Your perception of vaping may range anywhere from “that is a thing only douches and dirtbags do” to “I am a dirtbag or douche and that is a thing I do.” Maybe there’s a third option out there, who knows. It is a massively successful industry, theoretically healthier than smoking and certainly less smelly, and it has birthed a pop-up industry of vape shops in strip malls throughout the country. In them, kids gather and do their best impression of Austin Lawrence, a.k.. “The Vape God.”
GQ profiled Lawrence at his strip-mall emporium of vape-related paraphernalia Vertigo Vaporium, and some of the details are what you’d expect. He uses the phrase really sick a lot; he has 330,000 followers on Instagram, a tidy following that has netted him a DM and real-life acquaintanceship with Drake; prior to vaping, he spent most of his time playing Runescape and Halo. All of which sort of goes with the territory, but then the videos of the actual vape tricks look this:
Or this:
Or this:
They’re… extremely rad. A lot start with detailed shots of him tweaking his luxurious rigs, but they generally climax in him conjuring a fucking pirate ship made of galactic stardust using cranberry-flavored vape smoke.
Anyway, look: You may not exactly consider, as Lawrence does, that vaping is “kind of an art form, kind of,” but there has to be a greatest vaper in the world, and it’s good to know, at least, who wears the crown.
Check out the whole profile for many more details on what it takes to achieve vaping greatness.