Ever wondered what it would be like if Darth Vader had a younger, socially awkward brother who worked in a grocery store?

Madison comedians Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan did. It's been more than two years since the duo took their idea for a "Star Wars" spoof, "Chad Vader," and turned it into a YouTube sensation, drawing in Web traffic like a tractor beam. Now, eight episodes and approximately 20 million views later, they're negotiating with TV networks to see if their YouTube fame will translate into boob-tube stardom.

The transformation, however unusual, would not be totally unprecedented, according to Hollywood talent scout and producer Frederick Levy. He interviewed Yonda and Sloan for his book, "15 Minutes of Fame: Becoming a Star in the YouTube Revolution," and said YouTube has made it easier than ever for anyone to have their moment in the sun or, like Yonda and Sloan, break into the entertainment industry.

"The abundance of talent on YouTube is amazing to me," Levy said, whose book is a "How To" for YouTube popularity.

"(YouTube) is a really great way for someone to get started and get their foot in the door who may not live in Los Angeles or New York or have connections," Levy said.

That's where Yonda and Sloan turned when their "Chad Vader" pitch, despite some interest, was rejected by several networks in 2006. Instead of mulling over their defeat, the pair went ahead with the idea, posting "Chad Vader" on Channel101.com before it migrated to YouTube (it also can be seen on their Web site, www.blamesociety.net). Now, with millions of fans, Yonda and Sloan have some leverage against the network executives.

So how did "Chad Vader" get so popular so quickly? According to Levy, it satisfies the three components necessary to almost every successful YouTube video, whether that video stars talking unicorns, an omniscient ninja or a girl with a crush on Barack Obama.

"The first thing is you have to have a very fascinating personality," Levy said. What could be more fascinating than a helmeted grocery store manager shrouded in black and accosting spies in the produce sector?

Next, according to Levy, is to "talk about something that's going to press a button." Whether you're a video blogger discussing foreign policy or a Chris Crocker-type screaming "Leave Britney alone!," political commentary and pop culture references are two great ways to get noticed. And it's hard to imagine a more iconic slice of pop culture than "Star Wars."

Finally, brevity is key, and "Chad Vader" episodes are usually no more than five minutes. "The shorter the better," Levy said, warning that anything longer than 10 minutes won't hold a YouTube audience's bite-sized attention span.

The "Vader" creators themselves, however, think there's more to their success than following formulas.

"The best way (to make a great YouTube video) is to just make something that you're excited about. … If you try to make something that you think the mass audience is going to love, it's probably not going to work," Sloan said.

Special quirkiness

But whether you're trying to be a celebrity or not, YouTube gives anyone with spare time and a digital camera a platform to show off their artwork, talents and special quirkiness to all of cyberspace.

Madison resident John Feith, for instance, doesn't have time for a film career between playing in his disco band, giving sailing lessons and selling his own instructional birdcall DVDs. Still, as a member of WisKino — essentially Madison's film fraternity — Feith has posted 18 videos on YouTube, most combining his bird footage with clever commentary and music he composes. While his obscure themes and dry humor are geared toward a niche audience — bird enthusiasts who read Nabokov in one video and enjoy a good macabre farce in another — Feith likes to think that, with YouTube's reach, he's never laughing alone.

'Kind of brilliant'

"It's nice thinking about the possibility that someone's going to find your work and think 'Oh, that was really kind of brilliant even though only a thousand people in this world have seen it,'" Feith said.

Not surprisingly, Feith, a friend of Yonda and Sloan's through WisKino, said his most popular clip was a behind-the-scenes video of a "Chad Vader" shoot. The "paparazzi" video has been viewed about 57,000 times, more than all his other videos combined.

Others don't use YouTube to display their work so much as to share their experiences.

Austin Mackay, a UW-Madison student, posted a video of himself skydiving in Spain for his friends and family back home to see. After a few hundred views, Mackay realized they weren't the only ones watching.

"I think it's kind of cool that strange people are watching," Mackay said. "To share that with people who have also experienced it so they can relive their memories ... it's a pretty cool idea."

Justin Sprecher, a UW-Madison graduate, said he uses YouTube to share WisKino films with friends and family. The 26-year-old, whose YouTube canon varies from an alderman campaign ad for an oragami pterodactyl to suspense vignettes, said he has thought about being "discovered" on YouTube, but knows the chances are slim.

"YouTube's not just some magical lottery ticket you get one day and someone calls you up and says 'Here's a huge contract because I found your YouTube stuff and it was good.' " Instead, Sprecher said, YouTube is just "a new way to have a business card" and "a really good networking tool."

As YouTube continues to grow, it will undoubtedly become more difficult for the "Chad Vaders" of the world to stand out in all the clutter. Still, fame isn't the ultimate goal for everyone and YouTube has other benefits. For some, like Feith, Mackay and Sprecher, sharing your work with a few like-minded people is satisfaction enough.