Dude Perfect’s ongoing popularity comes from years of perfect trickshots

From fidget spinner trick shots to “sports battles” with professional athletes such as Aaron Rodgers and Chris Paul, the popular YouTube channel “Dude Perfect” has always found unique ways to entertain its millions of viewers. Through constant repetition, the channel creators perform insane basketball trick shots, such as making long-distance ones from a roof or bouncing the ball against a chimney and into the hoop.

Founded by Tyler Toney, 28, the Cotton twins, 30, Cody Jones, 33, Garrett Hilbert, 30, and an unidentified man dressed in a panda suit, Dude Perfect began in 2009. All the original members still run it today.

The group, all high school basketball players, were roommates at Texas A&M University. Their first video, posted in 2009, is named “Dude Perfect |Backyard Edition| Our 1st Video!”

Dude Perfect has blown up as a content creator ever since, amassing over 35 million YouTube subscribers, releasing the “Dude Perfect” iOS/Android gaming app, in which the players progress through levels by making virtual trick shots, and also creating a TV show called “The Dude Perfect Show,” which is broadcast on Nickelodeon and CMT.

On a 2016 excerpt from the “Dude Perfect Show,” Toney said that the channel’s now well-known name has an interesting origin.

“We came up with the ‘Dude Perfect’ name because we didn’t have a cameraman [during the early days of the channel], so we had two chairs set up that were in the backyard, set the camera on the railing so that everything was perfectly in frame, and [the other guys in the backyard] would say, ‘Oh, dude! Perfect!’” Toney said.

Dude Perfect has managed to stay relevant for so long due to its constant stream of original content, such as a “Nerf Blasters Floating Island Battle” and “Giant Nerf Trick Shots.”

The channel’s massive fanbase also stretches to SHS. One avid viewer of the channel is sophomore Shahmun Jafri, who said he is thoroughly impressed with the group’s feats.

“I first found out about Dude Perfect two years ago, when I found it on the trending section on YouTube,” Jafri said. “I decided to click, and I instantly fell in love with the channel. The group members have their own unique characteristics which really adds onto why watching their videos are fun.”

Jafri said his favorite video, which was posted in 2016, is “World Record Edition | Dude Perfect,” where the group tried to beat as many world records as possible. For example, Dude Perfect successfully completed the world’s highest basketball shot from a 533 feet tall building.

In that video, Dude Perfect beat 11 world records, all of which were verified by a Guinness World Records official.

Dude Perfect’s has even collaborated with many professional athletes, such as New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham and pro bowler Jason Belmonte.

Yet Dude Perfect’s jaw-dropping trick shots have been met with skepticism. Some believe that the trick shots are merely well-edited footage.

One such skeptic is sophomore Philbert Fan, who said he especially had doubts about the world-record breaking basketball shot made from the 533 feet tall building.

“The fact that the basketball made it by hitting the rim and not cleanly makes me suspicious, because I believe that the rim would have been obliterated from all of that acceleration,” Fan said.

Toney, however, addressed the skepticism in the same video in which he revealed the origin of the “Dude Perfect” name.

“It used to bug us all the time when people would say the shots are fake or they are not real,” Toney said. “We just took it as a compliment to how impressive the things we were doing actually were. If people are thinking that there is no way that can actually be done in real life, then we are obviously doing something right.”

Toney’s words are supported by YouTube channel “Is It Real,” which investigates the legitimacy of  viral videos and purported to prove Dude Perfect ones. Despite the doubts surrounding its videos, Dude Perfect continues to amaze viewers and rack up subscribers with their ridiculous trick shots and breaking of world records. Even skeptics like Fan have acknowledged the difficulty of achieving Dude Perfect’s fame.

“Even though I believe that Dude Perfect is fake, I still appreciate how entertaining and popular the channel is,” Fan said. “It is not an easy feat to have 35 million subscribers.”