Diversions

Thanks to his manic delivery and razor-sharp barbs on celebrity culture, Michael Buckley consistently attracts hundreds of thousands of hits for each episode of his YouTube show, What the Buck, That following is in a league with the Internet's gay phenoms like William Sledd and Pink Is the New Blog's Trent Vanegas. "More people watch me than Hey Paula on Bravo!" Buckley brags, exaggerating a bit.

Buck's show is like a hypergay version of The Daily Show or Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" where he bares his claws at notorious figures like Paris and O.J. It's hard to say where the effete Buck ends and the real Buckley begins. The 32-year-old from Connecticut--who works a 9-to-5 job in addition to 30 to 40 hours a week on his show--recently signed with an agent. Sealing the deal was Buckley's ability to deliver quips at mach speed. "People think I'm on drugs," he says.

Buckley knew he was gay when he first saw The Dukes of Hazzard at age 4: "Every time I saw Luke and Bo with their shirts off I got excited." He also worshipped Wonder Woman and subscribed to TV Guide in kindergarten.

Buckley says the Internet is "better than TV" because censors can't silence his over-the-top tangents. But that freedom also opens him up to "instant hate," he says: "You have to be ready for the 'Die, fag' comments."

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