Yuri Lane was a child actor, almost cast as Doogie Howser until the producer decided to go blond.
Lane has performed on the stage with Matt Damon and has many commercials under his belt but fame eluded him until one of his videos showing his amazing beat box skills went viral on YouTube with a million hits. Yuri was flown around the country by Google, Yahoo and many other corporations came calling with offers, some paid, some not. After a while he says he “kind of lost himself” in the process of trying to make the phenomenon of his number one YouTube video profitable at 1/20th of a penny per hit.
Lane has made an interesting and funny one man show about his wild run with YouTube, which showcases his unbelievable vocal skills as a beat box artist as well as his sense of humor.
Yuri plays his own father by projecting himself as his dad on a video screen above his head and it was a very effective and funny way to illustrate their relationship. Yuri's recollection of his own Jewish artist father, a painter who is living precariously on Social Security, is revealing. Yuri's dad tries to help by making suggestions like “Just walk into advertising agencies and sell yourself!” The way Lane's father constantly plies Yuri with guilt trips about why Yuri isn't making more money to help support him and questions about how much “art “Yuri is creating in the meantime, really hit home with me.
Lane brings up many interesting points about the process of becoming a star on YouTube and also how very difficult it is to make any money on YouTube even with a video that gets over 2 million hits.
“MeTube” also shows that a performer like Lane who is obviously multi talented as a vocalist and writer/ producer but in such a unique and unusual ways that it sometimes it is very difficult to get a lasting break in Hollywood.
