After sitting by himself in his dark basement for hours, talking and laughing to a camera, one student hopes to take the skills he learned from filming YouTube videos in Lake Zurich to host a talk show in the bright lights of Hollywood.

Michael Gallagher, sophomore, frequently posts videos to his YouTube channel, and hopes to someday host his own talk show or be a writer for a show like Saturday Night Live.

            “I have a YouTube talk show called The Laugh Loft. I talk about the celebrity world, what’s happening in the news or in the world, and I usually make fun of it,” Gallagher said. “If I see something in the news I like, I usually talk about it, but I love talking about the Kardashians and Nicki Minaj.”

            To promote his videos, Gallagher turns to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Once he went to Six Flags and handed out flyers with information about The Laugh Loft on them. Katie Fabbrini, sophomore, is one student who watches Gallagher’s videos.

            “The videos are funny. He is a funny person so it’s kind of hard for the videos not to be funny,” Fabbrini said. “He has a really good sense of humor. He comments on things, makes fun of things, and sometimes he talks about things that he thinks are cool. He mostly talks about hot topics on the news, stuff like that, or something that happens at school. I think sometimes he writes a script, but I think it’s funnier when he doesn’t write a script.”

            Gallagher said he mostly writes bullet point notes on what he wants to say and improvises from there. To produce the videos, Gallagher says it takes him anywhere from five minutes to an hour, depending on how much he edits them. Just like the topics and lengths of the show, the location varies as well.

            “I created a set in my basement, but I film in other locations too. I was just in St. Louis, so I filmed there. I go to stores sometimes and film there, and I pretty much film anywhere I go, I take a camera with me,” Gallagher said.

            Since Gallagher is often filming, his friends sometimes make guest appearances on his shows.

            “I usually have some friends come on the show with me,” Gallagher said. “All my friends are usually pretty excited to come on.”

            Gallagher started posting videos last year, on May 1, 2012, to be specific. This may seem like a random date, but it has a special significance to Gallagher.

“The reason I posted my first video on May 1 is because I want to be famous in five years so May 1, 2012 was the start of everything,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher does not only post videos on his YouTube channel, but he also recently won the District 95 film contest for high school students. His video was about learning how to be yourself and deal with the troubles of being a teen.

            “I filmed a video and I got first in the high school division. It’s about being yourself, and it’s a part of a series that I’m calling Awkward Adolescents. I talk about problems teens are going through right now. The rest of the series is on my YouTube channel,” Gallagher said.

            Gallagher relates to the theme of the series, since the main reason he started posting videos was to be able to express himself.

            “I was looking for a creative outlet, and it’s a good way for me to do my own thing and do what I want to do,” Gallagher said. “I get to be loud and creative and be myself.”