Valuetainment - Episode 177： How to Make Money On YouTube as a Comedian

00:00:00.000 Look, there's a lot of ways to monetize YouTube.

00:00:18.940 There just is.

00:00:19.440 There's many, many ways to monetize YouTube.

00:00:21.120 Some do it through business, some do it through acting, makeup, bodybuilding, fitness.

00:00:24.880 But today, J.P. Sears had figured out how to monetize his sense of humor with videos he made through sarcasm that went viral.

00:00:33.680 And now he's being asked to go do comedy all around the world.

00:00:37.140 So first of all, J.P., I got to tell you, there's about 10 people out there that late at night, if I'm trying to go to sleep and I need a laugh, I need something to watch and laugh.

00:00:44.060 You are one of the guys on that list.

00:00:46.180 You crack me up.

00:00:47.400 Brother, thank you for coming out here.

00:00:49.160 It's good to have you on the show.

00:00:50.400 Thank you, Patrick, for having me.

00:00:52.220 And I'm both complimented and insulted at the same time that I would be one of the 10 that you use to laugh to go to sleep.

00:01:00.160 And then, of course, insulted that I'm one that puts you to sleep.

00:01:03.840 I'm so happy to be here with you today, brother.

00:01:06.300 Okay.

00:01:07.020 So I told him earlier, I said, you have the sense of humor of Yogi Berra because he's like this entire time we've been talking, his level of sarcasm hasn't stopped.

00:01:15.600 You've been nonstopped from the moment you came in here.

00:01:17.380 But every time I was like, wait a minute, two seconds later, that was a joke.

00:01:21.080 He just joked.

00:01:21.960 I got it two seconds late.

00:01:23.800 Let me just give you a couple of the episodes that he's done on YouTube.

00:01:26.500 If meat eaters acted like vegans.

00:01:29.680 Do you even know how dangerous deer are when you're driving your car?

00:01:33.060 If you don't kill and eat deer first, you basically want people to get into car accidents.

00:01:37.980 How to become gluten intolerant.

00:01:40.280 Give expert medical advice.

00:01:42.440 Once you take your gluten-free valves, you'll need to have an automatic understanding that every medical condition is caused by gluten.

00:01:50.860 Depression.

00:01:51.720 It's always caused by gluten.

00:01:53.740 Obesity.

00:01:54.420 That's 100% gluten.

00:01:56.000 And passive-aggressive relationship techniques.

00:01:58.440 Oh, thank you for cleaning the kitchen for once.

00:02:00.880 JP shares so much gratitude with me through his snarky comments.

00:02:06.860 And at the same time, he shames me a lot.

00:02:09.060 He is so good at directly communicating his thoughts with me with misdirected shame.

00:02:13.620 She deserves it.

00:02:14.760 At what point did you know, listen, I'm witty, I'm sarcastic, I'm awkward, I'm weird, I'm different.

00:02:21.520 But guess what?

00:02:22.060 That's who I am.

00:02:22.820 And I know you gave a talk on it with TED Talks, and you said the best way to be unique is not to be yourself, it's to be like everybody else.

00:02:30.960 So when did you, you know, come to your own and kind of figure out a way to say, this is who I am?

00:02:35.380 I started YouTube, and it was probably at least nine months into doing comedy videos on YouTube that I started to arrive into my own.

00:02:46.120 And like figure out, this is who I am, and it's not only okay, but it's awesome, and I want to celebrate it more and let more of me out.

00:02:55.500 So, you know, the first nine months of YouTube was like a feeling out process.

00:03:00.720 I felt like a newborn colt, wobbly legs, didn't really know, like, what is my sarcastic voice on camera?

00:03:08.520 I always knew it in my personal life.

00:03:10.280 Were you uncomfortable at first?

00:03:11.520 Were you like, how are people going to embrace me?

00:03:13.260 Was there a little bit of that or not at all?

00:03:14.640 I thought doing comedy videos would be a terrible idea.

00:03:17.580 I thought it would be the worst thing I could possibly do for my business, which up until four years ago when I started doing comedy videos,

00:03:24.900 I was doing emotional healing client coaching for 13 years, like life coaching.

00:03:30.100 And I was thinking like, yeah, I shouldn't be funny in the public because that would discredit me.

00:03:35.840 Were you funny doing that or was it a serious business?

00:03:38.780 Very serious.

00:03:39.600 Seriously?

00:03:39.960 Yeah, like really working with people, healing their pain, their trauma, helping them step into their personal power, resolve their life challenges.

00:03:47.960 From my point of view, if we can't trust, that means we're going to be forever lonely and isolated, not letting anybody in.

00:03:58.280 In my personal life, ever since I was a child, a sense of humor being a comedian was always something there in my personal life.

00:04:06.600 But in the professional life, I was compartmentalizing and telling myself a story like, yeah, I should be serious.

00:04:14.160 It would discredit me.

00:04:14.820 Isn't that amazing?

00:04:15.500 And it's amazing I believed that story for so long.

00:04:18.700 But then just kind of like having an itch that you got to scratch, I kept having these ideas to convey concepts through the language of comedy.

00:04:27.320 So comedy video ideas kept coming to me.

00:04:30.220 And finally, I said, all right, I still think it's going to be bad for business, but I got to do it.

00:04:35.240 Did somebody push you over the edge?

00:04:36.480 Like was somebody saying, come on, do it, JP?

00:04:39.160 No, no.

00:04:39.980 Also, this isn't somebody inspiring you to do it.

00:04:42.160 This is you woke up on this and I'm doing this.

00:04:43.900 Yeah, all an internal experience, an internal journey.

00:04:49.060 I'd like to use the word journey because I think I will sound more spiritual.

00:04:53.920 Being ultra spiritual has nothing to do with actually being spiritual because no one even knows what that actually is.

00:05:02.040 But when I put my first comedy video out, a couple of magical things happened.

00:05:06.860 First, inside, it was so creatively satisfying.

00:05:10.700 I had never felt it before.

00:05:12.680 Wow.

00:05:12.980 Like something woke up in me that I didn't know existed.

00:05:16.820 First one.

00:05:17.540 First one.

00:05:18.420 It was just so satisfying, so fulfilling.

00:05:21.700 And then the first one was also pretty well received.

00:05:25.260 So there was that codependent encouragement from the outside world that was actually helpful and supportive of people viewing it.

00:05:33.320 And then it also turned out to be the best thing I could ever do for my business were my one-on-one client coaching, which I was doing at the time.

00:05:41.160 And then my schedule got busier than I could imagine because what happened was people found my comedy video.

00:05:47.380 Then they'd search deeper in my YouTube channel, which had well over 100 just sincere, serious life coaching videos.

00:05:54.720 And they were like, oh, wow, this goofy guy's for real.

00:05:57.840 Is it on the same channel or you had a separate channel?

00:06:00.580 Same channel.

00:06:01.420 Oh, same channel.

00:06:02.100 And all my serious videos are still on my YouTube channel.

00:06:05.660 So if you dig deep enough, you'll find a lot of non-funny videos.

00:06:09.680 So they're not private.

00:06:10.760 You didn't go private or unlisted.

00:06:11.980 They're out there to find.

00:06:12.780 I started my YouTube channel with a sincere life coaching videos probably about five and a half years ago.

00:06:18.740 Got it.

00:06:19.100 So for a year and a half, you went in and you said, I'm going to test this out with me being specifically spiritual, serious.

00:06:26.700 A year and a half later, I'm going to test out the comedy and see how this does.

00:06:29.800 Yeah.

00:06:33.400 How are you?

00:06:34.320 I'm JP Sears.

00:06:35.540 I would like to share with you 10 tips to ruin your life so that you can be certain that your life is going to be ruined the way you want it to be.

00:06:46.220 Isn't that amazing?

00:06:46.840 Because for us, we started value, Tim.

00:06:48.220 And I think the first 50 or 100 episodes we did was called Two Minutes with Pat.

00:06:52.000 The only episode that was ever two minutes was the last episode.

00:06:55.080 Every one of it was nine minutes, eight minutes, 11 minutes.

00:06:57.580 So guys finally said, Pat, stop lying to us.

00:07:00.280 This is not Two Minutes with Pat.

00:07:01.360 This is nine minutes with Pat, 11 minutes with Pat.

00:07:03.460 So we adjusted.

00:07:04.720 But you kind of learned.

00:07:05.820 I think how much of it you think it is the fact that you just said, I'm going to start creating content.

00:07:10.840 And after creating content, you kind of said, what about if we pivot here and make adjustment there?

00:07:15.560 Was it kind of like that process that you went through yourself?

00:07:18.080 Very much so.

00:07:18.980 And I would call the process forest gumping my way through it.

00:07:23.660 None of it has been a premeditated plan of here's the vision, here's where we're going, and this will be a great entrepreneurial move.

00:07:33.900 So following my heart, following what feels passionate and inspiring to me, and I will do that.

00:07:40.820 So it's kind of like Forrest Gump is aware of his next step.

00:07:43.940 He's not aware of where that step and then the next step and the next hundred steps are going to lead him.

00:07:49.560 Because Forrest Gump, and I think all of us could use a little more Forrest Gump archetype in our life.

00:07:54.080 But he's my hero because here's a guy who's so intellectually ill-equipped that he couldn't follow his head.

00:08:02.460 So he had no choice but to follow his heart.

00:08:05.120 Wow.

00:08:05.180 And when he would do that, things would work out for him.

00:08:07.500 And, of course, in the story becomes a war hero, football star, ping pong star.

00:08:11.780 Ping pong star, yeah.

00:08:12.580 We all want to be a ping pong star.

00:08:14.160 I was just playing before the interview about practicing because I'm trying to see if I have the ability to go to the Olympics one day.

00:08:18.840 That's what we're all working towards.

00:08:20.400 That's right.

00:08:20.900 Ping pong stardom.

00:08:22.320 When's your birthday, by the way?

00:08:23.120 What month's your birthday?

00:08:23.960 April 12th, so I'm in Aries.

00:08:26.080 You're in April 12th.

00:08:26.900 Wow, my dad's April 10th, and I hire April babies. 1.00

00:08:30.180 Interesting.

00:08:30.540 Are you very organized or no?

00:08:32.840 I would say I'm pretty organized, yeah.

00:08:35.120 And are you a perfectionist?

00:08:36.620 Like, you do the best work.

00:08:38.440 If you want something to get done, you feel like no one's going to do better than you?

00:08:41.220 I'm unfortunately a perfectionist.

00:08:43.060 I'm trying to surrender some of that control, but yeah.

00:08:45.700 Are you a clean, neat freak as well or no?

00:08:47.940 Like, you wash your hands.

00:08:49.640 You've got to be clean all the time.

00:08:51.040 Yeah, I'm a neat, disordered person.

00:08:53.920 I'm not quite at the freak level.

00:08:55.540 So you've got to do one on neat freak. 1.00

00:08:57.520 You've got to do one on OCD type of thing.

00:09:00.360 That'd be funny.

00:09:00.800 And I think perfectionism would be a great video, too.

00:09:03.240 That'd be a great video for you, Jay.

00:09:04.220 Actually, I should just do videos on you.

00:09:06.720 Like, I'll just follow you around, Patrick.

00:09:08.780 Like, oh, here's a new dysfunction I've never seen.

00:09:11.060 I'm going to text you and say, hey, JP, here's the video.

00:09:13.560 Okay, I'm dealing with this issue mentally.

00:09:15.840 You've got to do a video.

00:09:16.600 I'm trying to figure it out.

00:09:17.540 How do we figure out a sarcastic way to address this?

00:09:20.780 And you'll be my unqualified doctor, which we can, you know, ultra spiritual.

00:09:25.160 You know, we can do something about that.

00:09:26.340 Yeah, you know, as far as I'm aware, I've never been qualified as a doctor, at least on paper.

00:09:32.900 But, Patrick, I want you to know that deep down inside, I identify as a doctor.

00:09:38.980 And if you do, that's all that matters.

00:09:40.400 Absolutely.

00:09:40.760 So, Dr. JP Sears.

00:09:43.000 Thank you.

00:09:43.760 Does it help you that you wear Ferragamo shoes every day?

00:09:46.140 Like, do you like wearing Ferragamo shoes and your Armani suit?

00:09:49.400 Is this kind of intentional?

00:09:51.300 Like, Ferragamo shoes is a, that's the first time I've ever heard that word.

00:09:57.260 So, I assume it's a very fancy shoe.

00:10:01.520 It is.

00:10:02.480 But how many purple shoes like this do you have?

00:10:04.340 Seriously, how many of them do you have?

00:10:05.500 Well, now I have three.

00:10:06.780 And I'm definitely batting low.

00:10:09.340 You know, a recent video I did was a raw vegan cooking show video where I made raw vegan bat

00:10:16.160 cuisine.

00:10:17.220 And I don't want to ruin the plot for everybody, but I'm going to give the plot away.

00:10:21.980 So, spoiler alert.

00:10:23.660 Sorry if it ruins your life.

00:10:25.320 At the end of the video, because I ate raw bat made out of eggplant, I contracted rabies. 1.00

00:10:31.940 And, you know, I want the full meat eating experience, eating as a vegan.

00:10:36.580 So, it's like, okay, I ate bat substitute. 1.00

00:10:38.900 Of course, I got to get rabies, which is kind of like being a vegan, only veganism is probably

00:10:45.640 more deadly.

00:10:46.720 So, by the end of the video, I'm covered in ketchup.

00:10:49.540 That was my substitute blood.

00:10:52.280 So, it ruined my fourth purple shirt.

00:10:55.340 So, you only have three.

00:10:56.400 Is there a specific brand you stick to?

00:10:58.820 Either Next Level or American Apparel.

00:11:01.380 I feel bad that he only has three.

00:11:03.160 Can we buy like 20 of them and just send it to him on us?

00:11:06.040 Medium.

00:11:06.700 Medium.

00:11:07.220 Medium.

00:11:07.540 Medium.

00:11:07.920 Extra medium.

00:11:08.940 Extra medium.

00:11:09.840 Makes my small muscles look bigger.

00:11:11.900 Got it.

00:11:12.200 Extra medium.

00:11:13.320 One of the things that always interests me, I grew up in a very pressure type environment.

00:11:18.680 I grew up in Iran, war, you know, parents, divorce, refugee camp, all this stuff.

00:11:22.860 And my savior to kind of keep things level-headed was humor, right?

00:11:28.500 That was at least for me to be able to do that.

00:11:29.960 Did you have any issues with family or anything growing up that made you use humor to calm things

00:11:35.600 down?

00:11:35.940 Did you ever have that yourself?

00:11:37.220 Sure.

00:11:37.940 You know, I know you grew up with literal war around you.

00:11:42.100 And I won't pretend to imagine what that's like.

00:11:44.860 And at a metaphoric level, I think part of the human condition is we all grow up with wars

00:11:50.200 around us.

00:11:50.880 It might be conflict at home between parents or parents not there.

00:11:55.040 So it's like, what is our war?

00:11:57.200 And my war, again, nothing compared to what you grew up with.

00:12:01.080 There was always tension at home.

00:12:02.400 My parents were splitting apart, getting back together, splitting apart, getting back together.

00:12:07.660 Dad's overworking and mom's upset about it.

00:12:11.180 And dad moves out.

00:12:12.520 And, you know, mom's in bed crying for, you know, weeks at a time. 0.97

00:12:16.980 How old are you at this time?

00:12:17.920 How old are you?

00:12:18.080 It started at seven.

00:12:19.160 Okay.

00:12:19.780 And I think even before that started, I didn't know it at the time.

00:12:24.060 But looking back, it's like, yeah, yeah, I could feel it.

00:12:28.180 I think children are very much in tune with energy.

00:12:31.660 They might not know how to intellectually report what's going on and what they're feeling.

00:12:37.240 But kids feel, I mean, there's, there's no secrets, even if secrets are being kept.

00:12:43.480 And in fields of psychology, they're really uncovering like, yeah, we're really affected

00:12:47.800 by secrets because the energy is there.

00:12:49.800 So, of course, how I responded to that, how I compensated was through humor.

00:12:55.440 So if I felt insignificant inside, and I certainly did for quite a bit of my childhood, I didn't

00:13:02.300 want to feel that.

00:13:03.300 So I would compensate by making people laugh.

00:13:05.960 So I get to feel significant, like, oh, I feel like I mattered to you because I made

00:13:10.700 you laugh.

00:13:11.780 That helps me escape the reality of this feeling of feeling insignificant.

00:13:17.960 And then, you know, when you do that thousands and thousands of times, you kind of get that

00:13:22.960 Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 hours of practice of reading people, what's going to make this

00:13:29.580 person laugh, and then delivering what's going to make them laugh in an effective way to

00:13:34.260 make them laugh.

00:13:35.000 And it's a very desperate way of getting emotional needs met, starts sharpening the satirical

00:13:41.700 sword of humor.

00:13:43.300 How early was that at seven?

00:13:44.680 Like, did you use your humor at seven?

00:13:46.300 I was always one of the class clowns.

00:13:48.420 Got it. 0.97

00:13:48.840 And I'm having a hard time believing that, by the way, that you're a class clown. 0.93

00:13:52.740 You know, I just can't see it, right?

00:13:54.920 No, obviously, you know, you're having fun.

00:13:56.600 You're making everybody laugh.

00:13:57.740 Yeah.

00:13:57.860 You probably, the teacher likes you.

00:13:59.220 Sometimes they don't like you.

00:14:00.200 You're probably that guy in school, right?

00:14:01.540 For sure.

00:14:02.020 And I found, you know, once I got to junior high and then high school, you need a bigger

00:14:07.980 challenge.

00:14:08.620 It's no longer a challenge to make my classmates laugh.

00:14:12.340 So the challenge became, can I make the teachers laugh?

00:14:15.480 Push them far enough to make them laugh without pushing so far that you get in trouble.

00:14:19.580 There's a fine line there.

00:14:21.320 You got, you know, humor is tension.

00:14:23.680 And of course, creating tension is also what creates trouble.

00:14:26.860 So of course, sometimes I'd cross the line and other times I'd get the teacher to laugh

00:14:32.660 and that was very joyful.

00:14:35.600 I don't want to discount the fact that the humor to escape pain was also creating joy.

00:14:42.000 So there's that light side of it as well.

00:14:44.080 It's not just all dark shadows.

00:14:46.220 Did your parents stay together or no?

00:14:47.660 Yeah, they did stay together.

00:14:49.540 They're still together.

00:14:50.380 And in fact, just last week I was doing comedy shows in Buffalo, New York, and they came to

00:14:55.420 my shows.

00:14:56.220 Get out of here.

00:14:56.940 Yeah.

00:14:57.660 So is he still an atheist and she's still a Catholic or no?

00:15:00.180 Yeah.

00:15:00.480 So that hasn't changed.

00:15:01.560 Yeah.

00:15:01.840 It's so funny.

00:15:02.920 Like my mom, she's never been more Catholic.

00:15:05.680 She's going to church every, multiple times a week.

00:15:09.360 Wow.

00:15:09.560 Sometimes, you know, like when it's her turn in the rotation to serve coffee at church,

00:15:14.900 she pulls my dad along and, you know, he's there thinking this is all a bunch of DS and

00:15:20.460 but doing it to make my mom, it's hilarious.

00:15:23.180 I love it.

00:15:23.620 That's cool though.

00:15:24.240 I wouldn't want it any other way.

00:15:25.600 So I tell my parents, one was a communist, one was an imperialist and they fought all the

00:15:29.520 time, 24-7.

00:15:30.500 So for us, we're humor.

00:15:31.200 But they didn't stay together because if they did, World War III would have started.

00:15:35.600 But I can only imagine if they were still together and she's going to a communist rally

00:15:39.300 and he's going to an imperialist.

00:15:41.520 Come here, honey.

00:15:42.320 I just can't see it taking place.

00:15:43.680 Do your parents also sport the purple shirts?

00:15:45.800 Like do you get them a purple shirt and say, Mom, can you wear this?

00:15:48.080 Dad, can you wear this?

00:15:49.060 I've definitely gotten them purple shirts, especially when it's my line of apparel and

00:15:53.880 it's disappointing how unoften they wear them.

00:15:57.580 But something funny, when my dad did have a purple shirt on, probably a few years ago

00:16:02.740 when my comedy videos were first coming out and at the time in all the videos, I would

00:16:07.780 have a headband on, flowering my hair.

00:16:10.260 I still do that once in a while, but it's not every time thing.

00:16:12.920 So I fly home and I'm at the airport, baggage claim.

00:16:16.680 My parents are going to be picking me up.

00:16:18.280 I'm looking around like they're nowhere around.

00:16:20.820 They said they were going to be in baggage claim.

00:16:23.340 After a couple of minutes, I'm scanning the room again.

00:16:26.160 And then here's this doofus dressed in a purple shirt, long hair, headband on, flowering

00:16:33.760 his hair as my dad wearing a wig and dressed like me. 0.52

00:16:37.120 It was hilarious.

00:16:38.320 So they're proud.

00:16:38.940 They're excited to see this becoming a reality.

00:16:40.960 They really are.

00:16:41.940 And it feels good.

00:16:45.000 Everything I'm doing, I'm doing out of devotion to my truth and my creative muse.

00:16:51.520 When I'm a kid, I think a lot of people, it's let's perform good.

00:16:55.700 Let's get good grades, perform good in sports to make mom and dad proud.

00:16:59.900 But I think approval is a very cheap currency.

00:17:03.040 I think it makes us go bankrupt.

00:17:04.740 Even with parents.

00:17:05.680 Even with parents.

00:17:06.740 I mean, you get approval and it feels awesome for five minutes and then you're bankrupt.

00:17:11.040 And then before too long, I got to do something more.

00:17:13.620 And then before too long, we're giving away ourselves.

00:17:17.140 We're being who we think our parents want us to be in order to get approval.

00:17:21.500 So we bankrupt thy true self.

00:17:24.380 And we do that with parents, society, friends.

00:17:28.840 And I think the real valuable currency, sort of like the inner version of Bitcoin, if you

00:17:36.180 will, is self-acceptance.

00:17:37.620 Acceptance.

00:17:38.240 I think when we're true to ourself, when we're voicing our voice and being true to

00:17:43.320 the creative muse, following our heart, man, that is a very, very valuable currency.

00:17:50.920 That's what creates fulfillment, not bankruptcy.

00:17:54.000 Healing, you know, coaching.

00:17:55.620 You've been doing this 12, 13 years and all of a sudden you have this thought, I want to

00:17:59.480 go comedy.

00:18:00.080 I've already done 100 videos.

00:18:01.400 What if I make my next video comedy?

00:18:03.040 That's a very scary thing to do because you're completely changing your brand.

00:18:08.320 When you made that shift, did one of your businesses take a hit for like three months?

00:18:13.400 Like did the spiritual healing business take a hit for a few months until this one recovered

00:18:17.480 and came back up?

00:18:18.800 There was a big shift, but there wasn't a hit.

00:18:22.020 In fact, it was sort of the opposite where the online comedy videos brought so much exposure.

00:18:28.320 You know, people come to my YouTube channel, dig deeper.

00:18:30.500 Find my sincere videos from there like, well, this guy's doing some real life coachy stuff

00:18:36.640 here.

00:18:36.860 Then they find my website like, oh, he does coaching via Skype or phone.

00:18:40.980 And so my schedule became more full than what I could handle with one-on-one clients.

00:18:46.680 So great problem to have.

00:18:49.080 And then it's like, okay, I'm busier than ever.

00:18:52.000 And I'm at the time making comedy videos anywhere from once every couple of weeks to once a month.

00:18:57.360 I wasn't really in my rhythm yet.

00:18:59.000 And then after about nine months of doing comedy videos, one-on-one client coaching, never

00:19:04.800 been more full.

00:19:06.140 I said, I need more creative space here.

00:19:09.900 So at the time it was very scary, but I eliminated one day a week of doing client coaching.

00:19:16.120 So I went from five days a week to four days a week because it's like, I need time to do

00:19:21.980 videos.

00:19:22.540 There's something here.

00:19:23.900 How many times at this point are you creating content?

00:19:25.600 Probably on average, once every two weeks for the comedy and then for the sincere spiritual

00:19:33.320 life coaching videos.

00:19:34.660 Those were about once a week.

00:19:35.880 Okay.

00:19:36.240 So I was staying consistent with those.

00:19:38.360 But it was scary.

00:19:39.260 Like, wow, one day a week of income.

00:19:42.940 I'm going to let that is so irresponsible.

00:19:44.400 So how did you manage that?

00:19:46.520 Yeah, I felt the fear.

00:19:48.300 Something that I've learned from my own experience and then I look at other successful people

00:19:52.760 and I guarantee you have stories like this, probably a wealthy library of them.

00:19:58.420 One of the best keys to success is a willingness to do the things that scare you rather than avoiding

00:20:05.780 the things that scare you because that means we're really avoiding feeling the fear, which

00:20:11.740 means we're going to avoid the source of fear, which is doing something new that scares us.

00:20:15.540 But I think a willingness to do something that scares you means you have to be willing to

00:20:20.580 be afraid.

00:20:21.720 I think the true warrior, the true courageous warrior is he or she who's willing to be afraid

00:20:27.720 and take action anyway.

00:20:28.740 I think false courage is the illusion of like, oh, they're doing stuff and they're never afraid.

00:20:36.060 It's like, no, that's not courage.

00:20:37.440 There's no courage if there's no fear.

00:20:39.820 You're just doing something that's already familiar to you.

00:20:42.640 It's not challenging.

00:20:43.620 It's not new.

00:20:44.880 So it was a new phenomenon.

00:20:47.580 It took a lot of courage and a willingness to be afraid like I'm losing income.

00:20:52.100 But it felt like there was something there.

00:20:54.440 I couldn't see where I was going.

00:20:56.020 And I couldn't see what was coming towards me, but it felt purposeful.

00:20:59.640 And then I went to, you know, three days a week doing life coaching.

00:21:04.320 And at that time, like now I'm earning some YouTube revenue.

00:21:09.200 Now there's the occasional sponsorship.

00:21:12.000 Now there's the occasional speaking.

00:21:13.940 When is now?

00:21:14.600 Is now two years ago?

00:21:15.660 Is now three years ago?

00:21:16.740 Is it a year ago?

00:21:17.340 Now is three years ago.

00:21:21.360 So three years ago, you could essentially say I'm dropping the coaching to do this, but

00:21:25.340 you didn't yet.

00:21:26.740 Right.

00:21:27.320 I was dropping it gradually.

00:21:29.340 You know, drop a day from the week.

00:21:31.540 Now, oh, you know, nine months later, now I'm dropping another day.

00:21:35.600 When did you fully drop everything where it's just a YouTube thing?

00:21:38.640 Beginning of January, 2017.

00:21:41.520 A year and a half ago.

00:21:42.340 Yeah.

00:21:42.980 Got it.

00:21:43.460 And it was well past time.

00:21:46.200 I was making more money than ever doing speaking, endorsements.

00:21:51.440 And it was just like, yeah, the coaching, it served me so well.

00:21:55.380 And it's such great, rewarding work.

00:21:58.340 Yet the call of my heart is taking me elsewhere.

00:22:03.200 So I finally had to let it go.

00:22:05.760 So January, 2017, had you already met your wife or not yet?

00:22:09.960 I was in Costa Rica at a retreat.

00:22:12.720 I was a guest teacher at a retreat.

00:22:14.560 I was teaching something on emotional healing and humor.

00:22:19.740 And during that retreat, my now wife was also a guest teacher.

00:22:24.740 So I met her there.

00:22:26.420 And it was on a hike during the retreat.

00:22:28.840 I was talking to someone.

00:22:29.800 He's just a big time coach, very wise dude.

00:22:33.120 And it was while I was talking to him on that same retreat where I met my wife, where he

00:22:38.060 pointed out to me, JP, your energy drops when you're talking about your coaching.

00:22:42.720 But when you're talking about videos, when you're talking about speaking, endorsements,

00:22:46.520 your energy elevates.

00:22:48.240 And he said, JP, when are you going to drop this?

00:22:51.540 When are you going to finally drop the coaching?

00:22:53.380 And I said, you're right.

00:22:55.800 Thank you for reflecting that.

00:22:57.820 So this is a mentor telling you?

00:22:59.460 Yeah.

00:22:59.880 It was at the retreat, just made the decision.

00:23:02.140 Got it.

00:23:02.480 I'm not doing it anymore.

00:23:03.520 And then I'm sure I shared it with her.

00:23:05.360 Have you seen the movie, A Couples Retreat?

00:23:07.000 Vince Vaughn, yeah.

00:23:08.580 Were you that kind of a speaker when you go there?

00:23:11.080 Are you like the guy, the yoga guy that says, come on, do it.

00:23:15.220 Power, feel it.

00:23:16.320 I wish I was.

00:23:18.220 I can see you coming up.

00:23:19.700 So creepy.

00:23:20.860 You know, you're Speedo and you're like this yoga instructor.

00:23:23.880 You just come out of the water and you do your hair tint thing like this.

00:23:26.800 That would definitely be funny if we had a scene of you doing that. 0.99

00:23:29.640 I think it's appropriate, by the way, if you do make something like that as a couples retreat.

00:23:33.320 You should go into the entertainment business.

00:23:35.320 I should be in the entertainment business.

00:23:36.580 What about that?

00:23:37.080 I should consider it.

00:23:38.180 You got 2.2 million fans on Facebook.

00:23:40.080 You're at 690,000 subs on YouTube.

00:23:42.760 If you haven't seen the stuff, it's funny.

00:23:44.940 You got your Instagram, 150,000 something followers.

00:23:47.700 You're doing some stuff with Twitter.

00:23:49.160 Your brand's being built up.

00:23:51.060 A lot of people out there may be watching this saying, look, I feel like I'm funny.

00:23:55.120 You know, I feel like even Kevin Hart once said, I didn't know if I could be a comedian

00:23:58.500 until one day at a swim graduation thing.

00:24:02.600 There were 60 kids in the room and he made everybody laugh and all the parents came and

00:24:06.780 said, you should be a comedian.

00:24:08.040 And he went and became a comedian.

00:24:09.360 Figured that one out.

00:24:10.060 He's got 150 million followers.

00:24:11.400 So they made 69 million last year.

00:24:12.920 What would you say to somebody that's watching this saying, you know what?

00:24:16.040 I think I'm funny, but I got an older sister that makes fun of me being funny.

00:24:20.720 Or I got an older brother that makes fun of me.

00:24:22.500 I got a younger brother.

00:24:23.460 I got a cousin.

00:24:24.160 I got a guy in school that makes fun of me.

00:24:25.840 My mom and dad make fun of me.

00:24:26.900 I don't know if I'm really a comedian.

00:24:28.040 I'm afraid what people are going to think.

00:24:29.620 But I want to try it out.

00:24:30.860 You know, maybe I can do something with my comedy.

00:24:33.160 What would your advice or counsel be to somebody like that?

00:24:35.780 Voice your voice.

00:24:36.760 Don't wait for validation.

00:24:39.260 Don't wait for some magical fairy to show up and say, it's time.

00:24:44.780 No, the insecurity of not knowing or the insecurity of like, yeah, I really want to do comedy,

00:24:50.200 but what if nobody likes it?

00:24:51.800 Or that insecurity is the part.

00:24:54.940 That's how greatness starts.

00:24:57.060 Michael Jordan started off insecure.

00:24:59.160 He was cut from the basketball team when he was a sophomore in high school.

00:25:02.960 Insecurity is a necessary challenge.

00:25:05.840 It's a necessary dragon to slay.

00:25:07.860 So however you want to do it, that might be start going to open mics.

00:25:11.520 It might be, let's make some sketches on YouTube and put them out there.

00:25:15.840 How do you do that?

00:25:16.620 How do you make sketches on YouTube?

00:25:17.980 So maybe give the system.

00:25:19.320 What is a system to make some sketches on YouTube?

00:25:20.980 I think a great way to do it is start with an idea.

00:25:24.200 Start making notes, like get your computer out or your phone.

00:25:27.980 Make notes to develop the idea.

00:25:30.040 Like, okay, what's the bit here?

00:25:32.520 Are we portraying something that's going on in society?

00:25:37.140 Are you illustrating a pain that happens in your life that other people can relate to in a fun way?

00:25:44.400 So write your script out.

00:25:46.760 Then get a camera on a tripod.

00:25:48.620 All my YouTube videos, it's just a camera on a tripod.

00:25:51.820 I do it all myself.

00:25:52.980 And when I made my first YouTube video, after I filmed it, I'm like, okay, I don't know what to do next.

00:26:00.240 So I went on YouTube and YouTubed how to edit video on iMovie.

00:26:04.780 So you edited yourself on iMovie?

00:26:06.460 Absolutely.

00:26:07.240 You're kidding me.

00:26:07.900 And then after I edited it on iMovie, then I YouTubed how to upload a video to YouTube.

00:26:13.960 So that's what you got to do.

00:26:15.740 It's so easy.

00:26:17.440 It's amazing how simple it is.

00:26:18.680 After you put the video out there, put it on Facebook, YouTube, just all the places, don't worry what other people are saying.

00:26:26.940 That's big, by the way.

00:26:28.040 For sure.

00:26:28.280 I don't know how many people create content after the first video they stop.

00:26:31.520 For sure.

00:26:32.000 It's like, what if a bunch of people watch it and they hate it?

00:26:34.680 And then the only thing worse is, well, what if nobody watches it?

00:26:38.740 Amuse thyself.

00:26:40.220 Especially with comedy, amuse thyself is the number one commandment.

00:26:43.840 And do it in a way where you're so amused that it's worth doing even if no one watches it.

00:26:49.340 That's the key to sustainability.

00:26:51.200 Right.

00:26:51.460 Because now you're going to make another video.

00:26:53.320 You got to be consistent because, especially with comedy, there's a lot of junk that needs to be worked through.

00:27:02.200 Nowhere near all my videos go viral.

00:27:04.200 It's like, yeah, there's some videos I put out that's like, yeah, it's mediocre at best.

00:27:09.460 But then if I don't put those out, if I'm not in the amuse thyself mode, then the gems never see the light of day.

00:27:17.680 So put out a video and keep going.

00:27:20.020 Don't worry what other people are thinking.

00:27:22.060 You will worry what other people are thinking, even though I say, but don't let that stop you.

00:27:27.580 Be the courageous warrior who says, yeah, that's scary.

00:27:30.560 What other people are thinking, that's scary.

00:27:32.180 They will judge you.

00:27:34.200 And do it anyway.

00:27:35.860 So that's the creative side.

00:27:37.420 That's the right brain side.

00:27:38.500 Now let's talk about the left brain side.

00:27:40.100 You are creative, but you've been able to figure out a way to monetize comedy as well on YouTube.

00:27:44.820 How do you do that?

00:27:46.020 How did you start doing that?

00:27:47.140 It's very hard to monetize anything if you don't have the audience built.

00:27:52.740 So I put at least 80% of the weight in valuable content.

00:27:58.120 And I know it's valuable if it amuses thyself.

00:28:01.820 By the way, Patrick, I just said your name so you'll like me more.

00:28:06.740 It's part of building rapport.

00:28:07.700 That's what you're supposed to do, yeah.

00:28:08.840 Or as the French say, report.

00:28:10.960 I think something that worked well for me in the beginning to build the audience was I was not worried about monetizing.

00:28:18.280 I was always in the back of my mind, like, if this keeps growing, like, yeah, I'll figure out monetizing.

00:28:23.620 So you want to think about monetizing anyways because you were already making an income.

00:28:26.920 So one, don't drop your day job to be a professional content creator yet.

00:28:31.560 That helped me build my audience.

00:28:33.520 It's like, yeah, I'm going to be true to the art here.

00:28:35.560 Not that you're untrue if you're monetizing.

00:28:38.200 But I wanted all my energy to go into the creative value content, not, like, creating monetization.

00:28:46.960 So once I was off and running for a while, then I figured, all right, let's do some monetization.

00:28:52.840 So first thing was I'll monetize the YouTube channel, just earning the revenue from video ads.

00:29:00.760 And then it was, okay, let me connect with a t-shirt company, do a little apparel line, sell some of that, and all things that were fun to do.

00:29:11.700 And then along the way, companies started approaching me, which is very easy monetization.

00:29:18.440 Like, JP, we want to do a little product placement or endorse our product.

00:29:22.140 And after a while, I started realizing I am spending more time negotiating deals than I am creating.

00:29:32.780 In fact, I remember the summer of 2016, I hit like a, call it a little bit of a rock bottom burnout place where I was burning the candle at both ends and in the middle.

00:29:43.220 I woke up one day and said, it's been over three weeks since I've put out a video because I haven't had time.

00:29:49.560 And that is pissing me off because I have the creative urge.

00:29:54.240 That's right.

00:29:54.720 So it's like I'm killing what has created all these opportunities.

00:29:59.700 So I knew I needed to do something, and that was bringing on a manager.

00:30:05.660 And now with my manager, he's taking care of all the incoming offers for sponsorships, speaking opportunities.

00:30:12.720 So I needed, I think my unique path was leveraging someone's expertise so I can have more time doing my art, and he is better at negotiating.

00:30:26.400 He's better at seeing good deals, better at sniffing out incongruent deals.

00:30:32.120 So part of my monetization is having essentially an expert manager.

00:30:38.000 How did you find it?

00:30:38.680 How did you find a manager?

00:30:39.520 At the time, I had a lot of managers reaching out to me.

00:30:42.940 Okay, so you were already getting the attention in the marketplace.

00:30:45.460 Okay, so you had choices.

00:30:46.660 I had choices, and it was overwhelming because I had had choices for a while.

00:30:51.480 But there's this like, oh, you know, there's so many, whatever, horror stories out there, people just wanting to use you.

00:30:58.960 And there are managers, agents that just want to use you.

00:31:02.280 They'll talk a big game, but do they actually have the reciprocal value to enhance you and your career?

00:31:10.060 So I had taken a lot of phone calls with managers, and there was a producer who wanted to talk to me about a potential television project.

00:31:19.060 And I started talking to him, and it was great, and learning more about him.

00:31:23.520 He manages a few select comedians and other talent.

00:31:29.060 And I said, well, cool, you know, we're talking about this TV stuff, but tell me the manager thing.

00:31:35.180 Like, I felt trust with him.

00:31:37.540 Got it.

00:31:37.780 Tell me more about that, and, like, would you be willing to talk to me about working together?

00:31:42.740 And he said, J.P., I don't work with many people.

00:31:46.160 I'm not willing to do that.

00:31:48.820 I'm very selective who I work with, and I see big things for you.

00:31:53.060 I love who you are, what you're doing.

00:31:55.460 I would be very willing to work with you, but I want you to talk to a lot of other managers

00:32:00.480 because if you decide you want to work with me, I want you to know it's the right choice for you.

00:32:05.760 What a great thing to say, by the way.

00:32:07.780 For sure.

00:32:08.440 Phenomenal.

00:32:09.200 And all these other conversations I were having were kind of, like, pressurized.

00:32:13.300 J.P., work with me, work with me.

00:32:15.840 So, yeah, I took another couple months, talked to other managers, but I went back to him,

00:32:20.240 and I said, Michael, let's go for it, man.

00:32:23.140 And he's been my manager for over two years now, and it's just been an absolute dream.

00:32:28.520 So, talking to a lot of people while trusting my gut instinct.

00:32:32.520 Listen, what a great story you got, man, truly.

00:32:34.820 What a phenomenal story.

00:32:35.960 If you're watching this, if you want to learn more about this man's video, you've got to go.

00:32:43.260 The channel is called, what, Awaken With J.P.?

00:32:45.880 Awaken With J.P. 0.87

00:32:46.680 Awaken With J.P. 0.87

00:32:48.120 He's got that sound you put right off the bat.

00:32:50.620 It's like that, what is that?

00:32:52.940 It's like a yoga sound.

00:32:54.060 It's a Tibetan bowl.

00:32:55.080 He said, when he starts up, bing.

00:32:57.780 I like the headband, and I like the thing you would put in your ear.

00:33:00.700 You doing that, that was kind of cool.

00:33:02.180 Maybe you should sell a wig like that and send it to me, and I'll take the wig and the headband

00:33:05.780 and put that flower in the purple shirt and post a picture that you and I did something together here.

00:33:10.420 Again, if you want to find him, whatever you took from this concept, this interview today,

00:33:14.900 send him a tweet.

00:33:15.740 And, again, if you want to go watch his content, go watch any of the videos he has on his YouTube channel.

00:33:20.640 If you like it, give him a sub as well and let him know you found him here on Valuetainment.

00:33:24.860 J.P., thanks for coming out, buddy.

00:33:26.000 Really appreciate the time.

00:33:27.020 For sure, Patrick.

00:33:27.880 Thank you for having me, and I love what you're doing.

00:33:30.260 Thanks, everybody, for listening.

00:33:31.500 And, by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.

00:33:36.100 Give us a five-star.

00:33:37.500 Write a review if you haven't already.

00:33:39.000 And if you have any questions for me that you may have, you can always find me on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.

00:33:44.900 Just search my name, Patrick MidDavid, and I actually do respond back when you snap me or send me a message on Instagram.

00:33:51.940 With that being said, have a great day today.

00:33:53.680 Take care, everybody.

00:33:54.400 Bye-bye.

Valuetainment - September 28, 2018

Episode 177： How to Make Money On YouTube as a Comedian

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