Craig Benzine

{{Infobox YouTube personality

| name = Craig Benzine

| image = Craig Benzine (7486836674) (cropped).jpg

| caption = Benzine at VidCon in 2012

| birth_name = Craig Gene Benzine

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|10|5}}

| birth_place = Marshall, Wisconsin, United States{{cite web|last=Benzine|first=Craig|title=Origin of Me|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_99Dw1sS9SQ|work=WheezyWaiter|publisher=YouTube|date=March 6, 2013|accessdate=April 1, 2013}}

| spouse = {{Marriage|Chyna Pate|October 11, 2015}}

| website = {{url|wheezywaiter.com}}

| channel_handle = WheezyWaiter

| years_active = 2007–present

| subscribers = 1.15 million

| views = 193 million

| silver_button = yes

| gold_button = yes

| stats_update = April 2, 2025

| module = {{Infobox person|child=yes

| children = 1

}}

Craig Gene Benzine (born October 5, 1980) is an American video producer, musician, and vlogger better known by his YouTube channel name of WheezyWaiter. On July 15, 2020, his channel hit 1 million subscribers and has over 155 million total video views.{{Cite web|title=WheezyWaiter's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile) - Social Blade Stats|url=https://socialblade.com/youtube/user/wheezywaiter|access-date=2020-07-16|website=socialblade.com}}

On January 23, 2015, Benzine became host of the Crash Course U.S. government and politics series.{{Citation|last = CrashCourse|title = Introduction: Crash Course U.S. Government and Politics|date = January 23, 2015|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrk4oY7UxpQ|accessdate = 2016-03-04}} On April 6, 2017, Benzine became the host of the Film History series.{{Citation|last = CrashCourse|title = Crash Course Film History Preview|date = April 6, 2017|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avAALYc7jw8|accessdate = 2018-04-25}}

Career

=WheezyWaiter=

Benzine started out, together with his fellow Driftless Pony Club band members, on the channel "sambonejr", co-starring in several short comical video clips, of which the first 19 videos were uploaded in March 2006.{{cite web|title=Driftless Pony Club channel uploads|url=https://www.youtube.com/user/sambonejr/videos?sort=da|work=Driftless Pony Club|publisher=YouTube|date=March 2006|accessdate=October 7, 2013}} Together with his friends Zaid Maxwell and Amelia Styer, Benzine also created an album and a movie to the album under the name Ozark Cousins,{{cite web|title=Origins of DPC and Ozark Cousins|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KHVX4dvYBU#t=161s|work=WheezyWaiter|publisher=YouTube|date=October 30, 2012|accessdate=October 7, 2013}} of which a sample is still commonly used in his WheezyWaiter videos as background music, playing when Craig moves his chair.{{cite web|title=Making of Greetings|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwvVWvIpAcw#t=243|work=WheezyWaiter|publisher=YouTube|date=June 30, 2011|accessdate=October 7, 2013}}

After an unprofitable shift in 2007 at the restaurant in Chicago where he worked as a waiter, Benzine's boss told him not to come into work the next day because he doubted there would be enough customers. Benzine, as a result, was worried about how he was going to get money to pay his rent. On his day off, Benzine spent the entire day watching Ze Frank videos on YouTube, and was inspired to start his own vlogging channel.{{cite interview |last= Benzine |first= Craig |subject-link= Craig Benzine|interviewer= Mark Bazer |title=WheezyWaiter Goes on The Interview Show, a Show in Which He Is Interviewed |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSvwchkEzRg|location= Chicago|date= December 7, 2012|work= The Interview Show |accessdate= May 1, 2013}}{{cite web|last=Benzine|first=Craig|title=Nothing You Ever Wanted to Know About Wheezy Waiter|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92LBZmTQ-xg|work=WheezyWaiter|publisher=YouTube|date=May 28, 2008|accessdate=May 1, 2013}}{{cite news| last = Pagliarini| first = Robert| title = When Success Doesn't Come Fast Enough| newspaper = CBS News Moneywatch| publisher = CBS News| date = August 2, 2010 | url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/when-success-doesnt-come-fast-enough/| access-date = October 18, 2013 }}

The name "WheezyWaiter" referred to his waiter job at the time and the asthma that he has had since birth. Originally, the vlogs were centred around Benzine's frustrations surrounding his job, but quickly grew to incorporate song parodies, cultural commentaries, and documentation of Benzine's daily life{{cite news|last=Eakin|first=Marah|title=Craig Benzine of Wheezy Waiter|newspaper=A.V. Club|date=January 21, 2011|url=https://www.avclub.com/craig-benzine-of-wheezy-waiter-1798223740|access-date=May 1, 2013}} with fictionalized elements added, such as sharing his apartment with a never-ending parade of clones of himself, as well as a whale, David Hasselhoff, and Michael Phelps.

Eventually, Benzine was hired as the video editor for a web development company, and was able to quit his job as a waiter.{{cite web|last=Benzine|first=Craig|title=About WheezyWaiter|url=http://wheezywaiter.com/about.php|publisher=WheezyWaiter|year=2012|accessdate=May 1, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328034519/http://wheezywaiter.com/about.php|archive-date=March 28, 2013|df=mdy-all}} He continued to produce content for his YouTube channel, despite having a small audience, usually making videos in the morning before going to his office job. In 2013, he was featured in the documentary film Please Subscribe.{{cite news|last1=Hanks|first1=Henry|title=YouTubers' 'Please Subscribe' can earn them fame, money|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/21/showbiz/youtube-famous-american-journey-irpt/|accessdate=August 3, 2016|work=CNN|date=October 21, 2013}}

Benzine now works professionally as a video editor and vlogger. He continues to upload new content to his main channel, {{YouTube|user=wheezywaiter|title=WheezyWaiter }}, as well as to his more personal channel, WheezyNews, and others. On February 16, 2016, he started making videos in the format of daily vlogs instead of his old format.{{Citation|last=WheezyWaiter|title=It's Time for a Change Up|date=February 16, 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSYyg4wmr4w|accessdate=2016-06-14}} On June 27, 2016, he stopped doing daily lifestyle vlogs and returned to making comedy videos.{{Citation|last=WheezyWaiter|title=Why Do I Keep Making Things?|date=June 27, 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgBgr29oic4|accessdate=2016-08-14}}{{Citation|last=WheezyWaiter|title=Why I'm Not Doing The Daily Vlog Anymore|date=August 9, 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBuEKBD0vnE|accessdate=2016-08-14}} Following a viral video about quitting sugar released on September 7, 2018, Craig began creating more life improvement content, including challenge videos where he changes something about his life for a month and discusses whether he felt like it was an improvement. His wife, Chyna, often participates in these challenges.{{Citation|last=WheezyWaiter|title=We Quit Sugar For A Month, Here's What Happened|date=September 7, 2018|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBtslkL5nUA|accessdate=2019-12-19}}

File:Craig Benzine (7485833168).jpg

=Driftless Pony Club=

Together with Matt Weber, Sam Grant and Nate Bartley, Craig is a member of the indie rock band Driftless Pony Club as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist.{{cite web|url=http://host.madison.com/entertainment/music/article_179452c9-a755-572b-9cfd-2b3dd706642a.html#ixzz1YVF4OCTt|title=Driftless Pony Club|date=August 2011 |publisher=Madison.com|accessdate =April 4, 2013}}{{cite news|url=http://tommilsom.tumblr.com/post/3279622770|title=thinking is terrible – Driftless Pony Club – Buckminster|last=Milson|first=Tom|date=February 13, 2011|accessdate=April 4, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lastfm.de/music/Driftless+Pony+Club|title=Driftless Pony Club|publisher=LastFM.de|accessdate =April 4, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.sputnikmusic.com/bands/Driftless-Pony-Club/29313/|title=Driftless Pony Club|website=Sputnik Music|accessdate=April 4, 2013}}

Both the band and Benzine are signed to DFTBA Records.{{cite web|url=http://dftba.com/artist/13/Driftless-Pony-Club|title=DFTBA Records :: Driftless Pony Club|publisher=DFTBA Records|accessdate=April 4, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404221954/http://dftba.com/artist/13/Driftless-Pony-Club|archive-date=April 4, 2013|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web|url=http://dftba.com/artist/66/WheezyWaiter|title=DFTBA Records :: WheezyWaiter|publisher=DFTBA Records|accessdate=April 4, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208092105/http://dftba.com/artist/66/WheezyWaiter|archive-date=February 8, 2013|df=mdy-all}} Driftless Pony Club has six albums available: Janel, Cholera, Expert, Buckminster, Magnicifent, and Zastera.{{cite web|last=Houk|first=Sierra|url=http://almostnerdy.com/cool-stuff/music/nerd-band-of-the-week-driftless-pony-club/|title=Nerd Band of the Week: Driftless Pony Club|publisher=Almost Nerdy|date=March 19, 2012|accessdate=October 18, 2013|archive-date=March 31, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331070915/http://almostnerdy.com/cool-stuff/music/nerd-band-of-the-week-driftless-pony-club/|url-status=dead}} Their song "House of 1982, Built Like a Ship" is the theme song to the webseries, MyMusic, which uses other songs in their library throughout the show.{{cite web|last=Kotenko|first=Jam|url=http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/mymusic-premieres-its-second-season-and-heres-why-you-need-to-start-watching-this-youtube-series/|title=Here's Why You Need to be Watching the YouTube Breakout Hit Series 'MyMusic'|publisher=Digital Trends|date=August 21, 2013|accessdate=October 18, 2013}}

On May 12, 2016, the band posted a video on their YouTube channel discussing a Kickstarter project initiated to fund the band's vinyl-pressing of their upcoming album, Zastera, in addition to debuting a new song called "Chorus Complains," which appeared on the same album.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FUvOUFptNE|title=GET OUR NEW ALBUM NOW!|last=Driftless Pony|date=May 12, 2016|via=YouTube}}

On June 14, 2016, the band released their album Zastera digitally on Spotify, Google Play Music, and iTunes.

=''AlgoRhythm''=

On July 27, 2016, Craig Benzine created the webseries AlgoRhythm with New Form Digital to air on Verizon's go90 app.{{cite web|url=http://www.tubefilter.com/2016/07/27/algorhythm-craig-benzine-wheezy-waiter-go90/|title=In New Go90 Series, Craig "WheezyWaiter" Benzine Searches For The Perfect Pop Song - Tubefilter|date=July 27, 2016}} He based this series on Fine Tuned, a short film he created in 2014 starring Brando Crawford.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojhkYz10CE0|title=FINE TUNED - Full Short Film|last=WheezyWaiter|date=October 16, 2014|via=YouTube}} AlgoRhythm is about a man who has to fix an algorithm that predicts how popular a song will be. He teams up with his neighbor, a drummer who recently got dumped and hasn't moved on from his ex. Together they discover different genres of music that they didn't take into account and attempt to reunite the drummer with his girlfriend.

=''The Platoon of Power Squadron''=

He is also a main cast member on The Platoon of Power Squadron, a sporadically-updated webseries on YouTube about superheroes. Benzine plays Donald, a man who can project lightning from his hands.{{cite web|url=http://www.platoonofpowersquadron.com/|title=Contact Support|website=www.platoonofpowersquadron.com}}

=''The Good Stuff''=

The Good Stuff is a playlist-based webseries (originally referred to only as a "Secret Project") co-created by Craig Benzine and his friend and bandmate Matt Weber. In February 2013, the first video playlist was uploaded to a new YouTube channel of the same name, "The Good Stuff". The Good Stuff releases playlists of videos of various formats connected by a theme.{{cite web|last=Gutele|first=Sam|title=Wheezy Waiter Explores The Good Stuff In Show Based Around Playlists|url=http://www.tubefilter.com/2013/06/10/wheezy-waiter-craig-benzine-the-good-stuff/|website=Tubefilter|date=June 10, 2013|accessdate=August 8, 2013}} Themes so far have included "Miniature", "Rockstar Lifestyle", "Origins", "Airplanes", "Time", "Community", and "Geek Week"; the episodes have featured short films, interviews, documentaries and compilations of viewer-submitted content.

= ''Big Questions'' =

Since 2014, Benzine has hosted a regular feature on the Mental Floss YouTube channel called The Big Question,{{Cite web|url=http://www.tubefilter.com/2014/09/02/wheezy-waiter-craig-benzine-mental-floss-the-big-question/|title=Wheezy Waiter Answers Questions in New Series on Mental Floss Channel|date=September 2, 2014|website=Tubefilter|access-date=2016-08-11}} where fan questions are answered, similar to its magazine counterpart. This feature was later renamed Big Questions.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYT7t0pcxEIPMYz_XDTSSEFj1GM6Ml837|title=Big Questions – YouTube|website=www.youtube.com|access-date=2016-08-11}}

Charity work

Benzine has participated in and promoted various charity projects. In 2009 and 2010 he promoted Action Against Hunger as his contribution to the Project for Awesome. In 2012 he promoted the project Water.org. On his fourth mission for the Ford Fiesta Movement he organized a poker game to raise money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. {{citation needed|date=August 2016}}

Personal life

On September 15, 2014, Benzine proposed to his girlfriend, Chyna Pate, in the 1000th episode of Wheezy Waiter, in an idiosyncratic way which involved stringing together the first letters of episode titles to read "Chyna Will You Marry Me?" {{cite web|last=Benzine|first=Craig|title=? – (1000th Video!) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1NVALEht_g|work=WheezyWaiter|date=September 15, 2014}}{{Cite web|url=http://abc7.com/society/youtuber-celebrates-1000th-video-in-the-sweetest-way/310437/|title=YouTuber celebrates 1,000th video in the sweetest way|date=September 16, 2014|language=en-US|access-date=2016-08-11}} They married on October 11, 2015, at the Mars Gallery in Chicago. Their honeymoon was in Scotland.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvIl1TX6PRg|title=Craig and Chyna Honeymoon Part 1|website=YouTube |date=July 11, 2016|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-19}}

Benzine lived in Chicago for 13 years, but he moved to Austin, Texas, in August 2016.{{Citation|last=WheezyWaiter|title=And The City We're Moving to Is...|date=April 3, 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z7keDeWieI|accessdate=2016-05-04}} In May 2017, he and Chyna announced they were expecting their first child, a girl named Ada; she was born in November 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8W_XnbnLhQ|title=We Have Some Exciting News!|website=YouTube |date=May 1, 2017|language=en-US|access-date=2017-05-01}} In March 2018, Craig and his family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where they currently reside.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arjFZFiQYOE&t=3s|title=We're Moving Again|website=YouTube |date=March 10, 2018|language=en-US|access-date=2018-03-12}}

Filmography

2024: Haunt Season{{cite news|last1=Doll|first1=Katie|title=Haunt Season Has the Charm of a Low-Budget Indie|url=https://www.cbr.com/haunt-season-review/|access-date=October 25, 2024|publisher=CBR|date=October 2, 2024}} - Seth