Even if you haven't heard of niche internet talk show The Hot Seat, you've likely seen something its host had a hand in. Dax Flame was unstoppable in the early days of YouTube, establishing himself next to titans like Smosh and Bo Burnham (yes, that Bo Burnham) with his endearing nice-guy awkwardness that no one could really say was just a bit or not. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he fell back into relative obscurity (but not before landing high-profile acting roles in 21 Jump Street and Project X), returning to a simple life as an ice cream man before an hour-long documentary about him in 2020 thrust him back into the spotlight.
Why is all this relevant, you ask? Because Dax Flame's newest post-revival venture (having teamed up with Tay Zonday of Chocolate Rain fame), adorably awkward talk show The Hot Seat, is my new obsession. Every week, he brings in a fellow Internet celebrity, niche or otherwise, to interview- and every single time, it devolves into either complete chaos or long, poignant silences. If the new Halloween-themed episode, featuring hugely popular horror YouTuber Chills, doesn't get you into it, nothing will.
For a show that touts itself as having the hottest questions around, Dax's delivery of them – when he does manage to get them out – is nothing short of masterful. If the Eric Andre Show is a talk show on cocaine, The Hot Seat is a talk show on fifty pounds of horse tranquilizers, and it's the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed.
