Skip to main content

Dead Is the New Alive

How a Deadpan Interview at Evoke 2026 Reached Three-Quarters of a Million Viewers

On the second evening of Evoke 2026, a stranger with a microphone asked me whether I use performance-enhancing libraries. I misheard it as performance-enhancing drugs, answered with complete earnestness anyway, and promptly forgot all about it. Two months later, that interview turned up in a YouTube video by Kai Lentit, which passed a quarter of a million views in its first day. This is how I ended up as the straight man in a comedy about the demoscene, and what three-quarters of a million viewers made of our little corner of digital art.

November 2026

Kai Lentit's video from Evoke 2026, with interviews from the party floor, including mine.
Watch on YouTube

A Microphone in the Lounge

On the evening of Saturday, August 22, the second day of Evoke 2026, a YouTuber interviewed me. It was a slightly strange situation, because at the time I had no idea who he was. He introduced himself as Kai Lentit, asked whether I had a few minutes, and we sat down in the lounge area right in front of the second stage: the very spot where the crowd had gathered to watch the Copper Showdown earlier in the weekend.

Then the questions started, and they were delightfully eccentric. “Are you using performance-enhancing libraries?” was one, which I promptly misheard as performance-enhancing drugs. “Why make life easier if you can make it harder?” was another. I decided to go all in. I answered every question in complete earnestness, and I made a point of staying respectful towards the demoscene, the pixel graphics competition, the shader showdown, and the Commodore Amiga throughout. It was very loud around us, and I had no confidence at all that the recording would turn out to be usable.

Behind the Lens: Kai Lentit and the Art of the Deadpan

More than two months went by, and I had more or less forgotten about it. Then, out of the blue, Kai sent me an email asking for permission to use the footage, along with an early draft of the video.

When I watched it, I understood why the questions had felt so wonderfully surreal. A look at his channel showed that Kai has built a loyal following with comedy-style video essays that lovingly parody IT, software development, and tech culture. He treats absurd technical subcultures with the utmost journalistic seriousness, and a subculture in which people fit entire worlds into four kilobytes for fun is a perfect match for that treatment.

The video weaves together footage from the party floor with dry narration, cuts between different interviewees, and does its best to explain the sheer incomprehensibility of demoparty culture, from 4K intros that pack whole universes into a handful of kilobytes to bleary-eyed coders working against the clock. It strikes a fine balance between humor and genuinely affectionate reporting, which is a much harder trick to pull off than it sounds. I thanked him, asked him to include my demoscene handle, Bala-Koala, and gave my approval.

I am in good company among the interviewees. One of them is LJ of Alcatraz, a 4K sizecoder whose intro hexer won the PC 4K intro competition at Revision 2025 and later the Meteorik for Best Direction. Evoke regulars may also know his work from Evoke 25, the invitation he made with wayfinder for Evoke 2024. The video introduces him as speaking “after 2.5 days of no sleep”. Another is Chaos of farbrausch, a true scene veteran. In the early nineties he coded Amiga demos for Sanity, such as Arte, which came third at The Party in 1993, and in 2000 he was one of the coders of farbrausch's legendary 64k intro .the .product. Tamás Polgár's demoscene history Freax quotes him back in 1991 with a line that still sums up the whole scene: “Why does anybody code demos? Because only demo coding is fun-coding!”

LJ, in a black cap, smiling at Kai Lentit at a desk with laptops in the Evoke 2026 hall; the on-screen caption reads LJ (after 2.5 days of no sleep), 4K Sizecoder
LJ, the 4K sizecoder, after two and a half days without sleep. (Screenshot from Kai Lentit's video.)

And then there is Wrighter, of the groups erpholia and Stargaze, who played a DJ set of live algorithmic music on Saturday night and also makes tiny 4K executable graphics: his coiled came fifth in that competition at Evoke 2026. The next day, Kai asked him, with a perfectly straight face, how he would rate yesterday's performance.

Wrighter, in glasses and a white T-shirt, at the DJ desk at night; the on-screen caption reads Wrighter, Live Algorithmic Music, and the subtitle reads: How would you rate yesterday's performance
Wrighter, who played a DJ set of live algorithmic music on Saturday night. (Screenshot from Kai Lentit's video.)

A Quarter of a Million Views in a Day

On Wednesday, November 4, a second draft arrived in which the sections I appear in had been tightened up and improved. I loved it and gave my approval once more. On the evening of Thursday, November 5, Kai released the video under the title I Go to Olympics of 4KB Coding., and the response was instantaneous. It traveled far faster than I could have expected, passing 250,000 views within its first 24 hours, and it has since climbed past 750,000.

Marin Balabanov, with a sticker-covered iPad on his lap, being interviewed by Kai Lentit, who holds a blue microphone, in the lounge at Evoke 2026
Kai Lentit interviewing me in the lounge at Evoke 2026, my sticker-covered iPad on my lap. (Screenshot from Kai Lentit's video.)

“Please. Dead Is the New Alive!”

I posted the video on the demoscene Discord, and a lot of folks watched it. The general verdict was that it is wonderfully silly, but that on the whole it makes for rather good, lighthearted outreach for the demoscene. Naturally, a few people found one exchange a bit strange: “Is the demoscene dying? Please. Dead is the new alive!” I will admit that it is my favorite line in the whole video, and it gave this article its title.

It may also be the most accurate line in the video. People have been declaring the demoscene dead for almost as long as it has existed, and year after year, it keeps not dying.

Chaos of farbrausch, a grey-haired man with glasses, being interviewed by Kai Lentit in front of a screen showing pixel graphics; the subtitle reads: and typing is your problem,
Chaos of farbrausch, scene veteran since the Amiga days. (Screenshot from Kai Lentit's video.)

Notes From the Comment Section

As the view count climbed towards three-quarters of a million, the YouTube comment section added a whole extra layer of entertainment, and it was remarkably supportive. Tech enthusiasts and programmers praised the sheer dedication of low-level sizecoding. The top comments cracked up over the contrast between old-school constraints and today's bloated software, with one declaring, with evident relief: “Not a single vibecoder was harmed in this video.”

Many comments were simply warm. “What a beautiful culture. Thank you for sharing,” wrote one viewer, and 161 people agreed. Another, with 332 likes, said: “I love that guy's passion. I missed being that passionate about something.” Others wrote “I have so much respect and love for these guys”, “very refreshing”, and, in German, simply “Geiler Typ!”, which translates roughly as “What a cool guy!” One viewer noted that Kai “actually did a good job, and was showing them respect”, and another hoped he would “do more of this.”

And of course there was humor. “Old dudes swapping floppy disks” collected 47 likes. One viewer christened the interviewer “Ali G Lentit”. Another flatly refused to believe in an Amiga in a German government office: “It's unrealistic. German government uses only fax-machines.” And one comment went straight to the heart of things: “‘Dead is the new alive’ welcome to the Church.”

YouTube comments: Great vid. Great montage. Very inspiring. He actually did a good job, and was showing them respect. This is the coolest thing, Kai. I hope you do more of this. Dead is the new alive, welcome to the Church. I wonder what they would do to Sam Altman if he walked in. Amiga in German government office? It is unrealistic. German government uses only fax-machines.
From the YouTube comments (1 of 5).

YouTube comments: I love that guy's passion. I missed being that passionate about something (332 likes). Old men swapping floppy discs (19 likes). Geiler Typ!
From the YouTube comments (2 of 5).

YouTube comments: Yeahhhhh demoscene! Excellent! Ali G Lentit. I have so much respect and love for these guys. Insane!!! So true. And shortening my life every day.
From the YouTube comments (3 of 5).

YouTube comments: That's too deep. Old dudes swapping floppy disks (47 likes). Excellent video. One of your best. I love everything about this. Such amazing people. Nice!
From the YouTube comments (4 of 5).

YouTube comments: What a beautiful culture. Thank you for sharing (161 likes). My new favorite wisdom words there. Loved. Very refreshing.
From the YouTube comments (5 of 5).

Several people said they were now curious about the demoscene and wanted to visit a demoparty. Quite a few were surprised to learn that the demoscene is alive at all. I always find this very amusing, given how much activity there is in the scene. Dead is, after all, the new alive.

The Sticker

The internet being the internet, the video also brought out some wonderfully distracted observers. In my interview, I have my trusty iPad Pro with its Magic Keyboard on my lap, and it is covered in stickers. One of them is an Antifa sticker in the style of the Amiga logo, complete with the rainbow checkmark. While most viewers were geeking out over the Amigas and the 4K executables, a sharp-eyed subset of commenters derailed into a side debate about that sticker.

Some of it was friendly. One viewer simply wanted to know: “where does one acquire that amiga antifa sticker @ 04:11?” Another was more troubled: “if this guy's brain works, why does he have an antifa sticker on his laptop?” (It is an iPad, but I will let that pass.)

YouTube comment: where does one acquire that amiga antifa sticker @ 04:11?
A sticker enthusiast in the YouTube comments.

YouTube comment: 7:56 if this guy's brain works, why does he have an antifa sticker on his laptop?
A sticker sceptic in the YouTube comments.

My absolute favorite, though, is this one: “>50yo grandpa >antifa sticker on laptop epic cringe bro”. I find it hilarious. I have decided to take it as a compliment on both counts.

YouTube comment: greater-than 50yo grandpa, greater-than antifa sticker on laptop, epic cringe bro
My favorite YouTube comment of all.

Joking aside, I do find the objection itself puzzling, because in the circles I move in, being against Nazis and fascists is simply considered a good thing. Perhaps in the United States the word Antifa has left the general public with a bad taste. In the context of Austria and Germany, with our history, being an anti-fascist is a positive thing, and nothing to be embarrassed about. The whole episode also proved once again that no matter how niche or technical your subculture is, the internet will always find that one random detail to fixate on.

A Snapshot of the Scene

All in all, the video turned out to be a brilliant, funny snapshot of the scene, and seeing our little corner of digital art beamed out to hundreds of thousands of curious viewers was quite a ride. My thanks go to Kai for the interview, for asking before he used the footage, and for treating the demoscene with as much affection as deadpan.

And to everyone in the comments who now wants to see a demoparty for themselves: come along. As you have heard, we are very much alive.

Came Here From the Video? Start Here

If the video made you curious, here are a few good places to start. Demoparties are listed in a worldwide calendar, demos can be downloaded or watched on the scene's own archive sites, and most parties are happy to welcome first-timers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the demoscene?

The demoscene is an international community of programmers, pixel artists, and musicians who create real-time audiovisual art, known as demos, and present them in competitions at events called demoparties. It grew out of the home computer culture of the 1980s and is still active today.

What is a 4K intro?

A 4K intro is a complete real-time audiovisual production, with both visuals and music, that fits into an executable file of no more than 4,096 bytes. Sizecoders use mathematics and procedural techniques to generate entire landscapes and soundtracks from that tiny amount of code.

Where was Kai Lentit's video filmed?

The interviews were filmed at Evoke 2026, a demoparty held from August 21 to 23, 2026, in Köln-Kalk, Cologne, Germany. The video, I Go to Olympics of 4KB Coding., was released on YouTube on November 5, 2026.

Who is Kai Lentit?

Kai Lentit is a YouTuber who makes deadpan, comedy-style video essays that lovingly parody IT, software development, and tech culture.

How can I visit a demoparty?

The calendar at demoparty.net lists upcoming demoparties around the world. Most parties welcome first-time visitors, and you do not need to enter a competition: you can simply buy a ticket, watch the competitions on the big screen, and meet the people who make the productions.