband had passed away. She says a few touching words of love for her late husband and pays tribute to him in style chugging a tallboy of Mike’s Harder lemonade (because, despite being Tiny Tim’s wife, she hates beer). I honestly held back tears as I watched. Here was a man with a quirky passion and a loving and supportive partner who just set up his camera and filmed himself doing what he loved in the hope that it might bring a smile to someone’s face. As a template sentence for what a truly contented life as any kind of content creator should be, I don’t think I can do much better. 

So, while he may not have had the biggest sub count or put out the edgiest content, I wanted to take some time this week to eulogize a Youtuber who honestly touched me over the years. RIP Tiny Tim, and if there is a heaven I hope it has 40s. Though if heaven doesn’t I’d be pretty convinced I was actually in the other place. 

Below are some links if you care to check out Tiny Tim in action.