Meet the Northampton dad who has 23,000 subscribers on YouTube

A Northampton dad has gained 23,000 YouTube subscribers to his channel, which is full of content of him playing various video games and commentating over the top of them.

The 40-year-old, who prefers to remain somewhat anonymous, is known as Penge online and his channel is called The Geek Cupboard, which was inspired by the small room he plays his games in at his home in East Hunsbury.

He started the channel in 2016 after other people's YouTube videos helped him cope while his dad battled cancer, which he sadly lost at the start of 2016.

Penge said: "I had seen other people doing it and I thought 'you know what, I can do that'.

"My dad was ill around 2015, he had cancer, so I sat and watched other people's videos. I liked the videos, they were helping me to escape at the time.

"Dad passed away and I thought I should get on with making videos and have a go. I enjoy playing games, I can talk nonsense, I can combine the two together and give it a go. I got the hang of it and people started following me.

"The idea originally was to have a bit of a laugh but, particularly now with what's going on in the world, if I can make someone laugh or smile when they put on my work then it's job done, I think."

A video of him playing Fallout 4 was the first video which amassed thousands of hits back in 2016.

He said: "I was surprised. I didn't think it would catch on. I wasn't expecting it to get many views."

His next big hit came when he released a video playing Farm Manager, where he would 'fly around on a watering can'.

Penge said: "This video got me to 1,000 subscribers, which in YouTube land is a big step. I've now got subscribers from across the globe, including the US and Northampton. I'm not brilliant at the games but I think my audience likes that, I'm playing like they would do."

After 1,000 subscribers, YouTubers are given the option to start monetising their content by including adverts, which is what Penge did back in 2018.

"At that point I thought 'this is going in the right direction'," he added.

The gamer is also well known for mentioning Northampton in his videos.

He said: "There were a few games you could pick where you can play, so I chose Northampton. There's a game called 911 Operator and another called Crusader Kings III where you could pick where you want to play. So I thought, let's play in Northampton. It was weird to see it all on a computer game.

"In Crusader Kings III, which is a historical simulator game, I played from the year 1066 and was the Earl of Northampton. I'm still playing it and Northampton is now the capital of Norway and Iceland. It's the capital of this giant empire."

Penge said for those who don't follow him that they can expect 'light-hearted entertainment'.

He said: "If they want family-friendly, light-hearted fun, silly entertainment with someone who loves drinking tea then The Geek Cupboard is the channel."

Click here to subscribe to The Geek Cupboard on YouTube, or follow him on Twitter @TheGeekCupboard