Ear Biscuits with Rhett & Link - Ep. 3 Shane Dawson - Ear Biscuits

Episode Date: October 11, 2013

YouTube personality Shane Dawson, known best for his blunt sense of humor and brutal comedic honesty, joins Rhett & Link to talk about both literal and figurative ghosts from his past. From childhood struggles in obesity, getting fired over a YouTube video, and becoming one of the most iconic teen stars in current-day pop culture, Shane shares his story- gory details and all. *NOTE: This conversation contains adult themes and language. 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

This, this, this, this is Mythical. Welcome to Ear Biscuits. I'm Link. And I'm Rhett. We do this every single week. We have an up-close and personal conversation with someone interesting from the internet. This week, Mr. Shane Dawson joins us at the round table of dim lighting. We discuss life-changing ghost encounters, what it's like growing up

weighing twice as much as you do now, and how YouTube got him fired, among other things. It's a great conversation. Stay tuned for that. But first, Link, I want to just make a request. Of me or the people? Of you. Well, I have a goal,

and since a lot of times we spend a lot of time together, if I have a goal, then a lot of times you can help me achieve that goal. And I think this is going to be something that you're also going to be into. Is that all I am to you, Rhett? An accountability. Someone to help you achieve your goals. I feel used. Yep. Okay. What is it? We should go to more concerts. I've been thinking about this lately. I've been thinking about the fact that we live in this town where pretty much any band,

any artist who is anybody is going to have a date on their tour. That's true. They're going to come through this town and they're going to play music. And you can, usually you can find out about this before it happens. It's not like the kind of thing,

this isn't the medieval times where it's like a troubadour comes in and is like, oh, Walt's here. Like, boop, boop, boop, boop. Right, yeah. Blow the trumpet and you just come around it. Yeah, we have the internet. Walt?

Is that what you said? That's a very medieval name for a troubadour. He was a very famous medieval performer. I am what? Anyway, the last concert we went to in this town, do you remember that? Merle Haggard and Chris Christopherson. How could I forget it? And I gotta tell you,

at the Greek Theater, amazing venue, obviously amazing performers. Life-changing experience for us. Third row. Third row. And then we stayed after the concert and we waited for Merle. We stayed out there. We had talked with somebody. We kind of got in a little bit and we got into the- Like two fangirls. Not the backstage area, but we got into the VIP area where apparently Chris Christopherson and Merle Haggard were going

to come into, at least rumor had it Haggard were going to come into at least rumor had it they were going to come in there after they performed and eat because I mean guys and girls ladies and gentlemen you have to understand that Merle Haggard is he's not only a musical icon he is a personal icon for us he He is like a North star of being for us. I mean, he's not a God. I'm not gonna say, kind of sounds like, we're big fans of Merle Haggard. I mean, I have so many records hanging on.

He's not a God, but we really like him. We really love Merle Haggard. And I mean, our collective goal in life is to meet him before he dies. I mean, he's gonna go, Johnny Cash meet him before he dies. I mean, he's going to go. Johnny Cash is gone. Waylon Jennings is gone. Willie is not gone.

I was prepared to pee a little bit when meeting him. It would happen. Upon meeting him is what I was trying to say. We did meet him. He was sick. He was feeling under the weather, which is not unusual for Merle at this age. But I don't want to wait for Merle to come back to Los Angeles to see another concert.

That really wasn't my point. It wasn't to reminisce about that. It was about the fact that we enjoy music. We, some people would say, are musicians. I enjoy a great live show. We can get a babysitter. We can take our wives. It's difficult to get a babysitter.

I'm not talking about just me and you. I'm talking about, you know. Our wives are invited. That's nice you know. Our wives are invited. That's nice of us. Our wives are invited. I hear about these shows. I hear about these bands. I hear about these places.

And I know that there are people actually going to enjoy these things. And here we are in a room with each other at night. And that's great. I enjoy that. But I'm saying occasionally we should be going to a concert. Okay, I have two thoughts. But I'm saying occasionally we should be going to a concert. Okay, I have two thoughts.

First, it's a certain special type of person I've observed that goes to concerts. I mean, at a younger age, everyone's like, yeah, I'm going to go to a show or whatever. You know, when we were in college, we saw a decent amount of concerts. But for an older person, someone who's out of college to go to a concert, my observation is that that is a certain type of person that we are not. And that's one, a rich person, two, a person who doesn't have anything, doesn't have a lot of kids, I think, is what it is. I mean, I think it's, you know, you can't take your kids.

You have to make it a priority. I know. But there's people, you know, It's pricey. They go to things all the, they go to these concerts all the time. And it's a big commitment. I'm not just talking about going to a concert that costs $90 or something. I'm just talking about a band that's playing somewhere.

Live music. I will say, when the Avett brothers come to town, we should work that out. We should go there. We're big fans of theirs. We should go. But I'm not going to wait afterward like a schoolgirl and try to meet them. But if you know them, anyone out there knows them personally. go and then but i'm not going to wait afterward like a school girl and try to meet him but if you know them anyone out there knows them personally they wrote a song about my sister-in-law

well i've heard that a million times look at where that's gotten us nowhere i'm tired of hearing about it honestly because you can't work it into an angle for us to meet them i mean let me tell you a little something about the avet brothers and then we'll move on and talk to shane dawson they're from north carolina They're from North Carolina. They're from North Carolina. And Scott Avett, one of the two Avett brothers, kind of had a thing with my wife's sister in college at East Carolina University.

And he wrote a song about her, Pretty Girl from Cedar Lane. Her name's Ashley. She's the Ashley in the song. And we went to- So you say. I know for a fact. And we went to the-

It hasn't gotten us anywhere. Well, we went to the concert, the New Year's Eve show, this past year. And you know where Ashley sat? She sat with me in the back row, the absolute furthest spot away from the Avett Brothers. So that's why getting a song written after you works out when the band comes to town. Well, it's just because we think it might be inappropriate to try to work that angle.

That's all I'm saying, but Avett Brothers, if you're listening, anybody- You emailed them. What do you mean it's inappropriate? You emailed them. I'm bitter about this. I'm asking all of you listeners out there. Two years ago, I said, hey, listen,

we make internet videos, but enough about that. My sister-in-law, you wrote a song about her, and we wanna meet you guys. It is kind of a weekend. Yeah, it did work. But we'll make a music video for you guys. We will, it'll be awesome. I also wanted to see Willie Nelson at the

Hollywood Bowl. I haven't gone to a show at the Hollywood Bowl. I'll see anybody there. It's pathetic, Link. Lionel Richie is going to be at the Hollywood Bowl next month. Really? But we're going to be out of town in North Carolina when he's here. It's a world-renowned venue. It's a bowl. It's a bowl. Well, of course it is. That's why it's called Hollywood Bowl. Okay, this week we talked to Shane Dawson. You know him from his very popular YouTube channel, Shane Dawson TV. It's been around since 2008.

He's got just under 5 million subscribers on that channel. On his second channel, which is youtube.com slash Shane, his vlog channel, he's got justcom slash Shane, his vlog channel. He's got just under 3 million subscribers over there, and he just launched, I mean, I guess it's been a couple of months now, his own audio podcast called Shane and Friends, which is doing really well.

Not a competitive podcast, though. We're not in competition with it. No, no, no. Don't get discouraged. Don't get discouraged. Ear Biscuits is not in direct competition with Shane and Friends. Because if it was, we would lose.

I think that's my point. I'm trying to make myself feel better. It's just a different thing. We sit down with Shane. Here it is. Convo it up. So let's start this off right. You had ghosts in your house.

Still do. And you're selling it. Well, I'm not selling it because of that. That was definitely a reason. But something I left off the, you know, like buy this house card. Right. Free ghosts. Yeah.

My grandma's here. No, so I, my grandma died and I never, ever believed in ghosts ever. Did she die in the house? No. I don't know where she died. I don't know. Long Beach? Even worse.

So she died back in Long Beach. And, you know, I was really, really close to her. And one night I was laying in bed, you know, watching Friends or something. And I look over at the closet and she was standing there. And I've never, you know, I'm not into all that weird ghost. So it freaked me out. I ran out of my room. I threw up in the hallway. I was like hyperventilating.

My brother ran in and my brother out of nowhere, because he's not into that stuff either. He goes, did you see grandma? And I said, what? How do you know that? He's like, because I heard her voice. He's like 28. So we both are like little girls just screaming and crying. My mom runs up and my mom who's like Christian, but not into ghosts either. She stops us and she goes, I know what happened. Cause I can feel it

and calm down. It's just grandma. We're like, it's just grandma. She's dead. So we go back to my closet and I look and when she died, I didn't take any of her like valuables, but I took this one robe that she used to wear every day because I'm creepy as hell so I took her robe and it was hanging in my closet

and that's right where I saw her. Yeah, it was creepy as hell. How long ago was this? This was about two years ago and then I stopped

sleeping in that room. I created a bedroom in my garage. I had it converted and I slept in my garage for the next year. You let grandma have your bedroom. I was like, you can have in my garage for the next year. You let grandma have

your bedroom. I was like, you can have it, grandma. You can have the robe. You can have it all. And then I went to my, sorry, I'm going, I'm talking too much about this. Is this creepy? No, no, this is interesting. Probably not true, but interesting. So then I was having a lot of really weird experiences in that house. I was having a lot of really weird experiences in that house. So my girlfriend's mom's friend is like a medium who has like solved crimes and she's, you know, done all that stuff. Okay, and this is Lisa. We know Lisa.

Yeah, Lisa. Lisa's mom's friend. Is a medium. Okay. Which, you know, I thought was stupid and shady. But I looked her up and she like legit found dead bodies and like solved crimes and like has done a lot of good things i'm like okay let me go see her i didn't tell her anything i sat down with her and she goes your grandma's standing right next to you described my grandma said her name did all this stuff she had had lisa told her before you got there nothing i told her not to she's like no i

won't because you know i want her to be honest or whatever and um she described my grandma and goes your grandma tried to reach you in your closet and i'm like yes and she goes she was trying to tell you and she went into what she was trying to tell me and then she goes you'd rather not tell us because what's the nature of it or what's the specifics of it long story short is I was working

a little bit too hard and was leading toward a breakdown which is true and luckily I listened to that advice and I didn't toward a breakdown, which is true. And luckily I listened to that advice and I didn't have a breakdown. But you know how it is with YouTube and all these things. You're doing a million things. Sure.

And you wear yourself the f*** out. Oh, yeah. So that happened. And I was like, okay, I get it. Thanks, Grandma. But she also said, tell your mom that your grandma wants to tell her to get rid of all your grandma's stuff. Because my mom started putting my grandma's all over the house. It was a little strange.

And the medium said, your grandma thinks your mom is making a shrine of her, and that's not healthy, and she needs to get rid of the shrine so she can move on. I go home, and I said, Mom, and I'm not lying. My mom goes, Shane, I just had this weird feeling. And I look over, and there's a box of stuff. And I'm like,. My mom goes, and my mom goes, Shane, I just had this weird feeling. And I look over and there's a box of stuff. And I'm like, what's going on? She's like, something just told me to like, start taking down grandma's things. Like, it's almost like I have a shrine of her, her serious words. I started bawling. I called Lisa. I'm like, oh my God, your mom's friends

real. And like, it got really scary. My mom started crying. We had this whole thing and I'm like, okay, we, I think I'm going to get my mom into her own little house. I think I'm going to sell this house. So it definitely was part of the reason I need to get some stress off of my back. So even though you received guidance from your grandmother, you said, I'm still getting out. We're still getting out of this house. Part of the reason, though, was because the house was a huge load of stress. You know, I bought a big house, and that was not – I mean, it was smart, but it though was because the house was a huge load of stress you know i bought a big house and that was not i mean it was smart but it also was like you

know a huge monkey on my back you know it's huge house that my mom was living and that i'm filming in that my all my dead grandma's stuff is in that it's like it was i needed to clear some so it wasn't just grandma that that but she is part of the reason that i decided to finally sell it because i i wasn't going to and after that i was like i think grandma's telling me to sell this house did she show up again or just that one time no she never showed up again one time deal one time that's all that's all it took she got her point across it sounds like i mean but you know it's funny because i i still am very weary of when people say, you know, they believe in all this stuff. But I mean, it legit happened and it was real and it was really terrifying to see a dead person standing in front of you.

Well, let's go back even earlier than two years ago. Okay. When grandma in the closet and go to grandma in real life. We can go. Living grandma era. Yeah, right. Where are you from? Where'd you grow up? Long grandma era. Yeah, right. Where are you from? Where'd you grow up?

Long Beach. Oh. LBC. Where'd your grandmother die? Me and Cameron Diaz and Snoop Dogg. Those are the only people. Oh, and the woman from Reno 911. I know she still lives there.

Really? Wendy something, yeah. And. If you go to Long Beach's Wikipedia page, we are there. How often do you go back to Long Beach? Never. You don't miss it. Well,

it's not that far. First of all, it is. It's not, but it is. It's far enough that you would have to decide to go back. There's no reason to go back is what you're saying. It's the worst drive ever for so many reasons.

We've been there for a couple of things. Your son had a dive meet in Long Beach. He did. And that's the one time I went. That was it. Not too great, not too bad. He won. There's a wharf down there, right? What do you call it? Wait, what? A wharf. Like a big pier?

I don't mean like a dog. I got excited because I thought you meant like dwarf, which is, I mean, incorrect. There's a dwarf hybrid, whale hybrid down there called the wharf. There is a rumored dwarf town. Have you heard about this? In Long Beach? Yes.

Well, you've heard about Midget. This is so, sorry, Little People Town? Midget Town? You've heard about this, right? Just give it to us straight. Okay, Midget Town. Have you heard about this? No.

No, but I want to. Is it within Long Beach? Here's the thing. I think every town has this rumor. Obviously, Midget Town. Have you heard about this? No. No, but I want to. Is it within Long Beach? Here's the thing. I think every town has this rumor. Obviously, your guys' didn't. But Midget Town, for those listening, maybe they've heard, is supposedly there's a town in every town where just little people live and all the houses are small. Everybody has a story like, yeah, me and my friends were there one night. We got drunk and we hit a midget with our car.

Like everybody has a Midget Town story. But there is actually a Midget town in Long Beach. And that's why the stories got created. Are there signs? Yeah, it's called Short Beach. I probably shouldn't have said that. Yeah, that was a little punny. It was just standing there.

Is there a sign? I have not been there, but it's very, very gated. So it's not around anymore. It's not around anymore. Okay. But what it was, was when they were filming Wizard of Oz. I have so many weird facts. I'm sorry. Oh, no's very, very gated. So it's not around anymore. It's not around anymore. Okay. But what it was was when they were filming Wizard of Oz. I have so many weird facts. I'm sorry.

Oh, no, I have heard about this. Yes. Yes, on NPR they talked about all the munchkins at the time they were filming lived there, and, you know, they stick together. They bought a bunch of little places and, you know, had a bunch of little houses. And the houses are still there. I think the houses are still there, but I don't think anybody's living there. We talked to the security guard and a bunch of people around the area,

and they were all very casual about it. Like, oh, yeah, that was a historical place, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, oh, so it's real. All right, so give us some of the details of growing up in Long Beach. Well, besides our endless searches for Midget Town, oh, God, I don't even know. Did you grow up with both your parents, your grandma? How did this work? No.

Okay, so my dad left, kind of left. I don't know what. He left. I guess that's a word for it, when I was about nine. And then I lived with my mom and my grandma. The grandma. The dead grandma. Okay, got it.

Brothers and sisters? My brother, two brothers. Yes, two. Oh, God. Sometimes I just forget family. That sounds terrible. You forget how many

brothers you have? No, just family. Oh, God. Yes, two brothers. There's so many pictures. You know what I mean? That other brother, he's in pictures.

I've never met him. No, but I was looking through pictures the other day because we're moving, we're cleaning, and I saw this picture of me and my brother and some little girl. I'm like, who the hell is that? My mom's like, oh, we had a daughter for a while. I'm like, what do you mean you had a daughter for a while? She's like, well, it just didn't work out.

I'm like, that doesn't make any sense. Yeah, can you explain? Like a foster kid? I think what it was is my mom couldn't physically, she always wanted a daughter, and she kept having sons. And I think at some point she's like, physically, this isn't going to happen. So I'm going to get a daughter. And I think through a church, she started adopting one.

But I think something bad happened with the daughter. Maybe she was possessed. I don't know. But it didn't work out. I think the original parents took her back. It was some weird. Sounds like a foster situation. Lifetime situation.

Right. But you have two brothers brothers We're going on record You grew up with two brothers One of them was very absent So I really grew up with one Okay I think I've met that brother The absent one?

No No I'm like where? I haven't seen him in so long The one that you stay in touch with I stay in touch with both but yeah I think you guys met The one I grew up with Jared

Okay so what was it like You and Jared growing up with your mom And grandma It was rough well We were very messed up kids Because you know we had such a messed up Upbringing so we were constantly Trying to find attention and love So we were constantly trying to find

attention and love and we were going nuts. We would wrestle and literally he threw me through a glass door one time. It didn't hurt. I was 400 pounds, by the way. I think I missed that. But he threw me through a glass door. We would get into these crazy fights. The cops would be called on us sometimes. We'd get kicked out of churches and restaurants. We were very looking for attention when we were about, you know, nine, ten years old. So at nine years old,

your brother threw the 400-pound you through a glass door? Here's the thing, though. It was an accident, kind of. We were really into wrestling at the time, and he was trying to do, like, this undertaker move. Oh, yeah.

And it just didn't... He covered me in blankets. So I was okay. But the move was he put me in blankets on a chair and then he would run toward the chair with his arm and he was trying to knock me out. But then he missed and I just flew through the glass. I can understand that.

Zach West pile-drived me in front of his grandma when we were in middle school, and I never went to his house again. I was terribly embarrassed. I know. It was pretty painful, too. Yeah. But mostly it was an ego pain.

Yeah. With the grandma laughing and everything. But there was no punching. Did your brother ever punch you? No, we loved each other so much, but we were, I don't know. We both have very high pain thresholds. I don't ever really feel pain.

I'm sounding so weird in this interview, but it's fine. I'm going to go with it. Yeah. Like I just got an ear surgery and it was supposed to, the doctor's like, you're going to be out for three days. Like it's going to be the most pain you've ever had. You're going to vomit. I had Lisa with me and she's holding my hand.

I'm crying. I'm nervous. He did the whole thing and I didn't even know he did it. And he's oh wow you have hype like you didn't feel that at all you have no feelings what was the surgery for oh god i had this intense ear infection um and they had to drain my ear and poke holes in it and put a tube in there and do a bunch of weird stuff cut things out you got a tube in there right now. I think it fell out. It dissolves.

Yeah, it falls out or something. Oh, okay. So you might need to make another appointment if that's not supposed to happen. Traditions dictate that you're supposed to eat it when it falls out. Oh. It's good luck. Yeah. Okay. All right.

It's like a mother eating the placenta. Which is also good luck. No, and it's becoming like the in thing out here in California. I'm not kidding. Okay, so now you're sounding weirder than me, so this is good. Let's keep going. We're all comfortable.

Well, no, I'm just, so I guess I said that to ask, now, did your mom eat the placenta after you were born? Because that is kind of a thing. I'm not kidding. They dry it out and they put it in tea and stuff. No, but I- It's supposed to be very helpful.

I did poop in the placenta bag and it almost killed my mother because that could kill you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Okay, so... She didn't need it.

Now, you said that... How much did you say you weighed as a kid? I mean, how much do you weigh now? You're like... I'm like 175 now and... You said you weighed how much? My highest was... I don't know exact number. My scale only went up to 350 and I was always 175 now. You said you weighed how much? My highest was, I don't know exact number. My scale only went up to 350, and I was always at error.

But I lost a bunch of weight, and then I was at 350. So I was probably highest, 400. And this is, you're talking like from a young age, like nine years old or younger. I mean, I was always huge, but I probably was around 400 when I was like 14. Okay. And you said that things were messed up for you as a kid. You're talking about as a result of your dad not being there or did something happen? I mean, I don't want to bring the mood too down.

No. You want me to bring it down? We just want you to talk to us. We can turn the lights on a little bit. It's fine. You're going to get tears. No, you're not. I have no feelings.

No. So my dad lights on a little bit. It's fine. You're going to get tears. No, you're not. I have no feelings. No, so my dad was not a happy man, so he was not that friendly toward us and loved the drinks. And yeah, so he ended up leaving us for my

Spanish teacher slash mom's best friend. Oh, no. Who was really cool. I loved her. It's like a Mad Men situation. Yeah, it was intense. And it's funny because when I was a kid, I didn't really get the full story until now I look back.

I'm like, oh, wow, that was weird and a lot. But yeah, so he left. We were all very excited when he left because, you know, he was abusive and stuff. So then me and my mom and my brother, we lost everything because he took everything. So we like lost our house and we were almost living in our car at one point. And out of nowhere, our dentist was like, oh, you could rent my old house for, you know, a fourth of the price that I usually would rent it out. So we were really lucky and blessed with that. So my mom started working.

She had never had a job before. She started working at like Macy's or something, and we got our lives back together. And was your dad completely out of the picture at that point? There was no like visitation? No. No, I saw him once in a while, but he wasn't paying child support. He wasn't helping with anything.

I think it was it was very yuck he was terrible um and that all happened in the middle school years that was from nine to about god i mean from nine to eighteen really um but all the bad probably from like nine to thirteen okay and so then that's a really bad age all the bad probably from like nine to 13. Okay. And so then you, that's a really bad age for those bad things to be happening. I would imagine food was great. Loved food, obviously. So, so food was a coping mechanism for you at that time. Food was definitely, you know, my, my brother, Jared, I'm sure he's fine with me going into this cause he's turned his life around, but he got into drugs. And my other brother got very into drugs to a point where we didn't see him. And I just loved food.

And the bad thing is they always say, they always make excuses like, oh, poor people, you know, I'm sorry, what is the excuse? Well, the excuse is like, oh, it's so expensive to eat healthy. It's like, no, that's true. It's way too expensive to eat healthy. It was really cheap to eat cans and cans of refried beans and government cheese. That's what was cheap for us. So I just got really big. But you know what?

I held it well. I never looked 400. I looked like 250. That's impressive. I was lucky. You still had some mean wrestling moves. So many wrestling moves. I was really good at knocking my brother out who was going through the door. Five years older than me.

Just going through the door. Um, but yeah, yeah. So I got really fat. I'm sorry. What was the question? Childhood. I was fat. What did I eat?

I don't know. What else? Well, so, so at that age you said going in so 14 basically transition between middle school and high school you go to a public school in long beach so when when my dad was around we went to a catholic school private school oddly enough he was very high up in the church at the time we were like a priest like a cardinal we were like seventh Well, so we went to a Catholic school, but the Christian church, which was like the biggest church in Long Beach, like Calvary Chapel or one of those, he was like the head guy there, minister, I don't know. And we were all very up in that church. We went to a Catholic school, which I was always very confused about.

So when all that went down, we got kicked out of the school, and it was like a big controversy. So I had to go to public school which i was excited about because you know private school's terrible um and yeah and i went to public school for the rest of of school and we were pretty broke forever up until like i was 19 maybe right you know when i when I think Long Beach public high school I think like typical California

movie high school am I wrong about that yes well unless you're thinking of like like Say the Last Dance high school

can't say for sure cause I haven't seen it. What? But the word beach is in the town, so you're like learning on a surfboard. You're like learning math on a surfboard, right? It just seems clicky. I mean, all schools are clicky, but I just have this like California high school. There's the cool kids.

There's the jocks. There's the beach guys. There's the Hispanic kids. So Long Beach is cut into two slices. There's the kids. There's the jocks. There's the beach guys. There's the Hispanic kids. So Long Beach is cut into two slices. One half is like lesbians and like old retired white people, which is the nicest half. That's like Sherman – what's it called? Belmont Shore.

That's where they filmed Dexter because it looks like Miami. Like that's the cool – there's an aquarium there, which I was a security guard for the octopus at one point. We'll get to that later. 400 pounds security guard. Yeah. We will get to that later. Okay. Go ahead. But then there's the other half of Long Beach, which is where I grew up, which is just like all the black kids, which explains a lot about me. All the Mexicans. I was one of the only white people there and yeah so I was definitely on that side of Long Beach

closer to Lakewood which does not have a lake and it is it did at one point probably it had woods too yeah maybe so yeah I was in that area of Long Beach so my crowd was

all black people. And this sounds racist and whatever, I guess it's going to, but I definitely got picked on a lot being a 400-pound white lesbian-looking boy. I had to form a sense of humor. And I really took from the black culture, and I started creating jokes out of the movies they were watching, the music they were listening to, all this stuff. So my humor is very, very black black and it still is pretty black so um but but you had i mean

you said that you were made fun of but you had legitimate friends who were are you saying your friends made fun of you or everyone else but you had your friends who were black people who taught you what was funny no i didn't really have friends. I had like one friend every year. And they were also, I mean, I had a friend who was like in a wheelchair and like, I mean, let's just say, God, I don't want to say retarded. I've already said midget. Oh Lord. Whatever. I had a retarded friend. I was, I was the president of Best Buddies, which is a program in school where you befriend a retarded person and you take them to the movies and you like go to Disneyland with them. And I was the president.

I know. I'm a giver. Still talk to her. Francis, we're friends on Facebook. Shout out. Hey, Francis. Every year I had a friend who definitely was like somebody who needed me. I guess I was trying to like fix people and help people or whatever. And around

But I, let me pause because that's pretty, that is pretty remarkable. I mean, I remember what we were like at that age and not that we were, you know, I'm not going to say that we were the kind of guys that were going to, you know, point out somebody who had some challenges and make fun of them. But then I was definitely not the kind of guy that was like, oh, but I'm also going to befriend this person, much less be the president of the best, is the Best Buddies Club? Best Buddies. Best Buddies. Still around, still kicking.

I mean, that's, I think that says a lot about who you were, who you are. Well, you know, when you have no control at home, you can't really get anything together at home. You can't like be in – what's the word for it? You can't really help anybody because you're the youngest kid and you can't really do much. You can't get money for your mom. You can't do anything. So when you go to school and you see like these special kids who have no friends and you see this thing, you're like, oh, I can help these people. I don't have money, but I have time,

and I could hang out with these kids, and, like, they're just as bored and lonely as I am. And I did a lot of stuff like that from, like, 6th grade to 9th grade, a lot of, like, you know, community service type of stuff just because, you know, better than sitting at home and eating. Well, not as great, but. But you were finding at the time that, you know, being funny was. And they were the best audience.

It was a way to deal with this insecurity. It was a way to deal with being a target, essentially. Is that how it happened? Do you remember a specific moment where it was like, oh, this works? Yeah, I started drama class at the beginning of high school. And there was one skit. And I went to the teacher and I said, oh, can I write my own skit? And he's like, okay. So I did one where I played like a gangster character, and I played a couple characters, and I did it in front of like, you know, my class, and they loved it.

And the next day, they're like, do it in front of the whole school during this assembly, and I'm like, oh, okay. And I did it in front of the whole school, and I mean, it was nuts. Every person in the auditorium was standing up at the end of it and freaking out. I read the skit back a couple years ago. I'm like, this is terrible. But in high school, they loved it. And that really turned everything around. And that's when I was like, oh, I could actually, you know, do something funny and people will laugh.

And that's when I started making videos. So you're talking about starting YouTube at that time. YouTube wasn't around. This was like 2003, 2004. So I was just making videos for class projects. Okay. That was probably in 10th grade. And I would make these crazy, raunchy class projects.

And, of course, the teacher would shut and lock the door so the principal didn't come in. We'd watch them and laugh. You made crazy, raunchy videos that your teacher... Okay. We did, yeah. Specifically what? Well, like in economics class, we had to do something about dictatorship. So I did a short film, I guess, about me, about my little group, and the whole world ends.

And now me and my little group are in charge of the whole world. So I'm like, oh, God, I don't know how to be the president. Let me read some books. So I read like a Hitler book and I'm like, this guy's awesome. So then I come back and I, you know, I look like Hitler and I'm, you know, making people do all these crazy things. And we, you know, we, there was an Asian girl in our group and she was eating all the animals. Like it was, it was very, very offensive.

Is this on VHS somewhere? It's on YouTube. I think one of my teachers uploaded it. What? Yeah, and it has a lot of views, and it's flagged, which is like, I'm going to monetize this. I'm going to give my payday. This video's on YouTube. What is it called?

It's called Hitler High School. And it did pretty well. But yeah, so the teachers would pass around my videos to all the other teachers, and it was like this big thing. And yeah, that was before YouTube, and I did that like four projects a year. So you went viral amongst the teachers at your high school. It was very weird. Yeah. And once in a while, like they'd take me aside and be like,

saw your Hitler High School video. Funny. And I was like, what? How did you see that? Well, see, I think that's one of the differences between the Long Beach experience and then the

Harnett Central experience. We wouldn't have gotten very far with the Hitler High School video. That would have been shut down real fast. We made some racially insensitive videos

involving American Indians in middle school. I remember that. You did a horrible impression of Geronimo or something. I actually think that it's time to come clean about two things that are very relevant to this conversation. The first thing is, if you do not recall, you played a mentally handicapped person in that video that we made for class.

Yes, I did. You did, and I played a Native American. At some point, you don't plan, and the camera's rolling, and you just, you go into the first character that- You make a choice. But in your defense, I will say that we had read of Mice and Men, and we thought that this was gonna be a tasteful portrayal of a mentally handicapped person.

It wasn't like, it wasn't so much so, hey, let's do this, it'll be funny, you play a mentally handicapped person. It wasn't like, it wasn't so much so, hey, let's do this. It'll be funny. You play a mentally handicapped person and I'll play a Native American defending his land. But because we were trying to be funny, it ended up being funny

and definitely very insensitive. And there is no record of it and it will never make it on the internet. Yeah, none of the teachers are trying to monetize our... Well, it's just the age difference. It's just the fact they were that much older.

Those teachers are dead now. Well, between YouTube starting, just give me a time. When did you graduate from high school, just to get an idea? Graduated in 06. Okay, so that was the same time that YouTube launched. Started, yeah. So make some connection there between making videos that go viral with your teachers to putting videos on the internet. What are the specifics there? So I started putting up, you know, me and my friends right after high

school, right after we graduated, I decided I was going to lose weight because I was tired of being, you know, the funny fat guy. And I wanted to be a director and an actor. And I wanted to not just be Chris Farley because, you know, how that turned out. So- He died. He died. Children, he died. He had already died. He had already died. Got it. Yeah. So I- But you haven't seen him since. No. I wish. It's good. Don't put a jacket up in your closet.

Oh, I have so many ripped jackets too. I don't have any small ones luckily. So you wanted to lose weight. Lost weight. So that first year after high school, I was making videos with my friends, putting them up on YouTube. Nobody was watching. And during that time, I lost 200 pounds. Whoa.

So one question. Was this your current channel or was it another channel? No, no, no. This was So, one question. Was this your current channel or was it another channel? No, no, no. This was like Shane Yaw. It's not there anymore. I don't even remember deleting it, but it's gone.

Okay. Yeah. And then in the process of this, you lost how much? About, I'm bad at math, about, I'm like 175.

My lowest was like 165 and I think my highest was 400. So, over 200 pounds In what period of time? A year Is that even safe? You know what for guys So I lost it on Jenny Craig

For the most part And then I actually started working For Jenny Craig About halfway through my weight loss Because I needed a job And I would start seeing like, I would notice guys lose weight so fast. I had one guy lose like 300 pounds in a year. It was insane. This is once you started working there. Yeah. So, okay. I know how weight

watchers works. That like has point totals and you just basically manage your calories. Jenny Craig, is that the same thing or is that drinking shakes? Jenny Craig, oh, I wish. No, Jenny Craig is like eating lean cuisines and then having to talk to somebody for an hour a week about it. It's like the prepackaged meals are sent to your house, right? No, you have to go in. It's like going to the grocery store and talking to the clerk about your problems. There's a store? You got a counselor basically or someone that held you accountable or counseled you. A chubby buddy. But there's a place to go and buy the food. Yeah, so you go there, and it looks like a doctor's office from the 80s. It's the worst place ever.

There's pictures of D-list celebrities everywhere. And you walk in. You sit down with your chubby buddy. They weigh you. They tell you how much weight you lost, and then they order your food and say, oh, what do you want this week? And you buy a bunch of food, which is all very expensive, and there's a freezer room in the back.

They bring it out in bags and you leave. And this still goes on. Yeah. So you were going in there and you were seeing results. I mean, you were losing all types of weight and you decided to get a job with them. Well, I couldn't afford the food anymore. So about halfway through my weight loss,

like my mom was trying so hard. I was working all these random jobs, security guard. Security guard at the octopus. At the octopus. Who are you guarding? The octopus from the people or vice versa? Yeah, he was the ninth and tenth arm. I was guiding the octopus.

Children really liked to get in there and touch the octopus. And you can't do that. You would like hold their ankles? Yeah, all day I would tell them, no touching the octopus and you can't do that so i would like hold their ankles yeah all day i would tell them no touching the octopus so that was important uh but help me get jenny craig food and then um about halfway through i i lost that job um well they just the octopus they didn't need me i mean let's be honest the octopus yeah the octopus the octopus can defend itself got it oh it did no um so you applied for a job with jenny because you get your food for cheap like half off or something and um yeah i became

a chubby buddy and then over that what did you do specifically so uh i would i started out as just a counselor which is just like somebody would come in i'd sit down with them they'd talk about their week i'd give them advice and then send them on their way. And I was really, really good at it. And literally in like the first couple of weeks, they promoted me from counselor to manager. I'm a hard worker. The CEO loved me, promoted me to manager. And I was now managing all these people that have worked there for 20 years. I had worked there for two weeks. I was the biggest salesperson in the country at one point. I was I was really good at selling Jenny Crackers. Just out of Long Beach? No, the country.

I know, but you were working out of Long Beach. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you get a plaque or something? No. Well, this is where the... Sorry. I feel like I keep steamrolling, but... So long story short, I worked at Jenny Craig.

I was doing really well, and I made a video at work. We've heard of this I want to hear it from you okay and at this point you were like the top salesman in the country for Jenny Craig I was the

in Jenny Craig not in real life wasn't really making any money but I was they would actually send me to struggling other

Jenny Craig centers to like it was like a really Hillary Swank lifetime movie like across the country no no no like Orange County LA I would go to like downtown Fullerton and I would be the manager there for like a month and like, you know, make everybody work together and make the people love

everybody and sell a bunch of food. And then they'd fly me away to another terrible place to work for a month. And they did that because I was really good. And I would turn these places around. And what do you, what was it about you? I mean, what was your secret? Okay. I had the before and after thing, which was, which was, you know, really great to show people, although embarrassing. Cause you'd be like, this is my before and after picture. And they'd be like, how'd you get that big?

Oh my God. When did you eat? So that was like a daily constant reminder of my choices. But I had this speech cause Jenny Creek is very expensive. So the whole thing is you have to sell the program to these people who don't really have the money and you have to figure out how to get the money. So I came up with this speech. I was like, okay, listen. So for example, say you need to lose weight. So, and, but be very hesitant to buy it. Right. Okay. So the program is, it's a really great, it's a year long, it's $5,000. And, um, yeah, but I, I mean, I'm just minimum wage,

man. Listen, so am I. Uh, you saw my before and after picture. I didn't even have a job at that point. I was struggling. Check, check. Um, but think about it this way. And I'll go into this speech and say, you know, like, look at your car. For example, say right now your car totally broke down. Your tires fell off. Your engine just blew up. I don't know anything about cars, but all, everything goes wrong with the car. And they give you a bill and say, Hey, it's $5,000 to fix your car. You're going to find the money. You're going to split it between cards. You're going to call your mom. You're going to do whatever you can to get that car done. Cause you need that car. This is your body. You need your body a lot more than you need a car. And then they'd cry and be

like, Oh my God, you're so right. And they'd sign it. So at what point would you mention the octopus? And then I'd say, I used to work in an aquarium. If you really need money, I left it to you. I have a job. There's an opening at the aquarium. Okay. Tell us about the video then. So then, okay.

Another long story short, Valerie Bertinelli, who was the spokesperson at the time, nobody listening knows who she is probably. What show was she on in the 80s? One Day at a Time. One Day at a Time. Yeah. The only reason I know that is because the book was called like One Pound at a Time.

Right, yeah. Terrible pun. Yeah. So Jenny Craig was like, oh, give this to all of your new clients. Did you ever meet Jenny? No, she sold the company to Nestle Chocolate before I started working there, which is- Of course she did. A little ironic.

I mean, when she did sell though, all the food slowly turned chocolate, which was very weird. I'm not even kidding. Like clients would be like, why are these chips chocolate coated? What is mole? And I'm like, everything just slowly turned chocolate. Chocolate spaghetti. I was like, this isn't- Yeah, all the protein was chocolate. So, like, everything just slowly turned. Chocolate spaghetti. I was like, this isn't. All the protein was chocolate.

So, no, I never met her. But, yeah, so her people were like, oh, give out these Valerie Bertinelli autobiographies to all your clients for free. And I'm like, okay. So, you know, we were right next to Leisure World, which is like old folks Disneyland. It's all the old people live there. It's like a big community of old people. All my clients were like 80. So I gave the book to them. They're all excited. They come back the next week and be like,

did you read this book before you gave it to me? And I'm like, no, I don't read. So I look through the book and I was just like, oh my God, every chapter. I mean, chapter one, cocaine, a hell of a drug. Chapter two, who was that? Like every chapter was intense. She was like a child star from the eighties and she had done all this stuff. So I thought it would be funny if I had some consultants and some old clients read passages from the book very seriously with music and lighting. And it was really, really

funny and I put it up and literally the next day... Because you had been making videos just on your own. Just like stupid vlogs. This was Shane Dawson TV, my now channel. So I was making very simple vlogs. This was my third video. And what was your expectation in putting it up?

Nothing. I was just like, oh, I cut my hair and I lost some weight. I'll make a new channel because my other channel, I look like Rosie O'Donnell. So I need to rebrand myself, I guess. And the third one was this. This one. Customers of Jenny Craig. Craig.

I want to say Craig because there's an eye yeah no it sounds good um customers reading excerpts from valerie bertinelli's autobiography which was really juicy really really really juicy and uh i got a not i didn't get a phone call okay another long story short my brother and my mom were working there as well. It was a family affair. I let them all in. So we're all at work and we're all like talking about the video. Like, wasn't that fun yesterday? Oh my God. So funny. It has 10 views. Isn't that awesome? And then a boom bust through the door, all these CEOs from Jenny Craig, like hardcore, terrifying looking CEOs, lots of pantsuits. And they grabbed me, took me to like an office, shut the door and read me my rights kind of thing. And we're like,

sign that paper and you're out. And I was like, wait, what? And they were doing it to everybody in separate offices. So then we all ended up in the parking lot at the same time. Everybody, you mean your brother and your mom? My brother and my mom and five other people that worked there. Some who had worked there for 25 years. Oh, you're kidding. It was bad. And we were on the parking lot and everybody's like, what's going on? Oh my God. And the CEO walked out again. They're like, you can't ever be here. You need to leave. We will send your stuff in the mail. You need to leave. We had committed a crime. My mom had her hands behind her back at one point. Handcuffs?

Not handcuffs, but as they were walking her out, they acted like they handcuffed her. They were literally in front of clients walking her out like a criminal. I was like, put my before and after pictures in there. So much for being the top salesman. I know, they didn't care. Now, is this video still up?

No, somebody re-uploaded it, though. So it's up now? Mm-hmm. And what's it called? I don't know what they called it. It was probably like Shane's deleted

Jenny Craig video or something. Okay. So how long was it up before, you know, the Forcible? You said 10 views. Oh, like nothing.

Yeah, like 10 views. It was crazy. Nobody watched it. I guess somebody at Jenny Craig watched it maybe? Yeah. It had to be somebody

on the inside if you weren't popular at the time. Well well here's the there was one woman working there who didn't get fired who hated me because i was good it was her she had been there for 20 years and she was never promoted she hated me um and yeah i think she ratted us out for sure bitch okay so you lost your job well and along with some other people, then what? Then I'm not going to lie. I had a very serious depression for like a while. I mean, you know, I caused everybody to lose their jobs, a lot of guilt.

My mom, me and my brother were all on unemployment. We were trying to find jobs and I tried to be a security guard again. They didn't want me. So but literally a week later i think i got a phone call from youtube being like hey do you want to be a partner and i was like what and it was so early on and um and yeah that gave me hope of course i got turned down from being a partner because i didn't have enough videos or something but i was like you know what if i could make more videos and really put my heart and energy into this while on unemployment maybe soon i could make this a job

and it happened like a few months later, I got partnered. And what year were we talking about? Oh, wait. Oh, wait. Okay. So you must have had more videos that gave them cause to contact you for the revenue share. I think at the time, you know what it was?

I made a video the day I got fired called YouTube Got Me Fired. And that one did well because of the title maybe um I think it got like maybe like 5,000 views in a day which for me back then was a lot you were just telling the story and I was like kind of crying in it but not really and I was like upset about it I was wearing a terrible ill-fitting vest it was all very Jonas Brothers and um and that one got a lot of attention in the little YouTube community at the time. And I think that's what they saw, I think. That was like my maybe fourth video. Okay. But then they wouldn't let you in because you didn't have enough videos.

But then a few months later, you were making more videos. Were you gaining traction? Yeah. I went from, you know, I had like 5,000 views on that video. And then I started getting, you know, like 50,000 views. And then I think by the time I got partnered, I was getting like a hundred thousand views a video. What were the videos? I started doing, um, the thing about YouTube back then, and I'm sure obviously you guys know this, uh, at the time there wasn't that many people talking directly

to the audience and like engaging being like, Hey guys, what do you think about this topic? And I'd have a sketch and then I'd ask them what they think about the topic. And, um, I created like this cool group of kids who felt very, like didn't fit in very much like I felt in their age. And it was word of mouth. I mean it grew like I think it probably had maybe 100,000 subscribers in like, I don't know, a few months or something. So it was a sketch. I mean what we've grown to expect from your channel. So it was a sketch.

I mean, what we've grown to expect from your channel, it was kind of a sketch thing that then would have a sincere vlog conversation with your audience tacked on to the end of it. Yeah, and like back then I didn't do it too well. I always wanted to have a moral at the end of the video because, you know, it's how I grew up. I always wanted to help people out and have a moral. And, I mean, I watched some of the older videos and I'm like, wow, that sounded terrible.

Cause I would have this crazy, crazy video with sex and drugs and all this stuff. And then at the end, I'd be like, guys, I don't drink and you shouldn't drink either. It's so bad. So public service announcement. I wasn't subtle at all, but that was my goal was to like spread, do like afterschool specials on crack.

That was my goal. Yeah. It's interesting that I imagine a lot of people, I mean, even my first impression was, wow, this guy will say anything he's thinking. And oh my gosh, the kids who are listening to this, I'll listen to the language or the topics that he's talking about. And then at the end, he's doing this thing where it's kind of like flipping it around. But I guess I was missing the point and not seeing where you were coming from. Even now, as I appreciate your story, that it was, I mean, it was even very calculated. You

said you weren't good at it, but what would you say, or what was your experience, I guess, dealing with those people all along who would just react to the content upfront and not really see what you were trying to do? I ignored it because I knew what I was doing. And I, you know, when I was a kid, I grew up on horror movies, not horror movie, horror, horror, horror, horror movies. I grew up. That's all I watched. It's all I knew. I still, that's all I watched it's all i knew i still that's all i watch really um so i have had was so desensitized to violence and cussing and boobs and all of that stuff so for me i wanted to be genuine and authentic with what i thought was funny what i thought was cool and i was into dark humor and all that stuff and i was like maybe there's other

kids out there that are like that too and when when YouTube first started, it was those kids. Now it's a little more mainstream. But back then it was like the dark gothic kids at school. And that's what they thought was funny too. And one of my first sketches was about phone sex where I had phone sex with a girl and she ended up like killing somebody. I don't know. It was very dark. And yeah, like – and that's just what I knew. And then the moral was phone sex kills?

Yeah. The moral was there's always, if you think your life is bad, there's always somebody out there whose life is worse than yours and you should appreciate what you have. It was always like, the morals were very, very loosely tied to it. But, um. I mean, has your, has your mission, so to speak, remained the same? Here we are, 2013, and we all know that YouTube has changed dramatically. It's so, you know, for guys like you, it's a business. I mean, this is what you do.

This is what you're going to do for the foreseeable future. You're an entertainer now, full-time entertainer. Yeah. what you're going to do for the foreseeable future. You're an entertainer now, full-time entertainer. Yeah. How has the approach changed in terms of, are you still trying to get those morals across?

I still do once in a while, but for the most part, because YouTube is now so mainstream and it's not just depressed kids, it's like everybody's watching YouTube. So I don't want to hammer in morals every week because it gets a little like preachy, but probably like once a month I'll do a moral. But my whole thing now is I look at it like, okay, now my goal is just to give five minutes of entertainment to somebody who needs it. And if there's a moral, great. If there's not, at least they got five minutes of free entertainment.

And then hopefully now just keep proving people like, oh, I can actually direct because my goal now, which has been my goal since I was five, is to direct. So now I'm not really in my videos anymore. And all my last like hit videos, I guess, it's so hard nowadays to get a hit. But like my last couple like good videos, I haven't even been in. Like my last couple parodies, I wasn't even in. Just behind the scenes writing, directing. So that's kind of my goal now is to take a little step back yeah and uh you know we we've seen both of your uh the recent miley parodies which

when i saw your um the we can't stop parody i was i called my wife and i was like you've got we've got to watch this because we because we had just watched her video and i was like i was just like, Shane is totally. Which was full of morals. Totally. I mean, I love the way that you just totally called her out and just kind of just, you know, you just told the truth about the situation. And who is the girl that plays Miley in this?

Her name is Kristen Finley. And I've known her, the Fine Brothers introduced me to her like six years ago or something, five years ago maybe. is a genius she's the funniest person I've ever met and she is one of the best actresses I've ever ever worked with it's not even directing I mean she just does it and I just film it like that's she's so good yeah they were great I think one of the things that I'm interested in and we'll wrap up here in a little bit, but I'm definitely interested in the being, you know, the Shane that was the overweight kid in high school that was struggling with making friends.

So definitely not the popular kid to all of a sudden being the Shane Dawson that we all know. Right, we go to VidCon and I remember in the first VidCon, there was just talk about how you couldn't get from one side of the room to the other and that you had to have security. I was like, yeah, that's – I mean, for – So embarrassing.

From what you came from to that, where you have to have security when going into a conference and then after everyone lines up for your autograph what is that like for you it's weird it never i've never been um i've never felt like empowered by it i've never been like excited about getting recognized or like i've never had like random meet like you know you'll see youtubers like let's have a meetup guys. Cause you know, it's like an ego boost. It's validation. I've never had that where I need that. Um, but I almost, but I'm also not uncomfortable with it. It's like when I will go to VidCon, all the kids are there. Our relationship is very much like friends. Like they come right up to me, they give me a hug. They tell me like their sad story. And then we hug it out, take a picture and they're're gone it's very like the way I would treat a friend um tell them all my sad stories and then leave

um whereas like you see a nowadays YouTube is changing to where like you see the British YouTubers walk in and it's very like superstar like kids don't want to go up to them they're scared they're like taking pictures from far away it's it's like the way you would treat a real celebrity so but my audience is still very like friends So it's just felt like I have a lot of friends, which is definitely different for me. But also people who know me sometimes better than my real friends know me. So I'm never nervous or shy or uncomfortable. Well, I mean, do you, you know, being somebody who struggled to make friends and, you know, was being made fun of and now being somebody who you've got all these friends. I mean, you see the fans as friends, and I totally understand that.

I mean, that's definitely, it's very different. The relationship between a YouTube celebrity and a fan is much different than any traditional celebrity. But how do you think that's impacted? Do you find any sort of security in that now? As an example, I came home the other night, and my wife had a really hard day. And I said something. I can't remember what I said. I said something insensitive that kind of just started an argument.

And she mentioned, she said, you know, I've been here with your two sons all day who have not been appreciating me and what I've been doing for them. You've been out there being a YouTuber with all these thousands of people who appreciate you. Of course, there's the haters, but then there's the people who appreciate what you do. And it kind of hit me. It's like, yeah, you know, it is true that once you get to a certain level on YouTube, it's kind of like you're someone who does something, like if it's Good Mythical Morning, it's every single day,

it's a video every once in a while. People appreciate it, you know, and it kind of hit me. I was like, you know, I wonder how much I'm kind of, how much that comforts me, the fact that there's all these people out there who appreciate what I do. For you, somebody who didn't necessarily have that growing up, now you've got it. Is, how are you dealing with that? Um, it's still a lot of, um, I still have

a lot of like the pressure to, which is why I told you earlier, like I have gotten close to having a breakdown because I take all these kids or viewers or whatever you want to call them. I take all these kids' problems and stuff on me and I'm like, oh, if I don't have a new video out on Saturday, all these kids are going to be disappointed. It's like so much pressure. And then the last year, ever since my dead grandma told me to chill I've definitely like taken a back seat to some things and like chilled out and um been honest with the audience and said listen guys I need a break or listen guys I'm taking some time off or listen guys I'm doing videos once every

other week and they've been so cool about it and um and yeah so there's there's a lot of pressure but also I'm trying to change my mindset and be like, oh, these kids, it's not like they're just living for me. I'm just entertainment now. Like five or six years ago, some of these kids were just like living for YouTube. And now that it's more mainstream, does that make any sense? I feel like it's, there's less of a, I don't think any kids are going to kill themselves if I don't release a video on Saturday. You know what I'm saying? I hope not.

Right. And you're learning not to put as much pressure on yourself. I mean, to deal with what it is that has become your career and that has all these ins and outs to it. You've got to find a way to stay sane. I mean, the fact that I'm sane. Well, semi. After this interview, I don't know. Well, listen, man, we appreciate you sitting down with us and being candid

and allowing us to get to know you a little bit better. And it seems like you should probably sign the table. I could sign it? We need a Sharpie. Grab the Sharpie. There should be one right over there. You have a lot of Elvis memorabilia. Yeah, that was a gift.

No, but you have other Elvis memorabilia in other places here. Here we go. Yeah, we got the Elvis clock from Memphis, and then this was a gift from his sister-in-law. Those are the only two Elvis things we have. Is this wrong? This is a big sharpie. It is. Well, you know, I want you to

be able to make your mark. You can really go anywhere. You don't really have to come this way. Even like Grace and Phil went that way. Oh, I thought this was just like people only sign it where they sit. Well, everyone sits where you're sitting. I know. Thus far, that is the case.

Do people ever try to sit over there, and do you get mad? Because I noticed you brought a special chair for yourself. A throne. Yeah, I need some arms. I need some armrests here. All right. I'll sign it when I'm done. It's over.

We're done. Oh, we're done? There you have it, our conversation with Shane Dawson, a man who used to weigh 400 pounds. Wow, I mean, I learned a lot. The whole ghost thing, I guess if I saw my grandma as a ghost, first of all, both my grandmas are living, so that's not possible. That would be weird. It would be very sad if they grandma as a ghost. First of all, both my grandmas are living, so that's not possible.

That would be weird. It would be very sad if they appeared as a ghost when they weren't even dead. But if my dead grandma appeared to me, I would vomit too. I'd run into the hallway and I'd vomit. It would be, I guess that's how I would react. How would you react?

I don't know. Well, all of my grandmothers are dead. I have more, how many do I have? I have none now. I had two at one point. I have three grandfathers. I haven't seen any, they're all dead. I haven't seen any of them as a ghost.

I'm sure you will tell us if you have had an appearance of a grandfather or grandmother in your life and it changed your life like it did Shane's. Interesting conversation. I am enjoying doing this. We've got three of these under our belts. Are you enjoying this in your car, in your home, in your earphones, in your earbuds?

Making an ear biscuit out of this? Thank you for listening. We will do this again next week. Yeah. At least I will. It's going to keep happening. I will be here.

I like having these conversations. I feel like something is being accomplished and documented. I feel like I'm learning something every single week. I hope that the people are learning something every single week from someone that they find interesting. Thank you for being here, people. Listen to us next week.