An Unfiltered Conversation with Kurtis Conner

31:12And then we would try and afterwards start editing our own videos. And that was probably one of the most mentally exhausting eras. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. It's not human. You can't do that. You can't sustain that at all. especially because the context switching but then you're just still sitting and editing yeah it's just so draining it's hard to like get excited about your thing because you're like i just fucking did this for like 10 hours yeah you're looking at the same software and like doing the same like oh god yeah yeah i do think that will become more of a a trend um in the coming years and potentially the inverse where people have built maybe like one to two million followers across some social platform, whether it be YouTube or TikTok.

31:55And they might actually transition into going in-house at companies as being creatives at companies because there's more stability in that. For sure, yeah. You still get to kind of express creativity. Most companies will probably want more personalities and will be more willing to have like a revolving door of personalities. Yeah. And not everyone is built to be in the advertising business. Because the thing is, what you don't fully realize when you're getting into the career, like at least for us, like you anticipate the career is like, okay i'm about to monetize my self-expression right i'm gonna be an artist and make some stuff and i'm gonna get paid yeah but over time as you build a youtube channel you're like oh i'm like actually i'm more like a programming executive of a tv network where i have to like be like what programming do i put on the channel and right who do i sell that to yeah right yeah those are actually the the decisions that you're making it's not necessarily what do i want to make if you're trying to grow a true business with it yeah yeah i mean sometimes those intersect but yeah that is like the more the decision making is is a little bit more akin to like a programming executive it becomes that it becomes like oh i have to like i have to have like i don't know integrity and shit like what's up with that yeah what's the deal what's up with that expectation yeah it's like no it's like there is a lot of like i find myself like when i i hear myself talking in meetings sometimes when i like whenever i say like q4 i'm right who am i what the fuck am I remember when the Qs entered our space.

33:20Yeah. I was like, where does this come from? Who are these guys? Yeah. I'm still sort of revolting against it. I'm not. Yeah. Yeah. You won't hear a Q4 coming out of me. I don't think so. I'm just saying. No, but Colin drops a. I'll accept it. I know what it means. Dude, Colin will drop an EOD, you know? He'll drop an EOD. You did get me on that. Yeah. Look, in Slack, I'm a different person. This guy uses Slack. Yeah. No, I revolted against Slack. Curtis is like, wait, wait, I'm not a part of this crew. Many years ago, Samir comes to me with Slack. We're a two-person company. Well, we were with a few freelancers.

33:50And he's like, I think we need to start using Slack. I was like, listen. You can just text me. I was like, I'm going to text you. You sit right next to me. I was like, I'll just be like, hey, let's do this thing. Yeah, just like office, I don't know, just like office politics and crap is like so weird. So strange. And it's just, yeah. The GIFs that get dropped. Yeah, it's just so, that whole world is so strange. But, I mean, it's great. it is i don't want to one quick clarification about working and creating when you were making vines and kind of like blowing up on vine you're working at starbucks right yeah yeah i was and i you were on a pod where you're talking about getting recognized yeah dude that shit sucks yeah talk to me about that about that experience so yeah i worked at starbucks in like a really busy intersection in Toronto Queen and Spadina and it was like yeah it was right when Vine was taken off I had like maybe two three hundred thousand on there and I would get like I would be working at my Starbucks job and then people would be like what are you doing here and I'm like I'm working I have a job like but you're on Vine yeah I had to explain like yeah explain how like money works on Vine and like in the internet and the YouTube and like the online content space to like a teenager who's just like, Oh, I watch your videos.

35:11And now you're like behind a counter. It's like, it must've been super weird for them too. Yeah. Promise me you'll stop. Yeah. He was doing this to you. The reason I ask you about that is because there was a really interesting time and maybe it still exists for some creators, uh, who are just starting out, but like where you can be kind of famous and pretty broke. And that, that maybe has always existed, but it wasn't as like available to everyone to have that happen. Right. And I remember Colin and I were talking about this driving through downtown LA one time. We were like, we were broke, but our videos weren't doing terrible, but like 20 ,000 people were watching our videos.

35:49And we're like, it's weird that to someone in that crowd, we're like, yeah, they freak out. And then we're at a stoplight and someone comes running up to the window and they like we roll down the window they're like holy shit are you guys calling it Samir and we're like yeah they're can I grab a picture and we're like yeah took a picture and kept driving talking about how it wasn't working like how like we were like this career is not working no one knows we are we're not making any money was that the first time you guys were like recognized no no okay but but in this context yes because we've had a long career on youtube of different contexts in the Colin and Samir contacts probably one of the first times yeah cool but it was during the time when we were really just like how we do not know how to make money doing this right this is very confusing so i when i when i was uh thinking about that i was like that must have been so strange to like make someone a drink at starbucks and really be like dude i love your stuff you know and you're like yeah thanks yeah and then it yeah then it felt weird i would i probably every time i got recognized i feel like i would just like i wouldn't make them pay for the drink because i felt weird like taking their money.

36:56And like, I don't know. I was, I mean, I definitely gave away more drinks than I should have. I did it all the time. But like, they're fine. They're Starbucks. Now I'm thinking to myself like how many times was he recognized? Yeah. I feel like. How many free lattes does this guy give away? A thousand. And that put me in debt. Yeah. It was like, it was never out of my pocket. It was like a Starbucks pocket. Okay, good. Fuck those guys. It was like, well, if I worked on like a Saturday, yeah, Yeah, it was game over. Cause it was like - Free lattes galore. Oh yeah, yeah. Everything was on me. But no, I wasn't recognized that much, but like it was definitely an interesting experience to have for people to be like, why don't, it doesn't make sense that you have a job.

37:40Cause you're on Vine. But that was interesting. So what gave you the confidence to leave Inkbox? Was it the viewership? Was it like that you were in a flow of creating videos? Was it a certain amount of money? Like what gave you the confidence to leave that job? I think it was a combination of everything. And like my wife, Jenna, was like, if you're, you know, if you think you can make it work, then, you know, go for it. You know, might as well. This is, it was, to me at that time, I was like, it's either right now or never because I had some momentum happening on YouTube. And if I was like, if I was able to put all my time into it, then I was like, then I think I'll be okay.

38:18And yeah, I just kept, I quit. And then I kept making, I went on like one vacation right after and I like went really hard on YouTube when I got back and on I was editing on that vacation it was like country girls of TikTok video that I put out

38:37we've we've lost we're done just until recently that was like my best performing video so it was like as of all time of all time so like right when I quit what a message to you that like yeah This is probably going to work out. Yeah, it was like quite the sign. It was like, and I didn't, I wasn't expecting it at all. Like I edited, I was editing it like on vacation and like an Airbnb in like Paris. It was like, it was, yeah, it was crazy. And then that got like, I don't know what, I think it's at like over 10 million now. But yeah, that was like, it was crazy. It took off like crazy. What are the, what's like the anatomy of why these videos went so viral?

39:15At least some of those early ones. or even some of the ones now that you make, like, do you have a sense of here's the formula? There's just like an, I don't even know, I can't even describe it. There's just a feeling I get, I think, where I'm like, this is, and it's not right all the time. Sometimes I'm like, this video is going to fucking bang and it's like 10 of 10 and I'm like, okay, cool. But sometimes there's just like some video topics are just like, you just have a feeling that they're going to do well. There's something about it that's just so like, like enticing to people, I guess. It's like the one that I did about a movie called Goat Story.

39:49It was just like a weird thing. And when I was watching it, I was like, I was my mind blown that no one has talked about it yet. And I was so excited. But sometimes, again, sometimes there's videos where I'm like, I hope people like this. And then it does like really, really well. Like I did a video about Disney adults. It was like a video essay format. What's a Disney adult? A Disney adult is? A millennial adult with or without kids that can't stop talking about Disney. And they're just like fucking super fans of Disney. And they like buy season passes. They do this thing called Disney bounding where they dress up as like characters and go to the parks.

40:29And they're like, it's like a choogy millennial thing to do. He's laughing because he's a Disney adult. Are you a Disney adult? He's bordering. Yeah, he's bordering. Jesse's bordering. He almost threw up back there. Yeah. So you're familiar with them. You're describing him right now. Yeah, okay. Okay, yeah. It's pretty gnarly. People like buy property on the Disney property. It's like, it's gnarly. It's all white walls, white floors, snow white, white ceilings. Like everything is just white. And I'm going to take a guess and say that the neighborhood is as well. Let's keep going. So I made a video about that and I didn't think it was going to do that well.

41:05But then again, that's like also it's now my most viewed video. So it's like, who knows? How do you toe the line in some of those videos of like, I don't want to sit here and just make fun of these people. I want to be like additive to the conversation. Right. I think with commentary creators, specifically in comedy, they like really toe the line and have to think about like, am I punching down? Or is this something that someone in this community could watch and be like, all right, like he kind of sees us. Yeah. Even if he's like poking fun. Right. He sees us. Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely tough, especially when you're growing, too.

41:42It's like the bigger you get, the less people there are, I guess, punch up. Yeah, so it's because you're getting to that size, I guess. And you don't want to punch. If I had 100 ,000 or 50 ,000 subs, it's different because less people will see it in a way. But now if I make fun of someone with 10 ,000 subscribers, people will be like, well. So it's like, that's always tough, but I think I said it in the Disney adult video, but I think one of the lines was like, I don't want to just like make fun of these people. Like I want to learn about them and like, and then make fun of them. So it's like, it's nice to like, cause then you're like, you're informed and you're like, you know why they behave in that way.

42:28And you know what you can sort of poke fun at. Starting out, it's sort of like a free for all. For me, I was like, I can fucking talk about anything. Sure. Yeah. Like the wild west. And then now a lot more thought goes into what I'm covering and what I'm talking about. You have like brand implications now. The Curtis Connor brand. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Like if you do something that people are like, whoa, man, that's messed up. Right. It's way different now. Yeah. Your brand is pretty empathetic, actually. Yeah. It has been since the beginning. Yeah. You're someone who I think has been pretty respectful and almost like a defender of certain groups of people at time on the internet.

43:08Yeah, I mean, I've tried my best to do that and be someone who doesn't sort of spread negative shit or vitriol and weird negative. I mean, I'm definitely a very negative person. I can be very, I can be a douchebag sometimes in my videos. And sometimes I do go a little far, and people will call me out on it, and it's happened. Not to anything crazy extent, but it does happen. Sometimes you miss the mark a little bit. But I've always tried my best to not make people feel too shitty if they didn't deserve it. Sometimes people do deserve to be made fun of. Many times when I watch your video, I'm like, I feel like I'm on your side.

43:57And I'm like, oh, I'm glad that Curtis is on my side. Yeah. Is how I feel as you are poking fun at certain groups of people here and there. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I never want someone to watch my videos and feel like, uh, ow, what the hell? Yeah, like, it's sort of, like, cast out. Which is, yeah, which is something I've seen, like, on, just, like, from comments on what people have said about my videos and, like, my audience. Because, like, a lot of my, like, if you go to, like, one of my shows, like a lot of the crowd is like um like queer like um like a lot of like female you know and it's like a lot of people and i've talked about it before saying that like most of my audience is uh uh like female stuff and it's like why and people are talking about like why that could be and i and i've read comments being like it's like so much there's like being a obviously i don't know what it's like to be a woman on the internet i can't even fucking imagine how scary that is but like they think like they've i've i've read comments that were like watching one of my videos you can it's like you can you know what to expect really you're not you don't expect me to be like come out and be like and just say something like ignorant yeah yeah get in the kitchen or some shit like that you know it's like it's it's like a safe place for people to come and like know that they're not going to be fucking discriminated against and stuff that's what i'm that's what i go for, I think.

45:22Yeah. Yeah. So what does the scripting process look like and the decision of the green lighting process I get quote unquote of like, this video is going to go on my channel now or I'm going to press record on this. Right. Well, the scripting is usually pretty easy but the finding the topic is like, I hate it so much. Is it just you or do you have a team? It's just me. Just you just looking on the internet for things to talk about. Talk to me about the difference between like reaction, like reacting to something versus developing your own commentary. Is that one and the same? Are they similar? I think they're like wildly different.

46:03I started doing commentary of like of just reacting and like off the cuff talking about stuff. And I hate it. I'm not good at it. But there are people who are amazing at it like Cody, Noel. They fucking crush it. They know how to make a really good video like that um but like with me um and it goes back to stand-up i think i was never a fan of improv like when i was trying it out i never liked it it was too much pressure and it just wasn't fun i didn't like that i like knowing what i'm gonna say in a video or on stage so um once i started scripting my videos it opened up like a whole new like comfort comfortability and like confidence in my video making where I was like, I can, even within the script, obviously I can, if there's something I think of, I can say it, it can make it into the video or not.

46:56But I can have that one piece, I have the one script I can fall back on that I know is like I'm confident in. Cause like, yeah, there's too much pressure. I don't think I'm that funny off the cuff. I think I do my best work when I am planning and what I'm thinking and like thinking about what I'm going to say. So - Do you see yourself as like a writer? more than a performer i don't know that's that's a good question i think i think it's perfectly split down the middle i think because you i don't think i would be okay to just write and and just like let someone else have it i would be really upset if that was my life i also love talking and performing and editing and everything like i love i just love being on camera and making stuff it's I love the entire process.

47:47But I would say, I'd say probably 55 % writer and then 45 % is the performer, I think. Interesting. You don't have an editor. You don't have anyone who helps you. Nah. For my podcast, I have an editor. Okay. Her name is Sabrina. She's awesome. She's made my life a lot easier. You cut all your main channel videos. Oh, yeah. Wow. Wow, that's hefty. I know, that's the reaction I get every time. Yeah, that's hefty. Why? Because your edits are also pretty intricate. Oh, yeah. There's a lot of sound effects. Yeah, I know. I go crazy in that. Yeah. Final Cut is my bitch. And sometimes you're re-recording things that pop in here.

48:25You are pulling from everywhere. And it's not hurting anybody. Or is it? I'll just fix it in post, you know? All right. I've made the style of my videos so tied to who I am. So if I let someone else do it, it would be such... yeah i i can't do it i can't like let someone else touch the the main channel i i was i've toyed with like some people i've had help sometimes if i had like a busy you know if i had a busy q4 you know of course you know i need some helmet off a heavy q3 yeah you can't get it done by eod yeah exactly yeah you gotta get someone else ping me later we'll figure it out yeah um sometimes i'm oh oh oh yeah yeah sure yeah um but i thought i was gonna have one more but i didn't you just agreed yeah sure sure yeah yeah if you're oh got it yeah uh so i think circle back yeah let's circle back on looping in you know that's another good one yeah um so i think you know i've had help before with but i'm still in and i'm still like putting the final touches or I'm fucking deleting everything they've done and just doing it myself.

49:38Because I'm like, they didn't do it right. That's a common trait. Yeah. Yeah. Even when I'm scripting, like even when I'm filming something and I pass it off to an editor, they're not going to do it exactly how it looks in my head. There's no way to convey that. And especially if I'm making a video that's a little different from just commentary, if I'm doing like a something else that is sort of not in the realm. It's so, I definitely want that to be exactly how I want it. So I can't, yeah. It's probably like a pretty big trait, a big character flaw of me that I can't believe. I don't think it's a character flaw.

50:11I think that's just like a, do you feel a certain amount of pressure to like scale your team or anything like that? Or no? Because I guess my concern with a lot of creators right now is that maybe they do feel that pressure just because, I mean, partially because of this show and some of the conversations we have, we have a lot of conversations around like entrepreneurship and building a business as a creator. but there's also a completely valid version of this career that is just i like making the creative stuff i don't need to build like a media empire i just want to make the creative stuff the reason i don't have an editor is because i like sometimes that's the thing i do yeah i like it yeah i mean i do have like obviously i do have some people like i have editor that i directly hired who works like for my company um but i do have people that like in my management that do like all the like the lame boring shit like the brand deal negotiations and everything and like my merch guy and so it's like no offense to the people that really enjoy you know the boring stuff yeah no offense to that i'm sure that's a lot of fun yeah a lot of viewers of this show yeah no no yeah right you know yeah they love that yep which is great sure but it's not for me yeah you know that's fine that's okay you're totally normal for liking that um yeah i was just never i just like that's the ideal thing is where i could just make the content and and just post it and just do the creative stuff because that's what is enjoying what's fulfilling how often are you making stuff right now on the main channel i think i my goal is like two videos a month like one video every two weeks sometimes it's not that sometimes it's one video a month which i'm fine with because i I can spend more time on it.

51:58And I try to do the podcast every week because that's just like, that's like a lot easier. Yeah. It's like, I don't have to edit it. I do know, you know, obviously I'd be making more money if I put up more videos. Double, triple. Yeah, exactly. Isn't that a strange moment in time? I thought about this recently. It's a strange moment in time for this crop of creators who knows that brand deals are so abundant that you're like actually, and AdSense revenue is relatively abundant that you're like, the only thing holding me back is just creating more. But you can say with confidence that you could three to four X your revenue if you just made one.

52:32Oh, yeah. Like that's a strange - It's crazy to think about. We all know what we need to do to do that. Right. Which is kind of an odd moment in time because there might be a moment where that's not the case. The advertising business isn't so abundant that making more videos doesn't equal more revenue. Right. But then there's a flip side too. If you're making too many videos, people are going to like, I don't want to flood people with like, if I'm making a video like every fucking day or two days, it's like, I feel like people are getting sick of me. Like it's nice to have a video that comes out and people are like excited.

53:04Totally. You want the funny uncle to show up every once in a while. Yeah, yeah. The uncle is there multiple times a day coming into the house. Yeah, it's not a funny uncle anymore. It's like a weird one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I agree with you. I think scarcity is undervalued in our space. I think people undervalue scarcity. 100%, yeah. But I just think it's strange that like the math equation is there. Like even if you just added one more, and it's a significant amount of revenue. It's not like a small piece. Yeah, it would like literally double. Yeah. Yeah, which is wild to think about. But then I'd be like, then I'd be sad.

53:39Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, you know. Because you're like editing too much? Yeah, editing too much. You don't like the work you're making. Yeah, exactly. I think editing video as a married man is like one of the hardest things to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's no time expectation that you can commit to. Right. Ever. Yeah. You know, you're like, listen, I just have to fix one thing in this video. Then we can have dinner. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's like the most miserable thing to say. I know, because it's never just one thing. Yeah. Because then you're like, oh, I can, I can just, I actually got to film this other part.

54:09Yeah. I didn't like how I looked in that one part. Yeah. I don't like the way I said that. It's like seven and a half hours later and you're like, are you still, you still want to have dinner? Yeah. I've definitely, yeah. That's the other part where I've definitely enjoyed making less videos because it's like work life was like a real big issue. I was just like not just everything. I feel like I was just editing all the fucking time. And yeah, it just got to the point where me personally, I was like, this isn't, it's not like sustainable, you know? But yeah, it's tough. It's something that I'm never going to be good at.

54:46Or like I can find ways to be better at it, but there's never going to be a version of myself where I'm like perfectly like, I'm going to edit here and then it's chill time after. It's so hard. What did you feel like you were sort of sacrificing during that moment of that imbalance? I think just like being... I think just like my own happiness and like just being like a good just like partner also to like you know my wife I feel like it's it's so hard to find the balance especially working for yourself it was the first time I was doing it I didn't know how to do it I don't know how to stop working from home is like so weird because it's like I'm supposed to just have my attention here but like I'm also like taking my dog up for walks every like it's like i don't know it's it's really hard to to balance it i'm still learning and you're looking at yourself yeah it's very strange it's so weird yeah yeah it's like you go from hours worth of looking at yourself on a screen yeah and like yeah trying to spend time with like the real human in your life right partner who also lives in yeah yeah it's so like hey let me just step away from that screen with my face yeah yeah yeah it's super it's super hard it's i think i've slowly gotten better at it i've definitely taken like a conscious i'm trying to make like a conscious effort to be more of like a fucking human being yeah um but yeah it's tough it's really hard i would imagine you experience some of what we experience too in that uh we cover a lot of what's happening on the internet so you have to be somewhat plugged in to what's happening on the internet which is which is exhausting even if you're not trying to plug-in yeah just scraping by with what's happening right yeah i know it's so hard we were talking about this uh last night i was at i went to dave and buster's last night sure uh with um eddie eddie burback and uh ted nivison uh and jarvis not to name drop but those are my uh flexing yeah a little bit yeah yeah somewhere when you said my airbnb in paris yeah yeah yeah it's just yeah and flat.

56:54Yeah, it's whatever. I was really worried about money then, but it's okay. But really bad. I just want you to say, you were like, yeah, it was a crazy thing. I quit my job and I just flew to Paris. Yeah. It was hard though. It was a hard time. Then I released his absolute hit from Paris. Yeah, it was like, who knew? Yeah, man, my life sucks. Yeah, we were there talking about. I do my best work in Paris. What am I supposed to say? Yeah, there all the time. Yeah, always on the move. It's crazy. um I uh we were talking about last night cause there was this like this song that's been going viral on TikTok and it's saying all these like slang terms like ghiat and like Rizzler and shit nope I know dude and it's like what are you talking about it's like a weird song that's like mentioning all these like niche like TikTok slang terms okay and it sucks cause like I knew what every single thing meant and I was like that's bad I'm like 30 so just hit me with that first one ghiat ghiat I think that's like someone's ass.

57:52Okay, all right. All right. Yeah, I'm too old. I'm too old. I'm too old. Or it's like, I think that's someone, like if like you have a, yeah, I think that's someone's ass. I think Rizzler. Can I take a guess at Rizzler? Sure, yeah. Listen, man, Rizzler's the most obvious one. Okay, well, let me just take a guess. Yeah, all right. So a Rizzler is someone who has Rizz, who has charisma, you're a Rizzler. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, don't say the full one. No, I'm just trying to like understand like. Right. It's like a Batman villain who's really good with winning. But I'm saying for the people who don't even know Riz, I'm going to take it back to charisma.

58:24Yeah. Yeah. And then the next line was like, it was like skibbity. You know that one? No. Okay. Like a skibbity toilet. It's like some weird kids. Oh, yes. Yeah. But I've only heard that as skibbity, which maybe is completely not correct. I know, right? It's like Ben Guy. Yeah. You only hear a thing one way and it's like, who knows? Yeah. And that was the worst. Yeah. What was your, or what is and what was your relationship to money? Because I do think that influences quite a bit your ambitions as a creator. Or, correct me if I'm wrong there, but like the pursuit of uploading more, creating more.

59:04Like, what was that connected to? Was it connected to money? Is it connected to money now? Like, what are you in pursuit of with uploading? Yeah, well, I mean, yeah, with money it was really, it was i never really like i grew up like in like um okay like suburban neighborhood um we were never like super rich obviously like i never i didn't go to like private school or anything like that it was like i went to public school and shit i mean i never i pretty i got a job when i was like 14 because that's like what my parents told me to do is like you gotta earn your own money and stuff if you want to buy shit like you i'm not gonna buy you stuff because like we can't right um so i was never like super well off like you know i'd fly to paris every now and yeah i do my best work my best homework there do my math shoots yeah in paris in the louvre you know um but once i started making youtube videos and saw like the ad revenue like seeing a number thing in like youtube studio i was like and it was more than my like like paycheck from like ink box i was like oh shit it's like this is like actually a thing that could work so that was like the big moment where i was like this is like this is a thing that could happen if everything worked out perfectly um what was that number for one month i i had i think my it was like twenty five hundred dollars and i was like fuck that let's go that's fucking it's huge a crazy magical thing that like you didn't you didn't like talk to anyone you didn't negotiate a deal you just yeah money just shows up yeah yeah it's like this wild magical thing for creative people who don't want to do the boring stuff right yeah it's just like weird it was the same thing it was the same thing you did when you weren't making money like you were still making videos for the most part right yeah something you like to do shows up and then money just shows up figured this out a little bit more and money shows up it's actually a wild moment in creative time right that it's just like make some stuff yeah i never had to like have like a yeah you're right i never had to sign anything i never had to like manager you don't have a yeah it's just like yeah that was a crazy thing that like a realization there where i was like oh this actually is a possibility for youtube to be my job and then i just kept at it and that like i think that that number that 2500 number just like slowly kept like creeping up a little bit like increasing and I was like and I started to feel less worried about money but I don't know I think just like growing up there's when you don't have that much money I feel like you're always worried about it and no matter how much money you have you're still going to be worried about it so I'm still to this day I'm still so stressed about money especially with Vine too that it went away in my brain I'm like well that's gonna happen with YouTube like You have like platform trauma.

1:02:04Yeah. Because it got ripped. Yeah. Yeah. It got taken from you. PTSD from Vine. Yeah. I mean, kind of though, because you experienced it. Like we - Yeah. I mean, I can't fathom if YouTube went away. Like I just can't even like that. That'd be crazy. That's so hard for me to imagine because it feels so unlikely. But if it did, it would be a very jarring experience. It would change the economy. It would be way worse for - It'd be way worse than Vine shutting down. Way worse. I mean, especially now it's so developed. Yeah. I can't imagine a world without fucking Mr. Beast videos. no thank you you guys seen Justin Timberlake in the last one I did the cameos were nuts he came right after Mark Cuban yeah we were at that house with Mark Cuban wow really with Jimmy and Mark Cuban I actually it's actually a scene where they walk by the room we were in and it's like the curtains are like pulled shut because we were in there I pulled up at the same time that Mark Cuban pulled up that's right damn that's cool that was a good video though I like that I think the new formats that he's exploring the like one versus, you know.

1:03:04They're fun because they're just like what you used to watch on TV of just like expensive houses or expensive things. They're just on YouTube, you know, and it's like moving at a different pace and you're like, okay, cool. Right, yeah. I would love to see a$100 million house. I think it does depend how they're done. I was watching your Brent Rivera video. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. True. And part of that video was like a little bit of like the line between what is okay to talk about in those types of videos versus what is not right and how to like if you are going to talk about money yeah doing it in a way right because when brent does it it's like well you know it's like look how much cash i have yeah look how shitty right i think that style of life is yeah and you have to be careful yeah like that's if you're going to show a one dollar house yeah you're not going to like a like a like a bad like not like a bad like a less developed neighborhood and like shitting on people who live there yeah it's like doesn't that suck yeah couldn't be me yeah never not me I wouldn't do that yeah true I guess when Mr.

1:04:10Beast does it it's like yeah it's more I guess it's more tasteful it's more so of like the spectacle of it I guess it's more so like I think that's it it's more on the spectacle side of it at this point like and the amount of time he spends on whatever the cheap option is the cheap options don't even look real they're barely it's just like and he does spend very little time the next thing. Yeah, he does spend very little time there. I just thought it was cool to see Justin Timberlake. I don't know why. I was just like that. Pretty circling back to JT. Yeah, JT was kind of unexpected for me. Yeah, pretty good for him.

1:04:36He was pretty funny in it too. I don't know how we got here, but the question I was going to ask you was for people like you, how did you then go about finding people to help you with the business? Because I think that is a common challenge for a lot of creators of like, I am creative. I spend all my time editing my videos. How do you trust a, manager or someone to represent you like an agent like yeah what was that step that you took and how did you find that person yeah i mean i think with everything i do i think i try to stay with my friends and like what they have done because my manager now is like also the manager of like danny and drew and like got it and i i you know he reached out to me to to like you know see if i I wanted help with like management and stuff.

1:05:29And, you know, I was pretty nervous about it, obviously, because, you know, giving away any sort of your, you know, any percentage of what you could be making is scary. Because like, especially at that time, you're like, well, I want all of that money. I need it actually. Yeah. Like my house and my food. And from there, like my podcast producer is my buddy, Shun, that I've met through like YouTube and stuff. and um and shun was the one who found my editor for my podcast so it's and i trust him let's say your podcast producer wants a raise yeah does he talk to you directly or does he talk to your manager um they talk to me directly because that actually did happen pretty recently but um yeah and um was that like do you feel equipped and comfortable to have that conversation or is that um yeah i mean like i it was definitely a first because like that's like my only employee and it's like i've never had i've been on the other side i've been at like the the other side of it being like please please give me more money right and so i know what it's like to be doing work that you're proud of and you know obviously i was down i'm not going to be like i like they told me what they wanted for a raise and i was like okay yeah for sure i didn't want to be based on my q4 projections yeah it's like no problem that's what i said uh so it was it was never like yeah it would be weird if i was like nah or like no let's do this instead like i want someone who's working for me to be excited and like i want them to be comfortable with what what they're what they're doing and how they're compensated so what are the different facets of the curtis connor business you were to sort of give us a pie chart of what does it even involve Take us beyond the scenes of the presentation you gave shareholders.

1:07:12Okay, yeah. I'm trying to remember what the presentation looked like because there was one. Yeah, dude, that's interesting. I don't really know because I know brands, it's different for every month because they, I could be doing, I feel like brand deals might be a little better than AdSense. But they're pretty similar. But they're pretty close. but they definitely take up like, kind of think of like the pie chart, what percentage? It'd probably be like, okay, if I was not touring, if I had no shows going on, then it would be like 80 or 75 % AdSense and brand deals. Maybe what's half of 75? Let's do 40, 40.

1:08:0340 AdSense, 40. So 80%. Sure. Yeah, 80 % is advertised. Yeah, and then maybe the, or maybe less, because I don't know. And then, yeah, I've never thought of this before. It's good we're doing this exercise. Yeah, I know. It's good to know. And then maybe the next. If we make a graphic for this, we'll just put a huge asterisk at the bottom. Yeah, and then say Curtis doesn't fucking know anything. Might be completely inaccurate. Make it say Curtis is a dumbass. And then the rest is like the podcast, Patreon, and Merge, I think. And are those like equal? I'd say merch is the biggest out of those three.

1:08:42Oh, wow. Cool. And I think the podcast is probably the least. But, I mean, the podcast is, like, it's just fun. Yeah. It's just, I have a lot of fun doing it. And I feel like the audience on there is really, like, it feels more, like, contained. And it's, like, it's fun to, like, you know. It's just, it just gets the, again, it just gets the brain working in a different way. But I'd say definitely, but if I was touring, different pie chart this is completely different two pies so if I'm touring then it's like fucking most of it is touring really? it's that significant? oh yeah wow yeah and then I don't know why I would assume like the cuts from like the venues are expensive there's like sure there's a lot of people coming out but that's the touring is also I think well with merch sales also with touring that the merch goes up a lot and then the money from the venue and stuff from doing the show.

1:09:44It's just a whole bonus thing that I would not have when I was touring. So it's just like, and then, but also at the same time, when I'm touring, I'm not doing as many videos. Sure. So the revenue from the, the ad revenue goes down pretty significantly. But touring's that significant. Yeah. Because I don't know why, I guess like similar to Colin, I look at touring and I'm like, oh, that's cool. That's a fun way to engage with fans. But you got to get back to doing, the media business, which is like, the opportunity is in making YouTube videos. Yeah. But it's fascinating to know that touring is significant.

1:10:14Well, I mean, I think I was very, again, I'm fucking, I'm insanely lucky to be where I'm at with touring, where I'm able to make money. Yeah. Because with touring, I've done things in the past where I do a show somewhere, you know, I'll travel to do a show and I don't make any money, right? But like starting out, touring is not very lucrative at all. but you know how do you make money from touring what are the like is it from ticket sales is it from yeah from ticket sales pretty much yeah and uh I like that for us it's like even confusing that we're trying to figure out we're like touring like come they buy tickets so people want to see you and you say things to them and you're the one on stage and you go there and you're Curtis in this situation okay yeah okay what the fuck are you talking about yeah so it's ticket sales there's like um there's you know merch stuff um and again every venue is different some some venues take way more cuts from merch some venues are a lot better you know better uh percentages from what you could make um i don't i used to do meet and greets at at shows uh that was this was pre-covid um and then covet happened and then i think now i i don't know if even if i even if covet was like actually like fully eradicated i don't know if i would go back to meet and greets like paid meet and greets because you mean after the shows yeah before after i'd like there'd be like a vip like meet and greet thing we did that on the danny and drew tour back in 2019 and it was like i don't know just like the older i get and like at the time it was like don't like i don't want to sound like i don't like meeting people i fucking love meeting my fans it's like it's the coolest thing ever but it is strange to be like like I think I think like it was like Matty Healy from 1975 said something about it it's like if you're gonna do paid meet and greets you should like take the make them give you the actual like cash to do it because it's like sort of like this weird transactional thing where it's like you can't actually like like I look back that I did like paid meet and greets so that you as the artist feel the weirdness yeah of like taking the money oh because it's weird that someone's paying for access to just be in your presence Yes.

1:12:28Shake your hand. Yeah, that's what I, yeah. I probably could have explained that better. No, I get it. I get it. But so that, it just feels, I do understand that you're like, if you're starting out and you're touring and you're like trying to just fucking break even, I totally understand like doing a paid meet and greet because like that's sometimes the only way you can break even. But yeah, if you're like at a stage where you don't have to, it's like, yeah, it just, I don't know. Yeah. For me personally, I look back at it and I just feel bad for like that. I made people spend money. But I mean, I don't know.

1:13:00I don't know. It just feels weird to me in a way. Maybe what you could do, idea, you know, you set up like a Starbucks counter and you make them coffees. Yeah, yeah. And they can just pay for the coffees. True, yeah. Okay, that's a good idea. So then they hand you the money. I think if there's programming to it, you'll feel more comfortable. It actually would be really funny if you did that. True, yeah. It's like a line to meet you. It's like a callback to Starbucks. And they just actually, like the coffee actually costs money. But it's like Curtis coffee, it's not Starbucks coffee. Yeah, they pay you like three bucks, you make them a latte and then they get a picture and move on?

1:13:26That's a good idea. I should talk to Starbucks. Yeah. Good idea. And then you could cut out the part where I said I gave out thousands of free lattes. Because they probably won't want to work with me again. But I could make a good latte probably. Wow, I'm so intrigued about touring, man. That's crazy. Is it more grueling to go on tour or to be grinding on a ton of videos? Tour. Tour. No question. Tour is grueling. Yeah. But well, if I was not worrying about videos on tour, then I'd be, I'd be chilling. Oh, cause you're doing both. Yeah. Cause then I get great. I got fucking so anxious on the tour.

1:14:01Cause I was like, I was worrying that like my YouTube shit was failing and like falling off. Cause like I, even when I was making videos, I was just fucking rushing through it. And I was like, I just need to get this out. And it was like, I was filming and editing in hotel rooms and on my bus. And it was like, it was weird. What was behind the need to get it out? A brand deal commitment or just like, I don't want to not post? A little bit of both because I think I posted one without a brand deal because I just wanted to fucking get something out there. But there was a couple brand obligations that I had when I was on the road.

1:14:35You guys ever think about like, I was thinking about this this weekend actually. Like, I don't know that I could right now comfortably go a year without posting a YouTube video. I think it would make me feel really uncomfortable. Yeah. Yeah, it's a little bit too wrapped up in my identity. And it has been for the past 10 years. I don't even know what that would feel like. And I thought about that. And I think just, that's why I asked you that question of like, what was behind the feeling of like, I need to upload. But I don't know if I'd ever come back. Think about it. Yeah. I think if you get like, this is an opportunity to be a brand new human.

1:15:09Yeah, you get off the wheel like that. And you're probably fully off. You should have reinvented myself in college, sort of. I think, yeah. yeah to go back to it would be really funny and still do the exact same I don't even know what the landscape would look like in 10 years too right yeah I know but touring definitely when you're at a certain size it can be pretty obviously pretty lucrative like the like if you're at like a like a fucking like Matt Reif level like that guy's fucking crushing it he's doing like a million fucking shows on his next tour we should talk about Matt Reif yeah okay what do you think about like sure yeah yeah he's really hot listen you brought him up yeah sorry yeah I actually was going to bring him up.

1:15:47The whole hot thing. Has he made the hot thing happen? He made the hot thing happen. I think so. Hold on. Take a step back. Well, I'm sure if someone calls you hot. Let's take a step back. You have to be called hot. Right. But then he's doubled down on hot. Yeah. Dane Cook was not necessarily conventionally attractive, but he was the coolest version of a standup from our era that he was doing stuff very differently and he was like wearing a leather jacket on stage. He just seemed cool. Yeah. He was really cool. And I think that was the first time where I was like, oh, you can be funny and look cool.

1:16:20And like, yeah. But Reif is taking it to a whole different. Yeah. He's kind of like, yeah, he's in a whole different category. I'm just curious, like, what is the comedian's perspective on Matt Reif? I mean, I don't even consider myself a fucking real comedian. Because it's like, I'm like, every time I'm in, like, I just did Just for Laughs Festival. and even the whole time I was there I was like I shouldn't I don't belong here because I was like in the I fuck I was in an elevator with like Mark Norman and shit and I was like what why am I here that's like an actual real fucking comedian and I'm like a YouTube a YouTuber it was like is that the vibe in the comedy scene too is like I don't there's like the YouTube comedians and then there's like the real ones who came up through I feel like I'm not too tapped into that where I would could give like a confident answer I'm sure there are some people who think that way and are like these fucking youtube guys you know you can't what the hell are you doing but like they're all from the south though yeah yeah you don't deal with them that much yeah i think as time goes on it's like you know everyone has a fucking podcast that they upload on youtube yeah it's like as much as you can call it a podcast you're a fucking youtuber so it's like i mean is schultz a youtuber he's like one of the biggest youtube podcasts yeah and he just sold out the arena in toronto that was two nights in a row i texted him i told him like some of the images gave me chills crazy yeah like he's fucking yeah he's he's killing i'm a yeah i'm a huge fan of schultz like as a comedian and as a person like i think he's yeah incredible i've never i've never met him or talked to him same as matt rave i've never met or talked to them but um i'm not gonna so i can't really speak on like who they are as a person but i mean to me i'm like but on the attractiveness yeah i don't know he could be a little i guess what i mean is like there's a tan of, I mean, Schultz started it, in my opinion, with like posting crowd work.

1:18:13And maybe I am unfamiliar with whoever did it prior to Schultz or Schultz is actually the first one to kind of make that jump of crowd work is what you post on YouTube that then gets people interested in you. They watch your special. But Rife is posting, like if I'm on TikTok or Instagram, it's like so much Matt Rife. And I wonder like that obviously builds his brand, but I like comedy a lot. I buy tickets to go see comedy shows. I don't feel compelled to go see his show because he feels so in my face. Right. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? I know what you mean. Yeah, there is. I've seen a lot of...

1:18:48But didn't Dane Cook also meet that same sort of, I'm not going to call it a demise, but like that point in his career where he became so popular and so available to everyone that the easiest thing for, especially the comedy community, was to be like, that's not cool. I guess that's what I'm saying. When you reach that level of like, alright man, you're taking up everyone's air. To be premium to feel premium, you have to be less available, but then to put butts in seats, you have to really market yourself. And there's this weird middle ground. If you like hit, if you shoot that gap, it's like, there it is.

1:19:20That's like a premium high-end comic. I do think Schultz does it well because he is super available. He does two pods a week and they're hours long, like two to three hours long. And then he feels very premium right now as a comic. So I don't know. I don't know how you nail that but that is um it's it's i mean it's different you know it's so weird because i know trevor trevor wallace does a lot of his yeah he's been posting a lot of stuff too and he's fucking super funny crushing it there's a lot of dudes who are doing it like well um yeah i'm interesting like it's interesting to think about though because i feel like this era of like posting crowd work is like sort of like misinforming how you should behave at a comedy show oh interesting because i feel like if people keep posting them everyone who watches them it's like oh i could just yell whatever i want and the guy's gonna say something hilarious and maybe i'll end up on tiktok yeah maybe i'll be one of the tiktoks so it's like and that's like i don't especially for me some i mean it's different for every comic like people some people invite it some people like do a whole fucking hour of crowd work but like me it's like I write a show like I know it's written I want to say what I want to say and I don't want anyone else to say anything I want like I would like you to laugh and then or not and or don't you know there's no in between in the perfect world that's all that would happen like obviously hecklers it happens especially if you're like boozing does it happen with you like hecklers happen I get really yeah it does happen because I feel like YouTubers have a leg up where it's like people are fans of yours coming into it that's the thing yeah the heckling that did happen it's not really heckling it's more of like just like the thing that will happen to be like someone will like interrupt and be like I love you or like yeah or just like trying to respond and just like because it's like I get it because like it's a lot for me a lot of the people who do come to my comedy shows are like it's their first one so maybe they're not well versed in how to behave at a show which is like I'm not gonna fucking like you know I'll yell at them obviously I'll get it but I'm not gonna be like you know but like it happens so it's like if the worst I'm getting is people being like I love you then it's like I can't really fucking complain that was kind of a heckler flex too yeah yeah that is pretty cool yeah people all the time are just like I love you you're so well dressed you're the best I know again my life fucking sucks but it's I but again it's a learning thing and I it's been like a conscious decision to not post any of my stand up yeah until my special comes out because I want the first thing to people of the first thing that people are going to see of my standup, I want it to be something that I'm really proud of and represents of what I've been working on for the past fucking 10 years.

1:22:11So yeah, when I do put the special out on November 10th, it will... Buy now at CurtisConnor.com. Yeah, buy it right now. Wait, is that where you can... The special's out. How are you rolling this out? Yeah, let's talk about this. Okay, yeah. And this is your first special? My very first comedy special. Yeah, it's called Keep Busy. It comes out on November 10th. I'm releasing it independently. I funded the thing myself. Okay. I self-funded everything. We hired the production team just for laughs, actually produced it, which is pretty cool. Oh, wow. So, yeah, we had a really good director. And it was crazy.

1:22:51It was really interesting because I'm used to setting up one camera in my office, in my house, and then just doing that. And it's free. Yeah. Because I don't have to. There's no one else there. Yeah. But yeah, renting out a venue and then hiring a whole production crew, set design and lighting and everything. And there was like seven cameras. And it was like. Sounds expensive. Yeah. Yeah, it was definitely the most expensive production I've ever been a part of. But, you know, I wanted, again, I wanted my first special to be something that was, like, impressive. You know, something that looks really professional.

1:23:33And something that is, like, pleasing to the eyes and ears and stuff. And, like, something that's enjoyable to watch. So, yeah, I'm hoping to just, if I break even, that's awesome. If not, fuck. Sucks to suck, I guess, you know. If not. You'll figure it out in Paris. Yeah, exactly. I'll go to Paris, drop another banger.

1:23:56Why do it independently? Was there a conversation around, did you approach streamers? Was that not even a thought? Obviously, it's nice to have, you know, to not put up any capital and just have the burden to lay on some, like, company. But, I mean, it is sort of, in a way, it's like it's the most, like, like YouTuber thing to do, I think. Yeah, I agree. Is to just like, fuck, I'll just do it myself. Right. And, and it, and it's like, if you do it with a, like a, say if I were to do it with some streaming service, like they would own it. Like it would be theirs and it would just live there. But like, if I, I own it now, I, it's my special and it's like my product that I have.

1:24:40Now I can go out and like let people have it if they want. But at the end of the day, it's like it's mine. Which is nice to have. That is really cool. It's like a super cool position to be in. Did you film it across multiple nights or was it one night, one and done? We did it. I filmed it in Toronto at the Danforth Music Hall. It was like 800, 900 people. It's usually like 1 ,100 capacity, but we had to get rid of a bunch of seats for the cameras and stuff. But it was one night and I did two shows in the night. so yeah the first show fucking that was a nightmare I was like so nervous yeah it was oh wow cause we had like I guess you gotta nail it like you've invested all this money into it yeah exactly that's what it was you just have to nail it yeah I was so nervous I had like cause just the production of all day like setting up doing like tests like camera tests and audio tests and like hair and makeup and shit it was like a whole production and so I walked out on stage and I was like this huge camera on like this fucking like arm, like satellite looking arm.

1:25:45It was like crazy. It was so intimidating. So that first show was like not very good. It was okay, but I just like felt a little off. And there was also a heckler at that show who was like yelling stuff. And like, that was probably the most like stress I've ever been in my life. And I was like, not now. That is stressful. Yelling like negative stuff? No, it was just like stuff. It was just like, like you're doing great. Yeah. You're like, come on, not now. It was so good for the special. Yeah. It was something that was like responding to something that I said or something and it was just like I was so stressed that I couldn't even say anything funny in response I was just like no please don't do that right now I'm so fucking stressed so it was like really nerve-wracking but the second show I was like a little more loose because I already did it I had I was like three glasses of wine deep by that point so I was like whatever I'm just gonna go and have fun the second one and the second show the later show that was like that's the bulk of the special is the late show there's some parts that we picked from the first yeah kind of to like like very a very small percentage but it was mostly one show but whenever i watch a comedy special i always try and pick out like in any of the cuts yeah if anything just changed like hair you know like any little thing like was the collar kind of up or down yeah that's just my like neurotic editor brain looking at it being like oh did they splice that and it does happen a lot.

1:27:09Oh, yeah. It's like pretty spliced together. Yeah. It's super interesting to watch that. Yeah, that was like the best part too was like having that like because obviously I wasn't going to edit the special. I don't know how to do that. And it was like so it was nice to to give that part up for once to like let someone else do it and like someone who's like a professional editor. And so that was really cool seeing the edit come together and like the sound mixing and everything and the color grading. It was like a whole that was like a whole production thing that I'm like just not familiar with.

1:27:36So it was really cool. in regard if you did edit the special. Yeah. Like the sound effects and the craft zoom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The digital zooms and shit. Yeah, like a bruh sound effect or something. In the special, do you reference like the career of being a YouTube creator? When we spoke with Max Fosch, he had a special. Yeah. And if you watch it, there's a lot of interplay with like some of the videos he put out, some of the reactions to it. Right. Is that what we could expect of yours or does it feel pretty separate? I kept it very separate. Yeah. Yeah, I don't really think I mention YouTube at all in it or anything like that.

1:28:14I haven't got around to watching Max's podcast. You should watch it. It's really interesting. He started doing stand-up after the videos, right? Yeah. He went the other way. Okay, cool. Damn. Yeah. I got to watch that. Yeah, you should check it out. It's interesting. I'm very fascinated by the crop of YouTube creators who are doing stand-up comedy. Yeah, Hank Green is even doing a show about his cancer and stuff too. Yeah, I would love to see that. Yeah, me too. Hank's so funny. He's awesome. He's so good. He's the best. But yeah, that was special is no mention of YouTube, really. I try to keep it pretty separate from that part.

1:28:49I think it's, I think like, but like if you're a fan of my YouTube videos, like it's the same person who wrote them. So it's like, it's just like, it's the same. It does feel kind of. I guess the subject matter is different in that you don't have source material necessarily to build on, right? Because the commentary video is like, let me build on this source material. Right. The joke is let me set up source. Let me show you. Yeah, let me provide you the source material right now. Right now. And then talk about it. Yeah. So it's definitely a little really different. But I feel like it definitely does with the pacing and the jokes and the type of jokes.

1:29:23It's very similar to a typical one like commentary video of mine. But yeah, I like to keep them separate too because they're not the same to me. What makes a funny stand-up joke? Like, what's the anatomy of that versus, like, a funny bit in a YouTube video? I think the, um, what, I think with YouTube there's a lot more freedom and things to sort of improve. Not, I guess improve, but, like, I guess, like, fluff up a joke. You know, you can, like, do a silly edit or a sound effect or something, right? And you can make it look a certain way. but like I think with stand-up, like it needs to be like a smart, like a funny joke, you know?

1:30:09It needs to be like, like you can't just say something that's kind of funny and then hope a sound effect happens, right? There's a lot more of like winks to the camera in YouTube videos with a sound effect or a crash. More like the expectation, I think, is not that I am like bursting out laughing on the other end. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or it's like the expectation at a comedy show is like if you're going to hit me with a joke, I might need some time to like actually laugh. Right, yeah, yeah. Get back to you. I gotta get, you gotta get giggling. I gotta get giggling. Yeah. The, as long as your material is strong and like you're also having fun up there and you're like, you can tell that they're being genuine.

1:30:45You know, and if you're hot, like Matt Reif too, that helps out a lot too. Then no one's even listening. I was wondering, I was like, where's hot? I'm not tracking. Yeah, you haven't said that. There's like a pie chart. It's mostly hot. Do you remember like a stand-up joke of yours that just fully bombed that you had a lot of confidence in? Or the first one you hit that like people were like, oh man, that was funny. I do, okay. I do, all right. I know one that was really bad that didn't work. Okay. I had one bit about, this was like around like, right before, it's like 2019, I was like writing the new hour before COVID.

1:31:22So it was like a new material thing that I was doing in New York. And I had a bit about dudes who only wear who wear sweaters with nothing underneath them and I thought like and like how weird that is because there was a kid that I like went to school with who would only just wear fucking pullover sweaters and I was like it would piss me off because I was like that's stupid I'm with that right yeah so I was like and then I was really like passionate about it I was really angry about the subject matter and then like nobody was on my side and then people and I like halfway through I was like Does anyone agree with me?

1:32:00A bunch of people were like, no, I do that shit all the time. And I was like, yeah, you guys are fucking weird then. That's so good. So that was one bit that didn't really land. But maybe that's just the wrong crowd. Because, I mean, I thought it was funny. Yeah, you guys agree. He does it. No, I mean, it worked for Samir. Do you do it? I don't do it. Okay. Yeah, you do it. No, I don't do it. I hate the feeling, actually. You've done it. No, I've never done it. It's very scratchy. I don't like it. Take your shirt off. I feel... Oh! oh it's nothing he's got nothing no please no if I don't wear a shirt under a sweater I feel naked yes that was a shirt on this front part to show anyone checks him he's like no no seriously I got a little fabric check it out it's all good but clearly had I been sitting in that audience I wouldn't have burst Samir would have been great yeah but that was one that just like you know sometimes it can be just a funny thing to talk about with your friends but it's not like a stand up bit which is fine that's totally okay that's like you can never know that until you try it on stage.

1:32:56How do you get everyone laughing, though? Like, how do you know when you're writing your special, you're like, oh, this stuff's gonna go? Right, I mean, like, how would you... Like, how do you write a stand-up? I would assume just from enough failure, right? Like, you've tested it. You don't do an hour out of nowhere. Right, yeah, exactly. Yeah, okay, okay. You go out and you do that hour. Yeah, okay, okay, yeah. You write a wild experiment. Yeah, that would be wild. Just like, these are all fresh. If I booked a tour with no... Not tested. Yeah, no testing material. And we're making it the special.

1:33:22Right, yeah. so it's been like yeah you go test out you do those shows where you're like god I hope this works and then sometimes it works and sometimes a bit and it's tough to like to find a cause there is a way for like if a bit doesn't work you can like okay maybe I'll there's a new way to go about it and like rewrite it so it does work but sometimes you have to like just learn to like let it go and be like okay this isn't really a bit maybe I can use it later in like a video or something or like a or a fucking tweet or some shit but like yeah for the most part you do have to go and like there's no way to tell if a joke works if unless you're just going and trying it in front of people so you have any other like premises like that one about dudes who just wear pullover sweaters that are kind of bothering you right now like any like gripes just in the world yeah someone's grinding my gears yeah uh of like what people wear or just in general just general general things that uh could be YouTube related gripes yeah okay yeah anything like I feel like you're pretty in tune with the YouTube space.

1:34:24If you watch your videos, it's like, oh, there's a Prime reference there. Yeah. There's a Mr. Beast reference here. Right. Yeah. I mean, there is one. I do, okay, the one thing I do hate a lot, I mean, it's not really that crazy. It's not like a crazy take, but like when people copy thumbnails a lot, like blatantly is really annoying, or just like video concepts, it pisses me off a lot. Because I saw like a thing last night. I want to, I'm not going to put anyone blast. but I saw one last night. I was like - Matt Reif. Yeah.

1:34:59Matt Reif just released a Disney adults video. Yeah. Okay, I'd actually, that would piss me off actually. A hotter guy is talking about it. What about the overall just like health of YouTube right now? It doesn't have to be a gripe, but as someone who's like been on YouTube for many years, how do you feel about the health of like creators right now on the platform? Yeah. I mean I don't know I feel like I'm in such a weird spot also kind of like a privileged spot too but like I just did like a I just spoke at like this like tech festival thing in Toronto and there was like it was cool that they invited me and it was like they had like this like crater show that was going on so I was like okay sure I'll try it out and the whole thing was like about like how to hack the algorithm and shit and like how would you uh you know what's the best way to like start making money on there and i was like it just felt weird yeah and i feel like there's like this big push especially um and don't get me wrong making money doing youtube videos is fucking awesome it's like the dream job for a creative person but like i feel like there is this weird like slimy fucking like snake oil salesman character that is pretty prevalent now with YouTube and TikTok and sort of like making your own business, I guess.

1:36:23I think the acceleration of it now reeks of get rich quick. Yeah. Right. It's like, like, okay, you know what? It's easy if you just do it like this. And I think for people like us who started with the journey of being like, oh, this is a cool place to express myself. It feels really funny to hear. People here don't care what they're making. Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah. It feels really funny to hear people talk about YouTube videos as commodities. Right. That are like units of commerce. Yeah, yeah. It's so weird, which is why I enjoy watching your guys' videos, because it's like you guys, you have the same mindset of me, where it's like you guys are really knowledgeable with how to, like when you talk about the algorithm and making content a business, but it's never weird.

1:37:05It's never like, I never feel weird or gross watching this stuff. Thanks, man. Of course. I remember when I found out that you watched our videos and thinking to myself, oh, that's a good indicator that I'm making what I hope we're making because I like what you make and I've also seen how you talk about the YouTube space. And I'm like, okay, if Curtis Conner thinks we're all right. I remember that day. I think you were wearing our hat. You sent us a DM and you had your hat on. And we were like, oh, shit. That's really cool. Really? Curtis Conner watched our stuff? All right. yeah cool yeah because i mean like yeah because i feel like there's like there's just like it's been flooded with people who are like talking about what you guys talk about but in like the worst way so it's like i think what's hard for me is i i don't want to get lumped into that exactly which we do yeah naturally of like being like a youtube guru like that is not my intention at all for this show it's like more to actually there's a selfish component of the show of just like talking to the people that we watch right yeah yeah for sure yeah yeah we get to just sit with you for like two hours and be like yeah and just like shoot the shit for a bit yeah and then the other aspect of it is like it's the show that we wish we had when we were first starting out to just hear what it's like to right to do this because we wanted it it was the most aspirational career for us yeah so it's like so what what can we learn what's it actually like to do this yeah i think there's definitely a a spectrum of like of like of this like type of content where like it's like you guys on one side and the other side is like this is how you make 500 tiktoks a day yeah yeah yeah totally to hack the fucking algorithm and it's like it's not that can't be fun i think like we're naturally approaching this moment where it's like how far can this go how far can we go making like subpar content as a community i can fly do you you also have a pretty substantial tiktok presence yeah yeah how do you like surprisingly so making tiktoks um it's pretty fun i i i was very like anti-tiktok when i started out because i was making a lot of like anti-tiktok videos being like like the country tiktoks the freaking yeah like cringy tiktok commentary era i guess um so i was pretty against it because i was just seeing like weird shit but i guess like the more popular it got like like there's some of the funniest fucking videos I've ever seen have been on TikTok like some people are like so funny and like it's just like opened up so much like creativity and like and like if TikTok existed when and was as big as like when Vine was around like with all like the music integration and like all the effects and everything it's like it's crazy to think of like where it would be now you know it's like it's pretty wild so I'm I just have fun like messing around on there and just like if I you know have an idea i'll make it i'll just like make fun of something that i see that's the interesting part about tiktok is the additive nature of it because whether it's you know whether it's a sound and people do their own version of the sound yeah my favorite version of tiktok is when someone plays music and they ask they're like sing over this and then you just go to that sound and you look at all the duets yeah it's like a ton of people singing lyrics over that and you're like that's so interesting yeah that's like so many talented musicians just like putting out all that shit yeah yeah it's crazy tiktok has been like and it's like i met a lot of cool people through it too and um yeah there's like a lot of super funny great content on it what's your relationship with uh fame because one thing i think about is like on your instagram you have a photo of your wedding you and your wife yeah and it has half a million likes yeah and just like thousands of comments yeah and i think about the fuck yeah yeah kind of gives me shiver yeah the relationship to like this the byproduct of being creative on the internet is is fame right yeah and i think it in the way that you have it i'm curious your perspective on it because people are very personally interested in you obviously colin mentioned like the pinterest boards of you but there's a lot of personal interest in you uh yeah yeah i've heard he's just heard about it yeah with your outfits yeah i've never used it Yeah, what even is that?

1:41:21Sounds cool. Yeah, I mean, it's weird. I know. It's the whole, it's so weird to like take a step back. And because like when I'll be out with like some friends or like family and then I'll get recognized, it's always like they're just so like confused by it, obviously. Because it's not like a normal human interaction. Sure. so when I do it and it's like I'm just used to it now I guess which is a weird thing but it's like I don't know it's very strange sometimes when I'm like even if I'm out if I'm out in public I'm like I know I'm not that fucking famous I'm not like Justin Timberlake level but it's like even then when I'm out in public I'm like hyper aware of what I'm doing what I look like you know what I'm wearing what I'm like or what I'm carrying like what I'm doing it's like it's because I don't want Like, I was at the dollar store recently, and I was in, like, my fucking sweatpants and, like, a shirt that said, I think it said, I got it from, like, a vintage store.

1:42:32And it said, it was a guy, like, it was, like, a washroom sign of a guy, and he didn't have a head, and it said, neat head. Yeah.

1:42:45and then I got recognized outside of the dollar store and I had like poo bags for my dog and I was holding like a and I was holding like a a fucking like I had also a Gatorade too because I think I was like a little hungover and then poo bags so it was like and then someone was like oh my god are you Curtis and I was like oh not now But they were super nice and I was talking to them, but this story gets worse because we were outside of the dollar store And I was talking to them and they were just like so like you live in Toronto. That's crazy And I was like, yeah, it's that's whatever and I was talking and I was like swinging my arms back and forth You know just like My one arm holding the Gatorade I was swinging it back and forth.

1:43:32That's your swinging arm That's my swinging arm and I was swinging it back and forth and while I was talking to a fan I Fuck I hit a kid in the head with my Gatorade like he walked into my swinging Gatorade hand and it was like I bonked a fucking child when I was talking to a fan and I'd be like oh my god and I'd be like sorry you saw that so yeah I love meeting fans it's great it's always like that you should start doing VIP meet and greets so you can kind of control that no kids running around I can't smack them in the head with a blue Gatorade That's so good, man. So it's like stuff like that.

1:44:12That was good. And I'm also like, I'm so nervous when I meet fans too because I want them to have like a good experience. Totally, yes. And I'm not like very good at like talking to like new people. I don't think I'm like, especially fans. I just don't want them to think ill of me in any way. So I'm just like, I don't know. Usually I'm the one asking for a picture because like I want them to get whatever they want out of it. so I'm like I've done that many a time I'm also very bad at new interactions for the first time and my fiance has witnessed way too many of these and has finally started to like step in and be like ask them if they're a creator too you're a creator too?

1:44:55getting fed lines yeah he's got an earpiece in yeah it's really bad so now would you like a photo together? right would you like one photo with me? you guys say you want a photo? multiple times people have been like nah that's the worst that's the worst yeah when they say no yeah or you feel like you made them take the take it on I guess or they just get next to you like you can take it on your camera sure do you want it do you want one I think the funniest or the most interesting thing now that we've been talking about is the we get I don't know why this happens to us maybe it happens to you too but I get DMs after I've left a place where someone's like hey were you just at yeah You know, this sushi restaurant?

1:45:38Because I think I was sitting next to you. And like that to me is worse because then I'm like, oh my God, what was I talking about? What was I doing? Like what was that? Did I piss my pants or something? What did I do? But it starts to get in your head because you're like, I don't want to now live in a – like am I living in a world now where my assumption – like my assumption of anonymity is now incorrect? Like if I walk into a coffee shop, is my assumption that I'm anonymous in that coffee shop? Right. Wrong. And then if you live in that world where your assumption's the opposite, that's a weird world to live in.

1:46:14It almost feels like, who am I? Like a weird vein thing. No, I'm famous everywhere. That's a weird thing. I won't be paying. I only wear my nice sweatpants. But the scale of like your audience of two to three million people kind of not missing a video, that to me is crazy and then again like half a million people being interested in your personal life on a you know like I mean to that it's a lot of people even that it's like when you get to that point I don't even think people see it as my personal life I don't think they think I'm a real guy right at some point I think people think I'm like a character which is like which is also true it's also true I know I'm not saying that they're wrong it's like cause even me like even to like people I watch and stuff it's like I met fucking when I met Post Malone and it was like oh he's like a real guy he's like a real fucking person that he is and it's like that yeah it's just so strange to be like yeah and then some people like when people come up and it's like I love like they'll say like I love your dog Kiwi he's still tell Kiwi I say hi and it's like oh yeah people know like I can't even explain that to my dog either I can't be like people know you that's the thing you can't say hi yeah exactly he doesn't know what that means yeah so that's the most heartbreaking part that's the hardest part about being a creator yeah I can't tell my dog that he's loved by many but do you crave more fame is like is there any is there a level that you're trying to get to because that would give you access to something or is there not really I just want people to watch my videos and then like like what I'm doing and then if they see me in public and I want people to like I just want people to like the stuff that I'm making and if you like it enough then to come to my shows and then like I don't there's never like obviously like hitting like milestones is cool but it's never like once I'm there then it's fine you know is there a milestone you want to hit right now I mean I'm trying like five million on YouTube is the next big thing so that's what I'm like looking forward to and I hope it happens that'd be cool what do you think the recipe is to get there if you can hack the algorithm if I can hack it yeah if you can hack it it's gonna get hotter yeah that's actually true if you started lifting yeah i think i just think i'm gonna i mean it's been working the last four or five years of like doing commentary full-time so i just i'm just gonna keep making videos that i want to make and videos that i'm proud of and eventually it'll i'm not trying to get there like a certain day that you do is the extra greeting yeah i don't do it anymore you don't do it no i had a i cut it off why'd you cut it off and first of all can you explain it to people who are unfamiliar with it And then can you explain the context of cutting it off?

1:48:57When I started doing YouTube videos, I had this bit called the extra greeting at the beginning of my videos, where it would be like, I would say, hello everyone, you know, who's watching, but like to everyone who subscribed, hello, what's up, you know, how's it going? That was just for them. If you're new here, what's up, how's it going? And if you're coming back, what's up, how's it going? It's very good to see you again. See what happens when you subscribe to my channel? you get an extra greeting at the beginning of every single video so like that one didn't apply to the fuckers who didn't subscribe to me the bastards you know the weirdos so it was like that was the bit to be like you know if you subscribe you you get that extra i thought that was such a comfortable soft way to ask people to subscribe yeah but like because that's a really uncomfortable thing to do yeah what's up guys make sure you subscribe like it feels almost like a meme to say that so that like to deliver it in that way i was just like because it does work yeah if you ask people to to subscribe yeah it does work it works so finding the way in your own tone and voice to do it yeah is is would you actually pretty important mind if we took that or would you recommend yeah if you if you're um i'm not using it anymore so yeah i could i could pass it off you know sort of yeah pass the torch to y 'all you know so yeah but i stopped doing it because it was it was kind of I just felt long to me and I wanted I just I felt like so long to get into the actual topic of the video so I wanted to just like just fucking cut it out and be like just get right into the thing like you have enough subscribers yeah and it's like if I my thought was like if people like it then they can just subscribe but at the end of the video I have like the Curtis Town bit where that's like the fictional town that everybody lives in when they subscribe to me so it's like if you subscribe you automatically become a citizen if you didn't know Curtis Town is the best place to live in the world.

1:50:45And I'm the mayor, so you have to be nice to me. It's the law. That's like the bit that I have now at the end, which is like a fun little thing for people to, you know, but because it does feel weird to just be like, please. It's super weird. Yeah. It's really weird. It's really strange, but it is like, it's just part of the thing, you know, and finding that is actually part. So when you say you wanted to get quicker into the subject matter, was that like, how connected are you to YouTube studio, to analytics, like, are you looking at retention data or are you making a gut storytelling decision of like, you know what, this works better if I go hook and I'm right in?

1:51:22Yeah, I think it came from just like talking to fellow YouTubers and just being like, I've, and same as like watching other YouTubers too. When they like, when they get right into it, it's like, all right, cool, here we go. It's like, and it's like, it's what the video's about. It's what the thumbnail was. It's like, I'm here, I'm ready for the content. So it was definitely a conscious thing to be like, I just want the video that I'm putting out to be just like the best that it can be, I think. So that was a way in doing that. But there is sometimes where it does suck where it's like sometimes like the algorithm and stuff does sort of like dictate what I'm doing.

1:51:59But it's a game you got to play, I guess. Yeah, it's just the game. It's just what it is. But I think the trick is like finding like the fun like within it, like within the game that you have to play too, which is like the cool part about the thumbnail dude I've been working with too. It's like he has ideas that we like bounce off each other. And like it's like that's like a whole new fucking thing for me. It's just like having someone else. Dude, the thumbnail guy like cottage industry of our space is pretty incredible. It's crazy. You know, like that's an entire economy now of thumbnail guys.

1:52:33I don't even understand what they're doing. Like when it comes back. like when you send something out or I see sometimes they post the before and after with some like chicken scratch from the creator they like took a picture in shit light and then they just send it to them and they're like yeah just make me like actually hanging off a cliff and there's like fire below that and it's like from the perspective of and they just like chicken scratch it and then they just flip it around and you're like how did you do that I think it's amazing because from my understanding it's not AI and maybe that's why it's amazing is like yeah right yeah Yeah, it's pretty impressive what they can do these days.

1:53:12Pretty crazy. So on that with YouTube, though, one of your most recent videos is 40 minutes long. You're pushing length right now. When I think of a commentary video, it's like 8 to 11 minutes. I don't know why that's what I think of, but that is what I think of. Well, to me, it's interesting that you say 8 to 11 because when I think of a commentary video, I'm thinking I want at least 20 minutes. 20? Interesting. I think that's the ideal length that I'm shooting for. but I think there's definitely a trend within the commentary people of like kind of stepping like keeping the commentary like feel but sort of like like dipping toes in like other forms like I know Danny he's doing a lot of different stuff now yeah same as Drew Eddie and Ted they're doing like like their whole like like Margaritaville video they did and stuff it was like like I feel like there's a big trend of like not just like watching a video being like that's fucked yeah all right see you later so it's like there's like i feel like cody and noel did it with the kombucha guy yeah yeah yeah yeah right and that was one of the first times where it almost felt like i was seeing two guys who existed on a tv set like go on a new like you know when you watch like a show like the office and like the first time they like leave the office right and go to the mall you're like like the steamtown mall you're like what are you guys doing outside of the set that's how i felt with cody and noel when they went to the right gt gt day gt day yeah they went to his like kombucha gray lair yeah and it was like these guys are leaving their set and going to right yeah because then it that's cool for the audience too because then they feel like they're like going with them on that journey exactly from like the other video yeah um so there i feel like there's definitely a because that video the eye vision the vision healing video i did was also it was definitely it was like it still had commentary like the usual stuff but the last half of it was like it was just me experience just doing it and like doing like a voiceover and stuff so it was like it was really fun like creatively and like it was something different and people seemed to really like it so there's definitely and there was another video I did recently it was like this TikTok musician that I just like went and interviewed and like spent a couple days with and he was just like a it was kind of like just like a documentary about him his name is James Cepesky he's the fucking coolest dude I've ever met in my life and he was just like we just did when we did a song together to like finish the video.

1:55:44And it was just something so different and I spent so long on it and I was so nervous with it about putting it out because I didn't know if people were gonna watch it, but like that was like one of the best like feedback I've ever gotten on like any video. And it was something that I was, that's something I've never done. So it was cool. That was like a really cool moment. but yeah brought up Danny Gonzalez and Drew Gooden I know they're like good friends of yours you collaborate with them a lot yeah when I think of commentary I think of all three of you guys when you're talking with them yeah do you guys have thoughts on where sort of the characters in this genre go next is it just for the next 20 years we'll still be making commentary videos or is it you know I'm pushing more into stand up I'm interested in going into TV like I watch a Drew Gooden video and I'm like, it reminds me of Joel McHale, The Soup.

1:56:34Yeah. You know? Yeah, yeah, for sure. It reminds me of just a lot of what I see on TV that's really good. And I wonder, like, does Drew good and go into TV more so? Right. Where does the commentary genre graduate to? And do you guys talk about that? Right. Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I don't think there's really... I mean, I've talked to them both about this and it's like, YouTube is like... It's like it is like the most ideal job for like someone like I don't think I would get the satisfaction or fulfillment that I get from like if I were to go on like a series or like if I started writing for a TV show or something or like starring in a TV show.

1:57:17It's like because then there's like producers and stuff that like you have to like like YouTube is so what I want. And that's like the dream for a creative person. there's like no like there's to an extent there's like really no limits to what you can like make right you can't put a video like shitting on a table or something but like we don't think yeah well no one's trying to find out no one's had the balls to actually fucking go through with it but like I think there's obviously other like avenues we want to explore like I'm like I'm doing stand up and stuff and you know but like the like YouTube sort of is like I can definitely see myself making videos like for the rest of my like you know working life you know obviously my content will evolve i hope i hope i'm not like 65 doing the same tiktok cringe videos disney adult so that's like but i think like there is like a big pressure i think for creators to be like okay now what but it's like there there's you shouldn't have to think that way right you should be able to like youtube can be the end goal i think that's totally fine um but again i think it's like in the creative like uh like mindset to like want to do other stuff also you know so it's tough to like completely abandon one thing to go do the other like if i was just doing stand-up i i would i'd feel weird i think you know i think part of the reason i ask is because i i do enjoy seeing creators crossover to traditional media and i enjoy seeing it when they find success yes and i always want uh the people that I watch on YouTube to like try it and have the rest of the world see it.

1:58:57I have like this like immense pride for some of the people that are succeeding here. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's also like late night holds a special place in my heart just as a, I don't know, like a millennial kid growing up. And I just think that this group of commentary creators could do that format really well. Yeah. You know, like Weekend Update even from SNL or Seth Meyers, like Colbert. There's something about the delivery straight to camera about current topics that I think if you start to tackle current topics, it becomes really interesting. And you are. You're covering internet topics.

1:59:35But I think there's something interesting there. Yeah. The late night style. Yeah, I know. It's interesting when I think about late night because even those guys are like fucking YouTubers now. It's like, yeah, they're YouTubers by default. Yeah, their clips are like, they're getting so many views just on YouTube. No one knows what time those shows are on now. Right, Or what networks. Like, I used to know so well of like, oh, that's on ABC or that's on, you know, like NBC. yeah. Now it's just like, if it comes across my YouTube feed, I'll watch it. Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I feel like so many of those late night shows are just like slowly like going away, I feel like.

2:00:10Mm-hmm. So yeah, it's interesting to see like if that actually does. Do those formats converge? Right. In the next 10 years? Yeah. Yeah, it'd be interesting to see. Maybe it already has happened. Right. Because yeah, I feel like any, like all those, like all the, my friends on YouTube, they're like, I feel like I'm like their biggest fans. You know, they're also like the homies, but like I've like, whenever like Danny or Drew Jarvis, like any of my friends, like whenever they upload videos, I'm like, let's go, dude. I'm like watching every single one. So it's like, I know whatever like they do, they're going to like, like excel at and be really good so like whatever i'm supporting my friends whatever they want to do you know if they even if they never make any content again yeah you know that's that's fine more for me man okay so i have a question for you this like your story feels like it is a story of like like.

2:00:58gradual long sustained success but that is juxtaposed or in my mind contrasts with the desire to be a comic which is rooted in some level of darkness and some level of like so my question to you is like throughout this entire process like is there any darkness? Is there, were there any dark times? Or like, am I right in thinking that or is that just not the case? Yeah, I mean, yeah, I get pretty sad sometimes alright man take it easy okay sorry this is a fun podcast dude I don't know what the stress was yeah yeah whoa dude easy like kill the vibe yeah I mean there's a lot of uncertainty all the time I think every day I'm stressed about everything and all the time so yeah is that what you want to do yeah yeah yeah we'll fucking do it man I don't care we're there like that's what you want Were there any hardships in the career to this point?

2:02:03Or has it been just kind of like pretty smooth since leaving Inkbox? I got, again, I got, I think I got fucking really lucky. I say this all the time, but I think there's someone at YouTube who like really likes me. Because like even when a video is like 10 of 10, it'll be like on the trending page. I'm like, there's got to be someone there who's just like, let's go, Kurt. Like, good job. You're still doing it. But like, I don't know. I feel like, like I said, once I quit and then that video was like the fucking best video performing, like best performing video. It was like, yeah, from there it was like, obviously there was like hardships and stuff.

2:02:38And I'm never, every day I'm fucking worried about shit, you know, stuff going away or like something. One of my videos that was maybe not well received or something or, you know, I'm worried about a lot of stuff all the time. but you know in terms of like the gradual growth and the videos I've made I've been stressed with editing and time crunches and stuff and everything like the normal shit but for the most part like thankfully I've been really really lucky with like the the people I surround myself with and the videos I've been making and like you know just having a good head on my shoulders I think of like of having a clear vision of what I want to make has been really beneficial but yeah all the time man I'm fucking And I'm stressed all the time.

2:03:24I'm sad. I get freaking weirded out about everything, which is, I think, fair. It's pretty normal with being a YouTuber. Of course. I'm like a self-employed person. It's like there's so much pressure all the time. I would say like we're riddled with self-doubt. Yeah. To be a creative person. Yeah. You're just going to be like that is just the normal thing to be. Yeah. It's like every time I go to post a video, no matter how many subscribers I have or how well the other ones perform, as soon as I upload a video, I'm like, okay well this is the last one no one's gonna watch it dude I yeah I feel the same way sometimes I'm like okay maybe this who knows right when you press when you press upload and you press publish you're like who knows like I have a sense is the Curtis Connor episode the last episode right I know yeah it's fucking scary now that's gonna run in my head every time I upload it's gonna be you saying that did I kill the Colin and Samir yeah yeah that was the final shit on the table yeah so what what are your expectations or your hopes with the with the special like what's what's a win for you on that I think a win is you know people watching it and enjoying it and you know being impressed you know because I feel like I haven't really shown anything from what I've been doing the past like five six years of my stand up so I just want people to watch it and you know give it a try you know like and if you don't like it that's fine you know but i want people to watch it and enjoy it and uh yeah i'm just excited for people to see what i've been uh doing on tour and uh yeah really nervous really fucking nervous because a lot of people haven't seen so it's a pretty nerve-wracking but yeah and i think putting something out there like a big event yeah it's a big deal because then it's like okay now you've you've put a line in the sand and said there's my youtube videos and then there's this and this is different.

2:05:15You have to pay to watch this. It's in a different environment. It's shot differently. Yeah. And so then that assumes that you believe it's some of your best work. Right. Yeah. If not your best work to date. Right. Yeah. So I think people - So the pressure is on, my friend. Yeah. So please watch it. Yeah. I just want people to watch it and then hopefully they can be excited for another one one day. I'm excited to watch it just because I haven't not seen even a clip, really, of your stand-up. I'm sure there's some out there, but there's really not that much. Yeah, yeah, there's like maybe one or two old bits from like years ago.

2:05:51Yeah, which is going to be a really cool experience, I think, for your audience. Yeah. I want to see you in a different format, in a different light, different camera. Yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited. Really nervous, but I'm excited. So there's a live premiere for this. There's a live premiere. And then it's available on demand. And then it'll be on demand for a short period. And then, yeah, maybe down the road, we don't know where, it might end up somewhere else on a streaming service. or and then, but maybe not. I'll just put it on my fucking YouTube channel. So at some point, who knows? I don't know.

2:06:17But that's part about doing it independently. Yeah, I get to do that. Yeah. But as for right now, it'll be. You should play it at like drive-in theaters or something weird. Yeah. You know, wouldn't that be kind of cool? Yeah, Just like select drive-in theaters. Yeah. That'd be pretty badass. All right. All right. All right. So go to your closest drive-in theater. And just wait till maybe it comes on. Yeah, just park your car and hang out. Maybe it'll come on. Okay, Okay, wait, so people go to your website. Yeah, go to my website. Depending on when this comes out, it's either available so you can watch it live.

2:06:44Whenever this is out, you can find the details on my website, curtisconner.com. Yeah. Great. We'll link that in the description. It'd be funny if you just pranked everyone in this, and if you go to curtisconner.com, it's just something totally different. Yeah, it's me like, nice try, idiot. There's no special. You were looking for details? This is like Matt Reif pics. Yeah, yeah. Put my face photoshopped on his face. Yeah. All right, cool, man. Well, yeah, thanks for having me on, man. Thanks for coming on. Of course, thank you for having me. This was a lot of fun.