Nepedia
Back to Discover
Fluent Reader
🎨

Smosh

arts Maturity 7-9 war conflict Next article →

This article covers sensitive topics: war_conflict. Parents can manage visibility in Parental Controls.

Smosh is a famous American group that makes funny videos for the internet.

Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla at VidCon 2025 (combined frames)
Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla at VidCon 2025 (combined frames)

They are known for sketch comedy and improv, which means they act out funny scenes. People love Smosh because the creators make them laugh through many different characters and shows. The main Smosh channel is very popular with over 26 million subscribers. It has also reached over 11 billion total views. This success shows how much people enjoy their comedy.

Ian Hecox & Anthony Padilla (7484979406)
Ian Hecox & Anthony Padilla (7484979406)

In the beginning, the group made videos where they sang along to songs. These are called lip-sync videos. They often used songs from cartoons or video games. One famous video used the Pokémon theme song. It was so popular that it became the most-viewed video on YouTube for a while. Later, the group changed how they worked. They began making scripted sketches. They created series like Food Battle and Every [Blank] Ever. They even tried a live sketch show that reached 58,000 viewers at once.

Ian Hecox & Anthony Padilla (14495031506)
Ian Hecox & Anthony Padilla (14495031506)

Smosh started with two friends named Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. They met in the sixth grade and discovered they were both funny. Anthony built a website called smosh.com in 2002 to make animations. He named it "Smosh" after he misunderstood a friend talking about a mosh pit. In 2005, the duo began uploading videos to YouTube. They officially joined the site on November 19, 2005. Their first upload was a video called The Epic Battle: Jesus vs Cyborg Satan. They made many early videos in Anthony's bedroom in Carmichael, California.

As the brand grew, it became part of larger companies. In 2011, a company called Defy Media bought Smosh. This allowed the brand to grow even more. They started new channels like Smosh Games for gaming and Shut Up! Cartoons for animation. They also added Smosh Pit for pop-culture news. However, Defy Media closed suddenly in 2018 without any warning. This was a hard time for the creators. The Smosh team had to work independently for a while. Eventually, they joined Mythical Entertainment, a company run by Rhett & Link, in 2019.

Today, Smosh is back to being its own boss. In 2023, Anthony Padilla returned to the group after being away since 2017. He and Ian Hecox worked together to buy the company back from Mythical Entertainment. Now, Smosh is an independent company once again. This means the creators have more freedom to make the videos they want. The group has won many awards, including Webby and Streamy Awards. They are even recognized as some of the earliest famous people on YouTube.

Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla at VidCon 2025 (combined frames)
Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla at VidCon 2025 (combined frames)
427 words

Where will your curiosity go next?

Keep exploring at your chosen reading level.

🖼️ Images & Media (3)
File:Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla at VidCon 2025 (combined frames).jpg
Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla at VidCon...
File:Ian Hecox & Anthony Padilla (7484979406).jpg
Ian Hecox & Anthony Padilla (7484979406).jpg
File:Ian Hecox & Anthony Padilla (14495031506).jpg
Ian Hecox & Anthony Padilla (14495031506).jpg
More to explore

🔬 Go deeper

More advanced topics to explore

🪜 Step back

Simpler topics to build understanding

What is Nepedia?

A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.