Think you’ve got a handle on celebrity trivia?
Try this on for size: Who has more YouTube subscribers than Justin Bieber, Ellen DeGeneres and Nicki Minaj? This comedy star also has a new smartphone app, and is currently working on developing an animated series and an MTV show.
Having trouble? Here’s a hint: He was born and raised in Hilo.
It’s been almost nine years since he started his channel at the age of 14, and 2008 Waiakea High grad Ryan Higa continues to surf an ever-growing wave of online stardom as one of the most popular personalities on YouTube.
As of Thursday, the 24-year-old’s comedy channel, nigahiga, had the 10th-largest subscriber list on the video-sharing site, putting him in the top 10 with stars like Rihanna, One Direction, Katy Perry and Eminem. With more than 14.3 million subscribers, he is nearly 1.2 million pairs of eyes ahead of the YouTuber in the No. 11 slot — global popstar Taylor Swift.
Considered by many to be one of the stars who helped put YouTube on the map, Higa has built a strong, loyal following by providing consistent updates, while displaying his ability to find laughs in topics ranging from those of worldwide significance, such as the recent Ebola outbreak, to the mundane, including “Why are big bootys trending?”
His collection of videos, which can run from 4 minutes to 20 and often feature a cast of characters including friends and family, have amassed him a total of 2.18 billion video views. That puts him just below Michael Jackson, with 2.22 billion views, and just above Skrillex, with 2.15 billion views.
Despite his massive online success, Higa says he has no illusions about his ranking among traditional celebrities in the “real world.” Nor is that the kind of celebrity he wants for himself, he said.
“If I were to see what Justin Bieber goes through, as a high schooler I would be like, ‘Damn, that’s the life I wanna live.’ Now, I’m like, ‘I would never, ever want that life.’
“I think I’m in a good place, where people can come up to me and it’s not that crazy. I can still go to places. I’ll take a picture with someone here and there. It’s perfectly fine. I don’t mind doing that.”
But, he said, reaching the star status where roving bands of paparazzi are chasing him down the street or “you gotta shut down a store for me,” that’s just not something he’s interested in.
Luckily, he said, no matter how famous he gets as he continues to live and work in Henderson, Nev., just outside of Las Vegas, his hometown of Hilo is always available to bring his head back down to size.
“That’s kind of been happening even since I was back home in high school and stuff. In Hilo, as you know, nobody really cares. When it first started happening (being recognized from his videos) from YouTube, it was like, ‘Who cares?’ I could feel people looking at me, and it was like, ‘Damn, that’s that weird kid online that gets a lot of views for whatever reason.’ (On the mainland, however, people) make us feel a lot cooler than we are.”
As online entertainment options have continued to grow in popularity, they have also attracted plenty of advertising dollars. In 2010, Higa was able to drop out of attending film school in Las Vegas to pursue making videos for his channel full-time. He now works “seven days a week” on his video shoots with six friends and his older brother, Kyle, he said.
Higa won’t say how much money he makes through his YouTube channel, but he admitted that in recent years he’s seen a lot more interest from advertisers than he did in years past.
“I will say that right after I left college, it was livable. … But because of the fact that people are taking us more seriously now, with the ads getting better and the money going into online media getting better, it’s definitely more lucrative. That’s why I’m able to pay some of my friends to help me film.”
The social media analytics site Socialblade.com estimates that the nigahiga channel earns between $9,200 a month and $147,800 a month — a range which perhaps says more about how difficult it is to gauge a YouTube channel’s worth than it says about what Higa makes. Meanwhile, a February article in USA Today listed Higa among “6 YouTubers making more money than you.”
Regardless of what he brings in, it’s clear that the business of being funny on the Internet is good, and Higa is exploring various new opportunities that have arisen as a result of his success.
Recently, he pitched an idea for a show to MTV, and a company in Singapore is working with him to develop an animated series he will help to voice.
“It’s one of the biggest things I’ve ever done,” he said of the animated show. “… It’s basically my version of being able to do a show where I don’t physically have to be there for the filming, and the reason for that is because YouTube, literally, takes up seven days a week for me,” Higa said.
About two weeks ago, he also launched his own app for mobile devices. The app, “Tee Hee,” allows fans to interact with Higa and his cast of friends and family, while also allowing them to post their own videos. It’s a format that he hopes will bring him even closer to his fans and allow him to more details about his journey as he continues to explore the entertainment world.
“At the very least, it’s going to allow me to bring them along with me,” he said.
The world of entertainment was something very far from the minds of his parents, Luci and Wendell, who still live in Hilo.
“In Hawaii, we’re not initially exposed to the entertainment industry. So, for us, the whole industry is not common,” said Luci Higa. “We were a little skeptical.”
Higa says when he first decided to drop out of film school and work full-time on his channel, breaking the news to his parents made for an initially uncomfortable conversation.
“You know, calling your Asian parents to tell them you’re dropping out of school, that’s not easy,” he said with a laugh.
But, his mom says, the gamble has paid off, and she enjoys helping her son with the business, flying out to Vegas three or four times a year to help organize things.
“I like to give him room to concentrate on the creative things,” she said.
Higa says he is by no means an expert on filmmaking.
“I know enough to do a little bit of everything well,” he said.
Writing, shooting, editing, acting, directing. It’s enough to keep anybody busy.
But Higa still has time to respond to fans when he’s spotted in public, said his former wrestling coach at Waiakea, Stan Haraguchi.
“Whenever we meet up, in Hilo or Oahu, or when I vacation in Vegas, we meet up and hang out, and there’s always a person or group of people who want his picture,” he said with a laugh. “It never gets old for me.
“He’s really receptive to it. He’s nice and polite.”
For more information, visit higatv.com, youtube.com/user/nigahiga, or check out the free Tee Hee app on the Google Play store and the Apple App store.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.