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IrelandGrant O'Brien borrows Smartypants for his acting reel
Rekha Shankar reads stage directions and Londale Theus Jr. plays the prosecutor in a courtroom scene written to flatter its star.
Smartypants
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Grant O'Brien Uses Dropout To Shoot His Acting Reel
Why waste good lighting and a camera crew on a presentation when you could get yourself cast? Grant O'Brien makes that calculation openly in Smartypants' most-watched upload of the week, handing out scripts instead of delivering a lecture.
"Grant O'Brien Uses Dropout To Shoot His Acting Reel" is a comedy sketch built around his decidedly self-serving courtroom drama. Rekha Shankar reads the directions; Londale Theus Jr. becomes District Attorney Krub. The setting is 1925, the dispute concerns teaching evolution, and Grant has thoughtfully written himself a role described as handsome and approachable. The directions also specify that Krub's daughter is secretly in love with him. Naturally.
The clip has reached about 441,000 views. Viewers are picking apart the performance details: Grant's fleeting Southern drawl, Londale's immediate commitment to his part and Rekha having to read that Grant is in his mid-to-late twenties.
The acting ambitions extend across the week's seven uploads. "Grant O'Brien Auditions For The Pitt" has nearly caught the courtroom clip's total and is drawing considerably more views each day. "Grant O'Brien's Voice Over Reel" adds another branch to the imaginary casting campaign. Meanwhile, the newly posted "What Is This Hollywood Trope?" has the channel's busiest daily viewing rate.
Smartypants added about a thousand subscribers over the week, while today's viewing is softer than its usual daily level. Its weekly views sit close to Have I Got News For You US, though that channel added subscribers more quickly. Here, the distinctive attraction is a presentation format flexible enough to become Grant's personal audition room, with his colleagues drafted into the supporting cast.
Published on Trari
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What viewers say
Grant’s character had a southern drawl for exactly one syllable of “grass” and nothing else.
@rocdoc214See it on YouTubeI laughed at "Mid to late twenties."
@THEMADDMAXX67See it on YouTubeI love how Londale immediately got into character
@Chespin_godSee it on YouTube
2 more comments
Rekha's face said everything 😂
@stephenhaynes3073See it on YouTubeAs soon as Rekha said 1925, I just had a sense of what trial it would be.
@ericherde1See it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
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The videos drawing views on Smartypants right now
Grant O'Brien Auditions For The Pitt388,045 views · 2026-11-08
Grant O'Brien's Voice Over Reel96,705 views · 2026-11-07
What Amount Of Money Is Okay To Keep?46,129 views · 2026-11-06
What Is This Hollywood Trope?34,223 views · 2026-11-10
What Is The BIGGEST Problem In Hollywood?31,014 views · 2026-11-09
- Channel
- Smartypants
- Subscribers
- 210,000 ▲ 1,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 2,055,000
- Videos published this week
- 7
- Video published
- November 5, 2026
- Video views so far
- 440,916
- Views on its first day
- 252,579
The numbers
Here is how Smartypants' week looks in views and subscribers.
💡 Test your knowledge
Who hosts Smartypants?
Rekha Shankar hosts Smartypants and reads Grant's stage directions in this clip.