An Unfiltered Conversation with Kurtis Conner

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 can I swear on you please can I take a show of the most of it is touring then and most the revenue that significant money just shows up skib you know that one no okay can I take a guess at rler I was my mind blown that no one has talked about it yet do you feel equipped and comfortable to have that conversation or is that yeah dude that's interesting I don't really to today on the Colin and smir show we're joined by Curtis Connor Curtis started his career as an aspiring comedian doing open mics in college and he was one of the first of his friends to take his comedy to vine hey can you come pick me up sure thank you so much man anytime dude 10 years later what makes Curtis so interesting to us is that he has both a successful YouTube career with over 4 million subscribers and a successful career in stand-up comedy in this episode we talk about the growth of Curtis business on YouTube over the past 10 years the economics of touring and selling merch and how to write a joke that makes millions of people laugh this was honestly one of the funniest episodes we've ever recorded I hope you laugh as hard as we did while we were recording it Colin actually started crying after one of the stories that Curtis told this episode is sponsored by Discord earlier this year we launched our Discord server and it's been an incredible way for us to get closer to our community we have channels in our Discord dedicated to video feedback thumbnail feedback discussions around Creator news we actually hosted live stages where we bring members from the community on stage to talk to each other we talk about this all the time but the next chapter of the Creator economy is all about building depth with your community and launching a Discord server has been the best way for us to build a deeper connection with our audience it's not just about us as creators making content for our community we want to be creating with our community our community on Discord gives us ideas on who we should have on this show they've even designed merch capsules for us so it's a truly collaborative experience and most recently we actually started selling Collins handwriting in our Discord using their server shop so if you have a Discord server and you're a Creator it's not just about building a community it's actually offering you a new way to monetize creators can launch individual digital products as well as monthly subscriptions and memberships launching this Discord server has given us a home for our community and if you're a Creator looking for the same thing click the link in our description learn more about Discord all right now for our interview with Curtis [Music] Connor that's a great shirt M thank you I got it in Amsterdam wow yeah did you know that you are all over Pinterest like Curtis Connor outfit yeah is on like that's a thing on pinest there's a lot of those yeah that's pretty aspirational that's I was going to say I think yeah yeah I guess so I looked at myself in the mirror today I thought that's not on pinest I'm not fine in that it's okay yeah not yet we could yeah we can make it so yeah Curtis Conor welcome to the show thanks for having me guys I feel your name has to be said together yeah otherwise also for people listening I could have said Curtis and could have be like could have been anyone could yeah could have been Curtis could have been Curtis Jackson 50 Cent did I call you Connor before I all of a sudden in my head I was like wait I don't think so yeah CU if you did I would have left yeah I would have gone home okay all right I just wanted to make sure yeah I would have shoved you or something yeah didn't okay cool but yeah you do have to say the full name sometimes people say Curtis and I just won't even look I like what who is it yeah I don't know all right but thanks for having me I'm like I watch your guys videos all the time so this is awesome D thank you that's awesome um I was catching up with some of your very old videos a you don't have to do that and like I I know come on I know and like when I think about you you are one of these like OG creators and it's strange that like a decade has gone by of uploading YouTube vide and even prior to that vine yeah um it's strange to have this crop of creators who've been doing something doing this thing for a decade yeah and I think one of the most interesting things about you is you're doing it in the way that it was done you know from from the beginning like what made me fall in love with YouTube was that people could sit in their room and tell stories yeah and attract millions of people by doing that it's pretty amazing that like that is still the core of what you make yeah yeah I mean that's yeah those are the videos that I love to watch myself and like that's same like I grew up watching like old YouTube and stuff it's like the beauty of YouTube is like you can just sit in a room and just like talk about whatever and then people are going to watch it yeah it's crazy there was a uh comment on one of your most recent videos like one of the most liked comments and it said Curtis is like your funny uncle who comes over every once in a while and it was like one of the most liked ones I was like oh okay yeah that's nice yeah I actually that's a like a wonderful description of Curtis Conor just a silly guy that shows up sometimes silly uncle that was my favorite the second part of shows up every once in a while occasional Uncle yeah unannounced I'm here again like oh great you want me to talk for a while but like on the on the flip side of sitting in your room and delivering you know wellth thought out piece of content to the uh to to a camera you're also you do standup and some of the scenes I've seen from your your you have a tour Vlog Channel and we're back and the scenes there are insane like those are thousands of people watching you do something yeah that's it was a dream come true it's like the other like the other amazing part of YouTube and having like a like an audience who likes what you're putting out it's like they'll actually come and support what you're yeah doing in real life too which is which is crazy think that's going to be the differentiator in the next chapter of creators is creators who can draw a crowd and that crowd will actually show up yeah is like that to me is like that you're building a brand that has a lot of depth right because I think the other side it's gotten very confusing to look at and be like what does a million views on a short mean right right or on a Tik Tok like that does that mean something or even like having a video go viral is that is there something happening there or it was the concept just good right and the repeated like compounding nature of what you've done which is a decade of audience building that can like 3,500 people will show up when you know two to three sometimes 10 million people are watching your videos right yeah that's like that's the best I mean like to be fair it took a long it took a can I swear on here please actually yeah we're trying to just get a little you know more edgy cuz I was I was really trying to hold it back but it slips we do give off the vibe of a show the amount of time people ask can they s they just go ahead s yeah everything's so nice here yeah it's it's Toom can I take a on the yeah maybe mess it up a little bit can I live in this place up please that'd be a crazy title you have a great title new desk yeah it's brand new too the whitest desk the clean it's super clean right now it would stand out if I CRA on we'll see what happens a killer thumbnail yeah yeah no I won't um so I should go without saying you can you can swear yeah okay that being said I can't swear I can't okay um what was I saying what were we talking about now you got to like you have to bring it now you cannot yeah bring it consider that our parental advisory for this episode crap oh all right there go well I forget I was talking we were talking about putting 3500 people in seats oh yeah okay yeah saying like to be fair it took a while it took a very long time it took like yeah like cuz I I was doing standup before any video stuff like before anyine before YouTube like I was I was doing standup I was doing open mics in Toronto in like basements of bars and stuff for just like other comedians in the audience that were waiting to go up after me and it's like yeah and that's sucked so it's like I think that it helped out a lot that I did it before YouTube cuz I had the expertise and stuff and like the the confidence to sort of like go out and be like I know that PE I know how to put a show together I know how to write I know how to write a joke and I know how to deliver a joke to an audience cuz like I was thinking about the other day if I like started YouTube and then started to like do standup after I'd be so terrified and there' be so much more pressure on me cuz I'm like oh I have to like rise to the occas and I hope it's good um but so that that worked out well that I just like got through all the crappy parts before like when I was starting out and then sort of I was able to sort of grow both parts of it like simultaneously I guess there's a crop of creators right now who kind of blew up during the pandemic and are now pursuing comedy with millions of people following them and I I talked to a few of them and actually went to a show that was all Tik Tok creators whoa and it was packed room yeah and the material just wasn't there right like they just weren't there and and you know the reality is it's probably their fifth show yeah it's like you need time to develop but if you're developing in front of an audience exactly yeah the thing that I have been thinking about a lot and we've talked about before on the show is like there's no ability anymore to practice in private when you become a Creator at that scale whether it's comedy or your craft of making videos the feeling is like well if I'm going to do it I'm going to upload it yeah yeah when actually like if you came from the era pre- internet you made a lot of videos that nobody saw that you just watched back and you were like okay cool and I'm sure for you also before having people know your name going to open mics the stakes are way lower oh yeah yeah you can say whatever you want and do whatever you want you can on TBL and I did that's why it took me so long didn't you also go to school for comedy like sketch comedy Humber Humber colge College Humber Hawk sh so you are the first Humber Hawk we've had on the show right first one okay wait so what is that that's a like a comedy school or they had a um well it's a it's a it's a college in Toronto and they have a program there called comedy colon writing and performance um colon is the two dots okay not yeah biological that's a weird part of the program um yeah so it's a two-year program I it's really weird to talk about because it's like I don't know how much I actually learned there with like any program I feel like in the Arts I feel like more so it's good to just be around other people who are doing the same stuff as you and have the same goals and like mindset I guess um because if I just did stand up if I just moved to Toronto and just like went for it I don't know if I'd still be doing it I probably would have got discouraged and just like quit and just like got a I don't know got job somewhere else because like with going to the going to college I met like really great people and we'd like just go out every night and do shows together and it's like a real like camaraderie thing if like one of us bombs or like all of us bombs and it's like whatever it's all good we're going to go get yeah we're going through the messiness together you know of like the figuring this out right and there was nothing and there was no like it's so crazy cuz back it wasn't that long ago in like the grand scheme of things but I remember like bringing a camera and filming you at like like filming your set at like an open mic or a show was like really like not frowned upon but people were like Hollywood over here think interesting yeah like people were like even to watch it back like just the context of like I just want to see how this went yeah people were just like don't that's not what it is yeah it was just really which it's totally fair to do that and just like film your own set and like see how it looks but like people were still like get that out of here man what are you doing it was really it's crazy to think about that now because like I feel like everyone is filming their sets and putting them out on Tik Tok and stuff but so where are you during that time you're going to college you're learning about comedy writing doing sets like where are you with your journey of you know I should probably make a Vine the beauty of Vine was like it was just so easy to make videos and put it out like the whole I think YouTube was really daunting to me at the time because it was like there was like the whole editing process and then uploading was like you needed a title like and it was like it would just seemed really intimidating to me but like Vine was so easy and like like effortless in a way my dad takes photos of famous people he's my Paparazzi and just like the time constraint was really fun too it was like really challenging to like make a good joke like land in that short amount of time and I just like fell in love with it and I was also when I started doing comedy I was like I was like strictly like a oneliner guy like I was only writing like just like setup punchline I didn't have like stories or anything like that so Vine like lended itself like really well to that cuz it was just like it was short and all my jokes were short so I like I'll just do that and uh yeah I would just make videos on days where I wasn't going out and doing standup and um one took off one day and um do you know which one that was I do yeah what was it uh it was so stupid it was like um there's this table and I took my pants off I sorry that bit won't die had to be a really quick poo do a six second one um it was it was like me in my room and I was like hey instead of I think it was like hey instead of engaging in misogyny why don't you just massage a knee and then I rubbed my knee a dum joke you had a good message you know the posi uplifting message yeah I mean that's good it could have been way worse in terms of like message you go like way back in some comedians past you remember the one you're like I do tell us about it my favorite one of your old Vines it's it's so dumb but it made me laugh out loud is the roasted peanuts here are your peanuts oh I actually wanted them roasted oh my mistake boy what are you doing like boy what are you that was like a very creative play on words and just like I don't know it just it was so Vine like there was such a style at that time to what a Vine joke was right yeah and I don't know that was like it feels to me almost like Vine was ahead of its time way absolutely yeah right and like there is this weird staying power to people who are successful on Vine that almost feels somewhat unexplainable when you look into it sure you can say like okay that you got to practice a lot more than other people because you probably made more videos oh yeah right than someone who starts on YouTube to catch up to how many Vines someone would make people were making two three Vines a day oh yeah easy yeah right so like maybe that's why what do you think that is of like why are like Cody you even the Paul Brothers like like some people just have crazy staying power right yeah I mean I think for the most part I feel like like I didn't make any money on Vine like I don't I think I did like one I did one brand deal and they never paid me so that was cool but I was supposed to get paid but it never happened um like um like B for like massaging a knee yeah oh that would have been clutch yeah that part Jess no no keep it in circle back let's Circle back to the on the table seems to be H that bit was hitting um I didn't know that's how you pronounced it I think that's why I was thrown off what did you think it was thought it was benai or something know sounds almost like cultural appropriation benai I don't know yeah I didn't know it was Ben Gay no I've been gay uh um um I think yeah I didn't make any money from Vine and I think a lot of it was the same for a lot of people I know there were some like the top like you know the top like percent of people were like you know the the king batches the Jerry per dranks you know they were they were racking up the big bucks but like I think for Vine it was like a lot of people were just making videos because they loved it and it was like funny and like really fun and the community was really great and everyone was really supportive of each other so I think like the the main idea of Vine was like just make a video as best as you can and just make it as funny as you can make it and like I think that sort of like stayed in my brain as well as like Danny and Drew and Cody like all just like they're just like really funny people and love making good stuff and I think that's like what that's what you need to like stay in it like you need to like want to make good you know and like you want to be proud of it interesting that like the intentionality Vines and making Vines was not necessarily commercially driven right yeah there was no Creator fund or anything filters out the people who were in it just for that they were these were actually the people who were into making right yeah so then I guess I guess when we all like went over to YouTube it was like I guess we just kept that in our heads being like we can just make the best videos we can and then like now we can actually get paid for it do you feel like there was almost similar to what you're talking about about being in college there was almost this communal nature like when you were uploading Vines did you become friends with other people uploading Vines oh yeah yeah like it was so like it was almost like it was encouraged pretty much like everyone you'd see like a funny vine you'd go to their profile and like watch other Vines and you just like send them a message and like it's it's just that easy like I know like some of my lifelong friends now are like from from Vine which is crazy like yeah it's it's crazy to think about but that's like every everybody was so supportive of each other and like and like if you had like an idea that they were doing you'd like hop on it and like do your own interpretation of it um yeah it was just like probably like getting a text from one of those people being like damn that was really funny yeah that's like the that I mean even for me right now that to me is one of the highest forms of validation is if another Creator text and was like damn I really like that or I watch your show that's just like oh my God I love your stuff I like that to me is fir as you up for the rest of the day yeah it's such a good feeling yeah amongst your comedy friends in college and also in Toronto were you a bit of anomaly in terms of like posting on Vine and then going to YouTube or were there other people doing that I yeah I was pretty much I think yeah thinking back I was probably I definitely made the most Vines out of everybody definitely I was really I really put all my eggs in one basket there which was probably not the best idea looking back and it was just so shocking to me that nobody else was sort of doing that especially with Vine it was so it was so easy it was like you just like it was 6 seconds you just do yeah it was just super easy to do was it shocking because you saw the potential of it helping your actual comedy career yeah yeah definitely yeah it was like it CU it got the brain working in a different way too it was like the it the like the process of writing a like a joke for standup it's so like it's so annoying it sucks because it's like I think this is really good and then you like have to take you drive to a place and you Go on stage and you try it and then maybe it doesn't work and you're like okay cool I'm going to kill myself that's awesome I was really excited about this and nobody laughed so like that's like heartbreaking but it's like a little less heartbreaking if it's like you post the vine maybe some people laugh maybe some people like it you know some people didn't with it maybe a couple people did and it was just like a different way to it just yeah it just kept the brain working in different ways where it was like if you're only doing standup I I don't think you can become as good as a standup as you can be because you should be trying to make other things also that can therefore help the standup as well because I think YouTube like making YouTube videos and scripting videos and editing and putting together one piece of content has helped out my standup like way more than just like going to a bunch of open mics and like trying out for me personally we talk about YouTube videos and you know editing is is very similar to writing where you have these blocks right where it's like actually this would be funnier if this piece went over here and now the joke Works differently or the story Works differ if this is over here and this is over here and you're actually there's not many versions of that where like if you're writing it on paper it's not like you can watch it back and hear it and be like oh that's funnier now right so if you're writing out the joke it's very different than if you're performing something on camera and actually moving blocks around you see different iterations of how delivery works right and there's Ty ofy or set so I I think that makes total sense that like editing a video would help you they both help each other out like tremendously I think I think the response is softer generally while you're growing on like YouTube Tik Tok and probably was on Vine because if you put on something that's not funny like algorithmically at some point people just aren't going to see it anymore like was not delivering what the platform needed if you've reached a point where you have a big audience and you put out something that all of a sudden is not funny like you hear about it but on your rise like if it's bad people just don't see it whereas on your rise doing standup 100% of the people in the room the maximum possible audience like saw what you did going see they're never going to forget and they couldn't even help their reaction yeah it's funny like a hundred people in in a room being silent is more dramatic than 2,000 people being like neutral or not really liking your stuff right online yeah exactly that's like way more dramatic to stand in front of 100 people and have them be like what's up with this guy 100% yeah there's yeah there's probably no worse feeling the that doing a joke that you're like so excited about and then you say it and then nobody makes any noise it's like yeah that's yeah even thinking about it now I was like I got to get out of here I got to take a lap yeah it sucks so going from 6 seconds M and to making longer form YouTube videos like that that's a that is a pretty big jump oh yeah yeah right like what why did you what made you feel confident in doing that was the reason you did that because Vine shut down or did you have plans to do that anyway it was really hard like I only really started diving into YouTube because Vine ended and I was like well I I don't know what else to do I don't like there through Instagram like I didn't really see any like discoverability there like it it seemed like really hard to grow on like other platforms but yeah it was really hard like the transition from Vine to YouTube because it was like a whole other thing and I had to like think of it differently like I was like just like the thought of a thumbnail to me was like that's not that doesn't matter it was like CU I never had to worry about that on Vine yeah so it was like a it was a big learning curve for sure but it nothing it didn't really fit or make sense until I started trying out uh commentary and then it like really started to to make sense to and did you know commentary was a gen or did you kind of just like Discover it through putting things out on YouTube uh I mean I was aware of it cuz like I would watch like H3 all the time like back in the day like they when they when like they were doing commentary videos still um and and like it it really took like I think like Cody and Danny and like like my Vine buddies like once they started doing it and I was like oh that's like and I they were making really funny videos so I was like I could I could maybe try that yeah it work up now there's such like a strong link between like commentary creators and comedy it's like if if you're a standup comedian and you have some sort of digital presence it's either a podcast or commentary yeah or both right yeah you know yeah true I mean I guess I know it is interesting that commentary it is sort of synonymous with comedy now but like in it doesn't there are people who make commentary videos that aren't funny totally but like and they're really good but like yeah when you I guess in my brain too when I do think of commentary it's like some guy joking around but yeah I don't know so what were the early commentary videos for you that started to hit uh I did one I did one about some like Instagram like pickup artist guy I did one that I think the first one that really took off it was called pointless Twitter threads and it was like it was like and I think the way it worked out well cuz like I had the thumbnail was pretty good like in like people want to click on it I think I had like 1,000 views when I went to bed and then I woke up the next day and it was at like 400 or 600k or something and then yeah I was freaking out because I was like it was the most views I think I've ever gotten like even on Vine yeah I mean I've got more views on like Loops they call it it get it my bad they call no dude I had Vine I had vine cool yeah okay um I've had like Vines pop up like pop off and like go on the trending page and stuff but it was something with YouTube was way more overwhelming with like the amount of views coming in so it was like I just really went for it after that and was like posting like weekly and uh and here I am during that time are you working some sort of job like where are you and what are you doing to to make ends meet I uh I I was at a full-time office job at a company called ink they do like the semi-permanent tattoos um didn't we look at this for you to get Colin's been toying around with the tattoo for 10 years time to time something I'm maybe into you should give them a try they're pretty good yeah so you were working like a like you were what are you doing for them um just hanging out I had a I uh I had I was like head of I was head of video content over there so all their in anything that had to do with video I was making like Instagram videos I was making YouTube videos for them I was like their idea was like I was like the face of the brand I guess so like they had someone to like people to look to to I would like oh wow it was pretty like they're pretty ahead of the curve that's pretty early to do that cuz it yeah it was like 20 I think they H me in 2016 2017 and um it was great it was like a steady pay so are there videos on inkbox YouTube channel of you explaining inkbox oh yeah yeah probably if you look that up yeah like years ago that's wild and did you get that job because of your Pres on Vine uh yeah it was pretty much I did uh so back in like 2015 I like met the co-founders cuz they saw me on Vine and they were like they like invited me to their like workplace and then I ended up doing like a photo shoot for them and then years went by um and I was like I needed a new job I was working as like a server at a like a restaurant in Toronto and I just hated it and I needed like a new job I wanted something like in that space where I could make videos like consist recently and then I saw them post about the job opening and I went in for the interview and uh yeah I got I got the job and it was great cuz it was like I got to really learn about video production and like what brands also like to see in videos right so it was it was cool like Peak behind the curtain I feel like I learned a lot there and yeah so I was full-time job there like 5 days a week like nine like 9 to six I think was my hours and it was like I would just come home and then like edit until like 2:00 in the morning and then get up like I hit 100,000 subscribers like at my work and like everyone was like it was super cool it was like everyone was like like super stoked for me that's cool and then like yeah like a month or two later I like scheduled a meeting with my boss and then I I like we walked in he was like so what are you quitting to do YouTube now I like a half joke and I was like yeah yeah I am um but he was like uh he was like super stoked for me obviously his like he was like obviously like my dream is for my employees to go off and do what they want to do um so yeah it was it was great that I I had that job I think I learned a lot but um yeah nine to5 is gnarly that was a lot well also then I mean making videos for your day job and then making videos for for myself yeah that's like mentally draining we we did a a version of that where we were trying to make it on YouTube and we did freelance video work during the day so that was like what we were doing and 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 it's not human you can't 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 cuz you're like I just did this for like 10 hours looking at software 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 on across some social platform whether it be YouTube or Tik Tok and they might actually transition into going in-house at companies as being creatives at companies because there's more stability in that for sure right you still get to kind of Express creativity most companies will probably want more personalities and will'll 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 G be an artist 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 who do I sell that to right 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 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 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 who who Am am I talking I remember when the q's entered our our space you know I was like where did this come from we I'm still sort of revolting against it I'm not yeah yeah yeah you won't hear a q coming out but DRS I'll accept it I know what it means dud Colin will drop an EOD you know he'll drop an EOD you did get me on that look look in slack I'm a different person this guy uses slack I reved against 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 wereing with a few freers I think we need to start using slack like listen you can just text yeah I was like I'm going text you you sit right next to me I was like I'll just like be like hey let's 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 gifts that dropped yeah 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 working at Starbucks right yeah yeah I was and I I I you were on a pod where you talking about getting recognized yeah dude working what that sucks yeah talk to me about that about that experience so yeah I worked at Starbucks and like a really busy intersection in Toronto Queen and spina and it was like yeah I it was right when vine was taken off I had like maybe two 300,000 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 and I explain like yeah explain how like money works on Vine like in the internet in the you in like the online space to like a teenager who's just like I watch your videos and now you're like behind a counter it's like it must have been super weird for them too you weren't doing yeah promise me you'll stop I was doing this to you the reason I ask you about that is cuz there was a really interesting time and 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 MH but our videos weren't doing terrible but like 20,000 people were watching our videos and it's weird that to someone in that crowd were like yeah they 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 are you guys calling in Sam Mir we're like yeah they can I grab a picture we were like yeah took a picture and kept driving talking about how it wasn't working like how like we were like we like this career is not working we're not making any money was that the first time you guys were like recognized no no but but in this context yes because we we've had a long career on YouTube of different context in the Colin and Samir context probably one of the first times yeah but it was during the time when we were really just like H we do not have know how to make money doing this this is very confusing so when I when I was thinking about that I was like that must have been so strange to like make someone a drink at Starbucks and be like dude I 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 would make them pay for the drink cuz I felt weird like taking their money and like I don't know I was I I mean I definitely gave away more drinks than I should have I did that all the time but like they're fine they're start now I'm thinking to myself like how many times was he recognized yeah uh I feel like how many free lates do this guy give away F put me in debt um it was like it was never out of my pocket it was out of Starbucks pocket okay good those guys um it was like like if I worked on like a Saturday yeah it was game over because it was like latte Gore oh yeah yeah it was everything was on me but no I wasn't recognize that much but like it was it was definitely an interesting experience to have for like for people to be like why don't I don't it makes sense that you it doesn't make sense you have a job you're on Vine that was interesting but so what gave you the confidence to leave in 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 yeah what gave you the confidence to leave that job uh 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 cuz 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 and uh 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 Tik Tok video that I put out already that was we'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 I what a message to you that like this is probably going to work out yeah it was like quite the sign it was like it and I didn't I wasn't expecting it at all like I edit I I was editing it like on vacation and like an Airbnb in like Paris it was like it yeah it was crazy and then that that 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 like crazy what are the what's like the anatomy of why these videos went so viral at least some of those early ones 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 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 bang and it's like 10 of 10 and like okay cool but uh sometimes they just like some video topics are just like uh you just have a feeling they're going to they're they're going to do well there's something about it that's just so like like enticing to people I guess like the the one I did about uh a movie called goat story um it was just like a weird thing and when I was watching it I was like my 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 the I've did a video about uh Disney adults it was like a video Essa format what's a Disney adult a Disney adult is a millennial adult with or without kids that can't stop talking about Disney uh and they're just like 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 okay and they're like it's like a cheoy millennial thing to do um he's laughing he's a Disney ad are you a Disney adult he's bordering yeah he's bordering Jess he's bordering he almost threw up back there yeah so you're familiar with them you're describing him right now okay okay yeah it's pretty gnarly people like buy property on the on on the Disney property it's like it's gnarly just 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 um but then again that's like also it's now my most viewed video so it's like who knows how do you tow 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 I I think with commentary creators specifically in comedy they like really tow the line and have to think about like am I punching down or or is this something that someone in this community could watch and be like all right like he kind of sees us even if he's like poking fun right right he sees us yeah yeah it's it's definitely tough cuz especially when you're like growing too it's like you like the bigger you get like the less people there are I guess like punch up Punch Yeah so it's like cuz you're um like getting to that size I guess so it's like and you don't want to punch like if I had like if I had like 100,000 or like 50,000 Subs I could make you know it's like it's different because like less people will see it in a way but like now if I like make some fun of someone with like 10,000 subscribers people would be like yeah yeah 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 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 okay so it's like it's nice to like cuz then you're like you you're informed and you're like you know why they behave in that way and 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 talk about anything I want sure like the wild west and then now a lot more thought goes into what I'm covering and what I'm talking about um you have like brand implications now the ctis Conor brand you know what I mean like it's 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 like and has been since the beginning like you're someone who I think has been like pretty respectful and almost like a defender of certain groups of people at time on the internet you know yeah I mean I've I've tried my I've tried my best to like do that and like be a you know someone who doesn't sort of spread like negative or like you know like vital and like weird negative I mean I'm definitely a very negative person I can be very I can be very like I could be a douchebag like sometimes in my videos and sometimes I do obvious I sometimes I do go a little far and I people will call me out on it and it's happened um not to anything like crazy extent but like it it it does happen sometimes you miss the mark a little bit um but I've always tried my best to like not make people feel too shitty if they didn't deserve it you know yeah sometimes people do deserve to be made fun of it yeah and many times when I watch your video I'm like I I feel like I'm on your side and I'm like I'm glad that Curtis is on my side 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 do and feel like uh what the hell yeah like is sort of like cast out which is yeah 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 cuz like a lot of my uh like if you go to like a 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 and 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 a woman on the internet I can't even 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 just say something like ignorant yeah yeah get in the kitchen or some 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 discriminated against and stuff that's what I'm that's what I go for I think yeah yeah so what what is the what does the like scripting process look like and the decision of like the green lighting process I get quote unquote of like this video is gon to go on my channel now or I'm gonna I'm gonna press record on this right uh well the scripting is the scripting is usually pretty easy but the finding the finding the topic is like the I hate it so much is it just you or do you have a team it's just me um 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 yeah commentary is that one and the same are they simar I think they're like wildly different I started doing commentary of like of just reacting and like off the cuff talking about stuff and I hate it I I'm not good at it but there are people who are amazing at it like Cody Noel they crush it they've like they know how to make a really good video like that um but like with me um and it goes back to standup 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 going to say uh 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 like within the script obviously I can if there's something I think of I can you know say it it can make it into the video or not but I can have that one piece like the one script I can fall back on that I know is like I'm confident in cuz like yeah there's too much pressure I don't think I'm that fun off the cuff I think I I do my best work when I am planning and what I'm think 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 like I love the the entire process so but 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 no uh for my podcast I have an editor okay her name is Sabrina she's awesome she's made my life a lot easier um you cut all your main Channel videos oh yeah wow wow that's yeah I know that's the reaction I get every time yeah that's Hefty W because your edits are also pretty intricate oh there like a lot of sound effects a lot of effects in I go crazy in that Final Cut is my and sometimes you're like re-recording things that pop in here like you are pulling from everywhere and it's not hurting anybody or is it I'll just fix it and post you know all right I've made the like the style of my my videos like 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 coming off a heavy Q3 you can't get it done by EOD ex you get someone else ping me later yeah um sometimes I'm o of course sure yeah um but I thought I was going to have one more but I didn't you just agreed sure sure yeah yeah if you're oh got it yeah uh so I think Circle back let's Circle back on this looping in you know that's another good one looping in yeah um so I think you know I've had help before with but I'm still in it I'm still like putting the final touches or I'm deleting everything they've done and just doing it myself I'm like they didn't do it right um 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 yeah it's probably like a pretty big trait a big character flaw of me that I can't I don't think it's a character flaw actually I think I think that's just like a like do you feel a certain amount of pressure to like scale your team or anything like that or or no because I 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 you know 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 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 negotiations my merch guy so it's like no off to the people that really enjoy you know the boring stuff lame yeah no offense to that I'm sure that's a lot of fun a lot of viewers of this show yeah you know yeah they love that yep which is great but it's not for me yeah you know and that's fine and 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 enjoy 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 can spend more time on it and 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 um I know I you know obviously I'd be making more money if I put out more videos 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 what and 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 fourx your Revenue if you just made oh yeah like that's a strange it's crazy to think we all know what we need to do to do that right which is kind of an odd Moment In Time CU that there might be a moment where that's not the case the advertising business isn't so abundant yeah 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 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 totally funny uncle to show up every once in a while the uncle is there multiple times a day coming into the house yeah it's not a funny uncle anym weird one yeah no I agree with you I think scarcity is is undervalued in our in our space like I think people undervalue scarcity 100% but I just think it's strange that like the math equation is is there like even if you just added one more it's and it's it's a significant amount of Revenue it's not like a small piece it's like it would like literally double yeah yeah which is wild to think about but then I'd be like then I'd be sad so you know because you're like editing too much editing too much and 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 there's no time expectation that you can commit to ever yeah you know you're like listen I just have to fix one thing in this video then we can have that's like the most miserable thing to say it's never just one thing cuz you're like oh I can I get just I actually got to film this other part I didn't like how I looked in that one like half hours later and you're like are you still you still want to have dinner I've definitely yeah that's the other part where I 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 was I feel like I was just editing all the time and yeah just 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 it's something that I'm never going to be good at or like I 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 like it's so hard hard feel like you were sort of sacrificing during that moment of that imbalance I think just like being uh just 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 out for walks every like couple 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 it's very strange I would imagine weird yeah it's like you go from hours worth of looking at yourself on a screen to then like trying to spend time with like the real human in your life your partner who also lives in the yeah yeah it's so like hey let me just step away from that screen with my face 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 human being yeah um but yeah it's tough It's it's really hard I would imagine you experience some of what we experience too and that uh we cover a lot of what's happening on the internet so you have to be somewhat plugged into what's happening on the internet which abely which is exhausting even if you're not trying to plug in like just scraping by with what's happening ex I know it's so hard we were talking about this uh last night I was at I went to dve Busters last night sure with um Eddie Eddie burck and Ted n uh and Jarvis not to name drop but those are my flexing bit Yeah Yeah similar to when you said my airb being Paris yeah justat yeah well it's whatever yeah I was really worried about money then but it's okay really what you said you were like it was a crazy thing I quit my job and I just flew to Paris it was hard though I released this absolute hit from Paris like who knew yeah man my life sucks um yeah we were there talking about I do my best work in Paris what am I supposed to say yeah I'm there all the time yeah always on the move it's crazy um I uh we were talking about last night how because there was this like this song that's been going viral on Tik Tok and it's saying all these like slang terms like Gat and like rizzler and no I know dude it's like a weird song that's like mentioning all these like Niche like Tik Tok slang terms and it sucks cuz like I knew what every single thing meant and I was like that's bad I'm like 30 almost I goture my life hit me with that first one Gat Gat I think that's I think that's like someone's ass okay all right all right I'm too old for that I'm too old or it's like I think that 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 yeah listen man rler is most obvious one okay let me say guess all right so a rizzler is someone who has Riz who has Carisma you're yeah don't say I'm just trying to like understand like right it's like a Batman villain who's really good with wom saying for the people who don't even know Riz I'm going to take it back to Charisma yeah yeah and then the next line was like it was like skibbidy you know that one no okay it's like a skibbidy toilet it's like some weird kids oh yes but I've only heard that asab maybe isely correct it's like beny you only hear thing one way and it's like who knows yeah and that was the worst yeah what 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 as a Creator or correct me if I'm wrong there but like the pursuit of uploading more creating more like what was that connect to was it connected to money is it connected to money now like what are you in pursuit of with uploading um yeah well I mean yeah with money it was really it was I never really had like I grew up like in like a 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 I mean I never I pretty I got a job when I was like 14 cuz that's like what my parents told me to do is like you got to earn your own money and stuff if you want to buy like you I'm not going to buy you stuff cuz like we can right um so I was never like super well off like you know I'd fly to Paris every now I do my best work there my best homework there I would do I do my math sheets in Paris in the Lou 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 pay check from like inkbox I was like oh 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 a 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 $2500 and I was like that's let's go that'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 money just shows up it's like this wild magical thing for Creative people who don't want to do the boring stuff right 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 something you like to do and then money just shows you like figured this out a little bit more and money shows up wild moment in Creative time right that just like make some stuff and then yeah I never had to like have like a yeah you're right I never had to sign anything I never had to like don't have yeah it's just like is 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 going to happen with YouTube also you you have like platform trauma yeah it got ripped it gotd from Vine yeah I mean kind of though cuz you experienced it like we I mean I can't fathom if YouTube went away like I just can't even like that 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 it would change the economy it would be way worse for it'd be way worse than Vine shutting way worse I mean especially now it's so developed I can't imagine a world without Mr Beast videos no thank you you guys see Justin Timberlake in the last one I did were not he came right after Mark Cuban yeah yeah we were at that house with with Mark Cuban with Jimmy and Mark cubin yeah I actually there's actually a scene where they walk by the room we were in and it's like the the curtains are like pulled shut because we were in there I pulled up at the same time that Mark cuin pulled up that's right damn that's cool that was a good video though I like I like that the the new formats that he's exploring the like one versus you know they're fun cuz they're they're just like what you used to watch on TV of just like expensive houses MH or expensive things mhm 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 like I would love to see a$ hundred million house I think it does depend how they're done I was watching your Brent Riva video oh yeah yeah yeah true and part of that video was like uh a little bit of like the line between what is okay to talk about in those types of videos versus what is not and how to like if you are going to talk about money not doing it in a way right cuz when Brent does it it's like cash it's like look how much cash I have look how shitty right I think that style of life is yeah and you have to be careful with like if you're going to show a $1 house yeah you're not going to like a like a like a a bad like not like aad like a less developed neighborhood and like on people who live there it's like doesn't that suck yeah couldn't be me yeah never not me I wouldn't do yeah true I guess when Mr Beast 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 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 bar it's just like and he does move on to the next thing he does spend a very little time there I just thought it was cool to see Justin Timber like I don't know why I was just like cing back to JT JT was kind unexpected for me yeah pretty good for him he was pretty funny in it too I don't know how we got here but the question I was going to ask you was uh 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 who represent you like an agent like 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 wanted help with like management and stuff and uh 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 I want all of that money I need it actually like my my house and my food and from there I like my podcast producer is my buddy shun that I 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 race yeah does he talk to you directly or does he talk to your manager um they talked to me directly cuz that actually did happen pretty recently but um yeah and um was that a 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 cuz 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 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 like Bas on my Q4 projections like no problem true that's what I said uh so it was it was never like yeah it would be weird if I was like nah 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 if you were to sort of give us a pie chart of of what does it even involv take us beond the scenes of the presentation you gave shareholders okay yeah yeah okay I'm trying to remember what the presentation looked like CU there was one um yeah dude that's interesting I don't really no because brand I know Brands it's different for every month because they I could be doing it might I feel like brandals might be a little better than AdSense but they're pretty similar but they're pretty close but they put 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 okay if I had no shows going on um then it would be like 80 or 75% uh AdSense and brand deals maybe what's half of 75 let's do 40 40 40 40 80% yeah 80% is advertising and then maybe the or maybe less because I don't know and then I've never thought of this before it's good we're doing this exercise I know it's good to know um and then maybe the next if we make a graphic for this we'll just put a huge asteris at the bottom or be completely inaccurate make it C is a dumbass but the and then the rest is like the podcast patreon and and uh merch I think um and are those like equal I'd say merch is the biggest out of those three oh wow cool um and I think the podcast is probably the the least but I mean the podcast is like it's just fun yeah I it's just I have a lot of fun doing it and I feel like the 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 it way but I'd say definitely but if I was touring yeah different pie chart I was touring this is completely different two pies yeah um so if I'm touring then it's like most of it is touring then it most the revenue that significant to the tour really 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 so I think well with merch sales also with Touring that merch goes up a lot and then the the money from the the venue and stuff um from doing the show um it'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 got it the revenue from the the ad Revenue goes down pretty but touring is that significant yeah cuz I don't know why I guess like similar to Colin I I look at touring and I'm like oh that's cool that's a fun way 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 sign I mean I think I was very I'm again I'm I 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 know touring is not very lucrative at all but you know if how do you make money from touring what 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 people come they buy ticket so people want to you say things to them and you're the one on stage CH go there you're Curtis in this situation okay yeah okay what the are you talking about yeah so it's ticket sales there's like uh 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-co um and then Co happened and then I think now I I don't know if even if I even if Co was like actually like fully eradicated I don't know if I would go back to meet and greets like paid meet and greets cuz 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 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 MADD Healey from l75 said something about it it's like if you're going to do paid meat and grease you should like take the make them give you the actual like cash to do it cuz it's like sort of like this weird transactional thing where it's like you can't actually like like I look back that that I did like paid me give you the cash so that you as the artist feel the weirdness yeah of like taking the money from them cuz it's weird that someone's paying for access to just be in your presence Shake yeah that's what I yeah I probably could have explained that better but no 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 break even I totally understand uh like doing a paid meet and Greek because like that's sometimes the only way you can break even um 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 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 I don't know it just feels weird a way maybe what you could do idea mhm you know you set up like a Starbucks counter and you make them coffees and they can just pay for the coffees true yeah then they hand you the money programming to it you'll feel more comfortable it actually would be really funny if you did that like a line it's like a call and actually like the coffee actually cost money but it's like Curtis coffee it's not Starbucks Coffee they pay like three bucks you make them a latte and then they get they get a picture and move on it's a good idea I should talk to Starbucks good idea and then you could cut out the part where I said I gave out thousands of free cuz they probably won't want to work with me again but I could Pro I could make a I can make a good latte probably wow I'm so intrigued about touring man like that's crazy like is it more grueling to go on tour or to be like 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 cuz you're doing both yeah cuz cuz then I get crazy I got so anxious on the tour cuz I was like I was wearing that like my YouTube was failing and like falling off cuz like I even when I was making videos I was just 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 um what was behind the need to get it out a brand deal commitment or just like I don't want to not post uh a little bit of both because I I think I posted one without a brand deal cuz I just wanted to get something out there but I there was a couple brand obligations that I had when I was on on the road um you 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 10 I don't even know what that would feel like and I thought about that and and I think just that's why I ask you that question of like what was behind the the feeling of like I need to upload but I I don't know if I'd ever come back when I think about it yeah this is an opportunity to be a brand new human yeah you get off the wheel like that and you're probably reinv himself in college sort of like 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 pretty lucrative like the like if you're at like a like a like Matt rif level like that guy's crushing it he's doing like a million shows on his next door should talk about Matt R yeah okay what what do you think about like yeah yeah he's really hot listen you brought him up yeah not me sorry I actually was going to bring him up anyway the 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 someone calls you hot let's take a step back you have to be called Hot D cook but then he's doubled down on Hot D cook was not necessarily conventionally attractive but he was coolest version of a standup from our era that he 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 like bad cool and like yeah I I but R is taking it to a whole different yeah he's he's kind of like yeah he's in a whole different category I'm just curious like what is what is the comedian's perspective on Matt r i mean I don't even consider myself a real comedian cuz it's like I'm like every time I'm in like I just did just for last festival and even the whole time I was there I was like I shouldn't I don't belong here cuz I was like in the I I was in an elevator with like Mark Norman and and I was like but why am I here that's like an actual real 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 YouTube guys you know you can't what the hell are you doing but like they're all from the south though yeah you don't deal with them that much yeah I think as time goes on it's like you know everyone has a podcast that they upload on YouTube yeah it's like as much as you can call it a podcast you're a YouTuber so it's like I mean is Schultz a YouTuber he's like one of the biggest YouTube podcasts sold out the arena toron in I texted him I told him like some of the images gave me chills crazy yeah like he's 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 he's incredible I've never I've never met him or talked to him same as Matt R I've never met or talked to them but um I'm not going to so I can't really speak on like who they are as a as as a person but I mean to me I'm like but on the attractiveness yeah I don't know could be a little I guess what I mean is like there's this new this new kind of vibe of of um I mean Schult started it in my opinion with like posting crowd workor and 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 um but R is posting like if I'm on Tik Tok or Instagram it's like so much Matt R yeah and I wonder like that obviously builds his brand but I 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 mean I know what you mean yeah there is I've seen a lot Dan 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 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 guess what I'm saying level of like all right man like you're taking up everyone's air to be 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 that's like a premium high-end comic I do think Schulz does it well because he is super available he does two pods a week and they're hours long like 2 to three hours long and then he feels very premium right now as a com right 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 I know it's so weird CU I know Trevor Trevor Wallace does a lot of he's been posting a lot of stuff too and he's 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 cuz I feel like if people keep posting them everyone who watches them is like oh I could just yell whatever I want and the guy's going to say something hilarious and maybe I'll end up on Tik Tok yeah maybe I'll be one of the Tik toks 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 hour of crowd work but like me it's like I write a show like I know it's a it's written I want to say what I want to say and I don't want anyone else to say anything I like I would like you to laugh and then or not and or don't you know there's no between in the perfect world that's all that would happen like obviously hecklers it happens especially if you're like boozing like does it happen with you like heckers 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 I think that'll happen to be like someone will like enter up and be like I love you or like yeah or just like trying to respond and just like got it because it's like I get it CU like it's a 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 going to like you know I'll yell at them obviously I'll get it but I'm not going to 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 was kind of a Heckler Flex too yeah yeah that is pretty cool yeah people all the time are just like I love you like so well dressed you're the best I know again my life but it's um I but again it's a learning thing and I I I've it's been like a conscious decision to not post any of my standup yeah until my special comes out cuz I want I want the first thing to people of the first thing that people are going to see of my stand up I want it to be something that I'm really proud of and represents of what I've been working on for the past 10 years so um yeah when I do put the special out um on November 10th um it will by now Curtis con.com wait is that where you can the special is out how are you rolling this out yeah let's talk about this 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 in independently I funded the thing myself okay I I prod like self-funded everything we hired the production team uh just for laughs actually produced it which is pretty cool oh wow um so yeah we had a really good director and um it was crazy it was like it was the uh it was really interesting because I used to like I'm used to setting up one camera in my office in my house and then uh just doing that and it's free yeah because because I don't have to any there's no one else there yeah um but yeah renting out a a venue and then hiring like a whole production crew set like 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 um you know I wanted again I wanted my first special to be something that was like impressive you know something that looks really professional and 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 sucks to suck I guess you know but not you'll figure it out in Paris yeah exactly I'll go to Paris drop another Banger wh why do it independently was there a conversation around did you did you approach streamers did you was that not even a thought obviously it's nice to have you know to not put up any Capital to just 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 I'll just do it myself right and and 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 now I can go out and like let people yeah have it if they want but at the end of the day it's it's like it's mine so which is nice to have which that is really cool it's like a super cool position to be in so 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 um I think it was like it was like a eight 900 people it's usually like 1100 capacity but we had to like get rid of a bunch of seats for the cameras and stuff but uh it was one night fil and I did two shows in the night so yeah the first show that was a nightmare I was like so nervous yeah it was a cuz we had like I guess you got to nail it like you've invested all this money into that's what it was have to nail it yeah I was so nervous I had like cuz just the production of all day like setting up up doing like tests like camera tests and audio tests and like hair and makeup and it was like a whole production and so I walked out on stage and I was like this huge camera on like this like arm like satellite looking arm it 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 a Heckler at that show who was like yelling stuff and like that was probably the most like stressed I've ever been in my life and I was like not now that is stress negative stuff or no it was just like stuff it was like you're doing great you're like come on not now so good for the special 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 stressed so it was like really nerve-wracking but the second sh I was like a little more loose cuz 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 going to 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 kind of to like like very a very small percentage was from the 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 if anything just changed like hair you know like any little thing like was the collar kind of up or down just my like neurotic editor brain looking at it being like o did they splice that and and it does happen a lot where it's like pretty spliced together yeah uh 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 yeah for once to like let someone else do it and like someone who's like a professional editor M 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 so itard if you did edit the special yeah like the sound effect yeah yeah the digital zooms and yeah like a Bru sound effect or something in in the special do you reference like the career of being a YouTube Creator and when we spoke with Max fos 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 I we could expect of yours or is it feel pretty separate I kept it very separate yeah I don't really I don't I don't really think I mentioned YouTube at all in it uh or anything like that I um I haven't got around to watching Max's you should watch it it's really interesting he started doing stand up after the like videos right like he went the other okay cool damn yeah I gotta watch that yeah you should check it out it's interesting I I'm like very fascinated by the crop of YouTube creators who are doing stand-up comedy yeah Han green is even cancer and stuff too yeah I would love to see that so funny he's awesome he so good the best but yeah that was um special is no mention of YouTube really I try to keep it pretty separate um from that part I think it's I think like but like if you're a fan of my YouTube videos like it's 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 guess the subject matters different in that you don't have Source material necessarily to build on right cuz the commentary video is like let me build on this Source material right A 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 is very similar to a typical one like commentary video of mine but um yeah I I like to keep them separate too cuz not they're not the same to me what makes a funny standup joke like what is 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 with standup like the it needs to be like a smart like a funny joke you know it 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 uh Winks to the camera in YouTube videos with a sound effect or a crash where like the expectation I think is not that I am like bursting out laughing on the other end right or it's like the expectation at a comedy show is like if you're going to hit me with a joke yeah I might need some time to like actually laugh right yeah back to I got to get you got to get giggling I got to get giggling yeah the as long as your material is strong and like you're also having fun up there and like you can tell that they're being genuine um you know and if you're hot like Matt R too that helps out a lot too no one's even listening I was wondering I was like where's hot I not tracking yeah you haven't said that I don't there's like a pie chart hot do you remember like a a standup joke of yours that just fully bombed that you 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 it's like 2019 I was like writing the new hour before Co so it was like a new material thing that I was doing in New York and uh 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 wore pullover sweaters and I was like it would piss me off I was like that's stupid 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 and a bunch of people were like no I do that all the time and I was like yeah you guys are weird then so good so that was one bit that didn't really land but maybe there just the wrong crowd cuz I mean you I thought it was you guys he does it no I mean it works for Samir but yeah I I don't do it okay you do it no no I don't do it I hate the feeling actually it's very no I've never done it it's very it's very scratchy I don't like take your shirt off I feel got nothing pleas no yeah if I if I don't wear a shirt under a sweater I feel naked show a shirt on this front part to show you anyone checks him he like no no serious I got a little fabric 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 standup bit which is fine that's totally okay that's like you can never know that until you try it on stage how do you get everyone laughing though like how do you how do you know when you're writing your special you're like oh this stuff's going to this stuff going to go right I mean like how would you like how do you write I would assume just from enough failure like you've tested it you do an hour out of nowhere right yeah exactly okay you go out and you do that hour okay okay yeah you're right experiment like these are all fresh I booked a tour with no no Tes material and we're making it the special right 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 cuz 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 tweet or some but like yeah for the most part you do have to go and like there's no way to tell if a joke Works un 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 the world's grinding my gears uh of like what people wear or just in general 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 if you watch your videos it's like oh there's a prime reference there there's a Mr Beast reference here right yeah I mean there 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 like a crazy take but like when people copy thumbnails a lot like blatantly is really annoying or just like video Concepts that pisses me off a lot uh CU I saw like a thing last night I want to I I'm not going to put anyone BL but I saw one last night I was like Matt R yeah um Matt R just released a Disney adults video yeah okay actually that would P me actually a hotter guy talking about it um what about the overall just like health of YouTube right now doesn't have to be a gripe but as someone who's like been on YouTube for many years yeah how do you feel about the health of like creators right now in the platform yeah I um I mean I don't know it's it's I feel like I'm in such a weird spot also kind of like a privileged spot too but like I just did 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 creater show that was going on so I was like okay sure I'll I'll I'll try it out and the whole thing was like about like how to hack the algorithm and 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 MH and I feel like there's like this big push especially um and don't get me wrong making money doing YouTube videos is awesome it's like the dream job for a creative person but like I feel like there is this weird like slimy like snake oil salesman character that is pretty prevalent now with YouTube and Tik Tok and sort of like making your own uh business I guess I 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 People Like Us who started with the Journey of being like oh this is a cool place to express myself it feels really funny people here don't care what they're making right it feels really funny to hear people talk about YouTube videos as Commodities right that are like as like units of Commerce yeah yeah it's so weird which is why like I enjoy watching your guys' videosos because it's like you guys you have the same mindset of me where it's like you guys are like really knowledgeable with how to like when you talk about like the algorithm in like making content to business but it's never like it's never weird it's never like like I never feel weird or gross watching the stuff cuz you guys 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 I like what you make and I've also seen how you talk about the YouTube space right and I'm like okay if Curtis Conor thinks like we're all right I remember that day I think you were wearing our hat you like sent us a DM and you have hat on like think really like Curtis Conor watched our stuff all right yeah cool yeah cuz I mean like yeah CU 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 obviously 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 we get to just sit with you for like two hours and like yeah just like shoot the for a bit 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 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 Tik toks a day yeah yeah yeah totally to hack the algorithm and it's like it's not that can't that's where I think like we're 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 do you you also have a pretty substantial Tik Tok presence yeah yeah surprisingly so making Tik toks um it's pretty fun I I I was very like anti- Tick Tock when I started out cuz I was making a lot of like anti- Tik Tock videos being like like the country Tik toks the freaking yeah like cringey Tik Tok commentary era I guess um so I was pretty against it because I I was just seeing like weird but I guess like the more popular it got like like there's some of the funniest videos I've ever seen have been on Tik Tok like some people are like so funny and like it's just like opened up so much like creativity and like and like if Tik Tok 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 part about Tik Tok is the additive nature of it whether it's you know whether it's a sound and people do their own version of the sound my favorite version of Tik Tok 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 and it's like a ton of people singing lyrics over that you're like that's so interesting so many talented musicians just like putting out all that yeah it's crazy Tik Tok has been like and it's like I've 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 of you and your wife yeah and it has half a million likes and just like thousands of comments yeah and I think about the like kind of gives me shiver the relationship to like this the byproduct of being creative on the Internet is is Fame right and I think in the way that you have it I'm curious your perspective on it because mhm 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 with your outfit yeah I've never used it yeah what even is that sounds cool uh yeah I mean it's weird I know it's the whole I I it's so weird to like take a step back and um cuz 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 it's very strange sometimes I'm like even if I'm if I'm out in public I'm like know I'm not that F 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 um you know what I'm wearing what I'm like or 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 sweatpants and like a a shirt that said I think it said uh I got it from like a vintage store and it said uh it was a guy like a it was like a a washroom sign of a guy and he didn't have a head and it said need head yeah um and 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 like G I had also a Gatorade too cuz I think I was like a little hung over poo bags so it was like and then someone was like oh my God are you a Curtis and I was like no 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 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 gator at I was swinging it back and forth that'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 a I hit a kid in the head with my Gatorade like he walked into my swinging Gatorade hand and it was like dunk like I bonked a child when I was talking to a fan and I'd be like oh my God and i' to be like sorry sorry you sorry you saw that so yeah I love meeting fans it's really it's great it's always like that you should start doing VIP meet and greets so you can kind of control that EnV yeah I guess so yeah 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 and I'm also like I'm so nervous when I meet fans too cuz I want them to have like a good experience yes and I'm not I'm not like very good at like talking to like new people I don't think I'm like especially fans I'm I like I just don't want I don't want them to think ill of me in any way so I'm just like I don't know I can even 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 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 getting fed lines yeah he's got a ear piece in yeah it's really bad would you like a photo together right would you like one photo you say you want a photo multiple times people been like no that's the worst too wor yeah when they say no yeah or you feel like you made them take the a or they just get next to you like you can take it on your camera sure do you want 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 the sushi restaurant cuz I think I was sitting next to you and like that to me is worse cuz then I'm like oh my God what was I talking about what was I doing like my pants or something what did I do but but it it it it starts to get in your head cuz you're like I don't want to now live in a like am I living in a world now where the my assumption like 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 is the opposite that's a weird world to live in and almost feels like who who am no I'm famous everywhere so that's a weird thing I won't be paying where are 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 it 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 that at some point they I think people think I'm like a charact which is like which is also true it's also true I know I'm not saying that they're wrong it's like cuz even me like even to like people I watch and stuff it's like I met when I I met post Malone and it was like oh he's like a real guy he's like a real person that it's like 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 tell kiwi I say hi and it's like oh 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 yeah exactly he doesn't know what that means yeah so that's the most heartbreaking part right that's the hardest part of being a 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 um 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 um 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 I hope it happens that'd be cool what do you think the recipe is to get there if you could hack the algorithm I can hack it hack it um it's going to get hotter yeah that's actually true you yeah I think think I just think I'm going to I mean it's been working the last four or five years of like doing commentary full-time so I just I'm just going to 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 like that you do is the extra greeting yeah I don't do it anymore you don't do it no I had to I cut it off why' you cut it off first of all can you explain it to people who are unfamiliar with it and then can you explain the the context of cutting it off so when I started doing YouTube videos I had this bit called the uh 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 who didn't subscribe to me the bastards the weirdos so it was like that was a bit to be like you know if you subcribe you get that extra that was such a comfortable soft way to ask people to subscribe but like CU that's a really uncomfortable thing to do hey 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 cuz it does work if you ask people to to subscribe it does work and so finding the way in your own tone and voice to do it yeah is is actually pretty important mind if we took that or would you recommend yeah if if you're um I'm not using it anymore so yeah I could I could pass it off you know sort of pass the torch to y'all you know so yeah but I I stopped doing it because it was It was kind I just felt long to me and I wanted I just it felt like so long to get into the actual topic of the video so I wanted to just like just cut it out and be like just get right into the thing you have enough subscribers yeah and it's like if I my thought was like if people like it then they can just subscribe and 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 you subscribe you automatically become a citizen if you didn't know Curtis town is the best place to live in the world and I'm the mayor so you have to be nice to me it's the lot 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 weird to just be like please super weird yeah weird it's really strange but it is like it's just part of the thing you know and finding that is is 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 yeah it's it 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 is 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 I just want the video that I'm putting out to be just like you know the best that it can be I think so that was 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 but it it's the game you got to play I guess you know yeah it's just the game it's just what it is same as 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 the thumbnail dude I've been working with too it's like he has ideas that we like bounce off each other and like that's like that's like a whole new thing for me is like having someone else dude the thumbnail guy like cottage industry of our space is pretty incredible it's crazy you know like that that's an entire economy now of thumbnail guys who are just I don't even understand what they're doing like meaning when when it when it comes back like when we send something out or I see sometimes they post the before and after where some like chicken scratch from the critor they like took a picture in light yeah 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 and like chicken scratch it and then they just flip it around you're like how did yeah amazing because from my understanding it's not Ai and maybe that's why it's amazing it's like yeah yeah right yeah it's it's pretty impressive what they can what they can do these days pretty pretty crazy so on that with YouTube though like your one of your most recent videos is 40 minutes long like you're pushing length right now when like when I think of a commentary video it's like 8 to 11 minutes I don't know why that that's like interesting 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 when I think of a commentary video I'm thinking like I want I want at least like 20 minutes yeah I think that's like the the ideal like length that I'm shooting for um 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 just like dipping toes in like other forms like I know Danny he's doing a lot of different stuff now yeah um same as Drew Eddie and Ted they're doing like like their whole like uh like Margaritaville video they did and stuff it was like like I feel like there's a lot a big trend of like not just like watching a video being like that's 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 MH like you know when you watch like a a show like the office and like the first time they like leave the office and go to like the mall you're like like the Ste Town Mall you're like what what are you guys doing outside of the set that's how I felt with Cody and Noel when they went to the what was his name GT GT Dave GT yeah they went to his like kombucha gray Lair and it was like these guys are leaving their set and going to you yeah cuz then it that's cool for the audience too cuz then they feel like they're like going with them on that Journey from like the other video yeah um so there I feel like there's definitely a cuz that video the IE Vision the vision healing video was it wasin it was like it still had commentary like the usual but the last half of it was like I was 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 seem to really like it so there's definitely and there was another video I did recently um it was like this Tik Tok musician that I just like went and interviewed and like spent a couple days with and it was just like a it was kind of like just like a documentary about him his name is James chesy he's the 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 [Music] video and 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 are going to watch it but like that was like one of the best like 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 cool that was that was like a really cool moment but yeah brought up uh Danny Gonzalez and Drew Gooden a l 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 uh 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 standup I'm interested in going into TV like I watch a Drew good video and I'm like reminds me of Joel male the soup you know uh 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 like where does the commentary genre graduate too and do you guys talk about that right um yeah that's a good question I mean I I don't think there's really I mean I we've talked 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 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 it'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 creator person there's like no like there's to an extent there's like really no limits to what you can like make right um You can't put a video like on a table or something yeah well no one's trying find out no one's had the balls to actually 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 standup 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 hope I'm not like 65 doing the same Tik Tok 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 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 standup 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 cross over 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 I have like this like immense Pride for some of the people that are succeeding here for sure on YouTube I think it's also like late night holds a special place in my heart just as a I don't know like like a millennial kid growing up like and I I just think that this group of commentary creators could do that format really well yeah you know like Weekend Update even like from SNL or or Seth Meyers like um Cole bear like there's something about the delivery straight to camera about current topics that I think if you start to tackle like like current topics it it becomes really interesting and you are you're you're covering like internet um topics but I just I I think there's an there's something interesting there the late night style yeah I know it's interesting when I think about late night because it's even those guys are like YouTubers now it's like they are YouTubers by default sort of their Clips are like they're getting so many VI knows what time those shows are on now what networks like I I I used to know so well of like oh that's on ABC or that's on you know like now it's just like if it comes across my YouTube feed I'll watch it mhm yeah I feel so many of those late night shows are just like slowly like going away I feel like um so yeah it's interesting to see like if if if that actually does do those formats converge right in the next 10 years yeah yeah it' be interesting to see maybe maybe it already has happened right CU yeah I feel like any like all those like all the My Friends on YouTube they're like feel like I'm like their biggest fans you know they're like 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 support my friends whatever they want to do you know if if even if they never make any content again yeah you know that's that's fine more for me man okay so I I have a question for you this like your story feels like it is a story of like Gra ual long sustained success mhm but that is ju supposed 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 uh or like yeah are is am I right in thinking that or is that just not the case um yeah I mean yeah I get pretty sad sometimes all right man take it easy I a fun podcast dude I don't know what set up was yeah who dude easy like kill the vibe um 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 dude you want for me table yeah I'll do it man I don't care we're there like were there any hardships in the in the career to to this point or has it been just kind of like pretty smooth since leaving inkbox um I got again I got I think I got 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 when once I quit and then that video was like the best video performing like best performing video it was like Yeah from there it was like obviously there was like hardships and stuff and I'm I'm never every day I'm worried about 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 I've made I've stressed with editing and time crunches and stuff and everything like the normal 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 the a good head on my shoulders I think of like of having a Clear Vision of what I want to make has been really uh beneficial but yeah all the time man I'm I'm stressed all the time I'm sad I get freaking weirded out about everything which is I think Fair I've pretty normal with being a YouTuber and like a self-employed person it's like there's so much pressure all the time I say like we're riddled with self-doubt yeah to be a creative person yeah you're just gonna 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 many 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 going to watch it dude I yeah I feel the same way sometimes I'm like okay maybe this who knows right when you 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 know yeah it's scary now that's going to run in my head every time I upload Samir yeah yeah that was the final on the table yeah um so what what are your expectations or your hopes with the uh with the special like what's what's a win for you on that um I think a win win is you know people watching it and enjoying it and you know being impressed you know cuz I feel like I haven't really shown anything from what I've been doing the past like five six years of my standup so I just want people to watch it and uh 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 nervous cuz a lot of people haven't seen so it's uh pretty nerve-wracking but yeah and I think putting something out there like a big event yeah is 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 you 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 dat right yeah so I I think sure is on my friend so please watch it yeah I just I just want people to watch it and then you know hopefully they can be excited for another one one day right I'm excited to watch it just because like I haven't not seen even a clip really of stand up I'm sure there's some out there but there's really not that much yeah yeah there's not there's like maybe one or two old bits from like years ago but which is going to be a really cool experience I think for your audience like see you in a different format and different light different cameras yeah I'm excited I'm excited really nervous but I'm excited so it there there's a Live premiere for this there's a Live premiere and then it's on November 10th demand and then it'll be on demand for a short period and then um yeah maybe down the road uh we don't know where it might end up somewhere else on a streaming service or and then but maybe not it'll just I'll just put it on my YouTube channel so at some point who knows I don't know but best part about doing it independently yeah I could just do that yeah but as for right now it'll be you should play it at like drive-in theaters or something do something weird yeah you know would that be kind of cool just like select drive-in theaters yeah that'd be pretty badass all right all right all right so go to your closest driving theater and just wait till maybe it comes off yeah just park your car yeah and hang out and maybe it'll come on okay wait so people go to your website depending on when this comes out it's either available so you can watch it live whenever this is out you can find the details on my website Curtis connor.com great we'll link that in the description be funny if you just pranked everyone in this and if you go to Curtis connor.com is just something tot nice try ID there's no special you were looking for details Matt rif picks yeah put my face photoshopped onto his face yeah yeah all right cool man well D yeah thanks for having me on thanks for coming on of course thank you for having me this was a lot of [Music] fun

Channel: Colin and Samir

Views: 108,706

Keywords: colin and samir, colin samir, Colin and Samir Videos, colin and samir show, Amazon FBA, Robinhood Stocks, Making money online, how much money on youtube, The Vikings of TikTok, I Took a Vision Healing Masterclass, A Deep Dive Into Disney Adults, A Deep Dive into Potterheads

Id: KWs18nxodNE

Length: 125min 40sec (7540 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 07 2023