Abby Russell Appreciation Thread

Abby Russell is a valuable member of the GB team and the funniest hire in many many years.. Just wanted to let Abbey know that when I see her in videos on the site all I care about is how funny she is. And her obsession with Dirt bikes or something?... Jareth!

If the late, great Gene Wilder was a millennial, he'd be Abby Russell... I really hopes she likes Gene Wilder...

Abby is awesome, i'm super happy shes part of the crew now.

abby's fantastic and i can hardly imagine a better fit at GBW

@whatshisface: I mistakenly typed something and it wouldn't let me edit it. Since the thread was so young I decided to rebuild. And I just wanted to show Abby appreciation for being great at her job.

Abby is rad as hell.

My favorite thing is sending Abby cat pictures on twitter. She's very funny, she seems very good at her job (I know nothing of videos and their productions)...her and Ben are breaths of fresh air to their coasts--I'm not saying that just because I'm 25.

I'll repost what I put in the original then:

Not since Austin Walker era GBE have I been so excited to consume GBE's content. Abby Russell is joy personified, and I can't stop smiling when she's featured in videos. From her sick roof jumps, to her "hole" talk, to her excellent horror feature that is definitely not named "fright or shite", she does a such a good job of making my days brighter.

Copy/paste from the old thread:

Abby has been such a great addition. She's brought her own personality and perspective, while also immediately fitting the spirit of this very dumb website and really clicking with everyone else. The site feels revitalised with the arrival of Abby and Ben and it's been great fun watching her interplay with one Vinny "Just checking the audio" Caravella. Sharing the load on the production side has also had a noticeable effect and we're getting more tightly produced, edited content (such as the Exquisite Corps recaps) that hasn't really been present on the site in a long time.

Keep doing what you're doing, Abby! We couldn't have asked for anyone better!

Agreed! Abby is rad!

Abby is the actual best and has got me back to preferring GBE content to GBW stuff.

Everything said by everybody in this thread before me is 100% accurate.

Abby is killing it!

You're pretty cool Abby! Aces!

Don't remember what I typed in the last thread but Abby!! You're fantastic and it's so great to have you be a part of this dumb website! You bring tons of laughs and joy to everything you're in and it's great! You're great! Hopefully this thread can be your pep talk just like how you always give twitter pep talks, which is also a great thing you do!

Jareth!

Abby rocks! Fantastic addition to the site, not that I ever doubt the hiring choices here for a second. Bit low key at first but quickly became an essential part of GB. I'm always cracking up at her gusto in PUBG. Thanks for the great work both on and off camera.

Margaret's pretty cool too.

Best hire since the blinking travelogue-ist. Abby gets it, man.

Since I don't know anyone that age/gender in real life, it's basically like Abby is an alien. And I appreciate the ability to listen or observe a representative of this superior extra-solar culture on the internets a few times a week. Big love, keep it up, please don't probe. Try and talk Vinny into another Kerbal series where you drive and the others advise. :)

Abby is a really great addition. She has brought a lot more life to GB.

Abby is a wonderful addition to the site: she's funny, observant, and willing to put herself out her comfort zone to not only get the best out of herself, but also to coax the rest of Giant Bomb crew out of their comfort zones. She seems to care greatly about making an impact, both at Giant Bomb and outside it. I'm ecstatic to see she has a support group in the industry to share her success with. She deserves to be where she is, and she's absolutely nailing it now she's here.

More than any of that, though, I really appreciate her strength: I would be so sad if she eventually left because of the pervasive misogyny she has to deal with. She's talented and we're lucky to have her.

FYI, if you posted in the original thread, you can still see your comment in your forum history so you can copy and paste your messages again. OP had a minor issue, no big deal.

@ivdamke: She made a #MeToo post on Twitter re sexual harassment. One of the things she referred to was how she is treated by a section of the GB audience in comments.

I'd guess a lot of the people here (me included) just wanted to let her know how much she's valued in response to that. The people who hadn't seen her tweet just generally think she's awesome and wanted to let her know.

I wasn't sure how well Abby would integrate into the crew, or rather how much I would enjoy her perspective as I'm not a huge fan of improv, so that aspect was a bit worrying. That worry was unwarranted. Abby is hilarious and brings a fresh perspective to games as well as the weird ass culture the duders have cultivated for years. The atmosphere at GBeast feels lively and they have their own identity now and Abby is a huge part of that. She very obviously enables everyone at Giant Beast do their jobs better, especially Vinny, by wearing a lot of hats during a rather complicated production. I cannot name a lot of people that can that easily perform in front of and behind the camera that well at will. In fact, I think that list is made entirely of folks who work for GB or Gamespot. The site is better for her working here and I'm grateful for the extra smiles I get with all the new content.

Do your damn thing, Abby.

Abby fits in really well with the rest of the crew and brings a breath of fresh air with a different perspective on the world of gaming. The improvement on the production side has also been noticeable since she joined the crew (easiest to notice from the return of kickass intros to some video content).

We're all lucky she joined the site and I hope she won't give up on Giant Bomb because of some assholes creeps.

As soon as that first dab hit the site, I knew that Abby was a great addition to the team. The way she reacts to Vinny's mistakes in SMS with a pained "Oh, Vinnyyy!" always makes me laugh.

A fantastic edition, makes me laugh and keeps me up to date with hotest mellienial trends. Great job, 5 stars!

They're going to transfer her to west coast to do video production. It will be a sad day

Abby is great! My daughter points at the screen when she saw her for the first time and said "she's my favorite" on the negative side, however, I showed her the dabbing video and now she won't stop dabbing so... thanks for that. Abby is a great addition to the team and the site is better with her.

Abby fits in so well, I hope she doesn't abandon us for pointier pastures.

She has been a fabulous addition to the site.

Abby is great.

This is something we're aware of and we're actively trying to combat. A lot of people don't seem to understand that comments about the physical appearance of members of staff, even comments they deem to be positive and supportive, are still unwanted. It's the internet equivalent of yelling at women in the street; Even if you think you're being complimentary or cute, it's awkward and creepy and if you do it we're going to ban you.

Abby is a great addition to the team. It's impressive how quickly and naturally she fell in with the rest of the crew. We're lucky to have her on board.

The interview process on part of the Gb staff has gotta be difficult. Trying to find someone who is charismatic in front of a camera, knows and is capable of what this strange job entails, and can easily gel with the rest of the staff: Abby fits the bill in all these respects. It took all of one day for me to warm up to her. So yeah, happy that she's on board!

Also, all of this applies to Ben as well :)

I remember the first video I saw her in was the E3 one with Dan interviewing her and ben. She was hilarious in that. I was actually laughing out loud at her t-shirt responses.

And this has got to be one of my favorite tweets I've had the privilege of reading in a long time.

"Mmm-Hmm"- Abby Russell

Abby is rad as heck and the perfect addition to the already awesome Beastcrew.

Abby bestowed the :dabby emote upon us, we're not worthy.

You know what they like to say. Beastcrew? More like...Bestcrew :D!

I love Abby and Ben.

Abby is good people!

From reading the original job posting for which she was hired and how the videos were for her first couple weeks I believe the position was mainly meant to be a technical assist for Vinny. Since Vinny is usually in the host position it can be difficult for him to do the fiddly bits if it's necessary, so they brought on someone to solidify the technical stuff and maybe be on camera every once in a while. Considering how small the GBE team is it's natural that she'd get SOME screen time, but the fact that she's gone blow for blow with the other guys really shows that doubling down on her as an on camera personality was definitely the right decision.

:dabby :dabby :dabby :dabby :dabby :dabby

Abby has been an incredible addition to the Giant Bomb team. She seems to have fit right in with the team, and it has really made GB East better.

Abby is slowly gaining on Vinny for the title of "favorite GB person." I'm more interested in the site now than I have been since Austin left, and it's almost entirely on her. You're ruining my life, Abby. Please stop.

I was a bit worried at first because she seemed a bit slow to integrate, but now the chemistry feels like it's been building for years, specifically with Vinny. I was very excited to finally have a lady on the crew, and she hasn't disappointed. I hope she remains comfortable sharing her perspective, especially in serious discussions. She's usually pretty insightful. The only other worry I've had about her is that she might be too cool and popular with fans. Must get kinda tricky when both producers are so in-demand as on-camera talent. I'm already dreading the day she moves on.

Controversial statement: her "Vinnyyyyyyyyyyyy" beats Austin's.

Abby is dope, hopefully she sticks around for awhile. She adds another unique perspective to the site from a much younger generation (and continually makes me feel old). She's also doing good work behind the camera as well and i dig the podcasts she does with ben.

I can't remember the piece of premium content, but Vinny says "Bustin' makes me feel good." and Abby's "Vinnnnnyyyyy!" was hilarious and I still think about it. So, in other words, I agree with you.

She's great! Hot dunk for her!

I didn't think I'd be so interested in GB's output again since Austin left but I'm happy to have been proven wrong, there's so much to be said for bringing in not just new funny people but new funny people with a fresh perspective. Abby is great and hiring her has to be one of the best decisions this site has ever made.

Look, I love Abby (except for the screaming, although I know it's something I'm guilty of sometimes too so I can't blame her) but this is a bold statement! Austin's "Vinnyyyyyyyyyyyy" has to be a top ten Giantbomb moment for me.

@bollard: I am willing to accept its possibility of being superior, but only the version where Abby is playing a scary game and Vinny uses the voice changer to sound like a demon. That's the staccato fear laughing one. "Vinnee-ee-ee-ee-yyy."

@ragnar_mike: I haven't watched the horror game videos so maybe I'm missing out!