Ear Biscuits with Rhett & Link - Ep. 21 Toby Turner - Ear Biscuits

Episode Date: February 21, 2014

Toby Turner, currently the only YouTuber that claims two spots on YouTube’s Top 50 Most Subscribed Channels list, joins Rhett & Link this week to talk about the creative process behind his satiric music videos, how he helped define the online comedic-gaming genre, and a number of personal issues ranging from past and future relationships to his heroic efforts to save his mother's life. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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RANDL to get your 10% off your first purchase and to show your support for Ear Biscuits. Right. It's a great way to show support for the show. Again, thanks to Squarespace for the support of Ear Biscuits. Right, it's a great way to show support for the show. Again, thanks to Squarespace for the support of Ear Biscuits. Okay, let's make one, another Ear Biscuit. Welcome to Ear Biscuits. I'm Link. And I'm Rhett.

We do this every week, an up-close and personal conversation with somebody interesting from the internet. All right, this week, you've been asking for him, so we finally got him to come in here. Toby Turner, Tobuscus, one of the most prolific and successful YouTube creators out there. And I gotta say,

we got inside of his head a little bit. Well, that sounds like we were messing with him. I think we just gained an understanding. Yeah, well, I'm just trying to make it seem even a little bit more tantalizing than it actually was. It was a great conversation. We learned about his creative process. We hear the story about how he found

this enormous YouTube success and how he's found his distinct comedic voice. Well, we also discussed how he's managing his personal life, kind of getting that side of things. We might have even discussed some high-profile past YouTube relationships. Hmm, hmm, hmm. But before we get into that, I do want to talk about an interesting experience we had here in the studio recently.

You may have seen our video that we released on our main channel that featured some naked Russian men. on our main channel that featured some naked Russian men. This is the first time that we have... I wouldn't say it's the first time that we've included nakedness in our videos. Well, you were naked and rubbed some bacon on it. Well, again, it was apparent nakedness. There was some bacon over some important parts. Yes. For the record, you were not naked underneath the bacon.

Correct. And I got to say, we made it look very much like these Russian men were naked, and they indeed were also not naked. But I've got to say that this is not a normal part of a Rhett and Link video shoot to have basically naked people on set. On set. Yeah, and I would like for us to process this. We haven't really talked about it.

But, yeah, I think that I didn't know if I wanted to talk about this. It's one of those things, well, maybe if I don't talk about it, it never happened. Well, once it's a YouTube video, it's, you know. No, I mean just the vibe on set because I know what you're going to talk about, but you can tell YouTube video, it's, you know. No, I mean, just the vibe on set, because I know what you're going to talk about, but you can tell them. You can tell them what happened. I may be building it up too much. Well, it's interesting how it came together, because we originally came up with the idea that we would have a couple of Russian men in a banya. We would have turned the bathroom into a banya, a traditional Russian bath. And so we steamed it up.

Actually, it looked like steam, but it was actually a fog machine that we put in the bathroom. And we had these two men who we got through just the casting process. One of the cool things about being out here in LA is that there are all these people out here who are just actors, just waiting to be in a role. And you go through sites like LA Casting, or sometimes you might use Craigslist. And so you find all these people who submit for a role. So when you use a casting website, we're, you know, Stevie helped us with this. You start, you put a call out there for an older man who looks Russian. And then all of a sudden you have like 50 people submit for this role. And then you, we're going through these things saying, okay, who looks the most Russian? And I mean, who, we can't see anything but, like, their headshot. Yeah, we didn't ask him to send nude pics to us.

Right, but in the description we do say, we'll appear to be naked, you know, not actually appear naked, but appear to be naked in this video. So people, like, put in these little notes, like, I've done something like this before. I don't know what that means. Not at, we don't want to know. But all I know is that these two guys showed up, I think Richard and Alan, I don't know what that means. Not at, we don't want to know. But all I know is that

these two guys showed up, I think Richard and Alan, I can't remember, one of them was named Alan. They show up. Boris and, yeah,

Boris and Yakov is what we named them on set. These guys show up and, you know, we're shooting, they were already naked. We're shooting part of the video

and then they're out in the lobby waiting to kind of come in and Stevie comes in and like, they're out in the lobby waiting to kind of come in, and Stevie comes in, and they're ready. And so I go out there to the lobby, and I see one of them has a robe on, and the other guy is just in a shirt and his underwear. Like, he did not come prepared. He did not have a robe. So there's this older man, and I'm not just talking underwear.

He had on bikini briefs, essentially, is what he had to have on. Well, we gave him those. Oh, we, okay, we did. Okay, those were supplied. He was probably in the buff. And, um. Buck naked before that. And I gotta admit that it was a little awkward for me because I shook both of their hands.

Well, you're not supposed to make eye contact with the crotch when shaking their hand. I saw you. You weren't even in there. Okay. But I did think about that. I was like, don't look at his underwear. Look at his face when you shake his hand. Well, I got to be honest with you.

I didn't have any trouble with that. Well, I mean, it wasn't like I desired it, but there's just something about this is weird. It's like looking directly into the sun. Right. It's just. No, you shouldn't. Right. Directly into the sun.

Right. You know you shouldn't. Right. So, but the funny thing was is we shot the little scene with them in the bathroom, and then we had to break for lunch. And I simulated nakedness at that point too, by the way. You did. And I was literally standing two feet from these guys. It looks like I'm further in the shot, but in the room, I had on pants.

I had on yoga pants. Yeah, you did. Well, you had on the pants, the ice dancer pants. The ice dancer pants, and they were very tight, and I didn't have anything else on. I was shirtless. But the moment that it hit me how awkward this whole thing was was during the lunch break when I come downstairs, and they've got the food out, and everybody's eating. And I see the one guy in the robe, and I said, okay, that makes sense. This guy's got the briefs on

underneath there. But then I see the other dude. Boris. And he has on just a shirt and he's just in his briefs. He just- Going through the buffet line. All he did was put a t-shirt back on. Right. It's like, dude, don't you know that that t-shirt doesn't even cover your whole belly? Right. It doesn't cover your briefs, dude. But I mean, and didn't you drive here with pants on? I mean, he could have easily

put on pants to eat lunch. I just don't wonder why he didn't. I think And then he was just lounging around. It comes down

to just a comfort level. He made a decision that he was going to be comfortable in his own skin, literally. And not much more.

And I gotta admit I think And I got to admit. I think it comes down to age. You really think so? Yeah, yeah. He just says, like, screw it, I'm old, who cares? Yeah, once you're an old guy, I mean, just think about those old professors at NC State. You'd go work out in the gym. You'd go to people just walking around naked everywhere just because they're old.

Why put clothes on? You're old. You've seen it all. But I got to say that personally, I really enjoy being naked. There are even times where, you know, I have a fenced-in backyard. Not fenced-in backyard, but like there's a wall. There's a wall around my backyard. And I can see out of it, and people who are passing by on the street can see my head because I'm so tall, right?

Yeah. But they can't see the lower half of my body. So there are many times that I go out in the backyard and I think to myself, it's a beautiful California day. It's 73 degrees again today. I just want to be out here in the backyard naked. No one would know. Maybe a LA cop would fly over in a helicopter and see me,

but who cares about that? There's no law against that. You can be in your backyard. And I can never bring myself to do it. I think about how glorious it would be to be in my natural state, just walking around in the backyard. You actually think this. Yeah. And I never can bring myself to do it. Because I like the idea of it, but then I'm just uncomfortable with the reality of it. I mean, so you're saying that walled backyards are the gateway drug to nudist colonies.

So you're saying that walled backyards are the gateway drug to nudist colonies. I mean, that's what's happening here. No, no. You're one high wall away from a nudist colonist. But that's precisely why I don't do it, because I would enjoy it alone. You say that, Rhett. I would enjoy it alone. I would not enjoy being a part of a colony. First of all, I'm not going to come in that back gate again.

I'm going to just be calling you over the... Always text me first. Yeah, I'm going to start texting you. Where are you going to come in that, through that back gate again. I'm going to, I'm going to just be calling you over the. Always text me first. Yeah. I'm going to start texting you. Where are you going to keep your phone? Well, I mean. If you're nude.

I'll hold it. You're going to, you're going to get nude back there. And then it may be, it may be a few months. It may be a few years, but you're going to, you're going to be telling me and these kind listeners

that you've slipped on the slippery slope of nudity and you are now, you're a colonist of the nude zone. I'm not worried about the nude colony. I'm worried about Google Maps. Okay, I'm worried about being naked on Google Maps. Helicopter view. And the helicopter. The technology's only gonna google maps helicopter and the helicopter the technology is

only going to get more advanced and the cameras are going to get better you're you're not talking about street view you're talking about satellite satellite yeah street view doesn't make it into my backyard but satellite view does and be like hold on of course looking at me from straight straight on from right above me i don't know how much you'd see i don't want to go into any more detail on that. Anyway, I- It's funny how I've just, I haven't done this before on an Ear Biscuit, but for some reason I was picturing Toby

listening to this Ear Biscuit and he's like, man, this is what you guys talk about before you had this conversation with me? We had such a good conversation. And then you tee it up with this near nakedness nude conversation. It's all to set up a really forced analogy, and that is I really feel like we stripped down Toby Turner

on this week's episode of Ear Biscuits. Well, mark my words. I mean, you're going to be there, and I'm not, I follow you and stepping into a lot of stuff. Yeah. And that's okay, but this is not going to be one of those things. Okay.

I told you I want to do it alone. Just me and Google Maps. Just not gonna be one of those things. Okay. And- I told you I wanna do it alone. Just me and Google Maps. Just me and the rest of the world. Okay. Let's get on, let's get on to the Toby thing. Yeah, this is about Toby Turner. This is not about being naked.

Toby, if you haven't heard of him before, he's currently the only YouTuber that claims two spots on YouTube's top 50 most subscribed channels list. His most well-known series is his little trailers on his Tobuscus channel and also his popular parody songs. Plus, his gaming

channel is amongst the top five in his category on YouTube with over 6 million subscribers. Toby can also be seen in the leading role in Cartoon Network's The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange. Let's get into it. Okay, last time that you came to this building,

a very interesting thing happened. There was like a mix-up on the location. Give us your version. I don't know if there was a mix-up as the location. Give us your version. Well, I don't know if there was a mix-up as much as we just went to not your building. But also, they were waiting for someone already, right? Is that what it was? Yeah.

They were waiting for somebody, and they're like, oh, yeah, right this way. I'm like, oh, great. So they took me to the back of the building, and they were doing a shoot, and then the director's like, who is that? Right. And you're like, who are you? Where's Red Link? Yeah, exactly. You could ask that question. We had a video shoot.

This is how crazy it is. Okay, so we were shooting a video that you made a cameo in and our address is a certain number and a certain road, but it has West. It is the West version of that road. Yeah, I don't do compass. The same exact address without the West in it

was also shooting a video on the same day, at the same time, and when you came in there, they escorted you. You just thought, this all worked out. I am at the Rhett and Link shoot. I'm here.

I'm going to go to my chair. I'm not sure it's that complicated. I think it might have actually been kind of next door to you. Really? Yeah, I think so might have actually been like kind of next door to you really? yeah I think so yeah cause I right? cause we walked across

no there's a hair stylist next door you were you were at the web it was walking distance I thought I don't know I remember walking and I don't do that a lot so it stands out

okay alright well because there is a there is a studio that has the exact same address without the west that must have been it how far away is it?

it's maybe walking distance I think it's a couple of miles. Oh, really? Sprinting distance. It's not Toby walking distance. How do you know my walking potential? Well, you just said

you don't walk much. Yeah, because I get there instantly. You don't walk much because you sprint off is what you're saying. Yeah, exactly. It makes a better story

if it was that other place. Ihealy is what I do. You should know that by now. I do. Now, by the time that this ear biscuit comes out, the depressing song will be up. But at this point... When does this biscuit of the ear come out?

In like a couple of weeks. Okay. Yep. So we're a little bit ahead. We wanted to post it on today, but we ended up... I guess iTunes was a little slow to process the... I've never done the podcast thing,

so it was our first podcast, and we submitted our, we wanted to push the podcast from the depressing song. Got it. Okay, because I was about to say, the song is on iTunes now. The song is live. Yeah, as of like an hour ago,

but since then, we instead caught up like a movie night thing. That's how well researched this podcast is. Nicely done. Is that I know that the depressing song is on iTunes. You are informing me. iTunes is kind of tricky sometimes. It's hard to get through. So we don't know yet

if we made the cut. We know we sent... You can see it. We sent some video to you to make a cameo. But we don't know if we're in the cut. Yeah, I didn't even know if you knew. It's just one of those things that, okay. Does make the cut means made me cut you out? No.

No, it's awesome. You guys are amazing in it. You should watch it. I could show you at some point. Oh, a pre-preview. Okay, so we're in it. If you need to. Yeah, you are in it.

And by the time they listen to this, it's out. Yeah, dude. And people have experienced it. Yep. That's exciting. They went through all the motions. I like being in the present and the future at the same time. Isn't that crazy?

That is something that just intrigues me. And the past, sort of. Right, because... A second later. You go to all three states at some point. See, right now we're in the past. Or we were in the past. Not now, but now.

When you started that sentence, you were. Yeah. Yeah, this can make you go crazy. Oh, my head hurts. So when you write a song, be it the depressing song or any other song, what's the process? What's the mechanism?

Well, depressing song is a parody. What? Did you know that? Yeah, well, I listened to the sample on iTunes. Okay. Did you hear the, you heard the Say Something? Say Something, yes. So a lot of people don't know.

It's a duet with F. With my friend April, yeah. April F. Yeah. Yeah, she's fantastic. So we, I don't know how it came around because I was writing a unique like some other thing that was original

and then I just you know I was like I want to write a really sad song and then I started thinking about Say Something

which is freaking crazy sad and I wrote okay so we were we were in Amsterdam a year ago me and Seth Hendricks

do you know him? we have the same jacket we own the same jacket oh yeah that that guy yeah the one with the jacket okay yes wait what are you serious no uh so we went to amsterdam a year ago uh and uh it was it was awesome and and it rained like so the first couple days it didn't rain and everyone was amazed that it hadn't rained why were you in amsterdam first of all well, first of all? Well, we went to, there was a meetup in London. And I was like, while we're in Europe, let's just go to like, you know, a couple different popular things.

Another part of Europe. Yes, all over it, as many places as we could. I don't know why he picked that. I mean, I do, but I don't. Because come on, it's Amsterdam. It's awesome. I almost got killed like twice. But it's the nicest place in the world.

I'm just loud. What do you mean people wanted to knife you I was vlogging in places where you shouldn't be vlogging like where

red light district oh yeah why can't you vlog in front of prostitutes I don't I know and that's I was asking them

while they had a submachine gun out aimed at me it was kind of awesome is this a pachine gun out aimed at me it was kind of awesome is this a pimp situation coming up on you why I was a very it was like a BDU wearing pimp that was a pimp that is in the wood sometimes probably hopefully it was wood color was not city colored BDU anyway that's I'm a little confused good okay so you were in Amsterdam

I was vlogging vlogging it says no cameras I'm like this is a Okay, so you were in Amsterdam. I was vlogging. It says no cameras. I'm like, this is a phone. And that didn't work. The old phone camera thing. Yeah, yeah. I was like, maybe they don't know that yet. But you survived.

I'm here. I lived. I didn't, you know. But you decided to write a depressing song. Okay, okay, here's one. Yes. Now you're going to get there. So this guy was playing Mad World, and he had this huge PA system,

and it was playing to everyone in this large area next to our hotel. And so I kind of like right then wrote this version of Mad World, which is, you know, it's an older song. It's great, but it's like, I wrote this song to make people feel bad. Ruin your day. Ruin your day. Ruin your day. Anyway, so that was the idea.

And so this one is, you know, I wrote this song to make you depressed, which is just a... I think that's my question. So what you're telling me is that you were just about town with your friend with the same jacket in Amsterdam. And you heard the song over a PA and so you started singing. I started singing, well kind of, yeah. So I started singing to everybody and I was probably imagining it, but it was rainy and everyone just looked so sad.

And I was like, it's because he's playing freaking Mad World in broadcasting. So you were vlogging? Not at this time, no. So this was I feel like I'm in court. I'm like, Mr. Turner this was... I feel like I'm in court. You were... I'm like, Mr. Turner. How many frames per second?

Yeah, I'm sorry for taking interrogation mode. I'm just fascinated by the... It's less like court and more like a Senate hearing because there's two of us. Oh, okay.

You know, there's a panel. No, I don't know anything about that. That's like, you know, requires reading about stuff that happens. Political things. I guess what i'm interested in is the fact that you wrote this song extemporaneously in the same way that like when you're playing a video game and you start singing that's kind of

how i swing my sword kind of thing but you were doing that you weren't doing it for your audience quote you were doing it for like your friends right there. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you know, it is weird. Okay, I don't know if you ever get to this point, but it's weird making a joke that you think is really funny when you're not recording. It's like, why is he trying to be funny? I'm wasting that.

Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When you're hanging out with other, exactly. But you know, I just want freaking people to laugh, but it does, I'm like, ah, now I have to redo this later and it's not going to be as genuine because I made it before. It's weird. So you wrote. I get it in my head.

The seeds of the depressing song were written just off the top of your head there, but then you repurposed that concept. Yeah. Yeah, it was kind of like a literal be sad about everything song. Well, I think that's one of the hallmarks of your brand, right? And you personally. Shifting gears. Well, is ideas, right? And you personally. Shifting gears. Well, is ideas, right?

Wow, thank you. You go back, you know, going back to when you first got on YouTube all the way back in 06, you know, pretty much right around the same time. I think within, somebody pointed out, I saw on... He researched me, Rory. I saw on Twitter, oh yeah, a lot of research. May 14th, 2006. 10 days. Oh my.

Approximately like 10 days. We joined YouTube. The difference between us joining. What? That's awesome. Yeah, so we've been there for a long time. Did we beat him by 10 days? I think we were June. You copied us. No, we copied you. I think we were 10 days later. Dude, I didn't make...

I knew about you guys way before I knew about myself. But I want to come back to those early days and how you got to that point. But the thing I find really interesting is that you're an ideas guy. You have all these ideas for all these series and all that in the music videos and everything. And which is similar. We haven't seen nearly the success you have, but it's similar. You know, our brains work in a similar way. And when you do something, we're like, oh, I totally see how, why you thought that would work. That's you have, but it's similar. Our brains work in a similar way, and when you do something, we're like,

oh, I totally see why you thought that would work. That's so great. Because it's weird. Okay, meeting with people, you guys are ridiculously talented, and meeting with other YouTubers that you respect a lot, it is kind of weird, especially to send you the song.

I'm like, don't hate it. When I sent you the Depressant song, I was like, watch it. I keep seeing a person moving, and it's your spinny wheel and it's not even moving. I don't know. It's like one of those side eye tricks. Yeah.

It's an optical illusion. We have set there to keep you on your toes. The mythic, the will of mythicality is moving in your mouth. Wow. Maybe, maybe. Um,

but, uh, but yeah, I mean, I, uh, I mean, you guys stuff is amazing.

Uh, I have to say that and we'll take it I think your point is well my point is is that a guy who is so known for his ideas

and has seen so much success with your ideas to think that today your gaming channel is your number one channel yeah we're talking what

six million subscribers yeah I mean I think I think view're talking, what, 6 million subscribers? Yeah, I mean, I think view-wise... And 5.5 million subscribers on your Tobuscus channel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It may not be the place that you... It's not your ultimate creative outlet. I know that your Tobuscus channel is your creative outlet. But how does that work?

How are you... Did you see it coming? It's hard to jump... I mean, when it started getting way more subscribers. And it's also a big part of YouTube is just having a good schedule, and I don't with Tobuscus. I mean, I do now. started getting way more subscribers. And it's also a big part of YouTube is just having a good schedule, and I don't with Tobuscus. I mean, I do now.

It's much better than it was. We're posting, I guess, every Tuesday and Thursday. Friday we're going to have – I don't know, whatever. It's not that good, but it's better than it was. You don't even want to say it yet because – Friday movie nights. Yeah, exactly. No, we do movie nights every Friday.

But, I mean, everyone did those Netflix movie nights for a while. And I wanted to try a mystery science theater thing where I would just make jokes over just bad movies that people said were bad. I mean, if this is your movie, dude, it's great. I'm sure it's a great movie. A lot of people laugh because of it. But anyways. So, yeah, Toby Games is a place for me to get – I think. Like while I'm playing,

it doesn't look like it, but I do. And then I write down ideas for songs and stuff that I make up in Minecraft. I think Minecraft is the most, it makes you feel creative, because that's the whole point. And I don't play it enough. I mean, what do you think of it?

Your channel or Minecraft? Our kids are into it. I mean, it's not about, I mean Your channel or Minecraft? Our kids are into it. I mean, it's not a bad... I am starting to get into it now. And I'm not saying that to demean. I'm just saying that we're old. It's different. Well, I mean, do...

Come on. No, you're not. When you play the game and talk, you have to really... Like, your brain goes into overdrive because you're like, people are going to get bored of this really fast. And so, like, you were, you know...

That was my first thing starting out is I didn't want people to get bored because I do. And so are going to get bored of this really fast. And so that was my first thing starting out is I didn't want people to get bored because I do. And so I wanted to entertain people like me that would have this same feel. And your thought was, I'm going to do the mystery science theater thing with video games. A little bit, yeah. Because you were playing video games.

And were other people creating Let's Play channels at the time? No, I mean, there were Let's Plays, yeah. But there were no comedy ones that I saw saw i mean i'm sure there were i just because yours is july 2010 okay it's when you started that channel sure when i started like looking into it everybody that uh that i saw was very serious about about gaming and i mean like my whole life i'm just like not like i like not being good because it's fun to you know know, I don't want to play somebody that's going to kill me over and over and over. I want to play somebody that we're both kind of, meh,

clunky, and people are very serious. And you saw it as a comedic outlet. Yeah, it was a chance to be like, hey, it's okay to not be good at games and post videos about it, and it was a way that I could just tell some jokes without having to leave my house. Well, the amazing thing is how well it has worked.

And a lot of people try it who are not funny. You're funny, naturally, so it works. But it's almost like, do you feel that you're partially responsible for this movement? Dude, I can't. I feel like if someone didn't see someone else do it and they saw me and it makes them laugh I think yeah it makes you want to do it also but I just don't watch a lot of YouTube videos

for a YouTuber just because I'm so I'm always like I need to get this next idea I have this freaking thing driving me it drives me crazy but it's fun and that's how I make my favorite stuff so I mean hopefully yeah hopefully I got some people into it because I think it's an amazing thing to do.

It's really good for you. But did you see it coming whenever you started to create these? And you're like, yeah, okay, I know how I can be funny. I see the challenge in talking, keeping the chatter up and finding humor in these ways. And knowing when you're talking too much. And sometimes I know. I'm like, shut up. And so I try, like I'm like, shut up, you know?

And so I try to balance it. I think it's a good exercise. It's like improv every day. Did you see it, did you have the foresight when you started, it started clicking in your mind that this was going to take over YouTube as the video game let's play phenomenon?

No. No, I guess not. Once Toby Games started, every day I would post a video and I would expect it to get thousands of views. I'm like, this is going to end up being better than Tobuscus in terms of more people, it'll reach more people. But

it's good for me to play games. It makes me feel like I'm not wasting time because I want to share because I used to play games. It makes me feel like I'm not wasting time because I want to share. Because I used to play games with my brother, and we would just freaking make jokes and make each other laugh the whole time. And that's what I wanted to go for for this. I didn't really see it taking over, and I think it's great because it's nice. It's like a way to – it's a certain thing.

It's nice. It's like a way to, it's a certain thing. But it's not, like I still think music for me is how I really speak the most freely. I'm more proud of my music stuff. If you had to give up one or the other, if you had to, you would give up? I mean, I would do music, definitely. I love music. It's my favorite.

But gaming is freaking awesome. Now, is there less money in gaming? I don't know if there all of a sudden was some sort of revenue split now that you don't make as much money off of gaming because of the video game owners now get a cut of the money? You know, I don't pay attention. I haven't looked at any of my anything for like a year. I don't. I can't. Because as soon as you look at it, you're like,

it's not about that, you know? Got it. But I should. I just't, I can't. Cause as soon as you look at it, you're like, it's not about that, you know? Got it. But I, I should, I just, no, I'm not smart. Uh, but I, I honestly don't know. I, I, uh, I don't know. I had a, you know, whatever it's a, we've these networks and things. I've jumped from network to network, uh, a couple of times just because I want to see like, what's the, what's the hype and, and meet everybody and work with everybody I'm not really uh I don't I don't know as much about it as like you know so Olga would always you know she's so interested uh in in a couple things Olga she's awesome and uh she would kind of give me advice on that and and uh the business aspect yeah uh but uh in terms of I mean I do a lot of sponsors I do as many sponsorships

as I can because I feel like they are like a class project you know and that's kind of why I really got into doing sketches because I wanted to make

funny commercials because commercials are so they can be so funny or they suck so like I would rather be making stuff that I think is awesome you know

so you saw the business model in that but with the video gaming and the ins and outs of things that are kind of out of your control, what cut you get of it, that's not really your thing to dig into it. I mean, if it goes away, then it goes away. I just want to do it just because I want to entertain myself and whoever wants to listen.

And it's also cool for me. It helps me make songs, and it's fun. Minecraft is freaking fun to sing songs. We have another song also by we I mean myself I just such a big ego the royal we

but it's it's Mind the Diamond I never sent that to you did I? Tara Bright made the freaking guitar it's about time

that I find a diamond it's about time that I'm on a diamond it's way too intense. Is that out yet? No. No. Three weeks.

Your songs all have this consistent energy to them that is, how would you describe it? What genre is the Tobuscus songs? I think I listen, I mean, it's like a rock when it shouldn't be. That's kind of what I like. Well, I like your melodies too. I like, I mean, it's like a rock when it shouldn't be. That's kind of what I like. Well, I like in your melodies, too.

I like the way they, dun-da-da-dun-da-dun-da-dun. And intense. Yeah, like, something's happening. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I think that's just my natural beat that I just have. There's also a chord that I always use on piano, and I don't know what it's called, but, like, for some reason, that's what I always draw to, like, the dramatic songs.

Dun-na-na-na-na-na-na. Like that's the same chord as most of them. But did you, I mean, I know you can't anticipate some of this stuff, but you know, I, you know, when I go back home, my nephews. Back to North Carolina. Yeah, I go to North Carolina.

My nephews are huge fans of yours. And it's just like, I feel like there's something in the melodic choices, your natural rhythm and your natural melody that somehow speaks to the heart of a 13-year-old boy

in some magnificent way. Can you describe it? Can you quantify it? Yeah. Dude, I've been Can you quantify it? Yeah. Dude, I've been trying to quantify it. I think once you attempt to quantify. It's scientific. I'm telling you that there's somebody out there who could explain how your choices connect to the mind of a 13-year-old boy.

I actually started learning piano when I was like, I mean, I took piano, I, you know, I took piano lessons like my whole childhood until I was like, you know, 14 or something like around there. Uh, and I think that that, and, and, and, uh, like I only wanted to learn the really difficult freaking stuff that would take me all summer and I would just not go outside for a while. So I learned a couple of really hard songs. Uh, like what? Like, well, I mean like, uh, Moonlight's not a third, which is the, uh, and I, I could learn, I learned like the first seven minutes of the song or something. It's way too, it's a long song, but now I can't, it's not, I haven't practiced it. So what was, anyway, I feel like that helped me get in the musical thing.

Like when you do, when you're young, it's so important to freaking play piano. And when you, so now when you play, you think you're channeling your inner 13-year-old? Possibly. Maybe that's it. Maybe. Because you stopped, you said you stopped playing for a while.

Yeah. And then you came back to the piano. Yeah, I, dude, I just. You picked up where your 13-year-old left off. And I'm stuck there

in limbo. Okay, and that's, and embrace it. So why did you choose, why was that your approach to piano? At what age were we talking? You playing the moonlight sonata was it an entertainment thing like if i can learn to play this this will be this will just rock the crowd yeah i mean i think my family like i wanted i

wanted to like uh like my mom would like listen to my piano stuff all the time and she you know like i would impress her so much by like learning Pocahontas, which is, you know, wonderful. But I'm like, well, check this out. And then I would just like practice for so long and then, you know, impress her and she'd go crazy. She's adorable.

Oh, we recorded the, I recorded a video of her watching Depressing Song, actually. It's hilarious. Really? It's so funny. What was it like growing up? You grew up in Florida mostly, right?

Yeah, yeah, Niceville. I was born in Mississippi in Macomb. So was Snoop Dogg. We are Mississippi. In Macomb. Macomb. And then when did you move to Niceville, Florida? Six weeks of Macomb.

I was like, I'm done. So you don't remember much about Macomb. I blocked it out. No, we were Air Force. I mean, I wasn't in the Air Force at the time or ever, but so we got stationed. Newborn pilot. So your dad or your mom?

Dad. Okay. What did he do in the Air Force? You know, I don't know. It's classified. I don't know. I've never asked. I assume it's awesome.

Yeah. But, yeah, so then. Is your dad still around? Yeah, yeah. Well, he's in Vegas now. Okay. But he's not in the Air Force anymore. Not forcing the air.

Okay. Not forcing the air at all. So did you grow up with both parents? Yeah, yeah. It was, yeah, them and my brother and my sister, and then my niece happened, and then she started getting all the presents for Christmas. Your niece lived with you?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all lived together in this wonderful abode in Niceville, which I'm sure is now burned down as a meth house or something. And what was the... I'm just kidding. Niceville is not really a meth house, but right outside of Niceville, you would see houses that had exploded, but right outside of Niceville, you would see houses

that were like, had exploded. Yeah, outside of, in Badville. I mean, right across the river, we throw stones.

When your name is Niceville, there's a lot of pressure, I guess. It is. What was the family dynamic like? Was this a family that is constantly trying to crack each other up?

Yeah, yeah, we're always messing around. It was fun. You're the youngest? Middle? Yeah, yeah, I'm the youngest and then my niece is now the youngest? Middle? Yeah, yeah.

I'm the youngest, and then my niece is now the youngest. Because, you know, we're close. So, yeah, we would, you know, we'd freaking play video games. That was all the time. We started out on PC. My brother got me into PC gaming. I played Doom and Nukem 3D and Ultima Online and Warcraft 1 and 2 and 3, all that in that period. Wolfenstein.

And I became good. So actually it was kind of when people started playing with mice instead of just using keyboards, and there was actually a lot of backlash against that. I think people playing Doom used the keyboard. Like, oh, no, dude, it's stupid to use the mouse. Like, you know and they would i would kill all of them it was wonderful and i was probably you know i don't know how i

was like very young to be murdering everyone but right it worked out personality wise i mean how would you describe your your parents and your siblings were they were they like you i can't imagine having a a house full of people that had as much energy, comedic energy as you have. I mean, can a house contain that? I know we went outside sometimes. But they're all great. They just had a really just nice, happy energy. And I didn't get grounded a lot.

I think I got grounded once for actually driving to my neighbor's lawn when I was like eight. And what? You drove a car at eight? You know, I wanted to figure out why the car was moving around. So my mom and dad took the groceries into the house and I put it in the reverse. And we just kind of rolled backwards. And I panicked. And I just hid under the seat until this car stopped moving.

Until it ran into the neighbor's house. Yes, in their garden. That's great. So you got punished for that, but— Not often, yeah. My mom had a daycare also. My mom had a daycare, so there were always kids around, you know, and so it was kind of a playful environment until I was, like, maybe nine. Anyways, I was mad young.

So you were in the daycare. I was in the daycare teaching the other kids about PC gaming. Use the mouse, kid. Yeah. Did you get in trouble a lot? Not until high school. And I started all the time because it was just joke, joke, joke, joke. I was just, you know, trying to make people laugh.

And that was getting in trouble with like the authorities at high school, the teachers, the principal. high school, the teachers, the principal. I mean, yeah, some of the, some of the teachers, uh, my, uh, physics teacher, he, oh, this is awesome. He, okay, don't do this, but so I sat next to my friend, uh, Ibrahim Muhammad is his name. And, uh, he's a very, very smart, very smart guy, uh, for a physics test.

And I, you know, I, I know, I knew what I was doing. I was doing a good, but I, very smart guy for a physics test. And I knew what I was doing. I was doing it, but I made so many jokes in the class. I felt like he was lowering my grade on purpose just because, because it said my name on it. And whatever, you always have that kind of paranoia. So I copied his test exactly. As a test. As a test, which is, yeah, exactly, which was very dangerous.

And then I got a 70, and he got 110. as a test as a test which is yeah exactly which was very dangerous but uh and then I got I got a 70 and he got 110 and so I was like why did I why did I get a 70 here

he's like well uh he sounded like Kermit the Frog he's like well uh obviously you uh didn't show your work or this part and I'm like

look at this so I grabbed his test I'm like I copied his test oh I'm like, I copied his test. And then he sent me to the office. And that was, so, I mean, did anything change after that? No!

You still got... The 70 turned into a zero. No, actually it didn't. I think he left it, which is weird. But, anyway. But you kind of proved the point. I mean he left it, which is weird. But anyway. But you kind of proved the point. I mean, so the principle wasn't on your side. No, I'm like, well, they're the same, right?

But it's difficult to read Ibrahim's writing. Very difficult. But I learned how to do it. I had to do this. So I had to show him, like, no, this is a B, dude. This is a B squared. And, you know, I walked him through it, and he's like, you need to work this out with your teacher.

You're there making your case. No, I cheated. Yeah! I mean, but I needed to do it. So, okay, so you made all these jokes. You're the class clown. And SGA president. What president? SGA president. Student Government Association.

So you were... I never actually did anything with the student government, but I ran for it because we all got to make a video to run for it. We had to make speeches, not videos, but that's the only reason we ran, to have the audience. You get to speak in front of the whole school. So you wanted to make a video. So we made a video for the morning news,

and I did this thing, and I was like, if I get elected, I'm going to make there be no more ketchup packets, because as you know, there's not enough ketchup. There's maybe enough for one french fry. Sometimes, there's none in there sometimes, because there's some kind of error in the thing. So just give us a pump ketchup, okay?

And also, boys' bathroom, we need dividers between the urinals. Or else they're not usable. And so that was my, oh my, I didn't do either one of those things. But you kind of left it.

That was your platform. All I tried to do was get a parking spot and I failed. Pump, catch up, and, yep, okay. The dividers are important.

Yeah, they're important. Very important. Yeah, I won't use a urinal next to another urinal. Do you get stage fright when using urinals? At like an airport on a stage. With no dividers are important. Yeah, there's an airport. Very important. Yeah, I won't use a urinal next to another urinal. Do you get stage fright when using urinals at like an airport with no dividers? Well, I mean, no, I wait. I don't want to make somebody feel like I'm encroaching on their croach. What about the trough?

Have you been to like an old school like gymnasium that has a trough? I mean, yeah, it's got a little fun. That's fun. It's like, hey, horses do this. With their mouths, though. So you don't get stage fright at that point because you're excited about the horse experience. Okay, so you went off to college

and majored in some sort of communications. What was it? Yeah, I ended up on telecommunications. I started out microbiology. I'm like, this sucks. And where was school? University of Florida. You on telecommunications. I started out in microbiology. I'm like, this sucks. And where was school? University of Florida. You started out in microbiology.

How did you get? I was going to be a dentist because my mom was like, you have really nice teeth. You should be a dentist. I'm like, I had braces. Really? Yeah. That was the rationale? I mean, yeah.

I was like, I'll go with this for a while. I had a scholarship and I was like, I'll go learn some stuff. So you and me really good grades in high school, I guess. Yeah, yeah. You got a while. I had a scholarship and I was like, I'll go learn some stuff. So you and me really good grades in high school, I guess. Yeah, yeah. Scholarship. But I figured out, I like joking around and then started a major in microbiology and that's not a major to do.

How long did it take you to figure out that that wasn't your deal? Not long. And then I switched to psychology and then for not long at all and then telecom because that's the easiest one. And there's a class where you make a video. One. At the end of the entire thing. Okay, so

you're a guy who was doing all these things to be the center of attention. Of course. And we can totally relate to that. Interestingly, I think there's some interesting parallels here because we ran for student body president and vice president or whatever to be able to speak to the whole school. And we wanted to be entertainers, but then we went and majored in engineering.

Yeah. And I think for us it was because we're in North Carolina. Performing wasn't an option. We don't know anything about Hollywood. We don't know anything about California. You can't be an entertainer full time. I could not name one person that I knew. So you went and did you get a degree?

Yeah, and did engineering for a while. Jeez. That's horrible. I mean, in fairness, we wanted to go

to film school, but Rhett's dad said, I'm not paying for that. That's not responsible. Rhett's dad paid for both of your guys' degrees. So he didn't pay for mine,

no. But I was going to kind of go wherever wherever ret went because we were friends and hey we both want to be filmmakers if you can't do it then i'll just do whatever you do i guess you you guys are both good at math and science you should be engineers right okay because you don't know yeah your parents tell you to be successful yeah and the counselor the counselor says that the parents say do something responsible that kind of connects the dots. It's not really about tapping into your passion. It's just, okay, this is what you should do. Okay, this is what everybody's saying.

We'll be going to engineering. Right, so when you changed the communications, was it because you had something in mind that you wanted to do or is it that you knew you did not want to do? It's that I wanted more free time while I was getting a degree and whatever. Right. Because, you know, I figured I'm not going to specialize in something right now. Let me just use up this scholarship money for as long as I possibly can and figure something out.

So I basically was just being lazy as long as I could until something just fell on me. And that's kind of what happened. And now in retrospect, you can see, okay, I ran for SGA because I got to make a video. I started taking these courses in college because I got to make a video. And were you making lots of videos in your spare time in high school and college? I mean, I would make some, but I'm really good when I have a deadline or when it's a project. And I made this video called Tag for one of my classes, which is – I love it. It's one of my favorite videos.

It's this guy. He has a rainbow fanny pack, and he just, like, runs around and has magic powers in it. As they all do. Of course. I love that. And then I made this other one called Candy Planet that I animated in After Effects, which took forever. But it was so – Candy Planet?

Yeah, Candy Planet. This is in college. Candy Planet. I animated in After Effects, which took forever, but it was so- Candy Planet? Yeah, Candy Planet. This is in college. Candy Planet. Yeah, in college. It was like my last, maybe my last semester. What happens on Candy Planet? Well, it's just about a world where- In a world where carbon is sugar, carbon-based life is candy.

Welcome to Candy Planet. And so, like, there would be these gummy bear people, and they adopted a golden gram. And a little racist? Well, no. It was just a little Angelina Jolie or something at the time. But it was to call, you know, whatever. My first girlfriend was black.

I dated her for three years. I can do whatever I want. Well, let's talk about her instead. When was this? I had a black girlfriend one time. Oh! Yeah, Link never did. We're in the bed. We high-fived just now. Is that more racist? What was her name? It's not. Yes, high-fiving over having a black girlfriend is racist.

I'm not. It negates the having of the girlfriend when you high-five a white guy about it. What was her name? Andrea. I'm not. It negates the having of the girlfriend when you high-five a white guy about it. What was her name? Andrea, C. Andrea. And when was this, in college? It was high school. Wow, you started early.

Now, in Niceville, Florida, if you date a black girl in high school, what happens to you? I mean, I was, you know, I, we, okay okay here's how i actually met her so uh i was invited to go shoot a video with some people and uh we oh man i'd love to freaking see it now it was a long time ago uh this girl vicky invited me to like you know shoot a video i was like oh that sounds awesome i don't have a camera i'll do anything it's great so we go over and uh it was this it was a class project and she wrote it out. I'm like, this isn't funny. I'm going to rewrite it.

She's like, you're not in the class. I'm like, I'm just going to do it anyway. So I, you know, I took my part and changed it and made,

you know, stretched it out and you made yourself the star. Of course. And then it was, it was awesome. And then I met her and I made her laugh a lot.

She had a great laugh and then we just, you know, started dating. Did you write in a kiss at the end of the thing? You know, I did not. I don't know. When did write in a kiss at the end of the thing? You know, I did not.

I don't know. When did I kiss a girl first? It was like 10th grade or 11th grade. Well, that would have been around the same time, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, sure. So let's say 10th grade. Three years, huh? Is that your longest relationship ever? Nope. They're always longer-ish.

So okay, her, three years. Next one was like two and a half. Next one was three. Next one was three. Next one was three. And they were all black girls? That's almost 12. No. Well, the reason why I ask if there was any controversy,

just, I mean, in Florida, I guess this is later than when, you know, we're older than you. So, I mean, you got parts of Florida are the South. And then parts of the South, at a certain point, you couldn't, you know, they said, well, you shouldn't date some, I mean, you got parts of Florida or the South, and then parts of the South at a certain point, you couldn't, you know, they said, well, you shouldn't date some, you know, white people should date white people.

Was that an issue? Well, I mean, for who? For you. Well, not for you, for the, for your parents or people in the community. No, I never got any, like, weirdness about it. I was just like, I don't care. So, like, just take it. And then I was just always veryness about it. I was just like, I don't care, so just take it.

And then I was just always very adamant about how much that sucks that people would discriminate against each other. And so I was very, but I liked her and that's why. It was pretty simple for you. Yeah. I didn't get it. I didn't get the whole, even though I was, because my family is

pretty awesome and they're very accepting. So, yeah. I never got any, like, weird flack about it. And, you know, I've never really seen any, like, racism at my high school, which is kind of cool. But being from Mississippi and being so close to that area where there is, it is kind of weird. Yeah, right. Mississippi would have been a little bit different. Yeah. there is it is it is kind of weird it's yeah right mississippi would have been a little bit different yeah so so back to college uh i kind of derailed you from the college experience

you were kind of discovering your creative dna it sounds like is that when it happened yeah i was trying to figure out what i could do to make to get a bunch of views and uh because I wanted to because you were making videos yeah well while while studying while skipping through different majors uh yeah yeah pretty much on the side I was making videos and whenever it became a class assignment it became like those were the really good ones and I wanted to always get class assignments and that's kind of what the sponsored things turned into they're like Toby you need this by this point and it needs to be you know brand friendly and. I'm like, awesome. Let's freaking make this great. And I need more of those. I love, I need those deadlines. But so what were you saying?

Well, there's this transition from being a guy in college who was kind of discovering that he was creative and he wanted to be creative. You graduate, and then what do you do? Yeah, when I graduated from college, I went back home, lived with my parents for a little bit, for like a couple months. And then my friend, Adam, who we actually shot a movie on my camera. So he knew I had this camera, DVX100B,

which my mom took out a loan to buy, which is awesome. Because she just know at some point I was like I really really want to do this and then so I you know I pulled her away from the idea of like

wanting me to be a dentist what year was this? who knows I would say I got the camera I mean it was in college so like dude I have no idea

I'm the worst when was it? 2000s I'm but this is pre-YouTube a little bit yeah so like 04 Dude, I have no idea. I'm the worst. When was it? 2000s? But this is pre-YouTube. A little bit, yeah. So like 04.

So I did a lot of, well, okay. Was it pre, it wasn't pre-YouTube that I made videos? No. No, I didn't really make any edited videos pre-YouTube. Nope. But so you got. I did, I got started on Metacafe and YouTube, but like Metaca medicafe because i saw that they paid and i was like this is awesome okay so when did you go well when did you graduate from college what year was that oh seven oh seven yeah okay okay that adds up with

the 2006 you kind of you joined youtube and your mom at some point you have this conversation with your mom you're saying i really want to do this and she takes out a loan to buy you a camera christmas because like she you know just really wanted to show that or everybody you know the family which wanted to really support uh me and what was this when you said i really want to do this what would what did you say that led to... I mean, acting. I was like, I'm going to do a thing, and I'll become an actor, and it'll be great. And then she's like, oh, you'll be such a great actor.

And then she got me a camera, and then my brother and sister were probably like, oh, great. So he gets the freaking awesome camera. But they were always really nice and supportive about it. But I felt, you know, it's got to be a little weird. But she really did. I went to college. I was, you know, I was a good kid. I think a lot of, I mean, certainly a lot of people we've talked to on Ear Biscuits, um, when we kind of hear their

story, a lot of people come from the, oh, I got the camera, first camera I got my hands on, I was doing this, that, and the other, and I was developing. And it was almost like as a director first, I find it interesting that you say well mom i want to do this i want to be an actor so i need a camera it was that's not what you typically hear and and you hear i want to be a i want to be a director or because if you want to be an actor well you could just go to hollywood or go to your local theater even in florida and start auditioning yeah something like that i felt like that was not going to go up into something else i'd rather just go to Hollywood or go to your local theater, even in Florida and start auditioning or something like that.

But I felt like that was not going to go up into something else. So I'd rather just do it on the internet where anyone in the world could see it. So you wanted to be an actor, but you made an immediate connection to this thing, this YouTube internet video thing that was happening. Yeah. Yeah. So it just kind of started. And then I, at some point, you know, some of my friends showed me some Smosh videos

and, uh, and I'm like these guys are they're freaking editing these comedy sketches you do it one time and it's up forever and it can get as many views as it ever gets

and that was just a huge compelling thing for me and so I wanted to figure out how to make a video that they would send to someone else basically yeah and you know

it's fun I love doing it but your mom gives you this camera you've graduated from college yeah and what do you actually do you said you only lived at home for a couple of months before i graduated okay um so uh but but so i had the camera in in college for a while and then i you know started to make these edited videos with my like classmates uh and actually one of them uh one of the videos was with Andrew Meyer, who's the Don't Tase Me Bro guy. And that's random. So he was in my classes.

And I remixed him getting tased like the day of. And also I made a t-shirt on Cafe Press, I think, that same day and put it in the ending of the Don't Haze Me Bro remix. So in one day, he's like, what did you just do? You just made a shirt and you're selling what I said on it. He's a really nice guy. Because that was all over the news. Yeah, exactly. So I'm like, I want to jump on this.

And that news clip went viral on YouTube. Yeah, they showed it on Colbert Report and all that. So then you remixed it into a song, but you had the foresight. I mean, because Smosh was selling T-shirts, you thought...

I don't know. I don't know. I was trying to figure out how to make the money back for the camera that my mom bought, you know? And also loans because they started

taking out loans. I'm like, yeah, I'm going to... Hopefully I'll figure out a job thing at some point, but maybe I could just get so many views that maybe a company would want to pay me to do it. So that was like one of the first thoughts I had on YouTube is that I could get a commercial, make a commercial.

If it gets enough views, then someday a company would want to pay for it. So you never had to get a real job? Well, I did actually. So when I moved to LA, so my friend Adam, he borrowed my camera and shot this, New Low, which I think is on Netflix now and it's in a couple places. And then I went to Sundance, which is awesome for the low budget. So I got there and got free actor swag. It was amazing. You were the lead in that?

He was the lead. I was the second. But it was really fun just to do and see all the stuff and just be part of that process and actually all the people that worked on the movie are now in la and like most of them work with me on uh my stuff now so like we have you know it's fun and we're still figuring it out but it's coming together so much better well let me ask you one thing uh just take a quick step back so you talk about your mom buying this camera for you. Obviously, such a pivotal moment. That's the camera that your friend shot the movie that made it to Sundance?

Yeah. And you and him, he was the lead. You were in it. Yeah, he wrote it and edited it and everything. And he just borrowed my camera. I'm like, yeah, you can borrow it if I can act in it. So the don't tase me, bro thing was kind of a proof of concept for you to, I can sell T-shirts.

This can work. How big did that get? I mean, well, I don't know what it's up to. I think it got a million views. It maybe got like 800,000 views in the first week, and it took a while to get to a million or did eventually and the shirts i think i sold a thousand or two thousand of them and i was getting two dollars per shirt so that was like four thousand bucks and this is awesome but i'm like but why don't

i just print it myself and buy them in bulk if i you know if i know a phrase is going to be that popular but there were no like cafe press was uh the printing on demand the only one and now there's more competition and now they're cool I use Spreadshirt now I don't know what you guys you guys do what do you do? DFTBA

DFTBA oh yeah oh yeah they're great so take us through the steps what happened after you started to see that success and moved out of the house

did the Sundance thing okay so I got a job. My friend, Adam Bowers, was like, you want to move to L.A. tomorrow? And I'm like, yes. So literally, it was like tomorrow. Pretty hilarious. But he'd been talking about it for a while.

But he's like, we're just going to do it tomorrow. And then I'm like, all right, let's do it. Because my job that I had just gotten off Craigslist was a search engine optimization job, which has helped me a lot. Huh. And so I,

you know, I never even met my boss from that job, but it was like 500 a week. You could move, you could move anywhere and do that. Yeah,

yeah, exactly. So you kept that job, moved to LA. Yep. And I mean, it's not like there were all these

YouTubers in LA yet. Were there? They were starting to be. Just 2010? Yeah, they were just starting to be, yeah. And I mean, it's not like there were all these YouTubers in LA yet. Were there? They were starting to be. Just 2010? Yeah, they were just starting to be, yeah. Yeah, yeah. But I wanted to go

on auditions and stuff like that. So were you going, did you take the traditional actor route as like plan A? I don't know.

I mean, a little bit. Like I kind of thought if I made the best video ever that actually showed me acting, I would possibly get cast in something or get representation and maybe do commercials or whatever. But I also, you know, hoped that I could get my videos, like, popular enough to make that be my job. So that I could get all the stuff I have written since high school. I still have so many things that I still think are funny that I haven't done yet.

Right. Well, and I think that's something I want to talk about is, you know, you have gotten so prolific on YouTube. I think you're the only person with two channels in the top 50 most subscribed. No way. That's awesome. YouTuber, I believe so, yeah. Yeah, you are, you know, you just got so much content coming out,

so much is successful, it continues to grow. You're not like a lot of people who got kind of started at the same time that we did that saw a peak a few years ago and they're struggling on their channel. No, you've still got great ideas. You're still getting traction. Your audience is still growing.

How do you have a life? It's hard. I mean, you know, I definitely, it's a thing that I, I, you know, I definitely, uh, it's a thing that I now actively pursue is like friendship. Um, uh, cause it's important, you know,

it's important to be there for people and it's important to like, let them be for you, be there for you sometimes. Uh, and you know, it's also, you know, it's good to know good people and keep them in your life.

and that is something that I definitely like, you know, I would only spend time with my girlfriend. Like, you know, that was it because I'm working all the time. And we live together too. Like, I live together with, like, pretty much, yeah, two girlfriends in a row for three years each. We live together.

In succession. Because it's cheaper. Yeah, basically. Because they typically don't like to live together. No, it was all at the same time. It's great. Yeah, so I don't know, know like how that kind of fell into place just because it was you know cheaper and like we got along really really well and uh you know i was making jokes and i just like i date people

with really good laugh well at some point at some point or points in there you also dated people who were YouTubers. Maybe. And maybe that, was there a strategy in that? Well, okay, we can work together and be. I'm not sure what I can, is that public knowledge? I know Olga is.

Okay, so you dated Olga and. And the other one. But the other high profile. Maybe, yes. Potentially. So that's not public knowledge? I don't know. I don't know.

I mean, we never talked about it, right? It's a weird thing because there is this. Can we make it public knowledge now? I mean, I would probably ask her, right? I don't know. I don't know. I got it. Really?

People knew about that, man. People knew about that. Dude, I didn't hide that we spent all the time together. Yeah, she was in your vlog. I mean, I was looking through vlogs, and she's in the vlogs. So everybody already knows. I don't know why it turned into feeling like I just wanted to be respectful and have her say it.

Well, how long were you dating? I mean, a while. You said you dated everyone for three years. No, it wasn't that much. It was only six months. So in the six-month period, there wasn't this conversation of, okay, we're going to vlog together, but we're never going to say that we're in a dating relationship?

Like you didn't have that conversation? No, we did. I think I don't really remember why it was like that, but it was a weird thing because it's like, do you feel more valuable if you're single? You know? And so that was, I'm not sure whose head that went through. Did you ask that question? You just thought that question?

Maybe I just thought, I don't know. I mean, I didn't care, but it is a thing where it's like, you are a person, but you're also a business and your business, what's going to happen to that? Is it going to be good? Cause here's my first thing is if I, someone knows, I have a girlfriend who it is as weird sometimes, like, cause you know, people can make them uncomfortable and then it turns it into your performance your relationship is a performance and so uh uh you know and we vlog together all the time uh but you know it was it was kind of we just try to keep that thing private i guess it's weird it's a weird thing to even think about but with but with olga it was not you get she didn't care and you didn't mind, so it was more public. I mean, yeah. Yeah. It didn't matter.

How long did you guys date? I think like eight months. I'm so bad with time. Eight months-ish. Yeah, I'm horrible with time, knowledge. Are you still friends with both of them? I talk to Olga more, but I'm equally, you know, we're on good terms, but it's just busy. People are busy. Everybody we know.

You date anybody now? No. I sort of was for a while, and it's just, it's tough. It's tough to get that because you have to, I'm doing so many different things at once that if all of a sudden i miss uh we're supposed to go to a movie or something and i'm like this is funny at 15 minutes late because i was stuck at a charity event uh which is sounds so horrible but i mean you know it's not just that you know it's not it's a build-up of that but that happened to be like a

a pivotal moment which is very funny but uh and then it turns into like when charity's involved i know like are you more important than charity of course you are baby but it's charity the word i know it's charity like i i i said that and it didn't work uh but anyways and you and that was it that's what killed it i mean that's was maybe sparked the i think that was the moment of like she doesn't think I'm ever gonna be there for her

you know cause I have so much stuff I freaking do but the video game that we've been working on that you know has to be good

takes a lot of time and you know I didn't realize how much and it's fine cause I love it but like how much work it takes

to make a freaking video game I understand I mean especially when you've raised $644,000 to make it, and everyone knows exactly how much money there is. That is a little strange.

But it's also, they don't know how much it costs to ship it out. I forget what the game actually ended up costing, but we're over budget. But that's not the point, because we're talking about love life. Yes. I think the interesting thing is, your point is, you're very busy. You have a lot of demands on yourself professionally, because, I mean, we know the feeling. You're at a crucial point in a medium where you've got to continue to invent yourself, really, and make it happen. And, I mean, you just made the statement, support everybody.

That's on your team. support everybody. That's on your team. I mean, you're talking, you now have the ability, you have the pressure of being a successful business. So my question is, I guess you're saying it's hard to have time for a relationship, but is there also this aspect of it that's, is it difficult to turn off?

I guess I'm curious, for you as a natural entertainer, like in all of our interactions, I mean, we don't just hang out and sure there's even microphones here right now and there are always cameras around when we're together. So are there people in your lives when you're just like with your girlfriend, with your friends that you are able to turn off? I mean, well, they turn off it's to turn back on you know what i mean like as

soon as i as soon as i'm not recording something i say something that's way funnier because i don't have that oh i'm trying to get the angle because i hold whatever and uh it's and then i'm like no i gotta record this so you feel i mean so there's no switch for you to turn off turn off the entertainer. Well, there is. But I like to hear – I like to make my friends laugh. And as soon as I do, I'm like, I think that was a funny joke. I'm going to put that in something.

So as soon as I'm done with my work, I have to manage juggling like what jokes did I just say just hanging out? Like what do i write down how can i put that into uh and then which ones deserve the time that would take to make it uh and do you think that's going to be the rest of your life i mean are do you know i hopefully i'll have a team of a billion lots of people that will just help me put together every every single project so you can so you can turn off and be a real person i I would think it impacts, I mean, I don't mean to say you're not a real person,

but that. I mean, I really get along, you know, so I spend most of my time, so like I said, I was trying to work on more of my friends that I really do get along with

and there are people that, you know, I just love. They're amazing people, but I don't give them as much of me as I do to the business because right now

I'm trying to grow a couple different things. I'm trying to do the video game and I'm trying to, you know, like I got into a bunch of projects at once. We started a podcast also last week because I need a weekly thing on Tabuscus that people can look forward to because that's always been my problem. I had Q and fail for a while. And that was fun. But I don't want to always do a literal or whatever. I want to always be like, hey, here we are. Let's hang out.

This is fun. I like that idea. Right, but see, even in the way that you answer questions with us here on Ear Biscuits is you're so focused on ideas. You have so many ideas. You are always thinking about strategy. You're always thinking about how you can turn something that you have a natural disposition towards that and that's why you're that's one of the many reasons you're so successful but if i ask you a question about when are you going to find time for yourself you start to answer that and then you answer a question

about new content yeah yeah so so that's my natural thing. Right. And I think about like the two of us who have, we think in similar ways, right? So there's so much about the way that your ideas come together

that we can relate to. But we started all this while we already had families. So we have this natural balancing mechanism that I can't, you know, neglecting a girlfriend

is one thing. Neglecting a wife and children, you can't do that, right? Right. So I couldn't go home. So we have this thing where, okay, we got to get home every night except for like one night a week. We don't usually work on weekends and that kind of thing. That's cool.

I think it's okay. You don't have that balancing mechanism in your life. Well, that's true. Well, true, but to an extent. So, you know, you saying that, you know, you don't work on weekends, you don't work at certain times. That's great. That's a healthy thing to get into. And like me,

like exactly what I'm saying with the schedule. If you know, you have to be done by seven, I do it. But if I don't have to, and there has to be a real thing that I, you know, has to fight.

Like I try to get people to trick me and do like, you need this by seven, Toby. And I'm like, Oh no. And I panic and I get it done. Like, you know,

then a minute. Cause it's simple. Like you do voiceover sometimes, but I build up in my head and I go on so many freaking tangents. But if you have that, then I think that's good for you. And then, yeah, you can have a free time, but you know, so I would go to these fun things. Like, uh, we would go horseback riding, uh, me and my girlfriend a long time ago or wherever. Uh, and as soon as, you know, we'll be doing, I'm like, this is kind of cool. Like, you know, there's some people that can't go horse riding.

They'd be cool to show this. You know what I mean? So everything I wanted to, I just want to share with people. And it's kind of annoying sometimes if you don't live in the YouTube world. That's why dating YouTube people is fun. When you have two people who have that mentality.

Yeah, I think it's fun. Things can get crazy though, right? I mean, maybe, but I, you know, there is a lot of fun. Like, cause we, like I have to do my vlog. She'd have to do her vlog. You know, we would also come up, we would think of like a funny little sketch we could do and we would individually be working on something and that energy's in the air and then you just live in it. I love it. And so now you're in a place where you've got all these ideas, you've got other projects, longer term things that you want to see come to fruition and you've got a team around you now as opposed to just you and a couple of people working on everything, right?

Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, the first thing that I did, you know, like first reason that I had to figure out business was because I had to basically move my mom out of Florida. I tell you this, she had like, she has a lung condition and she got six months to live or whatever. And this was like a while, it was like a year or two ago.

I don't think we knew that. So a year ago, your mom was given six months to live. Maybe it was like two months, two years ago. But yeah, by a doctor that, you know,

he said there was nothing we could do. They live in Florida and there's tons of humidity. She just had this like lung thing. Anyways, and so I Googled it and apparently being in a dry climate helps people sometimes, right? Because there's less places for bad mold and whatnot to grow. And so I had to quickly move everyone out to the West Coast. And so, you know, they live out West Coast in the freaking desert now because that's the only way. Everyone, your mom, who did you move out?

Mom, dad, niece, sister. My brother lives in Texas. You moved them to LA? Yeah, for a while, and then now Vegas, because LA is just stupid expensive. I wanted to have her close to me so I could see her all the time. But, you know, it's just, it's cheaper in Vegas. Right. And so that was a huge driving thing.

So that was kind of like a sprint. It's like, that's why. I'm like, I got to do this now. And, dude, I always freaking cry when I talk about that. I didn't today. Maybe it's happened enough times. That's good. I'm growing.

So you did – you moved them out to Vegas. I mean, how is she doing? She's good. I mean, she's good. She's – What's the condition? COPD. It's like a lung feeling.

It's just hard for her to breathe sometimes. But, I mean, she's awesome. She's the best freaking person. Like, you freaking – you watch any video with her, and you can't just not love her. She's fantastic. And, you know, she's awesome she's the best freaking person like you freaking you watch any video with her and you can't just not love her she's fantastic uh and you know she's working with it uh so much better in like in the dry place so it's makes me feel really good but then there's also like now that that's happened and you know i'm like yay that's good um i all my friends that are extremely talented that got into jobs that i was like well you don't like doing that do you and then they're of course they don't and so I'm like come out to LA let's do some

other stuff and so like you know I'm trying to get like help my friends out wherever I can uh because and that's dangerous working with friends because I don't ever want to tell them what to do so I have to hire someone else to tell them what to do right and then like you said then there's a sense of responsibility that you have to support you You have to support these friends that are now your employees, and you've done your part to bring your family out here to Vegas. So it seems like you got a lot of pressure there to remain successful financially. It is. So you have to just learn how to put that aside and not think about it a little bit. And then they're smart. It's nice.

It's much better than what it was because it used to be I all the time only ever work. And now it's like I'm getting to the point where I'm like, hey, do this, and then let me see if you can do it, and then I'll look at it later. I'm like, oh, try this, tweak this. It's a long process. I respect you hearing your story, hearing the amount of responsibility that you have and what you've accomplished

and developing your voice and everything you've done and count you a friend and think you're an awesome guy. Thank you. We're glad to have heard the story here. Yeah, and thanks for taking the time out of your crazy schedule to sit at the round table of dim lighting. No problem. And that is an Ear Biscuit with Toby Turner.

A lot of you have been tweeting at us saying you gotta get Tobuscus on Ear Biscuits, and it just happened. We pinned him down for a little bit. We got him. I mean, the guy is all over the place. You know, he's not only all over the place, literally always doing something,

but his mind is all over the place. Yeah, I mean, I just think that you guys got to experience the unadulterated Toby Turner along with us. I mean, sure, we'll ask a question, and he'll start on an answer, and then he'll be flooded with other thoughts. And then, you know, a couple of times it was like, what was the question? Because he's just, his creative faucet is full bore.

I mean, for him to say the turning point was when I just said, I'm going to go quantity over quality. This is no normal person saying that. I mean, this is someone who is always at 11. So once that clicked in his mind, I mean, it makes sense that it's a turning point. I mean, there's certain people who could do that and it would just be a bunch of crap. Right. But the dude is, he's so talented.

people who could do that and it would just be a bunch of crap right but the dude is he's so talented and i mean when you turn the faucet all the way up it's like people may not want to listen this whole thing but i can find the highlights of it you know he's thinking about all aspects of it but there's there's gold in there well i think that and he created it all in front of his audience on the internet the thing that that i learned about toby tonight tonight, I'm not going to cry about it. I just, something's in my throat. The thing that I learned about Toby tonight was he is, that is who he is authentically. You know, I think we, before he came in here, we talked about the fact that he's a performer. He's always on and we always see him in a performance setting, so we were interested to see what it would be like to kind of sit down and talk to him for an hour, to ask him some personal questions. Yeah, to see if we could get, I don't quote, the other side of Toby, or the real

Toby, the Toby that would turn off, and I, you know, I think his answer was, you know. There is no off switch. Right, there's no off switch for him. He said it himself. There is no off switch. Right, there's no off switch for him. He said it himself. There is no off switch because he is, even when he's doing something, horseback riding, for instance, he's thinking about the YouTube content that could come from horseback riding.

Right, he's spending time with his friends and then he comes home and he. So if you see a horseback riding channel. He writes down all the funny things. Right, so I think. Toby Horseback. That's his next channel probably. That was very eye-opening to me personally because I kind of pointed this out a number of times during the Ear Biscuit that we have a similar approach to things.

He started at a similar time. He's trying to do all these different things. He does a lot of music. He does a lot of branded projects. There's a lot of things in common. As I stated on the podcast, we haven't been nearly as successful as him. But me and you really, like, we only have so much energy. I think the thing about me and you is that we kind of run out. When we turn the faucet on, when we turn it up to 11, me and you kind of like start getting headaches and get tired.

It reduces to a trickle pretty quickly. Right, you know, and to see somebody- Oh no, is the well dry? Yeah, to see somebody who you can turn it on, you can turn it up to 11, and it just keeps going. I mean, I think eventually he's gonna have to slow down, and I think that he's putting some things in place with the team and that kind of thing,

that he's not gonna go insane. I think that's the one thing too, that I noticed is I did not see somebody on the verge of mental breakdown by any means. I saw a guy who this is his life. This is how he thinks he's got more ideas than he has time to do. He gets off on it. He loves being creative and he's not about to implode by any means. He's just going to keep being a prolific creator. And I mean, on top of that, there's a sense of responsibility. I love the story of his mom took out a loan to buy his first video camera so that he could pursue his dream of being an actor and an entertainer. And then he takes that camera and then builds a career so that he can reloc, that it's not just he's this creator who can't help himself, but he's also, and he's not,

and he's also a businessman who thinks very strategically about these things and always has, but he's also a family man who's trying to figure out, you know, how to help his mom and how to have a girlfriend who may or may not be a vlogger, you know? Yeah, right. Well, you know what? I know I couldn't do it. I'm glad he's doing it and he's doing it well. And there's this sense that we've encapsulated a moment.

The best ear biscuits, I feel like, are the ones that are like that, like this time capsule that, okay, this guy, the capsule is not being buried in this instance. This capsule is kind of being launched into another stratosphere, and that's what I feel like for this guy to carry the cheesy capsule analogy. You think we should have called the podcast Time Capsules with Rhett and Link? Being launched into space. Oh, okay. Space capsules.

That's what Toby is. He's going somewhere. We've captured this moment. This is a space capsule version of an ear biscuit. Yeah, I think it was. I think you could put an ear biscuit in a space capsule. You know what? That could be like an experiment.

We could start a Kickstarter. We could raise money to put a biscuit inside of a rocket that will go into orbit, see what kind of effects happen on the biscuit, bring it back down, and then sell it to the highest bidder who then has to eat it. That's the idea that I just came up with. Wow.

You even understand what I just said? I kind of phased out somewhere in the middle, and then when I tuned back in, you were talking about somebody eating it, and I was like, how did that happen? Well, that's been my plan all along, is that there will be an actual biscuit recipe that is like the official biscuit recipe of Ear Biscuits.

And then we'll shoot it into space. All right, thanks for listening. Tweet at Toby, at Toby Turner on Twitter and let him know what you thought. And remember to support this show by leaving a review on iTunes and checking out our sponsor, Squarespace, the all-in-one platform that makes it fast and easy

to create your own professional website or online portfolio. For a free trial and 10% off your first purchase, go to squarespace.com and use our offer code R&L. Thanks for listening. We'll be back with another Ear Biscuit next Friday.