I was confused during the whole video, going “I thought Sherlock Holmes was just a character invented by Arthur Conan Doyle?” and then got smacked in the face with what I was thinking the whole time.
Well structured April fools day Biographics spotlight. Who else would explain a fictional character's life as if it were real? Damn, for a split second, I *almost* fell for it!
I always had a nagging thought, "wait, I thought Sherlock Holmes was fictional" This is probably the most well constucted April Fools video I've ever seen
Ditto, I walked into this thinking "wait I thought he was fictional? Well if this videos here maybe he was based on some one.." Nope I'm just gullible. Shit...
Wow I'll never be able to read sherlock Holmes stories any more without imagining sherlock holmes' as this sort of wonderful, strange a-sexual, introverted oscar wilde with a tragic back story even though I knew obviously that sherlock is a charter from Arthur Conan Doyle. Great episode simon.
The name was but the actual person he was based off was the real life Wattson with not want to be named the main character but yes most of the history is false but there was a real S Sherlock aka (Watson!) along the characters genius was somewhat exaggerated! (GOOGLE IT!)
Holmes is probably one of the most favorite characters in literature. He inspired countless detectives of every age to pursue those who commit crime and put them in jail.
I’m literally a history major working towards a masters degree and I was starting to doubt the fictionality of Holmes because this was so well made, bravo 👍🏻
I'd spent many years wondering if Holmes was a real person in some way. Then for 20 minutes finally got the answer that he was. And then... You got me!!! Well done! You also taught me a valuable lesson, to study "truth tellers" more for their authenticity. 🤣😎
Hahahahaha........ I know Holmes is not real, but the way Simon presented it sounded so real that I was fooled for a moment. Well done Simon. You are a very good story teller.
I started out watching thinking Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character, but you talked about it like he was real and at some point you must have completely convinced because I got quite surprised when you said he was a fictional character, and then I thought back about before I watched this and thought wait didnt I alrweady know he was a fictional character?
Finally got around to seeing this one. I love how this was presented as if Sherlock was a real person. Bringing a reader of A.C. Doyle's books; later watching movies and TV shows, seeing Holmes brought to life like this was great. I hope that you will find other characters to bring to life like this.
The name was but the actual person he was based off was the real life Watson with not want to be named the main character but yes most of the history is false but there was a real Sherlock aka (Watson!) along the characters genius was somewhat exaggerated! (GOOGLE IT!)
My absolute favorite by far! Sherlock is my favorite character and to have him have a spot on your BioGraphics as though he were a real person is just thrilling! Thank you!
This channel already frames things in a certain light, adds emotional qualifiers & takes creative liberties so especially on TH-cam of all places ofc fiction world be accepted.
Awesome! A Sunday video from Biographics about the greatest detective who ever lived. What a great way to spend Sunday April 1st. Thanks Simon and crew. *;-)*
I knew Holmes was a work of fiction, BUT I actually learned something about my writing process, and a plethora of facts about Sherlock I never knew before. I love this channel.
Jeremy Brett was the best. He was born just up the road from where I grew up, in the village of Berkswell in Warwickshire. Although Basil Rathbone was also brilliant. Sadly though Iove Rupert Everett he was not a great Holmes.
Well, you got me, but good! I spent 17 of the last 18 minutes thinking I'd mistakenly thought Holmes was purely a figure of Arthur Conan Doyle's imagination! Good job, Biographics team! I can see that my day today is going to be... interesting. (weakly) Yay... :-/
I must have missed that. BTW, "Ted," I was once absolutely fascinated by you and read everything I could get my hands on about you. Your intellect and charisma were legendary. I would have liked to have had a conversation with you... over the phone... from a VERY distant and undisclosed location! ;-)
I was initially startled by the topic of the video, as I thought that Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character. For a split second I thought I had been mistaken, when I noticed that this was posted on April Fools Day. The video is so well structured that it felt like Sherlock Holmes was a real person.
EDITED FOR CLARITY: Nice April's Fool's... I started to suggest Dr. Joseoh Bell as an alternative subject instead, then the date registered... Still, a real biography of Dr. Bell, one of Conan Doyle's teachers and the basis of Holmes would be interesting.
it's fascinating that, if you stitch together all the pieces of details about Sherlock Holmes' life that you get from reading the stories, you end up with an incredibly believable biography...
Love this channel Simon!! All of your channels I'm subscribed to but this has got to be my favorite one. I appreciate all of the effort you put into these biographic episods
EddyGurge unbelievably, I started watching this knowing that Sherlock was a fictional character, and by the halfway point, Simon & Co. had me almost convinced that he was real. Dang, they’re getting good at these !
You said, "his sidekick, James Watson." (At 1:02) Pretty sure the doctor's name was John. Great job creating a detailed and believable biography. Fiction, of course! Cheers.
Incidentally, the character of Dr. Watson is believed to have been inspired by a colleague of Arthur Conan Doyle named Dr. James Watson. Another hint to this speculation is that Dr. Watson's full name is John H. Watson, of which it was never revealed by Doyle what the middle initial stood for. Arthur Conan Doyle was Scottish, and in Scotland the name "Hamish" is the Scottish equivalent of the English name "James." Therefore, it can be assumed that Dr. Watson's full name could be John Hamish Watson, a nod to the real life Dr. James Watson. Of course, there's been other claims to who was the inspiration for Dr. Watson, including some who think Doyle based the character partly on himself. There's no real way of knowing since Doyle never revealed how he crafted the character.
Great video! Being a huge Holmes fan myself, having read “The Hound of the Baskervilles” when I was in 6th or 7th grade and reading the pastiche “A Seven Percent Solution” not long thereafter, I noted that at about 1:05 you referred to Holmes’ sidekick as Dr. James Watson. Of course, his name was Dr. John H. Watson, which you stated later in the video. Still, great stuff. Did you know that there is a theory that Holmes was the father of that other eminent private detective, Nero Wolfe?
Ghost stories and Sherlock Holmes mysteries were great. And I had a major soft spot for those 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books. When I think of Sherlock Holmes, I think of a guy who can wander into the confusion of life and sort of pluck out answers at will
Diogenes D'Sinope When you have a traumatic experience, you look at your mindset. It's kind of a mystery to me, as far as my own life experiences and what I've witnessed - why some people can just move on through traumatic experiences, in childhood particularly, and why other people are just paralyzed by it. I just don't know how and why that is. ^_^
You did a great job talking about the man as if he really existed. Bravo Sir. The background info on the parents would be the clincher if you didn't know he was only a book or series of books. Nice job
Brilliant! A. Conan Doyle is one of my favorite authors so I appreciated the direction this took because Doyle fashioned Holmes after a living person whom he admired, a surgeon and teacher he clerked for at the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Joseph Bell. Bell, Doyle noted, was quite observant and was consulted by the police from time to time on a few cases. One other point, Holmes was quite taken with one Irene Adler, who he referred to as The Woman. Though he harboured no romantic feelings toward her, he held Ms. Adler in high esteem.
This reminds me of a book I read several years ago, Son of Holmes by John Lescroart. The premise of the book is that Holmes was a real person and not simply a creation of Conan Doyle. I didn’t care for the book back then, though I remember being fascinated with the idea of Holmes as a real person. The argument put forth is very compelling. I may re-read it to see if my general dissatisfaction with the story is the same. Anyway, great bio and I hope you do more fictional characters. Well done!
This was a clever was to do an April Fool video while staying true to the channel and still providing an interesting video... but as soon as I saw what the subject was for the video, it made me realize that BioGraphics on some of the most iconic fictional heroes/characters would be really cool!
I truly loved this video. My mother loved the old Sherlock Holmes movies & books. I've grown up to share her love &respect for the intriguing& whole heartedly engaging mysteries. I do hope my son will share in the love for the black/white mystery movies that filled the weekends of my childhood. Sorry I just lost my mom & this just brought back some dear, yet sadly long forgotten memories. Thank you.
For a fictional person he sure had a well defined past. Incidentally watching this reminded me of a quote from Ernest Hemingway when he was asked how you become a good writer: "Have a lousy childhood."
Goodness, I didn't even pick it as an April fools joke. Yes yes, I know Sherlock is a fictional character but it's like 3am on the 2nd here in Australia and I wasn't even thinking "Oh, April Fools joke". So partly April 1st is gone and also because Sherlock Holmes was at least in part based on several real people :)
*Sigh* Now I've actually watched it It's pretty obvious. Leaving my original comment intact to warn of the perils of a)commenting before watching b) Watching youtube at 3am ;)
I was wondering when you were going to throw us under the bus! I loved the info you were spinning our way. Great Bio as always, Simon. And my hat goes off to the researchers of this one; it was fanstastic!!
WOOOW! You got me!!! I "knew" he was a work of fiction then you put at a loss... I mean.. It's not the first time I was wrong and all...but then in the end ....AAAAHHH .... you got me. Well done good sir! a 20 minutes prank wow
I spent ten minutes knowing Sherlock was a fictional character. Then admitted to myself that I was wrong. Then, later, another ten minutes being very angry. I still love you Simon. I have never commented on anything online before, but this has been a very emotional thirty minutes. Jesus.
I was so confused, I knew Homes was fictional at least I thought I did until you kept going on about his back story, so I had to google it to be sure. Good one mate !
Dude, this was epic. I was sitting there admiring how much research you had gleaned from Doyle's novels. But to find out it was an April Fool's joke just made it so much better!! I also have King Arthur on the queue.
Super cool, Simon! As a lifelong Sherlockian, you actually had me going for a few moments! And the Holmes Family background is absolutely awesome! You & your writers are a wonder and a delight!!
I was listening to this with great interest, thinking the entire time, "but Sherlock Holmes was not real." Yet you delivered this so cock sure, so flawlessly that I had to repeat in my head several times that Holmes was not real. Then by using my superior dedication skills I glanced at the date of release. Thank you for such a great history on such a great man. Too bad he was not real. Oh how many times he would have been so useful!!
Well I did learn more about the great fictional detective. I should point out that 221B Baker Street did not even exist until 1932 when they extended the road.
One of my favourite fictional characters of all time. Simon did a wonderful job of portraying him as a living person, just as the genius Sir Conan Doyle was able to do through the amazing detail and fictional history of Sherlock. Thank you for this great BIOgraphic! It has enticed me to re-read those wonderful tales of mystery.
Please do Dracula next year. The truth about Vlad III is completely mixed up with Stoker's writing in most people's imaginations. It would make a great prank.
I'm sure you are aware, but for others, there is a group called the Baker Street Irregulars. They are named after a group of unofficial street assistants to Holmes. In everything they say, do, and write, they treat Holmes as a historical person. They write learned articles about facets of his life. If you were to say to one of them that Holmes was a fictional character, they would probably turn on their heels, walk away, and never speak to you again
I watched this whole thing thinking “hmm I always thought Sherlock Holmes was a book character” Haha well I guess I can feel smarter then most, although before it was over I was starting to doubt myself. Very good job!
Another amazing bio video! I love your work and deeply appreciate time and energy spent to get at the facts. I knew Sherlock was fictional, just as I know Sir A.C. Doyle modeled Sherlock Holmes after Dr. Joseph Bell from his years of university and witnessing Bell's often shocking powers of deduction. He also modeled the character and Dr. Watson from himself. He [Sherlock] originally was to be named Sherringford Holmes as well. Have a great evening.
Simon, that was great. Hard to imagine there are people who don’t know SH is fictional, but your delivery makes him seem real. Make it an annual April 1st Biographic to do a fictional character, please.
Absolutely my favorite biography you've done so far! As always excellent work Thank you! Also being an Actually Autistic advocate and a Holmes fan from my early teens this helped solidify a few theories on the Holmes family and the Autism connection. Check out the new resources(new series), 2 books of Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Definitely will help you round out some missing pieces! (Hope this kind of biography becomes tradition for April 1st!)
Having never read the books, I thought this was all carefully gathered info from all the source material you could scrounge up! You should do “biographies” on fictional characters more often! :)
I finally got to see this while knowing that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character. Based on the strength of that April Fools Day video alone, I would love to see more fictional biographies on this channel! Excellent work!
If you liked this April Fool's Bio we did in 2018, check out our 2019 April Fool's Bio: th-cam.com/video/7fuVAnAZXHU/w-d-xo.html
Loved this episode! XD great job dude~
Your storytelling is amazing. In around the middle of the vide, I started to think that Sherlock was a real person😂😂😂
Of course i knew that holmes was fictional, but this was a pleasure to watch .
Oh you sneaky thing! You got me; I was thinking "wow I didn't know he was real! This is good!" And it IS a good one.
I was confused during the whole video, going “I thought Sherlock Holmes was just a character invented by Arthur Conan Doyle?” and then got smacked in the face with what I was thinking the whole time.
Well structured April fools day Biographics spotlight. Who else would explain a fictional character's life as if it were real?
Damn, for a split second, I *almost* fell for it!
Religious people do it every day...
wysiwyg43 Me too! I'm thinking: but wait...isn't he just a fictional character?!😉
wysiwyg43 while listening I almost asked (day I listened is May 8 btw) if this was real. Since I was certain Sherlock was fictional. Good one
it's june 11th and im just seeing this now. i was really confused for the first couple moments till i saw the posting date lol
I was listening while playing a videogame. It took a good 8 minutes before I was like "hey, wait a sec..."
I always had a nagging thought, "wait, I thought Sherlock Holmes was fictional" This is probably the most well constucted April Fools video I've ever seen
Vortex The Ex Ela Main Same! They got me!
Vortex The Ex Ela Main it truly is
Ditto, I walked into this thinking "wait I thought he was fictional? Well if this videos here maybe he was based on some one.." Nope I'm just gullible. Shit...
Sherlock Holmes is more real than you are.
Guilty- for a few seconds in " Wait- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, fiction, this is , well he's really serious..
Nicely done
This was fantastic.
I was telling myself, "I also thought he was make believe, you mean he was real?" you honestly got me Simon. good show!
Wow I'll never be able to read sherlock Holmes stories any more without imagining sherlock holmes' as this sort of wonderful, strange a-sexual, introverted oscar wilde with a tragic back story even though I knew obviously that sherlock is a charter from Arthur Conan Doyle. Great episode simon.
The name was but the actual person he was based off was the real life Wattson with not want to be named the main character but yes most of the history is false but there was a real S
Sherlock aka (Watson!) along the characters genius was somewhat exaggerated! (GOOGLE IT!)
Now I want more fictional character biographies...
Saaaammeeee...
Sammme
Same
Lol
This is so believable it makes me think they’re all made up 😂
The amount of effort put into this is beyond impressive. A tip of the hat to all involved. Just brilliant.
Anyone else click the video just to learn more about the character?
I did learn more about him. I thought I’d read all the books. Apparently not.
Me!! lol I was like....”but I thought he was a fictional character??!?!!”
It is pretty much a biography after all, so yeh. hahaha!
Tobacco ash 'n stuff
This is a specially beautiful episode
Had me Googling Holmes just to make sure I was right about him being a fictional character. This was way too convincing. Well done!!
Excellent.
Holmes is probably one of the most favorite characters in literature. He inspired countless detectives of every age to pursue those who commit crime and put them in jail.
The only April fool's video worth watching
I’m literally a history major working towards a masters degree and I was starting to doubt the fictionality of Holmes because this was so well made, bravo 👍🏻
I'd spent many years wondering if Holmes was a real person in some way. Then for 20 minutes finally got the answer that he was. And then... You got me!!! Well done! You also taught me a valuable lesson, to study "truth tellers" more for their authenticity. 🤣😎
Fiction, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, High school required reading once upon a time before the 21st century of random learning.
Hahahahaha........ I know Holmes is not real, but the way Simon presented it sounded so real that I was fooled for a moment. Well done Simon. You are a very good story teller.
I started out watching thinking Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character, but you talked about it like he was real and at some point you must have completely convinced because I got quite surprised when you said he was a fictional character, and then I thought back about before I watched this and thought wait didnt I alrweady know he was a fictional character?
Couldn't have said it better myself....
Finally got around to seeing this one. I love how this was presented as if Sherlock was a real person. Bringing a reader of A.C. Doyle's books; later watching movies and TV shows, seeing Holmes brought to life like this was great.
I hope that you will find other characters to bring to life like this.
It's so well made it could almost be true😂😁
It IS true!
The name was but the actual person he was based off was the real life Watson with not want to be named the main character but yes most of the history is false but there was a real
Sherlock aka (Watson!) along the characters genius was somewhat exaggerated! (GOOGLE IT!)
Go away Cromwell! You cancelled Christmas! We don't want you around at this time!
My absolute favorite by far! Sherlock is my favorite character and to have him have a spot on your BioGraphics as though he were a real person is just thrilling! Thank you!
So this was what you meant when you asked if a fictional biography would be accepted.
Well done.
Could be...
It's not a fictional biography. It's a biography of a fictional *character.* ;)
This channel already frames things in a certain light, adds emotional qualifiers & takes creative liberties so especially on TH-cam of all places ofc fiction world be accepted.
I thought I was crazy for the past 18 minutes. Man , this is pure genius!
Awesome! A Sunday video from Biographics about the greatest detective who ever lived. What a great way to spend Sunday April 1st. Thanks Simon and crew. *;-)*
"Lived" Being the operative word.
I knew Holmes was a work of fiction, BUT I actually learned something about my writing process, and a plethora of facts about Sherlock I never knew before.
I love this channel.
Well done Simon. Although I know Sherlock is fiction you did a fine job on the story.
He was so real,this is a perfect back story, for mr,i loved him all my loife
And here I sat thinking that I had once again experienced a slide to an alternate universe.
That was so well done, Holmes is one my favorite fictional characters. Brilliant.
0:45 - Chapter 1 - The early years
3:50 - Chapter 2 - Emerging genius
8:15 - Chapter 3 - Tragedy
10:55 - Chapter 4 - America
11:55 - Chapter 5 - A new fascination
13:15 - Chapter 6 - The private detective
14:40 - Chapter 7 - Growing fame
15:45 - Chapter 8 - A premature end
16:35 - Chapter 9 - The end of sherlock
Really enjoyed this one! My favorite iconic literary character, thanks for covering him.
Darkesinger Sherlock is one of the greatest fictional characters, maybe the number 1 most famous fictional character....
The best video you've ever done! By the way, Jeremy Brett was the best actor to ever portray Sherlock Holmes.
Basil Rathbone old boy. I believe you stand corrected.
Truly! I also quite enjoy Clive Merrison's encarnation, he has such gremlin energy and it matches his book counterpart just masterfully
Jeremy Brett was the best. He was born just up the road from where I grew up, in the village of Berkswell in Warwickshire. Although Basil Rathbone was also brilliant. Sadly though Iove Rupert Everett he was not a great Holmes.
@@agateplanetagreed!
Well, you got me, but good! I spent 17 of the last 18 minutes thinking I'd mistakenly thought Holmes was purely a figure of Arthur Conan Doyle's imagination! Good job, Biographics team! I can see that my day today is going to be... interesting. (weakly) Yay... :-/
calichef1962 they said they were going to start doing characters
I must have missed that. BTW, "Ted," I was once absolutely fascinated by you and read everything I could get my hands on about you. Your intellect and charisma were legendary. I would have liked to have had a conversation with you... over the phone... from a VERY distant and undisclosed location! ;-)
The explanation of the relationship between Sherlock and his family makes me wonder how much Frasier was inspired by this
I was initially startled by the topic of the video, as I thought that Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character. For a split second I thought I had been mistaken, when I noticed that this was posted on April Fools Day. The video is so well structured that it felt like Sherlock Holmes was a real person.
EDITED FOR CLARITY:
Nice April's Fool's...
I started to suggest Dr. Joseoh Bell as an alternative subject instead, then the date registered...
Still, a real biography of Dr. Bell, one of Conan Doyle's teachers and the basis of Holmes would be interesting.
it's fascinating that, if you stitch together all the pieces of details about Sherlock Holmes' life that you get from reading the stories, you end up with an incredibly believable biography...
Love this channel Simon!! All of your channels I'm subscribed to but this has got to be my favorite one. I appreciate all of the effort you put into these biographic episods
Blue Jean mine too 😍
I really like the way you present this as a real biography. Very cool.
EddyGurge unbelievably, I started watching this knowing that Sherlock was a fictional character, and by the halfway point, Simon & Co. had me almost convinced that he was real. Dang, they’re getting good at these !
Now *this* is how you do april fools videos. Smooth!
You said, "his sidekick, James Watson." (At 1:02) Pretty sure the doctor's name was John. Great job creating a detailed and believable biography. Fiction, of course! Cheers.
Incidentally, the character of Dr. Watson is believed to have been inspired by a colleague of Arthur Conan Doyle named Dr. James Watson. Another hint to this speculation is that Dr. Watson's full name is John H. Watson, of which it was never revealed by Doyle what the middle initial stood for. Arthur Conan Doyle was Scottish, and in Scotland the name "Hamish" is the Scottish equivalent of the English name "James." Therefore, it can be assumed that Dr. Watson's full name could be John Hamish Watson, a nod to the real life Dr. James Watson.
Of course, there's been other claims to who was the inspiration for Dr. Watson, including some who think Doyle based the character partly on himself. There's no real way of knowing since Doyle never revealed how he crafted the character.
Oh my god. I had always known he was a work of fiction, but I was actually thinking it was real watching this lol. Good job man
Great video! Being a huge Holmes fan myself, having read “The Hound of the Baskervilles” when I was in 6th or 7th grade and reading the pastiche “A Seven Percent Solution” not long thereafter, I noted that at about 1:05 you referred to Holmes’ sidekick as Dr. James Watson. Of course, his name was Dr. John H. Watson, which you stated later in the video. Still, great stuff. Did you know that there is a theory that Holmes was the father of that other eminent private detective, Nero Wolfe?
Ghost stories and Sherlock Holmes mysteries were great. And I had a major soft spot for those 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books. When I think of Sherlock Holmes, I think of a guy who can wander into the confusion of life and sort of pluck out answers at will
Diogenes D'Sinope When you have a traumatic experience, you look at your mindset. It's kind of a mystery to me, as far as my own life experiences and what I've witnessed - why some people can just move on through traumatic experiences, in childhood particularly, and why other people are just paralyzed by it. I just don't know how and why that is. ^_^
You did a great job talking about the man as if he really existed. Bravo Sir. The background info on the parents would be the clincher if you didn't know he was only a book or series of books. Nice job
Brilliant! A. Conan Doyle is one of my favorite authors so I appreciated the direction this took because Doyle fashioned Holmes after a living person whom he admired, a surgeon and teacher he clerked for at the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Joseph Bell. Bell, Doyle noted, was quite observant and was consulted by the police from time to time on a few cases.
One other point, Holmes was quite taken with one Irene Adler, who he referred to as The Woman. Though he harboured no romantic feelings toward her, he held Ms. Adler in high esteem.
Never had the Punch Line delivered in such a dry voice 😂😂😂😂😂
Aka- (No Saliva)
I love your sense of humor. Bonus points for being completely serious throughout.👍
This the Bio i have been waiting on =)
thank you Mr.Whistler
Love watching Biographics, love Sherlock Holmes stories, love the two combined together, its elementary Simon.
This reminds me of a book I read several years ago, Son of Holmes by John Lescroart. The premise of the book is that Holmes was a real person and not simply a creation of Conan Doyle. I didn’t care for the book back then, though I remember being fascinated with the idea of Holmes as a real person. The argument put forth is very compelling. I may re-read it to see if my general dissatisfaction with the story is the same. Anyway, great bio and I hope you do more fictional characters. Well done!
Nice. John Lescroart lives in my town.
This is by far my favorite biography on this channel, thank you for your amazing dedication to one of my favorite fiction characters
This was a clever was to do an April Fool video while staying true to the channel and still providing an interesting video... but as soon as I saw what the subject was for the video, it made me realize that BioGraphics on some of the most iconic fictional heroes/characters would be really cool!
As a great lover Of Sherlock Holmes I loved this enormously. Thank you very much.
One of the best April Fools I have seen.
I truly loved this video. My mother loved the old Sherlock Holmes movies & books. I've grown up to share her love &respect for the intriguing& whole heartedly engaging mysteries. I do hope my son will share in the love for the black/white mystery movies that filled the weekends of my childhood. Sorry I just lost my mom & this just brought back some dear, yet sadly long forgotten memories. Thank you.
I've been bamboozled!!
I didn't even realize this video was meant to be a joke, like I was very entertained, and thought that this was just a series I hadn't watched yet.
I agree mate, but then again i love Sherlock Holmes.
I love you guys so much... BEST APRIL FOOLS EVER!
For a fictional person he sure had a well defined past. Incidentally watching this reminded me of a quote from Ernest Hemingway when he was asked how you become a good writer: "Have a lousy childhood."
He actually came up with most of what he's said about his past. All that we know about him is what is told in The Greek Interpreter
I Swear you got me good. I honestly thought he was a real person. Well done simon!
And for THAT, you get a subscribe. Well played, good sir. :D
raptormaster666 April fools...
Exactly, and I approved of it so much that he gets a subscribe. :P
I thought Sherlock Holmes was a real person during this video... Untill you daid he wasn't... Absolutly brilliant sir, well done...!
How you keep a straight face during this is nothing short of amazing. Well done.
Goodness, I didn't even pick it as an April fools joke. Yes yes, I know Sherlock is a fictional character but it's like 3am on the 2nd here in Australia and I wasn't even thinking "Oh, April Fools joke". So partly April 1st is gone and also because Sherlock Holmes was at least in part based on several real people :)
*Sigh* Now I've actually watched it It's pretty obvious. Leaving my original comment intact to warn of the perils of a)commenting before watching b) Watching youtube at 3am ;)
Man Drake, got up at 5 and didn't even click April fools is still going around the world.
Well done - You have succeeded in almost bringing Sherlock Holmes to life.
OK, this is a spectacular April Fools Day!
I was wondering when you were going to throw us under the bus! I loved the info you were spinning our way. Great Bio as always, Simon. And my hat goes off to the researchers of this one; it was fanstastic!!
WOOOW!
You got me!!! I "knew" he was a work of fiction then you put at a loss... I mean.. It's not the first time I was wrong and all...but then in the end ....AAAAHHH .... you got me. Well done good sir! a 20 minutes prank wow
I spent ten minutes knowing Sherlock was a fictional character. Then admitted to myself that I was wrong. Then, later, another ten minutes being very angry. I still love you Simon. I have never commented on anything online before, but this has been a very emotional thirty minutes. Jesus.
Excellent!!!!
Bravo. I was wondering if you would break the fourth wall. Holmes has always been my favorite literary character. Phenomenal episode.
Well played, you got me
I was so confused, I knew Homes was fictional at least I thought I did until you kept going on about his back story, so I had to google it to be sure. Good one mate !
I almost did too until I saw your comment. :D
it all lines up so well with the story though...
Excellent deduction..my dear Sir..
Dude, this was epic. I was sitting there admiring how much research you had gleaned from Doyle's novels. But to find out it was an April Fool's joke just made it so much better!! I also have King Arthur on the queue.
Okay if were doing fiction I want a Darth Vader video
Nice choice.
Agreed!
I second that, along with James Kirk, Jean Luc Picard, and James Bond. :)
And Jack Reacher ( binge-ing on Lee Child lately) lol
Super cool, Simon! As a lifelong Sherlockian, you actually had me going for a few moments! And the Holmes Family background is absolutely awesome! You & your writers are a wonder and a delight!!
I love april fools videos they are so creative
I was listening to this with great interest, thinking the entire time, "but Sherlock Holmes was not real." Yet you delivered this so cock sure, so flawlessly that I had to repeat in my head several times that Holmes was not real. Then by using my superior dedication skills I glanced at the date of release. Thank you for such a great history on such a great man. Too bad he was not real. Oh how many times he would have been so useful!!
Well I did learn more about the great fictional detective. I should point out that 221B Baker Street did not even exist until 1932 when they extended the road.
Interesting timing. The last Holmes story was published in 1927 and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle passed away in 1931.
I knew he was fictional, but this was so fun to watch, lol
Bravo! In another universe this is reality.
I enjoyed this so much. You did all the hard work of putting the character's background together for us ;)
Simon thats the best April fool joke I’ve ever seen
One of my favourite fictional characters of all time. Simon did a wonderful job of portraying him as a living person, just as the genius Sir Conan Doyle was able to do through the amazing detail and fictional history of Sherlock. Thank you for this great BIOgraphic! It has enticed me to re-read those wonderful tales of mystery.
Please do Dracula next year. The truth about Vlad III is completely mixed up with Stoker's writing in most people's imaginations. It would make a great prank.
I'm sure you are aware, but for others, there is a group called the Baker Street Irregulars. They are named after a group of unofficial street assistants to Holmes. In everything they say, do, and write, they treat Holmes as a historical person. They write learned articles about facets of his life. If you were to say to one of them that Holmes was a fictional character, they would probably turn on their heels, walk away, and never speak to you again
I watched this whole thing thinking “hmm I always thought Sherlock Holmes was a book character”
Haha well I guess I can feel smarter then most, although before it was over I was starting to doubt myself.
Very good job!
Man,.. You had me scratching my head for a long while..!! You did compel me to recheck the facts.. Loved it.. Kudos to you.!!
Another amazing bio video! I love your work and deeply appreciate time and energy spent to get at the facts. I knew Sherlock was fictional, just as I know Sir A.C. Doyle modeled Sherlock Holmes after Dr. Joseph Bell from his years of university and witnessing Bell's often shocking powers of deduction. He also modeled the character and Dr. Watson from himself. He [Sherlock] originally was to be named Sherringford Holmes as well. Have a great evening.
I was introduced to some of Holmes' adventures as a teen. This was a brilliant prank and a fitting biography. Well done!
Truly the best April Fool’s video of all time.
I just ventured across this video now. Really impressive and intellectually in sync. Thank you
Even though this is a april fools, I'd love to see more fictional characters done
Okay now your team has to do more on fictional characters this was cracking good
You got me again!
I though, “Damn, he’s real? I always thought he was fiction.”
Then you dropped the punch line.
Brilliant, as always.
Simon, that was great. Hard to imagine there are people who don’t know SH is fictional, but your delivery makes him seem real. Make it an annual April 1st Biographic to do a fictional character, please.
Absolutely my favorite biography you've done so far! As always excellent work Thank you! Also being an Actually Autistic advocate and a Holmes fan from my early teens this helped solidify a few theories on the Holmes family and the Autism connection. Check out the new resources(new series), 2 books of Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Definitely will help you round out some missing pieces! (Hope this kind of biography becomes tradition for April 1st!)
This was a great idea for a video! Well player Sir...Well played!
This is why Simon should never have his own channel like this. the greatest April fools ever lol
Having never read the books, I thought this was all carefully gathered info from all the source material you could scrounge up! You should do “biographies” on fictional characters more often! :)
Sublime , just had to see the end ....
I'm a life-long Holmes fan, and Ioved this
I knew thought he wasn't real, you made me think he was, then told me he wasn't.
I finally got to see this while knowing that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character. Based on the strength of that April Fools Day video alone, I would love to see more fictional biographies on this channel! Excellent work!