Julius Dein's viral Fb prank movies made him extra money than he'd ever dreamed — however he hated making them

• When Julius Dein began making movies for the web, he was performing avenue magic. 
• He pivoted to prank movies when the pandemic hit and grew to have extra views than every other creator.
• That is his story, as instructed to author Ash Jurberg.

This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Julius Dein. It has been edited for size and readability.

In 2004, after I was 10 years previous, my grandmother took me to the Magic’s Circle in London, the place I lived, to see a magic present.

Seeing youngsters carry out magic impressed me, and after I went residence, I begged my mom to signal me up for the Magic Circle so I may be taught magic myself. At 13, I acquired my first job at a magic stall in London performing magic to passersby, which kick-started my profession in magic. On the time, I had no thought the place it could lead.

I began making magic movies on YouTube whereas I used to be in school in Los Angeles

I continued practising magic all through college and solely acquired higher. I began at King’s School in 2014 and, in 2015, acquired a 12-month study-abroad placement on the College of California, Los Angeles. 

Whereas there, I created an internet site to advertise my work and targeted closely on search-engine optimization, hoping to safe my spot as essentially the most sought-after magician in Los Angeles.

Quickly, my web site was the primary consequence once you Googled “magician in Los Angeles,” which led to Kelly Rowland booking me for her husband’s shock party. This was an awesome enhance to my confidence, and although it was a personal celebration that Rowland did not promote, the occasion gave me nice promotional materials for my web site. This led to extra bookings.

Quickly after, I met Logan Paul on the gymnasium. I noticed how profitable he was on YouTube. I knew the platform may assist my magic profession, so I began making movies.

My movies had been made properly. I instructed tales whereas I did magic to maintain issues attention-grabbing and recent. I made them pretty fast so I would not lose individuals’s consideration. It was a easy system, however it labored, and never many different magicians on the time appeared to be doing the identical factor. 

After I returned to London, I made magic movies on the road daily

I returned to London to finish my ultimate yr of faculty, and after commencement, I made a decision to proceed doing magic full time.

I would carry out magic on the road daily and seize what I did to publish on my social-media channels and use as advertising. My pals had graduated school and had been working for nongovernmental organizations, charities, and political organizations, and right here I used to be, making every day movies and performing magic.

After I had about 100 movies, one among me doing magic tips for my grandmother blew up on Fb and acquired over 100 million views. From there, my follower depend on Snapchat and Instagram grew; quickly, I had half 1,000,000 followers throughout my social-media platforms. This led to sponsorship offers from firms who needed to be featured in my movies.

I used to be solely 21 and being paid as much as $20,000 a deal. I used to be incomes a six-figure annual wage and employed a small staff to assist me make content material. Quickly, I used to be touring the world filming magic movies in locations resembling Singapore and Rome.

Throughout my accounts on Instagram, Fb, and YouTube, my movies would get tens of hundreds of thousands of views, and my followers would recommend the place I ought to journey subsequent to carry out magic. 

I started performing for extra celebrities and doing TV exhibits

I used to be being acknowledged publicly as my social-media follower depend approached 30 million. I did tips for Drake, Put up Malone, Paula Abdul, Kelly Clarkson, and Lionel Messi. I additionally appeared on TV with individuals resembling Steve Harvey.

I used to be at an all-time excessive. Then, the pandemic began whereas I used to be on trip in Mexico. I could not carry out magic movies or reside performances and was trapped in an condominium in Playa del Carmen with my girlfriend questioning the right way to earn cash. That is after I noticed a development of individuals doing senseless prank movies on-line. They’d run for 3 or 4 minutes with little or no level, however they had been common with individuals bored in lockdown. 

So I began making prank movies, too. The primary video I made in Mexico was of my girlfriend pretending to be asleep whereas I drew a mustache on her face. 

For my part, it wasn’t my greatest work, however it nonetheless went viral. After that, I began making comparable movies; they had been so profitable that I quickly had a small staff of 20 individuals throughout three residences in Playa del Carmen making them with me. This consisted of pals who had joined me from the UK and locals I employed. 

I hate mentioning cash, however my staff and I had been making extra money than we may dream of by posting these movies on Fb and YouTube. Over 2020 and 2021, we acquired greater than 45 billion views throughout my platforms — greater than MrBeast and Paul mixed. This made me essentially the most seen creator on the web.

I used to be younger, dwelling with my pals, and making a fortune. It looks like I ought to have been comfortable, however I wasn’t.

Even with all my success, I used to be depressing

Throughout this era, I broke up with my girlfriend, and after I wasn’t making movies, I might lock myself in my bed room. I hated our content material, because it felt senseless and unrelated to my magic. I used to be purely targeted on the cash.

Then, late in 2021, one thing modified with how video monetization labored on Fb, and I may not acquire cash from my work on the platform. So with out the good thing about incomes income, my staff and I ended making movies for per week. 

With out the burden of manufacturing senseless movies, I observed that I began feeling happier. I made a decision to not make any extra prank movies and refocused on magic.

I deleted all my previous movies

Although the movies I had uploaded had been nonetheless incomes lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} in what was principally passive earnings, I made a decision to delete them.

I had a digital asset incomes vital cash, however it did not symbolize me or my model. I made a decision my long-term targets had been extra essential than the cash and had them completely deleted.

When pandemic restrictions within the UK had been loosened, I returned to London and now concentrate on my magic exhibits and magic-related movies. I am additionally beginning a magic academy the place I’ll train others. 

This expertise has taught me that no sum of money or views could make me comfortable if I am not following my ardour. That is extra essential to me than the rest and a message I am eager to share.