Follow Me Read online

  My friendship with Rebecca Black is the same, and I even have her to thank for my getting over my fear of going to parties! It wasn’t intentional on her part. Rebecca was already really well known back when we first met. One day I happened to notice that she was following me on Twitter, so I reached out to thank her and tell her how much I liked her videos, and she wrote back the sweetest message about how she had been watching my videos for a while! Kian had started messaging her around the same time, so we both invited her to iChat with us and pretty soon it became a regular thing. We’ve been close ever since.

  After I moved to L.A., her sweet sixteen popped my L.A. party cherry and made me no longer afraid to walk into a houseful of people and loud music.

  A friend of hers threw the bash, and I showed up with the whole neighborhood gang—Jenn, Andrea, Kian, Jc, and Connor. I felt all of my usual nerves flare up as we got closer and heard music thumping inside. But when we opened the door I realized I recognized the faces in the crowd. It wasn’t a bunch of strangers—it was a bunch of other YouTubers! These were people I talked to online anyway.

  I ended up having a great time. It wasn’t even a particularly wild and crazy party, just a group of friends from the internet hanging out and dancing and talking. It was more than I’d ever experienced, though, and from then on I was never scared to go to parties.

  I just wish I could remember if it had happened on a Friday.

  CHALLENGE

  #FIESTAFORRICKY

  Host your own Fiesta Night for your friends and/or family, with tons of delicious Mexican food! Olé!

  CHALLENGE

  #COPYCATFORRICKY

  Reenact one of my comedy skit videos, line for line.

  RANDOM

  Hey, Disney Channel! You should call me, because I’ve got a brilliant idea for a new cartoon series. I’ve already got tons of episodes mapped out, in the form of a comic series I wrote and drew when I was seven years old. It’s called The Dream Team!

  The pitch:

  Five monsters that were created to wreak havoc on the world somehow get magically turned into good guys, build a secret lair inside a tree, and fight a rotating cast of baddies.

  The characters:

  One is a giant head with a huge nose. This guy gets around thanks to a pair of hands that float beneath him and carry him wherever he wants to go. His power is SUPER STRENGTH! Next up is another floating head, but this one is a vampire with bat wings where his ears should be so he can fly. Third, we have a half circle with a cute face and nubby little legs, and he flies everywhere on a piece of electricity-infused scrap metal and tosses little bombs down to destroy bad guys. And we can’t forget about the team member who is nothing but a big squiggle with eyes! Mostly because I did forget what the fifth character I invented was.

  I also created a series called Penguinville, which was all about a town where penguins lived as if they were humans, but this might be more of a niche market. The penguins all have hair and wear little bow ties, and their lives aren’t quite as adventurous as the superheroes’, but there’s definitely penguin drama.

  So, Disney, what do you think? Why don’t you have your people call my people? I’ve got a really great feeling about this.

  CHALLENGE

  #CARTOONFORRICKY

  Create your own cartoon superhero with his/her/its own special set of powers.

  CHAPTER 6

  Obstacles

  CHALLENGE

  #LOVELISTFORRICKY

  Make a list of everything you love about a friend, family member, teacher—anyone really—and randomly give it to that person.

  MUSIC

  As Taylor Swift has taught us, haters gonna hate. Sadly it’s a fact of life, part of pretty much everyone’s everyday existence. You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but I’m not. So why do I still let haters get to me sometimes?

  I think it’s because the most common kind of hate I get from strangers is about my music. When someone says something nasty about me in a challenge video, it’s usually about my clothes, my hair, the way I talk, or some other irrelevant detail I never would have even noticed if they hadn’t pointed it out. They’ll find one little thing to nitpick about, and I can brush that off. Hands down, though, out of all the kinds of creative content I put out, the music is the most harshly judged, probably because it’s such an emotionally vulnerable medium. Think about it—if you’re acting, you’re expressing emotions through words and expressions. With music, you’re using those tools to do the same thing while also making your voice sound melodic and pleasing to listen to. Add dancing to the mix, and believe me, it ain’t easy.

  But I love making music so much because it’s been such a huge part of my whole life. From dancing to Nicki Minaj while I’m cleaning to lip-syncing Aaron Carter songs in the car, all the way to making my own music, it shares an equal love in my heart with making YouTube videos. I’m not going to let anyone stop me from pursuing this dream. I make a big deal out of always saying that the haters don’t have any power, but like I said, in real life they do get to me sometimes, especially if I’m already having a rough day.

  There’s a recurring pattern to how haters infiltrate my life. I’ll post a new music video, and for the first few days I receive a flood of admiration and love from my supporters. Reading all of those sweet messages is like a natural high, an endorphin rush. Then, after about forty-eight hours, the vultures descend with their rude opinions and cruel observations and I’ll come crashing down. What makes it worse is that a lot of the times a nasty comment will get bumped to the top of the comments section because of the number of replies it has gotten. (Fortunately, those replies tend to be people defending me, but they’re hidden from view unless you click on them. The original comment is what stays front and center.)

  I truly don’t understand it. Why do people love to hate on performers when all we’re doing is trying to put some fun out into the world? It’s perfectly normal to not like everything out there—I certainly don’t get down with every single music video I see or song I hear—but out of respect I would never publicly tear the performer down. Maybe haters secretly have ambitions of their own and are too nervous to put themselves out there because of a fear of failure.

  Forget that, though! I work hard at what I do and don’t need the burden of someone else’s negativity. It would be one thing if someone just handed me a song and told me to go record it for money. But I either write or cowrite all my own stuff, I produce the videos and hire everyone involved myself. At the end of the day the final product rests on my shoulders, and I always stand by my releases. I’m proud of the stuff I create. I have a true passion for music, and no one should ever tell another person to stop doing something he or she loves, even if it’s something they don’t personally like. If people are doing something they love that isn’t harming anyone else, then that should be encouraged and glorified, not torn down. If you don’t like something, simply don’t pay attention to it. Watching a video or listening to a song is a choice, and if you don’t like what you see or hear then just move on. I don’t understand why people waste time and energy trying to bring down the things they don’t like. Literally, just get on with your life. It’s much easier and much healthier. They say that success is in the eye of the beholder, and to me, success is being happy and doing what I love and that’s what I’m doing.

  I once watched an interview with the actress Gabourey Sidibe, and she said a really established movie star once told her, “Oh, honey, you should really quit the business. It’s so image-conscious.”

  WHAT!? Look at Gabourey now! She’s got an Academy Award nomination and currently stars on a hit TV show! She’s so inspiring to me. I only get haters talking smack online in a comments section, but she had one of her heroes fat shame her to her face and Gabourey still marched on to become a major star. I wonder how that other actress (whom, incidentally, I haven’t seen in anything for years) feels now. I hope she learned to stop judging people.

  Thinking abou
t that story manages to calm me down when I’m upset about haters. Another thing that I do to feel better is watch some of my favorite artists’ music videos. You know why? Because people hate on them, too! I’m not saying that I specifically go looking for hate brought upon other people, but when I happen to see that even an incredible artist like Beyoncé gets negative comments, it reminds me that literally everyone gets hate. Not that I’m comparing myself to Beyoncé, but seeing that her amazing “7/11” video racked up over 180,000 dislikes on YouTube makes me realize I’m not alone. Beyoncé haters put everything in context—even the greats can’t please everyone.

  A lot of YouTubers, myself included, can often put on a show about not letting haters bother them. Trust me, we all have our days here and there where it can get to us. Everyone is insecure to some degree. It’s unrealistic to expect people to ignore haters just because we tell them to. Unless you’re a completely self-confident person, which is rare, that kind of healthy ego boosting takes work. My advice is to start inward. This sounds cheesy, but try looking in a mirror and telling yourself that you’re awesome. If you don’t believe it, do it again the next day, and the next. You can always look for love and support from your family and friends, but if you don’t believe in yourself, then why should anyone else? I think that’s how Gabourey was able to rise above everything she faced in Hollywood. As messed-up as it was for another actress to tell her to quit acting, the woman was right about one thing—the entertainment business is too image-conscious. But Gabourey believed in herself and didn’t let that stop her.

  If someone hates on something you’ve done creatively, I think it’s probably healthier to get angry than to get sad about it. Because anger, as long as it doesn’t get the best of you and is turned into good energy, can be a pretty good motivator. Try to harness those feelings to push you even further out of your own comfort zone. Take more risks. Remember: There’s no better revenge than success.

  CHALLENGE

  #SPREADLOVEFORRICKY

  Send a tweet to someone you admire (celebrity, teacher, friend, Supreme Court judge, etc.) and tell that person why you think he or she is awesome.

  CHALLENGE

  #DRAWRICKYFORRICKY

  Draw or paint a picture of me and post it!

  SELF-EMPOWERMENT

  Like every other human being on this planet, I have skin that secretes natural oils. Except I think God decided to give me a little extra. And when I have hot, bright lights shining in my face all day when I’m shooting a video, my face turns into an industrial fryer. Luckily, there’s a solution for that. Face powder! Otherwise known as makeup. Unfortunately, there are a lot of ignorant people out there who think guys shouldn’t wear makeup.

  It’s not like I wear lipstick, eye shadow, and mascara on top of it, but you know what? Even if I did, WHO CARES? People, we are living in 2016, and there is no place left in this world for the idea that gender should dictate what someone can or can’t do. Gender roles are set by society, and as a society, we need to get over them. The concept that boys can’t play with dolls and girls shouldn’t get down and dirty building a tree house is so outdated, and yet somehow people still believe the myth.

  When I was a little kid I was obsessed with the cartoon Animaniacs. Of the three main characters, the female, Dot, was hands down my favorite. She was cute and sassy and made me laugh more than any other creature on the show. One day my mom took me to a Toys “R” Us and I went off in search of a Dot stuffed animal. I found the Animaniacs toys in an aisle marked “Boys,” but there were no Dots to be found. On a hunch, I walked over to the girls’ section and sure enough saw a big pile of Dot stuffed animals at the far end of an aisle. I got about three steps closer when a store worker stepped up and said, “Excuse me, this is the little girls’ section. The boy toys are over there.” I slunk away, humiliated. I felt like I had done something horribly wrong, but at the same time I knew in my heart that there was nothing wrong with my wanting a Dot doll. It was a toy that would have made me happy, end of story. It had nothing to do with my gender.

  There have definitely been some positive changes since then. Target has stopped labeling toys as being made for boys or girls, but that’s just one small step. We’ve still got a long way to go. I know this firsthand because of nasty commenters. Instead of focusing on a video I’ve just made for them, some people only pay attention to the fact that they can tell I’m wearing makeup. It’s like they seek it out on my face or something. Trust me, people, it’s for your benefit, not mine. If I didn’t use makeup, I’d look like the next BP oil spill disaster, and those are never fun to look at. When I don’t wear makeup in videos people comment on my oily face, and then when I do wear makeup people comment on that. So I just end up doing what makes me feel the most confident with myself on any given day. Sometimes I don’t need it at all!

  The powder also helps to disguise the fact that my face turns red and blotchy when I feel any kind of heightened emotion. I’m very insecure about it, but I’m not ashamed of it or anything. I just know that it would be a distraction from whatever was happening in the video, and the action is what I want people to focus on.

  Aside from stopping me from getting a toy I wanted back in 1997, another big problem with gender roles is that a lot of people confuse them with sexuality. Like, if a girl wants to play football then she must be a lesbian. Wrong wrong wrong. You should never assume you know what someone’s sexuality is. You wait for them to tell you themselves. It’s ignorant and uncalled for to assume you know someone’s sexuality simply based on something they’re interested in.

  If someone tells you that you can’t do something just because you’re a boy or a girl, ignore that person. Know that you are smarter than that. No one should ever stop you from doing what you want based on some lame concept of what’s considered “normal.” Every time you shatter someone’s assumption about gender roles, we are that much closer to abolishing them.

  CHALLENGE

  #MAKEUPFORRICKY

  Shoot a makeup tutorial—it can be serious if you’ve got an amazing cosmetic trick that you want to share with the world, or you can make it completely insane, like, how to create a realistic unibrow.

  CHALLENGE

  #CELEBMAKEOVERFORRICKY

  Either give or receive a celebrity makeover, where one of you dresses the other up like a famous person.

  SOCIAL

  I love being part of the Miranda Sings expanded-family universe so much. Even though our “relationship” is nothing more than the delusional fabrication of a psycho soprano, being one of her (many) boyfriends is an honor I don’t take lightly. I’ve even gotten the chance to perform that role live at one of her shows, when she called me out of the audience to participate in a Q&A session on how to behave in a movie theater on a first date.

  One day I drove over to Colleen’s house to shoot a video, but something prevented us from getting started right away. I found her pacing furiously up and down her lawn, totally freaking out. I jumped out of my car, thinking she’d been robbed.

  “ ’What’s wrong?” I asked, running up to her.

  “Oh, my god, Ricky, LOOK!”

  She pointed to the window next to her front door but I didn’t see anything.

  “It’s a bat!” she screamed.

  “Where?”

  She dragged me closer to the front of the house, where I finally noticed the leathery little guy curled up in a corner of the sill.

  “I was watching TV and it just flew out from behind the screen, out of nowhere!”

  The image kind of cracked me up but she was so bugged out that I figured it wasn’t a good idea to laugh. Her husband wasn’t home and she had no idea how to get rid of it. “You have to help me,” she begged.

  Bats aren’t my favorite animals in the world either. We decided it was a bad idea to try to walk in the front door, since it was sitting right next to it, so we crept around to the back of the house and entered from there. We tiptoed through the kitchen and into the livin
g room, where we saw it quivering in the same spot we’d seen from outside. It seemed to want to get out of the house as much as we wanted it to leave.

  “I think it needs more convincing,” I said. “What do you have that we can throw at it?”

  “You can’t hurt it!” Colleen wailed. “That’s cruel!”

  “No, I mean, not at it, but near it. Maybe if we can startle it, it will start flying around and realize the door is open.”

  “But what if it starts flying around and comes right at us instead?” she asked.

  “Do you have a better idea?”

  She shrugged and we looked around for soft things to toss that wouldn’t damage the bat or her walls. Once we had collected a bunch of things like small pillows and wooden spoons from the kitchen, we crouched down and took turns lobbing them to the left of the bat. At first it just looked at us, annoyed, but then it started to fidget, and every time it made a sudden motion we’d both yelp.

  I can’t remember what object we tossed that finally made it get off its butt and start to fly around, but as soon as it launched we both started screaming our heads off. If we had been smart we would have charged toward it to try to herd it outside, but instead we covered our heads with our hands and dropped them between our knees. “Don’t let it get in my hair!” she screamed.