Check out the MrBallen YouTube videos page.
Welcome to my YouTube spotlight series. As an avid follower of about 50 channels, I’m going to praise some of my favorite content creators. This includes people who have subscriber totals ranging from the tens of thousands to millions. I like to follow channels that cover sports, horror, mystery, debate, wrestling, otters, and charismatic content creators who have a cheerful demeanor.
Who Is MrBallen?
I tell strange, dark & mysterious stories.
Mr.Ballen, YouTube (as of May 21, 2022)
MrBallen is a former Navy SEAL who tells stories about true crime cases and other mysteries. More than six million subscribers almost didn’t get the chance to learn about him because he was nearly killed during a 2014 deployment in Afghanistan. You can read this New York Post article that talks more in depth about his military service, career, and the 2020 video that turned him into a viral sensation.
Better yet, why don’t I let MrBallen tell you his story.
Why You Should Subscribe To MrBallen
As of December 2021, MrBallen had 4.7 million subscribers. Fast forward to five months later and he has passed six million. This doesn’t include all the people who follow him for his podcast content. You can find his podcast links under the “How To Support MrBallen” section toward the end of this blog.
What’s with the insane growth of his channels? There are plenty of reasons for his growing popularity so let’s take a look at four of them.
Humble
First, you have a former Navy SEAL and viral YouTuber who still finds enough time to reply to his supporters. Below is an example of MrBallen acknowledging a Twitter user with zero followers:
Quality
It’s well documented that military service members have a gift for storytelling. Task And Purpose columnist Angry Staff Officer explains this phenomenon from his article, The Three Things That Make Service Members Great Storytellers:
Style
MrBallen isn’t the only highly viewed crime and mystery content maker on YouTube. YouTube millionaire members Nexpo and Nick Crowley create content that has much darker vibes. Their content is darker because of the video clips and use of accents that are meant to create suspense in their viewers. Mr. Nightmare is more similar to MrBallen but he talks in a manner that’s meant to spook people.
MrBallen has a style that appeals to a larger audience. The best way that I can put it is that his storytelling is focused on making his listeners go “Whaa?!” and not “Ahhh!” He’s not here to scare his followers with dark backgrounds, jump scares, or distorted audio clips. There’s always a “viewer discretion is advised” warning when a part of the story may offend someone for whatever reason. He looks at the camera and tells you exactly what happened with perfectly timed swerves along the way.
Frequency
I’m always seeing people complain that MrBallen doesn’t publish as frequently as he did before having children. I roll my eyes at this because he still publishes on YouTube about once a week. He publishes more than that on his podcasts. You’re lucky if some of the heavy hitters in this genre publish once per month.
I’ve grown to enjoy his videos more now that he publishes less frequently because he puts more time and effort into each event. He has mostly shifted from videos with three 10-minute stories to one 30-minute story. As long as YouTubers post an average of one video per month then I’m defending quality over quantity.
Try watching some other people in the true crime and mystery genre. Here are a few suggestions from Edition 9 of the YouTube spotlight series:
ReignBot, Nick Crowley, MrBallen, blameitonjorge, ScareTheater, Rob Gavagan, Mr. Nightmare, Chilling Scares, Barely Sociable and Slightly Sociable can all thank Nexpo along with old school Chills and Top15s for getting me interested enough to find similar content…
Administrator (me), Nexpo: YouTube Spotlight Of The Week, 9
What I’d Like To See From MrBallen
If Nexpo can accept a challenge to box Dad, then I need a celebrity boxing match between MrBallen and either the Like Button or a rematch with Paul “Hockey.”
MrBallen Profile
- Join Date: March 22, 2015
- Subscribers: 6M
- Channel Views: 1.1B
- Publishing Frequency: About every weekend
Most Popular Video
This man terrified the FBI (*MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY*)(14.4M Views, Published April 8, 2021).
This story is about serial killer Israel Keyes. Jessica Lynch of The Brag calls him “The most terrifying serial killer you’ve probably never heard of.” He’s believed to have killed 11 people and could have murder kits in as many as six states.
My Favorite Videos
The horrifying true story of Katy Perry’s ex
Katy Perry had an ex-boyfriend named Johnny Lewis who was a childhood actor in Hollywood. Supposedly Perry wrote two songs about him. Lewis had a head injury from a 2011 motorcycle crash. Later on, Lewis murdered a woman and cat after fracturing their skulls. He attacked a painter before he jumped off a roof to his death. His toxicology report showed that he was entirely sober.
NASA engineer claims DEMON attacked him | The Bill Vaile story
Most of this channel focuses on mysteries that involve crime. This was an older video that focused more on the paranormal.
Bill Vaile was a former NASA robotics engineer who was a massive skeptic about anything dealing with religion and the paranormal. He claims that strange events happened at his house after he witnessed an exorcism where a woman was speaking in tongues. The woman touched the heads of three men and demanded something to “Get out of them!” before she pointed right at Vaile.
What I saw in my room still haunts me
MrBallen gives his experience of a paranormal event that he lived through as a child. He tells his viewers that something trespassed into his cabin for three nights in a row. He heard footsteps, a door chime, and the sound of a kitchen pot falling. Eventually he saw a shadow figure walk into the room that he estimates at the height of 10 feet.
Following the third instance, something happened that ended two of his friendships.
This child star is EVIL (*MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY*)
This is the second most viewed video on the channel. In a little more than six months, this video has 10.7 million views. It’s not the most viewed video but it’s the most viral. I’d also say it’s the darkest or close to it.
Skylar Deleon was an extra cast member on the 1990s television show Power Rangers. He grew up to steal money from a drug kingpin then murdered two yacht owners when he had a henchman throw both of them overboard with an anchor tied around their handcuffs. Their bodies were never recovered as they drowned 3,500 feet into the ocean.
How To Support MrBallen?
There are many ways to support him. You can check out the MrBallen Podcast on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Castbox, Google, iHeart, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Radio Republic, Spotify, and Stitcher. Follow him on TikTok, Instagram , Facebook and LinkedIn. He has a subreddit where people can submit story ideas and ways to torture the Like Button.
His two other channels are MrBallen Shorts and MrBallen en Español. MrBallen Shorts offer one minute versions of his main videos. MrBallen en Espanol are videos that are narrated in Spanish.
Anyone who wants clothing or any other item can sign up for notifications on when his store opens.
He is a supporter of Stronghold Rescue & Relief. This is a charity that provides protection, care, emergency aid, and love for families in conflict zones.
