Keeping a cardioid or supercardioid mic close to your mouth reduces room reverberation in the audio which makes it listenable. The person in this video is using

Keeping a cardioid or supercardioid mic close to your mouth reduces room reverberation in the audio which makes it listenable. The person in this video is using an RE20, a classic dynamic microphone widely used in radio broadcasting. In fact in this video it's a little further away than usual, so I think he is trying to play it down. As to the gold microphones that some YouTubers are practically making out with, they keep it so very close for the proximity effect which boosts the bass in their voice. The RE20 has a switch to approximate that effect without being so close, which sounds likely to be on in this video. The tacky gold plating on cheap microphones is not worth anything. The best microphones are grey or black, but you might see a little bit of the gold-plated condenser through the grille.