In much of the past decade, MTV fans have become accustomed to Challenge Wednesdays and the fifth major pro sport of The Challenge taking place at the middle of the week -- same goes for the show that introduced America to the art of using a phony online identification to create a love affair, Catfish. But after the end of another exciting season of the show that began the subgenre of reality competition shows, summer 2021 will turn see the focus of MTV Wednesdays shift to drama and two of the shows which represent the legacy of when the channel began a new subgenre: reality soap.
This coming week on Wednesday May 12th, The Hills begins its eighth overall season and the second of the New Beginnings spinoff, almost two decades since its predecessor Laguna Beach began, and for which the visit of Kristin Cavallari will no doubt be a must-see. But in the hour prior to us returning to California again, it's Season 4 of its East Coast counterpart, Siesta Key, as those who grew up watching her, Lauren, Speidi and their power clique provide us with their brand of juicy drama. The past four years in that beach town outside of Sarasota, Florida have provided us with plenty to devour, and all indications are that we should be in for another sultry summer ahead of us.
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| Instagram @SiestaKey |
During Season 3 last year, someone who was a bit player of sorts in its first two summers finally emerged into being a permanent part of the Floridian friend group. Amanda Miller was there for that opening birthday party in Alex Kompo's house and promptly gave the town's authority on elitist gossip, Chloe Trautman, a broken nose when she flirted with musician and resident player Brandon Gomes. But two years later, Amanda would find herself once again in the drama, this time in what is always a mouth-watering prospect in these reality soaps - and any MTV Reality show for that matter: a love triangle which included not just BG but also an ex of hers that came back to try and win her heart again.
That other guy in the triangle was JJ Mizell, who loves anything to get that adrenaline rush of thrills in surfing, wakeboarding, snowboarding and motorcycling. He also came back into the picture as Amanda's ex, and there were plenty of moments involving the two exes last year: them and Brandon sharing the same boat along with Jared Kelderman (the one who sparked that brawl with Alex to begin Season 2 and flirted with Kelsey Owens), JJ melting down at his own birthday party that took place at Amanda's house, and them finally ending things for good at the Friendsgiving dinner get-together by the beach on Thanksgiving night. And who can forget them kissing outside at a night of country line dancing at everyone's favorite watering hole: the local hometown saloon.
We won't be seeing JJ or Jared when we reconvene for this year's trip down to Siesta Key when we return to Florida next week... but if you're one of those who loves to go on YouTube for the sake of getting that much needed comic relief during these times, than you might be seeing them in the background of videos created by the guy who, outside of Florida's most chill friend group, just might be the most famous figure in all of the Sarasota area. And it's here that, in this installment of Someone You Should Know, we'd thought we'd like you to meet one of their friends: the local prankster with millions of followers and who goes by a variation of his last name: RossCreations... and for someone who's not on the show, his life of making us laugh just might be fascinating enough to be a soap opera itself.
In our eight years blogging on MTV matters, a recurring subject of our site has been the world of social influencers and stars of content on the biggest video library in the world. From the Paul brothers to that Texas trio of pranksters of Steezy, Rohan & Dylan and so many others, they've given us reason to laugh during the tough times we are in. And this latest addition to the list of YouTubers we've featured here has his own reputation for making us laugh while not being afraid to make the frequent viral headline... and he follows in the tradition set down two decades ago by MTV's most controversial hit ever: Jackass with Johnny Knoxville and co.
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| @RossCreations |
As a belated Christmas gift to himself in 2008, a soon-to-be 14-year-old Charles decided to launch a YouTube channel for the first time during his junior high school's winter break. The first video he ever posted was him making music with, as the video's description wrote, a "Hard beat with orchestral sounds, bells, kicks, claps, snare, whistles, piano etc." The following year, video #2 came about when he posted a reel of him doing backflips on the beach and jumping off of objects in his Florida community, and one would think back then that he would be on his way to becoming a competitor in the sport of parkour or perhaps becoming a break dancer.
But after posting those first eight YouTube videos of him putting on those sick moves, there was no hint that the next video and every one after would be totally different. And the first prank video created by the newly named RossCreations was when he and a friend of his went inside a big-box convenience store and then to a drive-thru at a local fast food restaurant to pay for the items they are buying by using not cash or not even the buzz of the moment of cryptocurrency -- but with ordinary items of food.
Soon after, things would never ever be the same for Charles Ross, the YouTube prankster... and soon, he would be spending his spare time outside of high school and college going around Sarasota to film prank videos and clips of amazing things he does, from doing a handstand while on a mall escalator to hugging random strangers on the street and blowing helium in public. But the first video to really take off virally was when he went to a local McDonald's to con them three times in a row, along with when he played an blind man falling off a pier, and that thing known as a trust exercise.
But just as it has been for Jake and his older brother Logan, Charles has also found himself a bit in the always uneasy aspect of when pulling off pranks can go over the line. In 2013, a since-deleted video saw Ross and friend Jordan Owens walk into a local movieplex in nearby Bradenton where they targeted those enjoying a night at the films. A 20-year-old was reportedly asked by the prankster after getting a tap on the back to pull up their pants and asked them for a wedgie. That was then reported it to the authorities and Charles was given a battery charge for this incident and $750 bail, and Charles told The Daily Beast, "It ended up not being one of my best hokes. But it was kind of fun while it was lasted,"... and it would be just the start.
Those two incidents in 2013 and a third where he got cuffed up for jumping over a policeman while he sat at bench at a local park, and Ross was all over the viral headlines as he took a YouTube sabbatical. But he reemerged four years later to find himself in the hot seat again: this time, it was for something not involving performing public innuendo or interrupting our national pastime.
Another video that's since been put under private saw him change up what he calls "unnecessary" additions to some of his local streets: removing a stop-sign at a three-way intersection that had just been installed there. Again, he was arrested and even made pleas on YouTube to ask to donate to his legal fund as he didn't have the money to afford to pay fees or even hire a lawyer, years before GoFundMe, OnlyFans, online petitions and crypto became commonplace.
Two days later, the authorities came to the door of Charles' house with an arrest warrant and handcuffs in hand, and led Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight to lay down the law on Ross after his sixth arrest: "Your adolescent behavior is becoming old. It's tying up our resources. It's costing money. It's costing the criminal justice system money to take care of these things. It's one thing to make a scene in an attempt to become famous on YouTube, but it's another to put people on edge by pretending to be an officer of the law. Given the tensions surrounding our line of work these days, this defendant has a clear lack of judgement and disrespect for our community and our profession." And all this made headlines in Florida, in Washington, D.C. and everywhere else, a year before an act by policemen sparked the reforming of the category 5 hurricane known as the Black Lives Matter movement.
After he spent another night in jail before being bailed out on a $10,000 bond, Sheriff Knight and his associates handed the 25-year-old with a single count of impersonating a policeman, a felony that had him staring down a five-year stay behind bars, all after paying fines, doing community service and serving probation for the aforementioned acts above -- his sixth arrest for caught on camera behavior. But that impersonation charge was downgraded to a lesser-valued misdemeanor by the time Ross had his day in court in November, and he & his attorney agreed to take a plea deal with just a 6-month probation for illegal use for a police badge.
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| @CreationsRoss |
The credo Charles gives on the About tab of his second (and now primary) YouTube channel aims to, "...provide entertainment through a balance of comedy, courage, creativity and consideration in a consistent manner. My desire, and ultimate intent, is that nobody feels attacked or upset as a result of our jokes. While we realize that this does happen sometimes due to the nature of our performances, continuous effort to entertain is always the first priority."
And since then, Ross' videos have become a must-see despite lacking the buzz that surrounds Jake, Logan, the residents of the TikTok Hype House and other notable YouTubers who now flood our social media feeds. Each video he drops routinely go viral and achieve a million-plus views on YouTube to his near 4 million followers at Monday lunchtimes and daily on Facebook (with 1.7 million fans)... and those who leave comments praise how he doesn't make the victims feel bad but instead laugh along with him like everyone else watching.
And that brings us to the link he has to the biggest pop stars in the place he calls home: for years, Charles has been a friend to some in the Siesta Key clique though he's never appeared on camera on the show itself. He has gotten to tag along with Alex and his friends on their trips on the king's boat and those trips in the wintertime to the snow out west. And those who have been checking out Ross's videos of late have spotted JJ and Jared as part of the team who helps to film his YouTube funnies.
In one instance, JJ was next to him in the passenger's seat as they shot at would-be targets... only here, they were shooting at them using Nerf guns while wearing cowboy outfits -- mustaches included.
In another video, JJ and Jared joined Ross and a friend of his as they went to buy new T-shirts and then went to pick up some coffee before going elsewhere. The catch here is that the minivan Ross is driving is on hydraulics -- a familiar sight to locals and to his friends... and when you have those cups of Joe not being covered by lids... you guessed it: it will be an absolute mess to clean up from.
A sight that's been been frowned upon by most Americans during the course of this pandemic have been sights of large gatherings down in Florida. In one instance, Ross led a gathering outside a local Best Buy store where he and other people camped out in the parking lot and by the storefront to be the first to take advantage of those huge sales. But here, this Best Buy is not having a big sale inside their doors well after the madness of Black Friday and the holiday shopping season have long dissipated.
And in this week's YouTube compilation -- a staple of many people's Monday lunchtimes to get over those back to work & school blues, Jared and JJ joined along with him to discover a hidden beach in Siesta Key... their journey is located at the 8:37 mark.
Yes, Ross has something in common with so many others in his growing profession: doing anything to get a laugh and sometimes getting into controversy for the quest to gain clicks. But for someone who's amassed nearly 700 million views on YouTube and many hundred millions more on Facebook, in his YouTube description tab Charles feels that he wants his viewers to be more than just laugh.
He writes, "I want you to feel personally connected to me by being open about my thoughts, emotions, vulnerabilities, and advice I believe to be worth sharing. I want your life to improve as a result of watching these videos. I want to inspire you to not be afraid of pursuing what you want. I want to give you hope and tangible solutions for the conflicts in your life that seem impossible."
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Stories like the one you've just read is offered from the unique vantage point of DCBLOG ExtraTime: our way of focusing on TV's most exciting reality programming though original storytelling offering a different look at the people, the moments, the shows and the world through this prism. It's only a part of our look Inside MTV Reality, which will see us again cover on the weekly basis Siesta Key when Season 4 debuts next week, for which a season preview will be up in the coming days.
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