William Haynes (comedian)

William Washington James Haynes is an American YouTube and TV personality, comedian, writer, rapper and podcast host. Haynes is currently a personality on SourceFed, SourceFedNERD and People Be Like, a Haynes-centric channel from SourceFed where he hosts People Be Like, Deep Dive, and Politics Be Like. On his personal channel, WilliamHaynesTV, he hosts a variety of his own comedy-based videos. Alongside musician/rapper Daren Vongirdner (aka DVG), Haynes hosted the She Didn't Text Back Podcast podcast, a part of the HeadGum podcasting network.

Early YouTube Videos

Haynes began creating short comedy vlogs and life observations in 2008. Many in response to the Obama v. McCain election. Much of his early material featured self-deprecating humor focusing on being Nerdy and not fitting into mainstream society. He often referred to his audience as the "Nerdy Nation" and would end his videos with the catch-phrase "Give peace a chance". In 2012, he participated in "Creators Invade London" by making videos about the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was part of WheezyWaiter's "TEAM SUPER JACKAL HAWK TIGER EXPLOSION!" along with several other YouTubers. Many of Haynes' videos highlighted his perceived lack of athletic skill for comedic effect.

SourceFed

Before Haynes became a SourceFed host, he worked for Discovery's DeFranco branch as an editor. He made his first appearance as a featured host in January 2014. Haynes appeared on a variety of shows on SourceFed including TableTalk, The SourceFed Podcast, People Be Like & 5 Things with Lee Newton. The most popular of which being People Be Like, and Politics Be Like. People Be Like started in August 2014 and was originally hosted on the main SourceFed channel. In 2015, he launched People Be Like as its own channel & platform.

Comedy

Haynes' style of comedy leans towards story-telling, satire as well as social & societal norms. Since the launch of the People Be Like channel, he has experimented with more personal content relating to his everyday life on his WilliamHaynesTV channel. He has mentioned practicing stand up comedy at open mics across Los Angeles.

She Didn't Text Back

In April 2015, Haynes and his close friend Daren Vongirdner started She Didn't Text Back, a podcast discussing relationships, comedy, music and their everyday lives. The two talked about their careers, life events and gave advice to fans who sent emails and Snapchats weekly. They'd also often break out into impromptu freestyles. Haynes would also perform poetry slams or improvise vocal visuals. Vongirdner is an aspiring musician going by the name DVG. The two would discuss DVG's musical career along with music in general and regularly express their respect for artists such as Drake and Kanye. They also held several live She Didn't Text Back shows and released the recordings as podcasts. Haynes has also been involved with several music videos shot for DVG including "Make Them Work", "Flip A Switch". Haynes was the Director of Photography on "Trade it Up" and "Past Due", and Directed "June 5th".

As of July 2016, due to the unexpected success of DVG's third EP, My Life Became Beautiful, the She Didn't Text Back is currently on "indefinite hiatus".

Musical career

On September 22, 2016, Haynes released his debut mixtape, 'Tunnel Vision' on Soundcloud, iTunes and Spotify. This was an unexpected project that Haynes had reportedly been working on over the summer.

Political career

On November 17, 2016, Haynes announced his candidacy for the 2017 Los Angeles mayoral election.

Haynes was born in Oakland, California and raised in Richmond, California, near the San Francisco Bay Area. He attended John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond. He has a sister Jasmine who is an aspiring rapper. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his close friends and roommates Daren Vongirdner and Sam "Sammy" Bashor.