So, I've had an interesting few years

and I just wanted to talk a little bit about it

because my life has completely changed

and people ask me questions all the time.

"Where did you meet this person?"

"Where did you meet that person?"

Specifically one person.

So, instead of just talking about it myself,

I decided to ask my friend, who kind of

brought me into this new way of living,

if he'd talk with me about it.

So we're here with my boy Ramsay over here

who made me get into YouTube, literally made me.

(laughs) It's not even a joke.

So let's just get into it right now.

Peace! (exciting music)

Let's just go.

So, about a year and a half ago, I was FaceTiming

with Ramsay, and for about the 47th millionth time

he told me to start doing YouTube

and I sat there and made excuses.

I made excuse after excuse, I have a company,

I can't do this (bleep), all this stuff.

(both laugh) - I heard it all!

- "I heard it all," it's true.

But I made a promise to him.

I did, I swear, I said "If I'm gonna do this,

"I'm gonna do it 100%."

And I said "I'm not doin' it unless I can do it 100%."

So I sat back and I let myself roll into

thousands of dollars in debt and I was literally

about to quit doing magic, and Ramsay said again

"Start doing YouTube."

I guess I have to ask you, why did you push me so hard?

Actually. - First of all, like,

I think there's enough YouTube to go around for everybody.

I think that's the misconception in this industry

versus the magic industry, where there's competition

in the magic industry, there's competition

in many industries, but in YouTube specifically

there is no competition because if you do good

the rest of the creators do good.

That attracts more people to the platform

and then we all sort of succeed.

So there is, I mean, that aspect of it, and then,

on the other hand, you're a really good friend of mine,

you have talent, you have a lot of theory

and a lot of thoughts on magic that I think would be

really interesting and it's always fun to have people

to bounce off of on the same platform

and YouTube can be a lonely place when you're by yourself

so I thought who better to initiate to this crazy world

than this guy? - Yeah.

I just remember all the FaceTimes at 9:00 in the morning.

(laughs) - That was me

waking your ass up. - Literally!

Literally waking me up.

You ever woke up to a bearded German?

I did, for about six months straight, everything morning.

"Hey, what are you doing right now?"

"Hey, what are you doing right now?"

It was pretty scary.

- I would call him like literally every day

and still do sometimes. - Yeah you do.

- Just to wake him up, this guy falls asleep

at the randomest hours, so.

That's one thing about YouTube too,

is like, it takes a certain type of person.

Not everybody can, I've talked to you,

I've talked to many people about YouTube and try to get them

to join the platform and to do things on it, knowing

deep down within me that they are not going to succeed.

And not because they're not gifted or talented

or have stuff to share, it takes a lot to do YouTube.

And I know that sounds like somebody who's complaining

about what they do, which I'm not,

but it does take constant passion and drive.

And if you do not have that, you fall off.

And if you fall off too long, you become irrelevant

on the platform just like, it's just one of those things,

so you have to be steady with it.

So, for me, I know that to get you in

I had to be on your (bleep) and I still am

and I think that anybody looking to make a living

or to just even shake things up on YouTube,

you have to be consistent, consistency is key.

Obviously the quality and everything else

but consistency is more important than anything else.

And to maintain that consistency you have to be passionate.

And if you're not passionate, if YouTube, like for me,

personally, I think magic is my main passion

but YouTube has taken over that passion in a certain way.

Like, I am 100% more passionate about YouTube

not because of subscribers or likes or the money

or anything else, but moreso because I'm a fan

of photography, videography, and storytelling

and I think it's a great conduit to tell stories,

especially in magic, and it goes hand in hand.

- It's gettin' there for me.

Like, I remember I wanted to start YouTube.

I think one of the main problems was fear, right?

I was just scared, I was scared to do it,

I didn't know where it would go,

I didn't know what I would do.

But I think for me what it was was not so much the passion

behind photography, which I've actually grown one.

I've actually grown a passion for photography now.

Because I enjoy being able to show somebody something

in a way they haven't seen before,

which I never thought about before.

I always just looked at it like, oh,

this guy's getting into photography, taking dope photos,

I get it, but now I get it, now I really get it.

(laughs) I didn't get it before, but I really get it now.

YouTube has literally become, I want to do magic

and I love doing magic and now instead of

just trying to create, 'cause I have a company.

You know, I have a company, that's a different side of it.

Instead of just trying to hustle out a trick every month

and try to get people for their money

I can literally hang out with my friends

and show people what I do and show people who I love

and that becomes so much greater for me

than what I was doing before.

I thought with a company I would be

able to do that, and I couldn't.

- Yeah, YouTube is a great way to share your craft,

your niche, or whatever you want to do.

And I think the platform is the most honest

and the most transparent and authentic platform that exists

on social media, I still do today.

It was actually rated recently which was interesting.

I read an article that YouTube is the biggest positive

social media platform, the second was, I think dead last was

Instagram, surprisingly, and then Facebook was third

and second was like Twitter or something,

but first was YouTube, YouTube is the most,

and by a long shot, is the most positive source

of information regarding social media.

And I still think that's true today because I think

because there's a downvote button or a dislike button,

because there's comments and because all that ties together,

that if you're not true to what you're saying

or if you're not projecting authenticity

then I think people can smell that from a mile away

and call you out on it and I think rightfully so.

Yeah, so YouTube is one of the places where you have to

be you and you have to be honest, you have to be authentic,

and that means sometimes havin' a shit day

and talking to them about it or

if sometimes that means not being perfect,

whether it's with the slights you do or how you present

your video. - Which I'm always perfect.

- Yeah, and I think that that's important.

I think that that's one of the reasons why YouTube

has so much success and one of the reasons why YouTubers

find success, is because of that factor of authenticity

that the other platforms don't provide.

- I don't know, I just found it as a freedom.

I found it as a freedom, an escape from

the traditional magic community that,

you know exactly where I'm going with this.

You know. - Yeah.

- Where it's just this constant bickering,

this constant anger, this constant search to be better

than somebody else, and it's not about that with YouTube.

It's just something more, I found so much--

- It's a community. - Yeah.

I found so much freedom and, like, I did a video

not too long ago and in the beginning of the video,

I have depression, and I talked about it very briefly

and I started getting tons of messages from people

saying "Thank you for being so brave"

and "Thank you for sharing this moment,"

and for me it wasn't even that.

It wasn't about sharing that moment,

I was just telling them what I was going through.

People latched onto it and they appreciated it and

I'm glad they appreciated it, I didn't see myself as that.

I don't see myself as this big hero, this great person

or whatever, I just love doing this.

I love being able to make videos

and call friends over and say "Hey, let's do something"

and spend time with them and make some videos and have fun!

I don't know, it's become more of a way to have fun

than it has a way to make content.

- I think it's important as well to let your audience know

that if you guys are feeling like "Hey, I want

"to start my own channel on YouTube, I want

"to try this crazy thing out that everybody's doing,"

I think go for it.

I think one of the things that you have to keep in mind

first of all is don't do something

because someone else is doing it.

Do not copy someone else's whatever it is, just do yourself.

And the best way to do that is to become a fan

of the platform, become a fan of YouTube,

and that's something I always tell you, too.

Go subscribe to creators that have nothing to do with

what you're interested in, whether it's cooking

or building stuff, just become a fan of the platform

and get notifications, watch videos, it will give you

so much insight into what it is that,

how it is people create but also

what it is that people look for in videos.

- Well actually I have, on my TV I don't watch television.

I watch YouTube. - Yeah, I do that, same.

- I don't watch any television.

I literally push the YouTube button

and I watch things about gaming and things like that.

I watch all of it, and I just enjoy,

I literally enjoy the platform, I really do.

I don't necessarily engage as much as some other people

but I do enjoy the platform, I do literally love YouTube.

- I mean you have to if you're, again,

it's like you all watching are probably like

"Yeah, I'm gonna start my channel tomorrow."

It's cool, and I hope it works.

But the tough reality is, is that it's gonna be

harder and harder to succeed on this platform.

If you want to make it, you have to be dedicated.

And if you're not, then, you know, you'll be around

for a month or two, that's the reality of it.

And you're probably gonna drop off 'cause you're gonna be

lookin' at the numbers and saying to yourself

"Well, this isn't gonna work, it's just not for me,"

and, which might be right, but if you're willing

to put the time in, effort, and grind it out

it can work. - I remember you showing me

this Post-it Note, "100,000 subscribers in a year".

- Yeah, I put that on my computer.

I put that on my, I had it on my Mac, on my iMac,

a Post-it Note that said "100K",

and it was just like, 'cause I saw one of those,

you know, Jim Carrey talked about that once,

I think it was Jim Carrey, where he taped

a million dollar check to his ceiling, right?