RealPhali

realPhali
Details
Real name	Chris
Age	34
Gender	Non-binary (AMAB)
Location	Norway
YouTube	realPhali
Twitter	@realPhali
Primary games	Minecraft
Streaming since	2015-17 2019-23

realPhali, better known as Phali is a semi-retired Norwegian content creator, primarily known for Minecraft-related content. They originally streamed from 2015-17, and returned to streaming in early 2019, later becoming a Twitch Affiliate in March 2019. While they originally streamed Garry's Mod and first-person shooters, their content since 2019 has shifted to near-exclusively Minecraft. They came out as non-binary in June 2023 and has since used they/them pronouns. Phali retired from active content creation in 2023, stating on Twitter that they wanted to get back to enjoyng video games as a hobby rather than forcing themselves to create videoes they weren't passionate about, but later returned partially in the form of a irregular podcast, The Idiot Council, alongside fellow content creator

Career

DuffHimself and LPMT era (2015-20)

Phali originally began streaming under the name DuffHimself in 2015, streaming a variety of RTS and FPS games, especially Garry's Mod, mostly for the viewing of friends who didn't play along with them - as local streaming of gameplay was still uncommon and Twitch being the easiest way to do so. During one of their Eurovision streams in 2019, Phali stated that they had been designated as the streamer in their group of friends because they "had the best internet and the only computer capable of streaming at decent quality". They stopped streaming in early 2017 to focus on the birth of their son and ongoing house remodel, with their previous content being removed from Twitch and YouTube a few months later. Phali later confirmed that they still have all the VODs and content, but that they had been unlisted. During one of their 2019 streams, they attributed this to wanting to be more family friendly due to their job as a teacher and having become a parent, stating "I don't want my kid or my students to find videoes of me on the internet behaving terribly and swearing like a sailor".

In February 2019, after work on their house finished, they returned to Twitch with their channel rebranded realPhali - based on their in-game name Phali. In one of their first streams after returning, they said the rebrand happened because they wanted it to be a fresh start and to separate newer streams and videos from their older, less-family-friendly content. In March 2019, they become a Twitch Affiliate, reaching 100 followers soon after and reaching 200 in October. In April 2020, they reached 300 followers. During this time, Phali streamed mainly from the LPMT SMP Server, owned by Xisumavoid, and later from the Buttscraft SMP server.

Shamblecraft era (2019-22)

On November 30, 2019, Phali launched the "Phalicraft" server after several weeks of teasers. In the launch stream, they stated that the server would be "free to play for all Discord members", saying that they wanted it to be a safe space to play without worrying about the monthly cost of joining a Patreon server. While they initially paid for the server himself, they eventually opened a Patreon in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic led to a loss of family income, with monetary support being voluntary and the server remaining free-to-play. In June 2020, the server was rebranded "Shamblecraft", coinciding with the launch of Minecraft 1.16. In the first stream after the relaunch, Phali stated that the rebranding was due to their opinion that the server was "a community effort" rather than their personal server, and as such he wanted the name and identity of the community to reflect this. The rebrand was followed by the launched of their first video series; "Shamblecraft Season 1", which also saw several content creators including NJCoffeeJunkie and Jessica2901 in addition to Phali himself creating videos alongside streams from the server.

Their Shamblecraft Season 1 ended on November 10, 2021 after 62 episodes, coinciding with the server reset, with Season 2 starting soon after. Their second season ended early on July 7, 2022 after just 19 episodes, due to Phali suffering from burnout and long covid, which had greatly diminshed their ability to create content while also working a full time job. Soon after, they went on a prolonged hiatus with no regular content, other than special events, for the remainder of the year.

Autocraft and retirement (2022-24)

In December 2022, Phali made a surprise return to content after joining the ongoing third season of Autocraft, creating a shortened four-episode series as the season was well underway at their time of joining. They later stated that they had been asked by several members of the server to consider joining, as it would be a way for them to create content on their own terms, rather than feeling like it was "forced", as they had felt with the Shamblecraft series. They returned for the fourth season, creating another three episodes with the last one premiering on July 29, 2023. Three months later, on October 24, Phali confirmed their retirement from content creation, stating that "content creation, as fun as it is, just isn't for me anymore. My IRL situation is such that creating videos, streaming or doing those sort of things just isn't possible without it either requiring me to sacrifice time I don't have or wear myself out." They later elaborated on their retirement, saying that they had initially decided to do so after the third season ended, but were talked into giving a fourth season a chance, and also told they were welcome to rejoin at a later date if they felt like it.

In January 2024, Phali stepped down as owner and leader of Shamblecraft after nearly five years, stating that they felt the community needed a leader that was more attentive and excited about the project than they were. In later comments, they stated that they should have left "much, much sooner" but felt obligated to stay because they were unsure if the server would be able to continue, as they felt like they were "the only one in control of things".

Podcast era (2024-present)

After having joked about doing so for a long time, Phali partially returned to content in June 2024 in the form of a podcast, titled "The Idiot Council Podcast", which they host alongside fellow content creator Emerald_Storm, with whom they had collaborated with previously both on Shamblecraft and Autocraft. The podcast, which is recorded live on Twitch on an irregular basis, usually follows a loose topical approach with most of the time dedicated to tangents, stories and humourous commentary on the topics chosen. While the initial plan was to record on a bi-weekly basis, they later decided to forego a schedule and record "when they have time and feel like it", which both hosts have stated as a helpful factor in keeping their excitement for the podcast going. As of February 2025, six episodes have been recorded.

Personal life

They were born in 1990 in Norway, and is the oldest of three siblings. Their father worked as a truck driver, ambulance driver and nurse, but is now retired. Since 2012, they have worked as a high school teacher, teaching English, Norwegian, History and Mathematics. They live in Norway with their wife and son, born in 2017. They came out publicly as non-binary in June 2023 and has since used they/them pronouns.

Trivia

• They suffer from social anxiety, having been diagnosed as an adult.
• They have several times stated on-stream that their favorite artist is Pink Floyd, and that their favorite movies are "The Godfather" and "The Boondock Saints".
• Because of their prominent British accent, many viewers have wrongly assumed they're from the UK. During a March 2019 stream, they stated that people from Britain often assumed they were from "a posh family in South England", and later revealed then when speaking with an American accent while visiting the US in 2015, people thought they were from Minnesota.
• They came out as non-binary in June 2023 and use they/them pronouns.
• Their original screen name "DuffHimself" was a combination of their nickname Duff - given by a friend in reference to bass guitarist Duff McKagan of Guns N Roses after they started playing bass in a band together - and a nod to Raab Himself of CKY and Jackass fame.
• Their screen name "Phali" is a abbreviation of "Phaliminka", which was a name given to them by the in-game randomizer in World of Warcraft. Usually abbreviated to "Phali" by in-game friends, they kept using it because "it was simple and had a nice ring to it".