Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • So today it's gonna be a little bit different

  • because we received a random package from YouTube.

  • It is a giant box that says, "Open me."

  • We have no real context of what's going on,

  • but we may as well just open it.

  • -Okay. -Okay.

  • [BOTH GASPING]

  • [BOTH SCREAMING]

  • [LAUGHING]

  • [DISTORTED LAUGHTER]

  • "You've been selected to take part

  • "in YouTube's Great Gift Exchange."

  • Okay, "The Great Gift Express."

  • A round trip from here to there.

  • -This is so cool. -Oh, my gosh.

  • -This is exciting. This is an exciting day for us. -What's happening?

  • And it has a little, like, URL

  • that I think we need to go to, a website.

  • Do you want to just hit play?

  • That I can do.

  • Hey, y'all. I'm Alton DuLaney,

  • the world's most famous gift wrap artist,

  • and YouTube's wrap-resentative.

  • gift-lomat, present-er.

  • What? What's that?

  • You have been selected to be a part

  • of YouTube's Great Gift Exchange,

  • where you and 11 other creators

  • will participate in a chain of charitable gift giving.

  • You will each be assigned a creator,

  • and as a gift, each of you will make a donation

  • to a charity that is important to your recipient.

  • Cool.

  • And then, you will be whisked away to my magical Wrap Shop...

  • I bet it's in the North Pole.

  • Magic.

  • ...where I'll teach you how to gift wrap the creator's donation

  • -in a thoughtful way. -Oh, fun.

  • ALTON: And now,

  • without further ado...

  • Aah!

  • I took years of modern dance.

  • -This guy's hilarious. -Yeah, he's amazing.

  • Who is he?

  • Let's find out who your lucky gift-cipient is.

  • What?

  • Oh, come on.

  • -Who is it? -Wow.

  • The lucky gift-cipient is...

  • The magnificent Molly Burke.

  • Yeah! Okay. I'm glad that we know her well, so we can...

  • I wanna find a way that we can engineer the perfect scientific gift for Molly.

  • I know.

  • That's the thing about us, it's gonna have to incorporate science,

  • especially considering we're horrible at wrapping gifts.

  • -Yeah. -Like, really.

  • See y'all at the Wrap Shop.

  • -On to the train. -I love lightspeed rail.

  • NARRATOR: A miniature train left Toronto

  • travelling 50 miles per hour...

  • I love trains.

  • This is bumpy.

  • ...to a whimsical winter landscape

  • which was actually just flour.

  • It carried with it AsapSCIENCE

  • and their gifts for Molly Burke.

  • They arrived at Alton's Wrap Shop

  • to add their science to his work.

  • Whoo!

  • -It's freezing out there. -Ooh!

  • Quite the storm. Whoops!

  • -Slammed the door. Sorry. -That's all right.

  • Welcome to the Wrap Shop.

  • So, guys, tell me a little bit about Molly Burke.

  • We've come prepared,

  • 'cause you know we love to have a good diagram.

  • So Molly is a fellow creator.

  • She loves makeup. She loves fashion.

  • She jumped out of a plane, which I would never do.

  • She also has an adorable dog named Gallop, who's so sweet and kind.

  • Oh, my God, he... Not!

  • ALTON: Mmm-hmm.

  • You also have an extremely calm, amazing dog,

  • who's also falling asleep right now, which is amazing.

  • And he's her guide dog, because she's blind.

  • Oh, okay. The art of gift wrapping is much more than visual.

  • It's the touch. It's the weight. It's the shape.

  • And even depending on what you embellish it with,

  • -it could be the scent of the gift. -GREGORY: Yeah.

  • People who are blind have other heightened senses.

  • So I think we wanna figure out how we can incorporate that into the gift.

  • MITCHELL: That's completely true.

  • In fact, a 2017 study found

  • when looking at blind people compared to those who weren't,

  • they used parts of their brain more significantly

  • related to hearing, scent and touch.

  • Within the blind subjects, the study found

  • that the plasticity of the brain leads to the brain

  • developing new connections as it adapts and grows.

  • Significant changes were not only observed in the occipital cortex,

  • but also areas implicated in memory,

  • language processing and sensorimotor functions.

  • In other words, when it comes to senses other than sight,

  • Molly kinda has superpowers.

  • And if Molly can learn all that, you can learn to gift wrap.

  • -Exactly. -Yeah, okay.

  • That's fair enough.

  • Clearly, you've given a lot of thought to this,

  • so what are your ideas for gifts for Molly?

  • So I come from a lineage of granola parents,

  • so I was always given around Christmas time, donations,

  • which was a hard thing to deal with sometimes as a kid,

  • I'd be like, "Thank you, I did want an action figure, but..."

  • So, I do... As I became an adult, realized how important this is,

  • so this is a donation to the Mira Foundation

  • which she cares deeply about,

  • and it provides guide dogs to people aged 11 to 16.

  • So that's gonna be one part of the gift.

  • The second part is actually a cookbook for the blind

  • by a really famous chef named Christine Ha, who is blind herself.

  • Is there anything else we need to take into consideration?

  • Yes, so we are always thinking about the climate crisis,

  • and especially around the holidays, because in fact,

  • the holidays can be a little trashy.

  • [LAUGHS] I'm a little trashy, too.

  • [BOTH LAUGHING]

  • In America, between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day,

  • there's a 25 percent increase in trash.

  • Within that timeframe, it actually means, every week

  • there's an extra one ton of trash produced.

  • A lot of people think that wrapping paper is recyclable.

  • But if there's ever glitter on it, or you're gonna tape on it,

  • it also can't be recycled.

  • And this is what we call "wish-cycling,"

  • when you just throw something in the recycling

  • assuming it is going to get recycled

  • when in fact, it can't.

  • So I hope this isn't too much of an issue

  • that you know we don't wanna create that much waste.

  • I don't know, is this gonna be a challenge?

  • I've wrapped gifts in everything, even to dollar bills,

  • which is kind of the ultimate recyclable material.

  • Whoa!

  • And also the best gift to get, probably.

  • Yeah, and then right after you can go straight to the strip club.

  • You ready?

  • So, you all wanna head over to the gift wrap studio

  • and do some wrapping?

  • With that hat on and you saying, "Y'all,"

  • was very exciting for me.

  • GREGORY: I'm genuinely, like, so scared to wrap gifts.

  • -Oh, my gosh. I'm so nervous. -MITCHELL: Here we are.

  • My fight-or-flight response is going off in my head.

  • And just so you know, there's actually toys in these boxes,

  • and these gifts will go to children in need.

  • So, I'm counting on you to do a good job.

  • Yeah, I kinda feel like I'm at a test

  • that I literally haven't prepared for at all,

  • so thank you for bringing me back to my university years of stress.

  • Let's do a little gift wrapping here.

  • Now, typically with a box, there is a top and a bottom to the gift...

  • Hello!

  • Okay, we need to move on.

  • ALTON: You always wrap from the bottom so you do it face down.

  • And now this is how I measure what I'm working with here.

  • I just do a little crease there.

  • -Wow! -So that makes a little line,

  • and so that's the edge of your box,

  • so now you just wanna cut an inch or so over that.

  • No. Why was I... [SPUTTERS]

  • I can't do anything straight.

  • MITCHELL: All right.

  • So on your little mark there, you're gonna fold that under.

  • And now this goes on top.

  • GREGORY: Oh.

  • Because that minimizes your seams when you're finished.

  • -Oh! Okay. -ALTON: Perfect.

  • I like to say, "Wrapping is a snap."

  • 'Cause you take those fingers that you snap with

  • and now you run it around the edges,

  • and you crisp all your little edges up.

  • Do you have, like, calloused fingers like a guitar player?

  • I earned those callouses.

  • [LAUGHS]

  • And then always embellish, because it's that little extra touch...

  • -Yeah, that's true. -...that really takes it to the next level.

  • -Bing! -Ting!

  • -Now, we're gonna do that great Christine Ha Braille cookbook. -MITCHELL: Cool.

  • I have for you these cute little aprons.

  • This is what we're gonna actually wrap the cookbook in.

  • MITCHELL: That's so clever. GREGORY: Oh, my gosh!

  • That's so cool.

  • The name for this, it's a Japanese word

  • and it's called furoshiki.

  • It's a Japanese art of cloth wrapping,

  • and it dates back to 710 AD.

  • The name actually translates to "bath spread,"

  • and it was derived from the practice of bundling one's clothes

  • at public baths to avoid wardrobe mix-up with other patrons.

  • Eventually, the furoshiki usage extended

  • to serve as a means for merchants to transport goods

  • to protect and decorate gifts.

  • Today, in modern-day Japan,

  • furoshiki are commonly used to wrap lunch boxes,

  • doubling as the table mats for your lunch.

  • But everywhere, furoshiki is growing in popularity

  • as the ultimate reusable bag.

  • That's so cool.

  • And I like to call this putting the "present" in "presentation,"

  • because then the actual wrap becomes a secondary gift.

  • Wow, I love that.

  • So let's start by spreading it out

  • and kinda getting the biggest area

  • that you could possibly work with.

  • Line up your apron strings,

  • 'cause when we're done, we're gonna use this as our built-on ribbon.

  • And I'm Santa!

  • I genetically look like I could be his son,

  • 'cause I'm always red in the face.

  • All right, Kris Kringle, let's move on with this.

  • Bring down this kind of top flap,

  • tuck the fabric down the side,

  • and then I crisscross over...

  • MITCHELL And does the apron part need to be folded?

  • Okay, this is how you do it. Okay? You pull it down, and then you do that.

  • It's clear to me which one of you folds the laundry at home.

  • Yeah, exactly. I mean, that's not true.

  • I just throw things.

  • And now, I'm folding my little ruffle part over,

  • and this creates this little crisscross pattern,

  • or a kimono almost, is what it looks like.

  • You're doing great.

  • [MITCHELL CHUCKLING]

  • -This guy on the other hand... -Not so.

  • ALTON: [LAUGHS] He's working hard.

  • He goes under his breath, "Man, this is so hard."

  • And now the bib of the apron, I'm folding over

  • to get just a nice edge.

  • -GREGORY: Wow. -So the dealio

  • is you have to basically create a square

  • out of a non-square shape.

  • Hate to say it, babe, but that's kinda math.

  • Math, see?

  • And now I've wrapped my apron strings underneath

  • so you're binding all this together.

  • And then I'm gonna just tie a simple bow

  • like you're tying your shoe. And if that wasn't enough,

  • what we've created here is this great pocket...

  • that then you could slide in, like, cooking utensils.

  • MITCHELL: Very cool.

  • Oh, wow!

  • Some fresh rosemary for you.

  • This smells so good.

  • ALTON: And this introduces the element of scent to the gift.

  • I mean, in particular, this whole thing is very tactile.

  • You can feel the different textures,

  • and now we have a literal scent coming off it.

  • It's a perfect gift, I think, for Molly.

  • But there is actually a lot of science behind smell as well.

  • After a smell enters the nose,

  • it travels through the cranial nerve

  • to the olfactory bulb,

  • which processes smells.

  • The olfactory bulb is part of the limbic system,

  • and this actually hosts something in your brain called the amygdala.

  • Now, your amygdala you might have heard of before

  • because it is linked to emotional response.

  • And so this close relationship between the olfactory system

  • and the amygdala is one of the reasons odors lead to nostalgia.

  • And so you can bring emotional memory into someone through smell.

  • Giving a charitable donation is a great gift to give someone

  • because it's thoughtful, it's generous,

  • but just because you're doing a good deed,

  • doesn't mean you don't have to make it look good.

  • -Oh. -[LAUGHING]

  • So we don't get away with this one?

  • You are really gonna enjoy this, because it involves some engineering.

  • BOTH: Okay.

  • We thought we will create a little dog house.

  • -Okay, that's really cute. -Oh, wow!

  • ALTON: The first part is actually creating the dog.

  • I've got some instructions for you of how to do it.

  • Okay, let's go.

  • While Mitch is working on that,

  • this is paper that has been embedded with wildflower seeds.

  • -Wow. -And so, when you're done with this,

  • -you plant it, and it grows. -That is so cool.

  • Okay, wow. Now I've heard everything.

  • So we're gonna do a technique that's called pleating.

  • You're going to fold about one inch.

  • -GREGORY: Okay. -And then I use that as my guide,

  • and I continue to fold it.

  • Then you wanna unfold, and you turn it over,

  • so your little ridges are now up.

  • You're gonna grab a ridge, and pinch it and pull it about halfway,

  • so you create this layered effect.

  • You're gonna produce four of these panels,

  • and that's gonna be all four sides of the dog house.

  • Okay.

  • Pleating is actually a technique I use on a lot of different gift wraps.

  • -Oh, wow. -So, I call this a tuxedo pleat,

  • 'cause it kinda looks like a tuxedo shirt...

  • Holding that up right now, it looks like, bam, part of your outfit.

  • -Hey, that's my outfit today. -So, I see.

  • You don't wanna make a full house,

  • you could just put on two of those.

  • Right, you could do all kinds of things with this technique.

  • So I have here some spools of rick-rack.

  • -Called it riff-raff? -Rick-rack.

  • Oh, "rick-rack."

  • -Okay, I was like, the rapper? -You're riff-raff.

  • This is rick-rack.

  • -There's a difference. -Oh, drag.

  • I'm wearing the white on top of the red.

  • Feel this. It's creating the texture of shingles.

  • I love this,

  • because there is so much interesting science

  • behind how blind people touch and feel.

  • In fact, a lot of studies have shown

  • that while blind people and sighted people can feel

  • different taps on their fingers in the same way,

  • when it comes to different kinds of feelings,

  • so taps versus vibrations,

  • blind people have a lot more sensitivity on their fingers.

  • Which makes sense. They're using more activated parts of their brains

  • dedicated to feeling things and so ultimately,

  • this is a really exciting gift to give to somebody who can really feel it

  • probably more than we even can.

  • Oh, I finished the dog.

  • Oh, my God!

  • GREGORY: Arf! Arf! ALTON: It kinda looks like Gallop.

  • GREGORY: This is incredible. MITCHELL: It's perfect.

  • And we have our finished dog house here.

  • -Hey! Look at that. -We've created these wooden panel sides,

  • and then we created this shingle roof,

  • and then we open it up.

  • And this is one of the few times when it's a good thing

  • -to be in the dog house. -GREGORY: Ah!

  • -True, true! -Our little dog goes in,

  • and then you can add your charitable contribution.

  • Yeah, so we had a card made in Braille,

  • so we'll stick that in there.

  • Oh, my gosh, it keeps on going. I love it.

  • And then we're gonna add this cute little dog collar

  • to hold it all together.

  • So it's not just a contribution, it's actually a gift that they get to keep.

  • -Wow. -They can share it together. That's so nice.

  • I'm so excited for Molly to experience this gift

  • in a way that I've even never had a chance to experience

  • something so tactile and different.

  • And thank you so much for teaching us,

  • and bringing science into this. It's really interesting and fascinating for us.

  • MITCHELL: Thank you guys for watching.

  • Make sure you subscribe, and we'll see you next time.

  • -Peace. -That's a wrap.

  • NARRATOR: Ho ho ho!

  • The presents wrapped and folded,

  • they tumble down the slide.

  • Off to Molly Burke's apartment,

  • where she'll find out what's inside.

  • This part of YouTube's Gift Exchange

  • has ended over here.

  • But if you'd like more holiday,

  • lend Molly Burke your ear.

  • Peppermint Patty,

  • your Christmas elf, at your service.

  • Ooh, it's a dog collar!

  • Is this supposed to be Gallop?

  • Oh, look at you, my Christmas tree.

  • In the spirit of giving,

  • we want to bring your attention

  • to the donate button,

  • where you can donate to Rainbow Railroad

  • which is a cause near and dear to our hearts.

  • They help to bring people from across the world

  • who are queer to Canada away from persecution,

  • in order to have safety in our country as newcomers.

  • So when we got back home,

  • we found this little card left in our bags from Alton.

  • "All this holiday cheer does not need to end here.

  • "Choose one more creator for the Giving Train

  • "and let's start a whole new chain."

  • Okay, we will have to think about who that will be,

  • -but in the meantime... -Happy holidays, we love you.

So today it's gonna be a little bit different

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it