Ray William Johnson

Johnson worked across comedian, singer, YouTuber, actor and film director and 2 further recorded occupations. The registers place that work in hip-hop. This article rests on 4 catalogued compositions, 1 issued recordings and 49 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

• Name — Ray William Johnson • Education — Columbia University School of General Studies • Birth Name — Raymond William Johnson • Born — 14 August 1981 • Birthplace — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. • Occupation — * Internet personality • actor • comedian • filmmaker • rapper • singer • musician • Youtube Handles — * Ray William Johnson • Your Favorite Martian • Youtube Years Active — 2008–present • Youtube Subscribers — * 18.6 million (Ray William Johnson) • 3.86 million (Your Favorite Martian) • Youtube Views — * 14.9 billion (Ray William Johnson) • 1.10 billion (Your Favorite Martian) • Stats Update — September 3, 2026

Johnson was born on August 14, 1981, and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His parents separated when he was a child. When he was around 13 years old, Johnson ran away from home to live with his father for a few months. He described him as alcoholic and physically abusive and claimed he had used Johnson’s college savings bank account. As such, he remained estranged from him until his death in 2014. He attended Norman North High School, where he graduated in 1999. He later attended the Columbia University School of General Studies, where he studied history, but did not graduate.

In October 2012, Johnson announced that he would be leaving Maker Studios, contending that they had been pressuring him to sign a new contract that limited his access to his AdSense account and would reportedly take 40% of his earnings from the series. The contract also would have required Johnson to give up 50% of his intellectual property rights to the show and his other animated web project, Your Favorite Martian. In November 2012, Johnson founded his own production studio, Equals Three Studios (then known as Runaway Planet), and continued producing Equals Three. Your Favorite Martian series was ended that same month due to his dispute with Maker Studios. In December 2013, Johnson announced that he would be ending Equals Three in the near future to focus on other projects. His last show as host (titled "THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING") was published on March 12, 2014, and was around 14 minutes long. The channel had over 10 million subscribers and 2.6 billion total views at the time of Johnson's departure. The show returned in July 2014 with Robby Motz as host. Motz would depart in July 2015, at which point Kaja Martin, one of Johnson's frequent collaborators, took over as host, but Martin was subsequently replaced by Carlos Santos in December 2015. In 2015, Johnson sued Jukin Media for requesting the removal of 40 Equals Three videos which sampled their content. The case was later settled. The series featured numerous celebrity guests, including Robin Williams, Sarah Silverman, Gabriel Iglesias, John Cho, and Jason Biggs.

In December 2013, Johnson debuted his first scripted series, Riley Rewind, which was originally released on Facebook before migrating to YouTube. The series revolved around a teenager with a special time-shifting power. It was released in 5 parts and cumulatively totaled about 50 minutes. In 2015, Johnson reported the series had received 10 million views on Facebook. Earlier in 2013, Johnson was in talks with FX Networks about a scripted series based on his life. The network gave Johnson a script commitment. The script was to be written by Mike Gagerman and Andrew Waller.

Since his departure from Equals Three, Johnson has continued producing comedic series for his main "Ray William Johnson" channel. These series included Booze Lightyear, Top 6, and Comedians On. Booze Lightyear was a scripted sketch comedy web series that featured a variety of different actors often in comedic situations. Johnson appeared on the series' first episode in February 2015. Top 6 is "list show" that is written and hosted by Kelly Landry and discusses 6 items about a given topic each episode. Top 6 also premiered in February 2015. Comedians On premiered in July 2015 and featured a collection of different comedians humorously discussing a chosen topic with Carlos Santos as host. "Comedians On" along with "Booze Lightyear" were eventually cancelled at roughly the same time that Carlos Santos became host of "Equals Three". All of these shows (including Equals Three itself) are produced by Equals Three Studios. Johnson occasionally appears in these shows and in "update vlogs" on the channel.

In 2020, Johnson returned to YouTube after a yearlong hiatus with a new series called Svperhvman. He also revived his side project "Your Favorite Martian" releasing a new video called "Orphan Tears Part 2", the first in over ten years. He has since transitioned to sharing true crime stories on social media in a short-form content format, which has been particularly successful on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

Johnson married Kelly Farrell in May 2022 after almost six years of dating. Johnson had a vasectomy and thus has no children. Johnson has been open about his struggle with depression and credits his estranged father’s death on his journey to self improvement. In 2024, he underwent surgery for a deviated septum.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2009–2014 — Equals Three — Host as himself (until 2014) — Also creator and executive producer, formerly writer • 2010 — The Professionals — Stan — Episode: "Special Request" • 2010 — Annoying Orange — Crabapple — Episode: "Crabapple" • 2010–2011 — Breaking NYC — Himself — 66 episodes • 2011–2012 — Breaking Los Angeles — Himself — 8 episodes • 2011–2012 — Your Favorite Martian: The Animated Series — Puff (voice) — 11 episodes • 2012 — RVC: The Lone Shopping Network — Derek • 2013 — Jay & Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie — Quick Stop Hipster (voice) • 2013 — Riley Rewind — Mr. Osborne — Also creator, director, writer, and executive producer • 2013–2014 — Epic Rap Battles of History — Goku / Boba Fett — 2 episodes • 2014 — The Fluffy Movie — Nurse • 2015 — Manson Family Vacation — Executive producer • 2015 — Booze Lightyear — Booze Player — Also creator, writer, and executive producer • 2015 — Comedians On — Himself — Also creator and executive producer • 2015 — Top 6 — Executive producer • 2016 — Who's Driving Doug — Scott • 2016 — We Love You — Derrick

Ray William Johnson is recorded with the occupation film director. Classed in the genre hip-hop. Recorded as comedian, singer, YouTuber and actor.