0:00
Is tapping out part of this? Like, do people quit? Sometimes.
Search this video
0:10
Hey, what's going on, everybody?
0:10
From First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans, and you're watching Hot Ones.
0:12
It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
0:15
And today, I'm joined by Casey Neistat.
0:17
He's a YouTube juggernaut, technologist, and filmmaker with clout through the roof.
0:21
But the whole house of cards could come crashing down today if the man taps out before explain that graham.
0:26
Casey, welcome to the show.
0:28
I'm definitely going to tap out before explaining that graham.
0:31
How are you with hot food? I guess not good. good. I'm not good. I'm ready. I'm psyched.
0:35
I've been training a little bit, but I'm not good.
0:38
Well, you ready to get it going?
0:39
I've never been more ready for anything in my entire life.
0:56
All right, so this first one is Valentina.
0:59
I'm starting on the same side here, yeah? Yes, yes, yes. Okay. Okay, great. Like you'd read a book.
1:03
Do not want to start on the wrong side. I understood.
1:12
Oh, that's why I asked, you know.
1:12
I don't want to [ __ ] this up right at the gate. So this is light. This is nice. Mhm.
1:18
This is like somebody giving me a nice warm hug.
1:20
So I want to start by taking it back to the pre-vlog days when you were working as a dishwasher in what you've described as a shitty seafood restaurant in Southeast Connecticut.
1:28
What do you remember about that because kitchens aren't really known for having the healthiest work environments?
1:35
No, it was like the shittiest work environment.
1:36
And I always say that like if you don't know what you want to do in life, spend as much time as possible doing something you [ __ ] hate doing because my job was a pot washer.
1:44
So I'd have to scrub the bottom of a huge sauce pot where we cooked clam chowder.
1:49
When you do that 50 hours a week, you spend a lot of time thinking about what you wish you were doing.
1:54
So I say that like so much of my sort of ambitions in life and my goals in life, my dreams in life were born from the bottom of that shitty chowder pot.
2:09
I think I just [ __ ] up and ate number three sauce instead of the number two sauce.
2:13
You definitely [ __ ] up. What do we do?
2:15
We have to cancel the whole shoot? No, no. Start over. Turn everything off.
2:18
I think it's an interchangeable sort of level.
2:21
It's not like I went from two to 10. Right, right, right.
2:23
They're very close together. Three to two?
2:25
Maintaining eye contact and I skipped a wing. You got a little fancy.
2:28
Got a little cocky out there.
2:30
That was a That's cuz that's a strong two right there.
2:32
So you've stacked almost two billion views, eight million subscribers, and created a genre all your own.
2:37
But I imagine that the accomplishment that you're perhaps most proud of is getting the mayor of New York to discuss biker lane laws after doing a video fighting that ticket.
2:48
So I got a ticket for not riding in the bike lane, but often there are obstructions that keep you from properly riding in the bike lane.
2:58
And I wonder as someone who's often thumbed their nose at authority, does that video in particular hold a special place in your heart?
3:04
Yeah, I you know, like that bike lane's video I always say I made that cuz I was really pissed off.
3:07
I got a ticket for for something I shouldn't have gotten a ticket for.
3:11
So I used my video camera and YouTube as a way of sort of speaking out against that, of expressing my frustration.
3:16
And then in the end I kind of got some retribution.
3:20
So like it brings me back to my teenage years when I was always in trouble in school, but nobody would ever listen to me.
3:25
You know, you do a lot of insane things in your videos, whether it's, you know, hanging from a drone or skateboarding behind a Lamborghini.
3:31
In all those shoots, when were you most fearful for your life?
3:36
Like last year for Christmas when we built the only drone in the world that could carry a human being and it had me 200 feet in the air.
3:41
I had a microphone on and I was directing my cameraman and the drone operator.
3:45
So you could listen to the audio and it's not a fearful one.
3:48
I'm literally screaming higher, higher, higher.
3:50
Brett, are you getting the shot?
3:54
So, as long as your brain's somewhere else, like that stuff doesn't really spook me so much.
3:56
When I'm the director, my focus is on getting the shot more so than it is preservation of life.
4:11
So, you could make a case now that vloggers are the voice of the people, and nowhere is that more apparent than in your approach to food, whether it's chasing down carryout with Lucky Charms or grilled cheese days.
4:20
You're very diplomatic in dining.
4:22
So, I'm going to hit you with a quick food rapid fire Lay it on me.
4:26
Of all your globe-trotting adventures, what's the international fast food menu item that stands out?
4:33
In Singapore, and I think they have this all over Asia, but McDonald's has their hot apple pies.
4:36
Instead of filled up with delicious cinnamon apple goo, it's filled up with this fluorescent taro taro goo.
4:42
I don't know what taro or taro is.
4:45
It It was a You're eating a deep-fried sock filled up with purple goo.
4:50
That is not my go-to, but that's one that really stands out when I think international fast food.
4:56
What's the most underrated food specialty from Connecticut? Steamed cheeseburgers? Absolutely not.
5:01
The most underrated food item from Connecticut is I think it's now called Connecticut-style lobster rolls.
5:08
Connecticut-style is the grilled bun, but they just take lobster meat and they put butter over it.
5:12
It's the most amazing thing that Connecticut has ever yielded since the Was it the Don't make me look it up.
5:18
It was the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence that came from Connecticut?
5:25
There are eight people in this room.
5:26
And none of them are that smart.
5:26
And none of them are that smart.
5:29
It's one of the greatest contributions that Connecticut has ever made to the world is the Connecticut-style lobster roll. This is a nice sauce.
5:40
Ooh, this is a sleeper, isn't it?
5:43
Ooh, yeah, that one lingers. Okay. Ah.
5:48
And as somebody who's stacked views against changing platforms and algorithms, I wonder how you think the viral video has evolved since the Kimbo Slice days.
5:58
Virality used to have a little bit more authenticity to it.
6:01
And now virality is much more hackable.
6:03
There's a whole vlogger movement right now.
6:05
And what these vloggers do is they create hip-hop videos that are typically diss tracks.
6:10
And these are individuals with no background in music at all and they create these songs that take somebody else down.
6:15
The song goes hugely viral for for myriad reasons.
6:17
And that is a way of sort of hacking the system to make something go viral.
6:20
And then they'll do 100 million views and a lot of that will push over to their channel and it's a way to grow the channel.
6:24
And then the whole network piles on top of that.
6:28
So I think that viral videos can be approached a little bit more systematically now versus 8-10 years ago, which is like it had to be something that nobody'd seen before.
6:37
If you were going to start piecemealing together a timeline for viral videos that you think were maybe game-changers in the genre or watershed moments, where does your mind wander? Justin.
6:48
tv, which however long he like decided to broadcast his entire life.
6:54
I think he's really really interesting.
6:56
At the time he was doing that, reality TV was these really sculpted shows like The Real World.
7:00
And I think that had a big part in leading into vlogging.
7:02
And I think that vlogging has now become the new norm as far as reality television.
7:06
I think that Gangnam Style, when you think about like success in music even shifting away from other mediums like radio and things like that, Gangnam Style really brought that to YouTube in a way nothing had ever done before.
7:20
Uh I'm completely lost train of thought.
7:22
So my mouth is really hot right now.
7:30
Do you eat wings when you're not doing the show? [ __ ] no.
7:34
Were you a wing guy before the show?
7:36
I mean, who isn't at some level?
7:38
Whatever, but like at this point like I you know, it's hard for me to even look at a chicken wing. I wouldn't know it.
7:43
You really look like you're enjoying yourself over there.
7:46
I'm blessed to have this like goofball job, like this cartoon existence that I have going, but I remind myself of that every single morning, by the way.
7:55
All right, Casey, so every current segment on our show called Explain That Gram, we do a deep dive on our guest's Instagram, pull interesting pictures that need more context.
8:00
So, I'll show you the picture, and then you just tell me the bigger story. Does that sound good? Laptop, please.
8:07
Let the record show, new laptop.
8:07
Four years with the company, finally got an Air.
8:13
That's like a 2-year-old model. Yeah.
8:16
All right, Casey, first things first, Met Gala with Karlie Kloss.
8:20
I was very uncomfortable there, so I just hung out on the red carpet.
8:21
I don't think I'll ever be invited back.
8:24
Just let me be totally clear on that. Ms.
8:28
Wintour, if you're seeing this, I would appreciate another invitation, but I respect if if I've been banished for life.
8:33
I remember like wandering around inside like a little kid with my camera, like trying to find stuff to film, but it's like can't film those people. No.
8:40
From Taylor Swift walk by me with like her phalanx of security, just like giving me the stink face that a camera on me.
8:46
And then they had these long banisters in the Met, and there's like nobody.
8:49
They let you do whatever you want.
8:50
Like you had the models smoking cigarettes in the bathroom.
8:52
So, I was like sliding down the banister just for shits and giggles, and at the end I like tumbled off and fell, and I like landed at Derek Jeter's feet. Now, this one's nuts.
9:03
This is nuts, and that's very real.
9:03
So, I I moved to New York City like June 1st or something like that, 2001.
9:10
My 3-month sublease was up September 1, 2001.
9:13
So, I moved onto a friend's couch, which was like one block underneath the World Trade Centers.
9:18
I got out of there after the first plane hit, and I actually was knocked off my bike when the second plane hit.
9:22
So, I was right underneath it, falling debris, the whole thing.
9:25
But, my apartment was destroyed, and I had nothing.
9:28
So, they had shut off everything, I think, south of Canal Street the next day, and they literally had Humvees there. You couldn't penetrate.
9:32
So, I I put on like a contractor vest and a helmet, and I went down there and said I was a contractor so they'd let me by and I could break into my own apartment to get clothes.
9:43
And that picture is a picture of me on my way to breaking into my apartment.
9:51
All right, so this next one is Dirty Dick's.
9:52
Very aggressive brand name.
9:55
You guys cook these here?
9:57
No, we get them from a carryout joint, but I would like to point out, you know, we used to have bad wings and they used to be kind of cold and when it was cold people and the like they freak out. Freak out. So mad at us. like sacrilege, right?
10:11
Yeah, but you know, it's logistically kind of complicated to like do this, whatever, cuz you know, like this. them.
10:15
You can't reheat them and then it's like you mic people, you light people, like whatever, like I was 25 minutes late.
10:21
Right, lots of variables and people are not forgiving.
10:23
They don't give you a long leash on that.
10:24
But we have done a lot to ensure that and turn that around and now we're serving up restaurant quality wings, usually a bit on the warmer side, sometimes even oven hot and not one compliment.
10:37
No one has ever patted us on the back for it.
10:39
No one's ever like, "Hey, hot ones. Big improvement.
10:42
Way to come back from that." Nobody says anything. Yeah, these were great.
10:45
These were just above room temperature. Exactly.
10:49
That was the first wing I finished.
10:51
So as your fans know you're an avid runner, sometimes stacking 80 miles a week.
10:55
I know that you've done four Iron Man.
10:56
Is there a personal record that you're most proud of?
11:00
No, I'm ashamed of my personal record.
11:02
The holy grail is to break 3 hours in a marathon and I've run under 3:05 as in within 5 minutes of my target like 12 times in a row.
11:10
I've even run like 3:02 multiple occasions and the fact that over 3 hours, 26 miles, I can't shave two [ __ ] minutes is infuriating.
11:23
Where's the weirdest place that you've ever gone to the bathroom in the throws of a 16-hour race?
11:29
To stop your bike, that's minutes.
11:29
You got to slow all the way down and speed all the way back up. Too much to ask? Way too much to ask. So, you just kind of go. You just let it flow. You just let it go.
11:47
Well, that's nice though. Mhm. I don't know. Now this hit me. Mhm. Okay.
11:56
That's the first time I've seen you hit the water.
11:59
Listen, I'm no superhero.
12:00
So, around here we're always talking about traditional media versus the new guard, and you have such a unique perspective for somebody who said, "Fuck it."
12:08
and fled HBO and ran to YouTube.
12:11
And I wonder as someone who is on both sides of the coin, why do you prefer the internet to a TV deal?
12:17
This is where creativity is headed, and I think it's overall a very positive thing.
12:21
When I created my TV show, it was my brother Van and I, we made the whole show ourselves.
12:24
And in between us finishing the show, saying this is done, we're ready to share this with the world, and the world actually seeing it, and the audience, were producers, and agents, and the head of production, and the this production person, and then this executive, and then the all these filters.
12:38
And the magic of YouTube is that when I say something's done, I just click upload, and it goes out to the audience.
12:43
When you see something on television, you know that there's that big filtration process, and and losing that was probably the most exciting part of of becoming a YouTuber.
12:54
Cuz I don't know, like it's a it's a thing that comes up even with like this show all the time, where I always feel like people are trying to shove it into some deep cable spot or something, and I'm kind of like, "Well, you know, what the hell?
13:05
Like that's not really how the the scales are tipping."
13:08
TV like is objectively fading. It's falling.
13:11
That's not an opinion, it's falling.
13:13
So, that elevator's going down, down, down, down, down.
13:15
The internet's going up, up, up, up, up.
13:16
So, why would you possibly jump on that elevator car that's headed down, even if it's a little higher, when you know you're headed in the right direction? And that's how I see TV.
13:27
How do you respond to critics who think you're just as deeply in the pockets of brands as these traditional media outlets?
13:33
I mean, the the short answer is sort of like, [ __ ] 'em.
13:36
And I don't I don't mean to say like, [ __ ] the audience or anything like that.
13:39
I really respect the audience.
13:39
But I do think that there's this false sense of altruism online.
13:42
If you're a YouTube creator, making money off of what you do should be shunned.
13:47
For a YouTuber to make a living off of what they're doing is something that like they should be embarrassed of.
13:51
And I don't I don't agree with that at all.
13:53
So, if the audience doesn't get that, then you know, I'm much more dismissive.
13:57
I don't feel like I need to apologize.
13:59
I also don't feel like I need to make them be okay with it. My head is sweating. Yeah. Yeah.
14:06
I feel like I'm sweating through my hair right now. Mhm. Mhm. Got to glisten.
14:15
When I see other creators making a living, when I see Jake Paul buy a Lamborghini, I'm just like, [ __ ] yeah, man. Way to do it.
14:21
Well, it it takes something.
14:24
You know, I'm having trouble with this. I'm on fire over here.
14:28
Can you give me an idiot's guide to the great demonetization scandal raging right now?
14:33
Yeah, and this is going to surprise you, but I side with YouTube a little bit.
14:34
As much as vocal as I've been against YouTube in the demonetization scandal, I do side with YouTube.
14:40
YouTube is this is this gigantic outlet of content where 40 hours of video is uploaded every minute of every day every day of the year.
14:49
There's no way a human can monitor all of that.
14:51
The only way they make money to support this gigantic infrastructure is by selling ads against that video content.
14:57
So, like, you know, when when I was trying to think of a milk company.
15:04
The Dairy Farmers of America.
15:05
the Dairy Farmers of America buy ads on YouTube and they're showing up in front of videos that show, you know, cows being slaughtered or something like that, of course the Dairy Farmers are going to be pissed off.
15:15
So, YouTube's trying their very best to, you know, to look after the brands that are spending money to make sure that their business is viable, but the repercussion of that when it's all machine learning behind it is that there's going to be mistakes. Right.
15:26
And the unfortunate part of those mistakes is that they cost YouTubers actual money. This is really spicy.
15:31
I am I'm trying to hold it down.
15:33
That last one really [ __ ] me up good, though.
15:38
The Bomb Beyond Insanity Cheers. Cheers. Mhm.
15:47
So, that one skips right over the flavor and just goes right to the heat. Mhm.
15:51
Not Not a lot of nuance there. Mhm.
15:56
It's just It's pure forest, is what it is. Yeah.
16:00
If somebody's traveled the world, which city or country treats its tourists like family?
16:08
Can you repeat the question?
16:10
Where that you've traveled do they treat tourists the best?
16:13
Is tapping out part of this? Like, do people quit? Sometimes. I'm trying to think.
16:25
I've definitely been Careful around your eyes, Casey.
16:30
Why like the nine to 10 jump there is huge. Mhm. Mhm.
16:37
I've definitely been places where they're so appreciative that you're there. Excuse me.
16:42
That they're really nice to you because of that.
16:45
Which country do you want to travel back to just to have the food again?
16:48
And my favorite place in the world is South Africa.
16:49
Cuz the food there's not that far off.
16:51
You get great steaks and cheeseburgers and chicken peri-peri and all kinds of [ __ ] like that, but it's the southern hemisphere, so like we're drinking and the cows are breathing different, everything tastes different, everything tastes better. Are you Are you okay?
17:07
You know, I'm okay if you're okay. I've never been better. Mhm.
17:14
Of all the crazy Of the rooms that you've stayed in, which one stands out?
17:18
The Fairmont in San Francisco.
17:20
They had this room where the president stay.
17:22
And I think they just meant for me to like look in there and not stay in there, but it's like 3,000 4,000 square feet and has all these secret entrances and there's like a dome with a library with a secret entrance that like JFK used to sneak his concubines in and out of. Okay.
17:43
So, this next one is Blair's Mega Death Sauce with liquid rage.
17:46
want to be clear, you kind of went over that quickly. Yeah.
17:49
Blair's Mega Death Sauce. Hold it. Hold. With liquid rage. L'chaim. L'chaim.
18:07
I mean, I'm not trying to be a dick, but that was pretty Do you hardcore skaters give you [ __ ] about the electric skateboard? Yes.
18:27
They like make fun of me like the nerd in rollerblades in the skate park.
18:29
That's how they make fun of me when they see me on my electric skateboard.
18:32
And my response to them is like That was spicy.
18:37
My response to them is I also ride a bike and I'm really good on a bike.
18:38
It doesn't mean I don't love a motorcycle. I love to skate.
18:42
It doesn't mean I don't love the electric skateboard.
18:43
They're two different monsters.
18:46
What was more fun, skateboarding behind a Lamborghini in Dubai or when you were cutting through a blizzard in Manhattan with the help of the NYPD?
18:54
Oh, snowboarding in New York City was one of the greatest days ever.
18:56
That truck was built just so no amount of snow could stop it.
19:00
And I needed a storm where the NYPD couldn't drive their patrol cars, but I could drive my truck. This is my It's spicy.
19:08
So, on that day on that day none of the cops could keep up with us.
19:14
We just bombed around the city going 35 snowboarding.
19:15
And they'd throw on their siren, they'd like spin a single tire, and then just wave us by.
19:23
It was like a really satisfying day. All right, Casey.
19:28
Thanks for having me today.
19:28
Uh it was It was a pleasure to be here. This is the Last Dab.
19:36
We call it the Last Dab because it's tradition around here to pull a little extra on the last wing.
19:44
You don't have to if you don't want to, Casey. Nice dab.
19:48
Yeah, of course I want to.
19:48
I [ __ ] love this stuff.
19:50
Cover that [ __ ] in there. All right. Is it spicy?
19:56
It's you know, it's a little bit spicy.
19:59
All right, I just got this suture. I was going to have Wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Good dramatic effect. Cheers. Cheers. That's a nice flavor. Earthy. Very earthy. And meaty. Mhm.
20:25
What other questions you have?
20:28
Well, Casey, I only have one more question for you.
20:30
Here we are on wing 10 and you're still standing.
20:32
I wouldn't expect less from somebody who has do more tattooed on one arm and work harder on the other.
20:40
So, now with the Scovilles going through you, we need you to hit one more truth bomb.
20:44
What do you say to the would-be creatives out there who are waiting around for somebody else to pay for their opus?
20:53
Oh, I'd get your head out of your ass.
20:56
I mean, we have never, especially when it comes to film.
20:57
You know, like the thing I always say about making movies you want to be a writer, you need a pen and a piece of paper.
21:01
If you want to be a painter, you need paint and a canvas.
21:04
But, historically, making videos has been this untouchable thing It's so expensive.
21:08
And now, if you have a cell phone in your pocket and an internet connection, you can film a movie and then distribute it to the world.
21:15
Creators, like people, have never been more empowered to share their ideas and vision via video as they are right now.
21:22
Like, there are no more excuses.
21:24
There's like sweat pouring down the back of my Look at that water.
21:26
Do you see that glistening?
21:28
remarkable, glistening, shining.
21:28
I feel like I'm looking at a superhero across the table, Casey Neistat.
21:35
Now, Casey, there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you, my friend.
21:39
This camera, this camera, or this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life.
21:46
Right now, my mouth is on fire.
21:48
No, I would say, um, you know, subscribe to my YouTube channel.
21:51
I just want to do more of what I'm doing right now.
21:53
I just want to do it and do more of it.
21:55
That's the vision for 2018.
22:05
This is like really wreaking havoc. Mhm. Imagine being me.
22:10
How the hell do you do this every week?
22:13
Holy [ __ ] Hello, Hot Ones fans. It's Sean Evans. New outro, same message.
22:20
If you like what you saw, throw us a bone, maybe. Please.
22:25
It is dog eat dog here on the YouTube streets.
22:27
Hit that subscribe button.
22:29
Knowing that you subscribe to this seriously the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning.
22:33
Thank you very much, Hot Ones fans. I love you.