Fair play: How two South Australian brothers became a world wide hit

From high school onwards, Lachlan Fairbairn had a dream: To make YouTube videos for a living. And it wasn’t just some pie-in-the-sky fantasy.

“I’ve always been interested in YouTube,” Lachlan tells Radio Today. “And I always had favourite YouTubers that I wanted to be like.”

“A lot of my favourite creators weren’t into comedy … I just wanted to do something in this world.”

Today, Lachlan and his younger brother Jaxon – creators of Fairbairn Films – have not only achieved their dream of making video content and getting paid for it … they’re absolutely killing it on the world stage.

Be it skits, conversations or just your general, everyday piss takes, their videos have captured global attention, with a loyal audience of 1.72 million on YouTube and 1.5 million followers on TikTok.

A huge number of those followers are in the US.

Lachlan says that’s because Americans love Australian comedy.

“A few viral moments focusing on the Australian accent and way of life have sparked a lot of interest over socials recently.”

“Americans seem to now be itching to consume more and more Australian comedy.”

From topics such as dealing with a mate who’s always late to sorting out your mum when tells you to ‘pause’ your online game, it’s the kind of laugh-out-loud content that has you spitting your coffee across the room.

South Australia is fiercely proud of the Fairbairn boys, who grew up on a mixed farming property near Murray Bridge.

“We had plenty of animals and plenty of fun,” says Lachlan.

Did they get along as kids?

“Sometimes,” says Lachlan. “And sometimes we would fight so badly, we had to be separated in car rides. It’s still sometimes like that.”

Getting funding and making their web series Fairbairn In The City rates as one of their biggest highlights so far.

“Doing shows around the place is always fun, and meeting some people we’ve looked up to has been a definite highlight,” says Lachlan.

Now, as the brothers head to creative powerhouse MIK for the third season of their Fair Enough podcast, they can’t wait to get stuck in.

“We are so damn excited to get podcasting again,” says Lachlan. “It’s one of the most fun aspects of our job, and the people at MIK are making a very comfy home for us to do that.”

What can we expect from the latest series?

“Everything from the last seasons and more,” says Lachlan. “We’re going ham and we’re gonna have fun.”

With the profile they’ve built, the brothers are in demand across a range of industries.

In March this year, Lachlan and Jaxon partnered with Australian Good Meat, a program aimed at sharing positive messages about red meat producers caring for both their livestock and the environment.

Life is chugging along very nicely indeed for the brothers right now, and that, says Lachlan, is also the future plan.

“Just keep trucking along, making good skits. Take good opportunities that come my way.”

“I’ve got some cool ideas for other stuff cooking. You’ll have to wait and see just like me.”