Joseph Garrett

Garrett was born in Portsmouth in the United Kingdom on 13 December 1990[10] and studied video production at university and initially intended to be a games journalist.[11]

Garret created his first YouTube channel on 3 August 2006, called stampylongnose. Initially, his channel consisted of live-action comedy skits he made along with his friends, but he soon transitioned to the gaming genre after "Let's Play" videos surged in popularity on YouTube. He mainly played violent video games such as Homefront, but soon quit his channel and created a new one, stampylonghead. He was introduced to the game Minecraft in May 2012, where he would start a Let's Play series on it. The game caused his channel to rapidly grow and he quickly became a prominent member of the site. When he noticed that his primary audience were children (6-14 year olds),[12] he reoriented his work to be family-friendly.[13] When the videos became popular, Garrett left his job as a barman to focus on producing the content full-time.[14]

His avatar was the character of Stampy Cat, an orange and white cat (depicted by a commercially-available Minecraft skin based on the character Fidget from the video game Dust: An Elysian Tail). Garret develops a story in his series in Minecraft, which is an otherwise non-story game. He gives viewers ideas for activities to pursue with their friends.[7] Garrett describes the character as "a bigger, brighter, better version" of himself.[15] He receives correspondence from his viewers and thinks they see him as a friend, rather than "a presenter in a studio".[8] Other characters in the videos (who are referred to as Garret's "helpers") include iBallisticSquid, the YouTube name of Garrett's friend David Spencer,[8] and Sqaishey Quack, a duck character played by Garrett's wife Bethany Bates; they became engaged in 2018 and were married the following year.[16][17] Jordan Shapiro said that "he does a great job of bringing the positive aspects of Minecraft—the game’s educational potential—to the surface."[18] Caroline Knorr of Common Sense Media describes Stampy's presentation as best for younger fans and that "Stampy feels like a cross between Pee-Wee Herman and Mr. Rogers."[19]

In 2015, Lee Carson (referred to as "L for Lee" in Garrett's videos), a long-time friend of Garrett, was subject to allegations of sexual misconduct.[20][21]

On 25 April 2015, Garrett launched a spin-off educational YouTube channel in collaboration with Maker Studios.[13] The series, Wonder Quest, is scripted, professionally produced, and designed so that it can be used in classrooms. Garrett has also been attached to a Minecraft film.[15] In July, he appeared on the series premiere of the Disney XD sitcom Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything where he portrays the announcer Stampy Cat at the World Gaming Championships.[22][23] He was a featured panelist at MineCon held in London in July.[24][25][26]

Garrett has signed a two-book deal with Egmont Publishing. Stampy's Lovely Book was released on 22 October 2015; aimed at ages 4 to 10, it features games, activities, jokes and facts about Stampy Cat and some of his Vlogger friends.[27] Stampy Cat: Stick with Stampy! was released on 28 July 2016; the 32 paged paperback features sticker-based activities, games, jokes and posters.[28][29]

• Stampy's Lovely Book (Egmont, 2015), ISBN 978-1405281560
• Stampy Cat: Stick with Stampy! (Egmont, 2016), ISBN 978-1405284219

• Joseph Garrett's channel on YouTube