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Isaac Smith
Race the rudders.
Jamie Laing
Race the sails.
Isaac Smith
Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching.
Jamie Laing
Over. Roger. Wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution?
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Jamie Laing
Okay.
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Isaac Smith
Dinner time.
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Jamie Laing
Hello, everyone. My name is Jamie Laing and this is great company. We're rolling.
Jemima
We're rolling, honey.
Jamie Laing
Well, welcome back. Oh, you lovely people who listen to our podcast, welcome.
Jemima
This is Jamie Lang.
Jamie Laing
He presents I am not you. You've confused people who just come.
Jemima
You don't introduce yourself by saying, this is Jemima.
Isaac Smith
It's me.
Jamie Laing
I say, this is Jemima.
Jemima
And I said, this is Jamie.
Jamie Laing
Oh, yeah. So you're the producer. Let me just put it straight. The female voice you're hearing me is the producer, Jemima. The male voice you're hearing right now is me, Jamie, the host of the show.
Jemima
I was thinking about this the other day. It's quite good that we have, like, our tones are Quite different. Cause I was listening to a podcast the other day. It was presented by three women and I couldn't tell the difference. It was the first time I'd listen. Once you get to know the characters, you're like, oh, that's that one, that's that one. But for a good while I was like, I can't tell the difference between these women's characters.
Jamie Laing
Do you think people know the difference between us?
Jemima
I hope they do.
Jamie Laing
They do. They do. Hey, if you can't. Today's guest.
Jemima
Oh, so exciting. But I cannot say his name.
Jamie Laing
You can't pronounce his name. So what do you think his name is?
Jemima
I read it and I think I've probably corrected people and said it's actually Italian bark.
Jamie Laing
It's not Italian Bach.
Jemima
I think like the composer Bach. But what is it?
Jamie Laing
Try it. What do you think it is?
Jemima
Well then I think Italian Bach. I'm saying Italian Bache.
Jamie Laing
No, his name is Italian Bach.
Jemima
Right.
Jamie Laing
K so AKA his real name is Isaac Smith.
Jemima
I'm just gonna call him Isaac.
Jamie Laing
Just call him Isaac. But his social creator name is Italian Bach. Lots of you listening right now may not have social media, may not have TikTok, may not be into creators, but a lot of you listening will be. And if you are into TikTok and social media, you'll know exactly who Italian batch is. Isaac is the creator behind some of the funniest content so good on the Internet. It is amazing. And he's a real grafter.
Jemima
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
I've seen him grow from super with no one I was following from the very beginning to where he is now with millions and millions of followers on YouTube and Instagram and TikTok. He's incredible. And I wanted to get him on, firstly because I'm a fan, but secondly because I want to know the. The mindset behind building a platform like that and building an audience. What drives you to do that? You know, the constant treadmill of being on that sort of situation is a lot.
Jemima
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
So I'm so intrigued to find out everything in his mind.
Jemima
Yeah. It's all self made. And the interesting thing is in terms of the notes, there's not. They weren't very lengthy notes, we don't know notes about Isaac Smith. So I'm really excited to find out more about him as well.
Jamie Laing
I can't wait to come on. I'm so intrigued in this space and I think for anyone who is thinking about becoming a creator who wants to know about being in that space, this is an episode for you. Because he is on the rise at the moment.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jemima
Or if you just like his stuff and wanna know about the character. About the character and like where the ideas come from. Cause there's just so many and they're all very funny.
Jamie Laing
It's so funny. Okay, are you ready for this?
Jemima
I'm really ready.
Jamie Laing
Oh, by the way, if you haven't subscribed to our show, please do also let us know in the comments what you think of the show. And you can find us on instagram @GreatCompany PODC. Or you can send us an email. GreatCompanyamputproductions.co.uk. everything is in the show description. Are you ready for this?
Isaac Smith
Yep.
Jamie Laing
Enjoy this episode of Italian Batch.
Jemima
Yes.
Jamie Laing
AKA Isaac Smith on Great Company.
Isaac Smith
Hi, I'm Italian Batch and I'm either Great Company or in Great Company.
Jamie Laing
My. My friend tells me the story, right? He. He had a panic attack when he was at school. Because.
Isaac Smith
We'Re professional, I sent him off. Now, that's. My friend triggered something.
Jamie Laing
My friend at school had a. He had a panic attack because he got made a prefect. And what he was doing is he got made the prefect. And at school, when you were made a prefect at the school that we're at, it was a surprise. So you didn't know you were becoming a prefect. And so it was announced in front of the school. So it was a big moment. And as he, as he walked up, he had a jumper in front of his crotch. And the reason was, is that he, he didn't realize he's in there and he got an erection for no reason.
Isaac Smith
Just pure excitement.
Jamie Laing
Pure excitement. Oh, my God. He didn't know what to do, so he put a jumper.
Isaac Smith
Just made it more obvious. Just draw attention to it.
Jamie Laing
So he put his jumper over it as he walked up and he had a panic attack because everyone. What are you doing with the jumper?
Isaac Smith
Oh, no. So he's there with a boner, just panicking. Just been announced a prefect as well. And he's like, oh, my God, I can't believe it. That's terrible.
Jamie Laing
It's actually the worst way. It's the worst thing to happen ever.
Isaac Smith
Did people catch on that he had a boner?
Jamie Laing
Oh, I think they probably did. I don't really know. He then sort of had a panic attack and he went out and it was just really. Did you ever have anything really embarrassing happen to you growing up that sort of slings to mind? You go like, God, that moment.
Isaac Smith
Ah, well, I, at the time, I didn't think it was embarrassing, but my mom revealed that it was embarrassing after the. After the fact. We had like a talent show and I was going to do magic, which is a cool thing to do. A talent show. Yeah, yeah. But my friends had. Had decided they were going to do magic as a duo, so I was like, okay, well, I need to go solo now. I need to go big. And so I did animal noises. And all the parents are just there watching and I'm there, just going through, like, frog, pigeon, eagle. Just doing these. I did them for about two minutes. I. I thought I did really well. I find out 10 years later, my mum was just in the crowd, like, oh, my God, this is awful. And apparently all the parents were like, what is going on? This is. This is horrific.
Jamie Laing
I. Sorry to cut you off, but I just. You're so. Just bring yourself back there. Yeah, yeah, okay, I'm there and you're there. You're on stage in front of everyone and your frog noises go.
Isaac Smith
Believe it or not, I haven't done it in a while. Wait, that's not as good as it can be. It's a little bit like that. A little bit. Okay.
Jamie Laing
And it's good high energy for a stage.
Isaac Smith
And there's no mic as well, so no one can really hear it.
Jamie Laing
Okay. And then you went into your. You must have, like, thought that was like a warm up. And then you went.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, that was a warm up, that one.
Jamie Laing
And then you went into. What else are you going to next?
Isaac Smith
I think I went wood pigeon after that.
Jamie Laing
Good one.
Isaac Smith
The classic go to.
Jamie Laing
Yeah, obviously, Obviously. Obviously.
Isaac Smith
Which is like a.
Jamie Laing
Just quickly, did you think about your set before? Did you? Did you?
Isaac Smith
Yeah, no, I had them. Had them ready. Had them ready.
Jamie Laing
And then you went. And then after wood pigeon, what would it be?
Isaac Smith
Then I did cat and dog, so. Cat. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
Yeah.
Isaac Smith
Well, it's gotten worse over the years. Not as good as wood pigeon. It's great. Wood pigeon was my speciality. No, Give me another chance.
Jamie Laing
Still not as good.
Isaac Smith
It's right in my ears as well, because you.
Jamie Laing
I can feel it's nearly there.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, it's just. It's right on the tip of my toe. I was a lot better at that at the time. I haven't been warming up.
Jamie Laing
Did you. And what was the crescendo? What was the.
Isaac Smith
That was eagle.
Jamie Laing
Oh.
Isaac Smith
Which has gone seriously downhill now. Yeah, I'll. But I'll give it a go. But if it's bad, just pretend it didn't happen. Okay. Because I have to put quite a lot of energy into this.
Jamie Laing
Oh, my God. That is good.
Isaac Smith
Just. I promise it was better at the time. There was more throat to it now it's a bit breathy, but. And the crowd erupted. It was incredible. The parents loved it. They really did. Well, I thought they did at the time. Apparently not.
Jamie Laing
How old were you, can I ask?
Isaac Smith
Oh, I. Probably about 12, I think.
Jamie Laing
So good. Prime age.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. Probably should have been singing or dancing or something.
Jamie Laing
Just not even on stage.
Isaac Smith
Could have passed up. A lot of people passed up on the talent show. I was like, no, this is good enough. I'm going up there. But I wasn't embarrassed at the time. Yeah, that's good. That's the main thing, you know, it felt good.
Jamie Laing
Oh, my God. I see. I need it before. Okay. Before we get into anything. Right. So I'm calling you Isaac, which is your name is Isaac Smith.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
But you're better known for your Internet personality, which is Italian batch. Italian batch, yeah.
Isaac Smith
Or batch.
Jamie Laing
And what's so amazing is that we've never actually met.
Isaac Smith
No.
Jamie Laing
But for some reason, I don't know why, maybe it's because I'm such a fan of yours. Is that as soon as you walked in, I felt immediately connected to you.
Isaac Smith
I know. You chased me down the stairs.
Jamie Laing
I know. I actually haven't had that before with anyone.
Isaac Smith
Oh, really?
Jamie Laing
I swear to God, I promise you, on this show, I will never. I would just be honest. I never had that before. I honestly, for some reason in my head, I thought I knew you more. I've never met you. Yeah, but I've just seen every single one of your videos.
Isaac Smith
You're probably sick of my face.
Jamie Laing
No, not at all. Do you have that with a lot of people? Is that what happens with the sort of. Of following that you have, that people really feel like they know you?
Isaac Smith
I do feel like a lot of interactions I have with. With viewers is they're always really good and they do. I had one the other day actually, and they were like, sort of out weirding me. And I thought, oh, this is great. Like, she came over, she was like, hello, my lady. I was like, what now? I don't know how to react because usually that's my line. I don't know how to go. Don't know where to go from there. So what did you do, my lord? Obviously. Obviously couldn't let her do it herself. And I had to sort of step back and think, what am I doing right now? But they do. They do seem to. Yeah, they just seem to. Seem to be more comfortable as if they. They do do know me. Which is nice. It's always nice when you have like a. An interaction like that.
Jamie Laing
So it's nice.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
When was the first video that you made and you put it up and what was it?
Isaac Smith
The first one. The first videos I started making was with a friend. I was. I was like seven years old. We making a lot of videos on Facebook. We were watching I'm a Celeb and we would just recreate, like pretend to be Anton Deck. And then we'd edit it so it looked like an I'm a Celeb episode. And then we started doing scooter montages. Like what?
Jamie Laing
A scooter montage.
Isaac Smith
Like just stunts on the scooters. Montage that. Upload that.
Jamie Laing
And this is all to YouTube.
Isaac Smith
This. This? Yeah. This was on YouTube.
Jamie Laing
So this is in. Would have been in 2007.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, yeah.
Jamie Laing
Because you were born 2000, right?
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
Okay.
Isaac Smith
And then I turned up at his house. I spent a lot of time at his house. He spent a lot of time at my house. Cause our mums were best friends. And I turned up and I was wearing a pink T shirt. He was wearing a pink T shirt. And we decided to start a channel called the Pink Bros, where we would just dance. And we must have uploaded like five videos of us dancing. We don't know how to dance. Never did. Still don't. Then after that, I made like gaming videos. I'd play Roblox and put out tutorials and stuff like this. And then after that, he moved away, I moved away. And I think I uploaded again. When I got to 12 years old, I uploaded a video called Pineapple War, which is still out there. That's the oldest video that's still online. And it's me just cutting a pineapple to Labyrinth. And it's really dramatic. And every time I uploaded a video, I thought, this is going to go viral.
Jamie Laing
Yeah.
Isaac Smith
And it just. And it never did. But it didn't stop me. And then I made a video when I was in school. A big thing for me was not to make videos in school because I didn't. I didn't want people to think it was uncool. So I made a video where I was like cutting up a pineapple. No, no, no. Not. I was cutting up a pumpkin this time. Yeah. And I made the video everything. I never put it out. I did another thing where I did like an ice bath with friends and never put that out. And then it wasn't. And then I had like a. An eight year break until I then started doing content again when TikTok was about not an eight year, probably like a six year break because that was like my school years. And I was like, I don't want to upload anything while I'm in school because it felt embarrassing.
Jamie Laing
Why did you think chopping up a pineapple to Labyrinth would be a hit?
Isaac Smith
I don't know. You do know at the time. Labyrinth.
Jamie Laing
What song was it?
Isaac Smith
Earthquake. Oh, yeah, yeah, of course, of course, yeah.
Jamie Laing
Sorry. Predict an earthquake. Sorry, how does it go again?
Isaac Smith
I predict an earthquake up in here. You know the one?
Jamie Laing
Yeah, I know the one.
Isaac Smith
And, and where did you, where did you start?
Jamie Laing
On the pineapple?
Isaac Smith
Right. So. Well, actually. So you know the pineapple cutters that you spin around? Oh, yeah, that was obviously, that was in my bedroom in my chest. So I'd film myself getting it out, spinning it like, yeah, this is the weapon. Walking downstairs. But I didn't, I didn't understand cuts yet. So I'd, I'd film myself walking downstairs from loads of different angles. But it was like a minute total of me walking down the stairs and I'd be walking down. I get to a point and then the next scene, I'm still walking down. The next scene, I'm still walking down.
Jamie Laing
You were an artist.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. At the time that I felt I was really proud of that. YouTube was a weird space where something like that could do well because there was. It wasn't very saturated and.
Jamie Laing
Well, did you, did you study, did you study YouTube? Because it's what I find. So what I've realized right. About life is. Okay, my co host on Ready One is someone called Vic Hope. She met Calvin Harris. Yeah, the, the, the, the international dj. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, he, what I found out with, he basically just sat in his room just studying music. It's not just your, hey, I want to be like, you know, just a dj. You actually, he studied it and that a lot of successful people realized. Actually I studied it. You look at Mr. Beast. He studied. Yeah, studied YouTube. Did you study it and understand it?
Isaac Smith
Well, I grew up like that was my main thing. I'd watch YouTube again with the older sister thing. They'd be watching shows that I wouldn't want to watch. Like they'd put on scrubs and stuff like that. And I didn't quite understand it. So as much as I'd enjoy doing that, I'd more enjoy watching YouTube because I could pick the YouTube and I have control over my ipod or whatever it was.
Jamie Laing
Yeah.
Isaac Smith
So I grew up watching YouTube. And when I realized I wanted to be a YouTuber, I'd start idolizing these specific people.
Jamie Laing
And then, like, who.
Isaac Smith
There's been a few, like, a lot of prank couples. So I thought I would. This. This prank couple called Nikita Banana 88. And I would think, okay, I'm gonna. I'm gonna do pranks or. And then the Janoskians came out, an Australian group, and I was like, okay, that's what I want to do. And then like, TGF, bro, and the Sidemen, obviously, and MrBeast. Even. Even that wasn't too long ago when I first started deciding, okay, I'm gonna post to YouTube and I'm gonna make it work. I went back and I watched every single one of his videos to. To see how he did it. And I did the same with Ryan Trahan. I went back to every single, like the beginning of his content. I watched his progression because I thought if I mirror what they did and at what point they switched up their content and I mirror that, but put my own style on it, then I would see the same results. And like, any.
Jamie Laing
That's amazing.
Isaac Smith
Any podcast that Mr. Beast has been on, I would have watched it because I was like, okay, this guy really understands it. And I would just absorb the information. But I found it interesting. Even if I didn't, even if YouTube wasn't my job or TikTok wasn't my job, I'd still be obsessed with it. I think it was one of those obsessions that. That really stuck for me.
Jamie Laing
It's an obsession that you.
Isaac Smith
You.
Jamie Laing
You felt like you loved it.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
So what did you notice about everyone? So if you look at those YouTubers, what was the sort of formation that they did in order to get successful?
Isaac Smith
So it's like. Because the problem is, like, a lot of people look at a YouTuber now when they, when they're already established, and they'll think, okay, whatever video they post now, I'll try and mimic that and I'll have the same success. But they only have success now with those videos because they already have the following. So no matter what, that video will do well. But if you go back and look at the videos when they had 0 subscribers and no one was watching them, you've got to realize what they did to get the subscribers and get people watching them. And so I would just go through and like, I make sort of like, reaction content now, whereas, like, MrBeast is doing these huge videos. So I look back to when he was doing, like, reaction style content And I'll see what he was doing and why it worked, and I'll apply that to now and then. So I just see myself as just a few years behind the people that are doing better than me. And you just mimic what they were doing back then and it works a lot better. Fuck.
Jamie Laing
History is our playbook for the future. 100% of this.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, exactly.
Jamie Laing
And people don't realize that. And I think people forget that taking. You're so right. You've nailed it with that. That people are following people. Make a huge mistake. They follow people now, what they're doing now. So. Oh, we make these type of suites. They need to follow us now. No, they should look like we were doing 15 years ago, 13 years ago. Right. Or with YouTube looking at people now because they're successful. We need to copy that video. No, you look back at what they were doing to begin with, follow that playbook.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
So you. Then you grow your audience slow.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, exactly. Because if you look at what they're doing now, they've. They've done all the hard work. This is the easiest stuff now. So they don't have to optimize what they're doing because they know they're in a position where what they do will do well. Like, my videos now are very different from the very beginning because I knew I had to. I had to draw in an audience, whereas now I have an audience and these platforms will naturally push my videos more because they're getting engagement already. So it's you. You do have to switch up what you're doing as you grow with your channel. And the beginning is the hardest to. Because how do you convince someone to watch your video over someone who is already.
Jamie Laing
You're selling a product? How do you. How do you. How do you swap it over? How do you make sure someone stop and then come over to you?
Isaac Smith
Yeah, exactly, exactly. So I would. I think there's. When you put out a piece of content, there's like two parts. You've got the idea and the execution.
Jamie Laing
Explain that to me.
Isaac Smith
So say if you apply it to TikTok, one of my concepts, like, like the old man character, that would be the idea and the execution is how I. I do that. I could give someone starting out an idea that I know if I were to film, would do well, but it's whether they execute it right, and if they don't execute it right, that's. That's where the problem is. So if you're putting out content now and it's not doing well, it's either the idea that's the issue or the execution that's. That's the issue. And so in the beginning of YouTube when I'd look back, I'd see that a lot of creators in the beginning say, I'm doing reaction stuff.
Jamie Laing
Yeah.
Isaac Smith
The stuff they're reacting to has to be really, really interesting. That has to bring someone in because they don't care about you. So the idea is what's important there. So I would bring in these videos that no one else has done. That's. It's really interesting to watch by itself if I don't exist. And I would just make sure that I execute it in a way where I'm adding value. So someone's like, actually, I came for the video he's reacting to, but he's actually kind of funny. So I stick around.
Jamie Laing
You've nailed it, man. My big thing is this, is that you basically, people are too arrogant to be good on social media because everyone thinks that if a video doesn't do well or a clip doesn't do well or a picture doesn't do well, it's like, well, why not? No, it's because people don't care. They don't care about you. So if your content is very selfish, no one's going to care.
Isaac Smith
Exactly.
Jamie Laing
You need to make stuff that appeals to the mass. So someone, I always say on our team when we do, like, videos or whatever, I always say, but hang on a second. If. If someone doesn't know who Jamie or Sophie is or who I am, why the hell are they going to watch this?
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
Unless they're dedicated fans to us, they're not going to give a shit. It's fascinating. Exactly.
Isaac Smith
You need the content that applies to an audience who don't know who you are. If you're always, like, doing the content that, you know, like, if I were to keep posting TikToks, I think my followers are going to love this, then I will slowly fall off because new people don't care. Like you. You got to understand that you're not as important as you think. You are totally in the content. It's the idea and the execution. And if you keep on top of those and keep making sure you're getting better and better and better, then people will watch and enjoy it.
Jamie Laing
That is an amazing outlook on it, because I saw, I sort of feel that that's the issue that sort of happened with the sort of content space is that everyone wants to be. Everyone's kind of maybe doing it for the. Everyone wants to be Famous and, And that is the wrong thing. If you'll go. It's like when you set up a business, if you're going into a business because you want to make money, you're going to fail.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
Because it's not. It's like making money is the byproduct of something that you're creating. Right. That's the end goal.
Isaac Smith
Exactly.
Jamie Laing
But it's not the beyond. You're going to lose a lot of time and money and stress, all these different things. And I think, say it's exactly the same with content creat. You can't think, I just want to be famous, because then you're not going to execute what you need to do.
Isaac Smith
Exactly. And that, that's. I think that's one of the most important things you can say as well. Because if so many people start YouTube because they see the money and the, the fame that might come along with it, but the first two years, no one's going to watch your videos and so you will give up. But if you start YouTube like I did, because I love YouTube, I'd do it if I wasn't. If it wasn't my job, then you're so relentless with it. You're uploading past that period where people aren't watching you until people start to find you, discover you and then they're watching you. And so if you start for the right reasons, it will work. But if you start because you want the end product, you're never going to get to the point where you enjoy that.
Jamie Laing
What were you like as a kid? I want to take you all the way back. What were you like? Like, were you an outgoing kid? Were you an introvert? Were you an extrovert? What were you like?
Isaac Smith
I think I was definitely. I was an introvert. I was very anxious as a child.
Jamie Laing
Really?
Isaac Smith
Yeah. So I was a. I was an introvert. Sort of clung to mum and. Yeah, I. I had like. So I've got three sisters. Two are older and my oldest is really outgoing, really funny and stuff. So she was always like the funny one, looked up to that sort of thing.
Jamie Laing
Yeah.
Isaac Smith
And just eventually over the years, I sort of just became more extrovert. But even now I'd say, I'm an introvert.
Jamie Laing
Okay. So that's so funny. The same as my sister. So I had a sister who is maybe 8 to 10 years old, Tash. She's amazing. She's so cool. And she, like, I remember she would throw. Maybe she's a little. Maybe 12 years old, and she would always have, like, boyfriends who, like, I thought were, like, the coolest guys in the world. I remember this one time when she threw a party. She threw a party at our. At our house. We lived in the countryside. And I must have been, what, six years old, right? And I feel like six years old, you shouldn't really be conscious of what's going on. What's going on. But because you have older siblings, you become more conscious of, like, what makes people cool, which is quite a weird sort of thing to have. And I remember she threw a party in the house with all these people and her room was out in the attic and they would come down the stairs past my bedroom and for the whole evening I just lay in bed.
Isaac Smith
Like this, like that. Just sitting up in bed, just hoping they'd peek in. You're like.
Jamie Laing
And one person said, what are you doing? I went, nothing. Just chilling.
Isaac Smith
I was like, six years old, you're like, just chilling, not doing anything, just chilling. Why do you want me to join you guys? You need a. You need another guy down there.
Jamie Laing
That seems.
Isaac Smith
It's insane.
Jamie Laing
It's insane.
Isaac Smith
It's so cool, though it must have.
Jamie Laing
Been her 18th birthday because it was crazy. But it did. It made me as well feel. I don't know, it made me feel maybe insecure. I don't know why. So you had that.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, more like just. Well, I. In general, I think I was just. Just had anxiety. Sort of came from my mum, anyway. So my mum was more introverted, I'd say. And so I just sort of followed what she did. And so that's. That's just how I. Whereas Kira, my older sister, was like that, the cool older sister, she was more rebellious and stuff like that. But then I'd see how where rebellion gets you. And I was like, okay, well, I won't do that. And so I would just sort of just keep to myself and be that sort of child. I still had a great ch. I still had loads of fun. And it was more just like. I didn't like going out in, like, public places. It was more like socially anxious. Yeah, that sort of thing. But content really helped me to get through that sort of thing. And although I'm an introvert, I'm happy going out and doing stuff like this and extrovert things. It's not an issue anymore. By the time it felt like, yeah, it's just things I didn't want to do, you know.
Jamie Laing
What kind of things make you anxious.
Isaac Smith
Then it was like. Like big crowds and stuff like that. So if my dad wanted to take me to football. I didn't want to go because it was. I knew it would be, like, full of big rowdy crowds. And that's not the sort of thing I didn't like meeting new people, like parties. If I knew, say a friend invited me to a party. But you had a different friendship group. I wouldn't really be comfortable there because I didn't know anyone else and I didn't like to mingle. Whereas now I'm at a place where I'm fine meeting new people.
Jamie Laing
I really think I had that as well. I don't know, because I. God, I mean, honestly, the audience is probably bored of me saying this, so, I mean, but I went to boarding school at 8. I mean, and I say it so many times, but I remember being. One of my core memories as a kid is when I was sent to nursery for the first time and I was crying so much. And then one of the teachers, Mrs. Gillian, still remember, she said, don't worry, come get the milk with me. And so we went and got the milk and I was obviously this anxious kid as well. Like, it's like an anxious attachment style. You just. I didn't want to leave my mum.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. Yeah. I had the exact same thing. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
So I basically. How mine would manage. I used to get a lump in my throat.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
And I felt like I couldn't swallow. And so I was like, oh, what's that? And obviously it was anxiety. Didn't know what it was as a kid. And then I sort of. It didn't really pop its head up that much until I was around, like, 22 years old. And then I had a panic attack. And then it really popped his head up in a big way. And then I just did silly things like drank to get through it and. Which really didn't. I found better ways of dealing with it. But the acceptance, as you said, is the big thing.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
Once you accept that's your makeup and that's who you are, that's kind of really helps.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
But that took me ages.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. Yeah. It's like as soon as you put a label on it, it's like, okay, I didn't want to. Like, you'd be feeling the same things, whether you call it anxiety or not, but the fact that you put a label on it would make me feel like, oh, that's. That's not as cool. That's not something I can help now.
Jamie Laing
Yeah.
Isaac Smith
You know what I mean?
Jamie Laing
So what were you at school? Were you. Were you a popular kid or.
Isaac Smith
No, Yeah, I was fairly popular and I didn't really struggle at school because once, you know, everyone, it's fine. And I had a good group of friends and I. I think I was well liked by a lot of people. And I was fairly sporty. I was in the sport, like sports teams and stuff like that. It was more when it came to, like, things outside of school. Like, if my friends, like when it came to going out, like, we. We became the age where, like, people would go clubbing. I'd be like, not for me, really. It would make me feel anxious. So that's the sort of thing.
Jamie Laing
What age is this? What age were you when you're doing that?
Isaac Smith
12. No, no, it was boring. It was like when you hit 18, then they start going clubbing. So. And at that age, I was like, ah, it's just not. Not for me. I just. I know I'm gonna feel anxious there. So. Not something I want to do.
Jamie Laing
Good on you, man. You had a real sense of self. You knew exactly what you were like.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, and I stuck to. And I'm glad I did. Rather than. Because I. There would be times where I'd go along with something because I'd be like, I don't want to be boring here. But then I'd really not enjoy it. And I'd make a mental note and I'd be like, okay, well, I'm just gonna set a boundary that I'm not gonna do that. Cause I know I'm not gonna enjoy myself.
Jamie Laing
That's a really mature. It's the end of the podcast.
Isaac Smith
That's really mature.
Jamie Laing
But, man, it is, because. Okay, like, it's tricky, right, for me to understand because you do the stage performance, right, where you do all the animals and things like that. So you clearly, maybe. And you like being on stage and performing. So you like that part. But then if you think about the psychological about it. But then also, I really wanted to be popular and really want to be there. You almost were so comfortable in yourself. You didn't really care about that because you knew that was bad for you. But you would also go onto stage and perform because you sort of loved it. So you had a real sense of self in a sense.
Isaac Smith
I think I like what I liked to do and still do is I like to be an entertainer. And so the performance things and being in front of crowd. Not really. And I could talk in front of a class and it wouldn't be an issue. I don't know if it's like, I would create unrealistic Scenarios in my head that going out would be dangerous or like, I didn't like roller coasters. I love roller coasters now. But at the time I was like, no, that could. I could stop breathing on a roller coaster. And I'd be like, that's me done. And I'd go to. I went to. In Little Hampton, they had the waltzers. And I went on the waltzers once and I thought I was dead. And I got off and I was, oh, I'm never doing that again. I was dead for five seconds. I'm sure, I'm sure of it because I just couldn't breathe.
Jamie Laing
What do you mean?
Isaac Smith
They're spitting me so fast. I couldn't take air in quick. Like the air was coming too quick at my face to take it in. I was like, I'm never doing that again. Like that is bad for me. Maybe it's a. It was like a protective thing of my own life. I thought everything was a. Was a risk of life when it wasn't really even the waters, you know, Even now I won't actually go on the waters because I'm like, well, better not risk it. Just in case.
Jamie Laing
Yeah. So you couldn't breathe it in. Yeah.
Isaac Smith
It's like when you stick your head out of a window and you're like, I can't breathe through that. It's coming too quick.
Jamie Laing
Have you ever been to Winter Wonderland in London? Okay. They had this.
Isaac Smith
It was years ago.
Jamie Laing
I went. Because I went to. I still convinced. I went to the first ever Winter Wonderland.
Isaac Smith
Oh really? I'm just convinced.
Jamie Laing
I'm actually convinced.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
Because I.
Isaac Smith
What year was that?
Jamie Laing
78. It was just post war. I was the only one there. But I honestly, it was one of the first. And it was one of these things which you would go in, stand there and it would spin round like this and the bottom keep you there, keeps you like that. And so I thought like this was like a really fun thing. So I started going on and I realized that you could then spin your body. You could spin your body so if you at a right angle, you could get stuck there because the G force going around. And I honestly, I thought I was going to die because.
Isaac Smith
Wait, so you could just got stuck.
Jamie Laing
Because I did this one. So much force I was on it like this. Yeah, like this against the wall. And if for anyone who's just listening to this, it's quite. But my back was against the wall. I was stuck to the wall and I wanted to act like a door and open myself up. So then so then I would. So that I would face the wall and I.
Isaac Smith
What a great idea.
Jamie Laing
And I opened myself up and the G force slammed me with my face against the wall. Oh, you got, like a door slamming. I couldn't breathe because I was so against the wall. It's actually one of the scariest moments of my life.
Isaac Smith
I'm just picturing being on the other side of the ride and seeing you do that and thinking, what is he doing? And then you just hear, boom. You're just stuck there. What was going through your head thinking, oh, oh, it'd be a better view if I turn over this one.
Jamie Laing
I thought I would do it, like, do it going down. So it'd be like, well, you know, one of those stick men that like all these things against the window and.
Isaac Smith
They sort of like, oh, and they just flip round.
Jamie Laing
They flip around. I thought I could do that.
Isaac Smith
You thought you'd just go around people just like that? You just smacked your face and got stuck.
Jamie Laing
That happened to me.
Isaac Smith
And then. Oh, that's terrible.
Jamie Laing
I remember another time I went to Chessington World of Adventures.
Isaac Smith
Love Chessington.
Jamie Laing
Oh, man.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
There was something called the Magic Carpet Ride.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, okay.
Jamie Laing
It goes.
Isaac Smith
Okay.
Jamie Laing
Okay, so Magic Carpet ride sort of goes. It goes like a magic carpet like that. I'm trying to explain it to people who aren't watching, but it's like a magic carpet. Up and down. Makes any sense. Like the pirate shits. You see that swing back and forth? Yeah, but it's a bit more. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My brother went on, but there was a height restriction, and my sister had these platform shoes, so I put her platform shoes on to get past the height restriction. Weirdly, I don't know why the guy doing it didn't look down. Look down and see, this child is too big. And I went onto the ride and it was. It was just a bar that came down and the ride started. And I suddenly realized very quickly why there was a height restriction. It honestly went so fast that I thought I was going to be whipped out. I was clinging onto it so bad. I looked to my left. My brother is also clinging onto it, and he just looks at me and he's so scared, he just mouths, hold.
Isaac Smith
On, we're gonna die here. Oh, no. Will that teach you for faking your height to get on a ride?
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Jamie Laing
Give me. Give me your sort of playbook. Right. So. So you. You had this, like, hiatus from your lab.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
Because it was such a big hit. You were like, you couldn't deal with the fame.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, I had to take a break.
Jamie Laing
To take a break from it all. And just like, you just, you know, just. You went a bit crazy for a bit, right? You had your time just going a bit wild.
Isaac Smith
I went wild. I came back.
Jamie Laing
Yeah, you came back and just, you know, put your feet on the ground and you were like, I'm not. Yeah, I'm not that cool. You then tick tock starts coming up, right? And it was musically. Then it became TikTok.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
You start posting on that. How many videos are you posting a day, a week, a month? What is it looking like before? And you. No one knows who you are at this point?
Isaac Smith
Well, I started because I started posting. I made a fitness Instagram account because I was working out a lot. I was very into the gym. And then I made it made sense to make Isaac Smith fit, which was a Tick Tock account I had to.
Jamie Laing
Sell to sell training programs or to.
Isaac Smith
Look at as a business just, just to upload because I was working out anyway and I loved video creat creation. So no matter what it was, I was like, I just love putting a video out there and people being like, oh this is cool. Oh, I get value out of this, I love that. So I started doing that and I did that for a year or so and I got, I. It did really well. I got 350000 followers on that fitness Tick Tock. But I got to a point where I was like, this isn't the style of content that I enjoy watching and it's not the style of content I enjoy making. I like to make people laugh. I like funny content because people appreciate it more, I feel. So I, so I started the whole Italian Batch account.
Jamie Laing
And why the name Italian Batch?
Isaac Smith
It was an old gamer tag. Because I'm so, I'm only quarter Italian. My, my mum's Italian. So I was like, I was probably 8 years old on Xbox and I was like, I need a cool name so I'll put Italian in there because it's cool to be Italian. And I try, I tried to call myself Italian Bitch because I thought oh this is so cool.
Jamie Laing
Yeah, that's wicked.
Isaac Smith
But obviously Xbox wouldn't allow that. And I, I got rid of the T for bitch. It was like, no, it's still too much like bitch. And I changed the I for the A and then you got batch and, and I thought when I was making the TikTok account and my YouTube account, it was at the time that I was studying like Mr. Beast and stuff like that. And I was like, a lot of the YouTubers and creators who go far have don't use their name because it's more memorable to use something someone hasn't heard before. Because I could be Isaac Smith, but there'll be another Isaac Smith or there's other Isaacs already, but there's not another Italian batch, there's not another MrBeast. There's like a name like that will stick in your head. So I thought, okay, I'll go under an Elias, I'll go under Italian batch and that's how I'll do it. And yeah, I was posting like five videos a day constantly.
Jamie Laing
Isaac. That's a real marketing skill.
Isaac Smith
Well, it all came from just watching other people who had done it before. And I was like, I was trying to recognize patterns.
Jamie Laing
Yeah, but there's a difference between, there's a difference, I think, between copying and actually having a sense of why they've done it.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
And that's the difference, Right. People can copy, right? You can try and copy. And I always think if you have an idea or whatever it is and talk about it, because if someone's going to try and copy it, they're not going to do as well as you because you have the feeling people can't copy, but people can take inspiration. And you saw that as a mark. You were just like, no, that's going to stand out better than using mine. That says sort of insight and that's just like a feeling.
Isaac Smith
A lot. Well, a lot of what I did, I was trying to optimize and think what makes it more memorable because I can. At the time I was taking part in trends, so I'd post a trending video and I knew at the time, people in the beginning, people don't care about you. They, they think the video is funny, but they think it's a one off from you. They don't think it's, oh, this guy's funny, he got lucky. And that's a funny video. And so I was just thinking of ways that would make me unique. So I thought, thought, okay, well, I'll make a memorable name. I'll grow a mustache. And then, then I cut my hair into a mullet because I thought, okay, now I have a recognizable look and a recognizable name because I was trying to build a brand that. So people would be like, okay, oh, that's his video. Rather than, oh, it's just a funny video, you know, trying to create something that people would remember.
Jamie Laing
Is it, how old were you at this point?
Isaac Smith
It wasn't long ago. I mean, four years ago.
Jamie Laing
Three years ago.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, I'd say three years ago.
Jamie Laing
21, 22. Yeah, that's young man. To understand that. I would say understand about building brand and understanding the identity behind a brand and understanding that you have to be unique. There's a bit we had Rory Sutherland on, right. He's a, he's a big marketer, he's an amazing guy. And I say this a million times. Jemima, who's the producer, this is one of the first things I ever said to her is that. And I live by it, which is he said, you should never follow logic because it gets you back in the same place as everybody else. You have to go against the grain. And it stuck with me forever. And people seem to follow logic because they're like, well that's how you make a car. So I'm going to make a car the same way. But you knew straight away that you had to be different to everybody else and you had to stand out. That's unique to know that.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, I mean and it, but it all just came from like my obsession with YouTube. I've always been obsessed with content creators and so, and these are the people that I'd idolize. So I would just learn from, from what they did and, and just every little detail. I'd think, okay, well that must have played a part in their success. So I'll do that for myself or that I don't think that works. So I won't do that. And you just learn what, what works and what doesn't work. At the end of the day it's just psychology that like totally tick tock and YouTube and everything. It's just human psychology. Like I saw Mr. Beast talking about even little things. Like you put a. No. If you're putting a number in your title, you want it to be an odd number because it sticks in someone's brain more. It stands out more than an even number. I would do 10 year old me finding out this or whatever. So I tested that against like nine year old me. And nine year old tends to do better because it's a number that just sticks out better in your brain. You've got to, it's, it's just psychology.
Jamie Laing
It's like of course it is.
Isaac Smith
Or like 24 hours. A common thing is people. But 24 hour challenge in their, in their title or 25, 24 hours here. But if you did 27 hours, you had three hours on and feels random. Which is 27 hours.
Jamie Laing
Yeah. Why 27?
Isaac Smith
Exactly. And so people. Because 24 is obvious or 48 is obvious, but 47 isn't. So you think why and then you click to find out because you, what you need.
Jamie Laing
So you need to question it. People want to question it, right?
Isaac Smith
Yeah. And then the only answer is to.
Jamie Laing
Watch the mustache and mullet is now a trend. Do you think you set that up?
Isaac Smith
No, I, I actually think I was late on it as well. But people were already doing it and I was like, I don't think maybe Agassi. People were definitely. People were definitely doing it and they've started to get rid of it now, I think. But I'm, I'm still hanging on like, yeah, don't let it go guys, please. But there will come a time where it, where it ends, I think.
Jamie Laing
So big question Is how many videos are you were you posting at that time on TikTok on social media? How many, how many videos were you posting? How many videos are you posting now? Would you say a week on all platforms?
Isaac Smith
So at the time I would post, I'd say I would aim for like five tick tocks a day. But there was a time when. So I only stopped doing the fitness account when Italian batch overtook it in following. And that was a promise I made to myself. I was like, I want to do Italian. And I said to my girlfriend, I was like, I don't want to do Isaac Smith fit anymore. Italian batch had like a hundred thousand followers, whereas Isaac Smith had 350. And I was like, I'm gonna stop doing the fitness and just do Italian batch. And she was like, I don't think that's a good idea because, well, the fitness, it has better prospects for a career. And it did at the time and it made sense. But for me I was like, okay.
Jamie Laing
It doesn't fill your heart.
Isaac Smith
No. And I was like, I know that I could make Italian Batch work and if you get rid of your plan B, then the only thing that can work is plan A. So I was like, when I hit 350 on Italian batch and it overtakes, that's I'll get rid of the fitness and I will just do, do that because then it has to work because I've made the leap. And so I was posting yet 5 in the beginning. I think it dropped down. When I started making skits I'd post a standard for me was two a day. Now I try and do two a day. It's more like one a day. On the, the main Italian batch account, I made a second account because I thought I need to make my myself more personable because skits you lose your personality and I'm playing a character. So I thought to get people to want to watch my YouTube, I have to get my personality out more on, on TikTok. So I, I made a second account where I post more personal videos. It's just me talking. So I thought that then is more transferable to YouTube and what I'm doing on YouTube. So I'd be posting like maybe three on there and then YouTube. Now I post three a week. So in, in total I'd say you're.
Jamie Laing
Up at nearly a thousand videos a year.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, I've got, I think I've got over almost a thousand videos on YouTube, including shorts. So that's a combination of probably every TikTok video I've uploaded and YouTube videos on that account, which is within the last two years or.
Jamie Laing
Yeah, it's a lot.
Isaac Smith
Last two years or so.
Jamie Laing
So the question then comes right, which is burnout.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
And fatigue. And I've definitely realized this with social media. I think that social media out of any other job in the world is always on.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
There's no nine to fives or there's no. Suddenly the market switches off or you can't get hold of a client and especially your work yourself. It's always on, always on, always on. And it's competitive and it never stops.
Isaac Smith
That's right.
Jamie Laing
So then how do you not burn out? Or maybe you have.
Isaac Smith
I do and I, Yeah, I have many times. And it will just be a. It's like a cycle. Like I'll burn out and, and for like a week or two I put out less content and not because I want to, but because I've. I physically can't bring myself to do it because it's.
Jamie Laing
What does it feel like when you get there?
Isaac Smith
Is it. It's like, like I've got. I decide that's not what I want to do anymore. It's like I've got no motivation to upload. I'm like, that's. I know I need to do, but I just, I don't want to. You find yourself because the job is, is non stop. You find yourself, you burn out, you want to take a rest, but you feel guilty that you're not working and so you never truly rest and you get, you get lost in that cycle for a week, two weeks, three weeks, until eventually something just switches and you're like, no, I need to pull myself together and get back to it. And then it's just go from there. But it is a site, it's a cycle.
Jamie Laing
And that's the never ending cycle that constantly happens the whole time.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
I saw this thing with Mr. Beast, right. Which is I just saw recently on Stephen Bartlett's one where he, he was asked then, are you happy?
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
And I want to throw the same thing to you because I find it interesting with creators. Do you think you're happy?
Isaac Smith
I have, I have a great life. I've got no reason not to be happy. I've got my dream job and stuff like that. But there's I, I'm always driven by the desire to want more and I think that limits your happiness because you never feel like you get to a place where you're like, yeah, this is where I want to be. And that's the problem.
Jamie Laing
With creation.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
Because there is no. When you're constantly creating video after video after video, and it's about subscribers and this and that, there feels like there's no end to it.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, no end. Exactly.
Jamie Laing
And that's quite a sort of daunting aspect that. Because if someone said to you you're gonna have. If someone you first started said you're gonna have 500,000 subscribers.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
You would have been, like, ecstatic.
Isaac Smith
I wouldn't. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
I don't need anymore.
Isaac Smith
Exactly.
Jamie Laing
I don't want anymore.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, exactly.
Jamie Laing
And now you hit that. It's like, well, I still feel the same as I did before, so maybe if I hit a million, it's gonna make me feel better or it's gonna make me satisfied with where I am. And so what are we then striving towards? What are people striving towards?
Isaac Smith
Yeah, I mean, I think you're chasing a fulfillment you'll never have and see and that. I. I genuinely think I am happy. I'm happy person. I'm very happy with where I am, but I'm not fulfilled. And I don't think that. And I think that's something you'll always chase.
Jamie Laing
And that's not a bad thing, though, because it means that you're constantly striving to go forward.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, but it's. It's the. I think that's where burnout comes, though, because it's like you never sit down, and you're. You're happy with the way you are and you appreciate your position and you're content with it. But it's.
Jamie Laing
I have the Say. I have the same. But I. I have burnout on a cyclical basis. And my wife said, he hates it. She's like, it's gonna come. And I'm like, well, deal with it. Yeah, here it comes.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
And then they do. How mine works is that I lose. Yeah. The joy for stuff.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. Same here.
Jamie Laing
It's crazy. And you go like, I. And then suddenly comes back.
Isaac Smith
It comes back. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
And then you drive yourself to the same thing.
Isaac Smith
Yes. Yeah. And when you get into that zone of burnout, you forget what it feels like to snap out of it. And you think that it's going to be like that forever.
Jamie Laing
This is it. Forever.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. And that's when it takes my girlfriend to remind me, like, you know, this is. There's ups and downs, and this is. You always come out of it, and it's. And you're better off afterwards, but in the moment, you're like, no, this is it. That's me done.
Jamie Laing
What's your support system like in those spaces?
Isaac Smith
I have a really good support system. My girlfriend's brilliant. She's grown with me through everything. I've been with her for seven years.
Jamie Laing
So she's talking about her.
Isaac Smith
She's seen.
Jamie Laing
Sounded creepy, everything. I can't wait to talk about her.
Isaac Smith
So she's been there from the beginning. She knows my ins and outs. She knows everything.
Jamie Laing
And you can be vulnerable in that space.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, 100%. And I've got great friends that are like, inspirational friends, like, in the space, and also friends from home.
Jamie Laing
Amazing. So you have that balance between the two. You have the history and the present.
Isaac Smith
Exactly. And then great family. So I've got. I've got a really good support system, but in. There's. There's obviously times where I take it for granted and I feel like, oh, no one can help me. They're giving me suggestions, but, no, they don't understand. This is. This is it. Like, this is a serious problem.
Jamie Laing
But, yeah, this is never going to get better.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. And, yeah, Liv gets frustrated because I'll be discussing a problem with her.
Jamie Laing
Yeah.
Isaac Smith
Because I like to just get it off my chest. And she'll give me solutions, which are valid solutions, but I'll be like, no, that won't work. No, that one won't work either. That won't work. And she's like, well, I am trying to help, but it's, no, you're not. And I'm like, no, you're not. You don't get it. But it's. It's. Because when you're in that. That mindset, you're like, no, there's. I've tried everything. It's not. You don't get out of this burnout stage, but you do. It's just everything. You just feel zoned in in that. That area.
Jamie Laing
This too shall pass. Always.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
Are you competitive with other people or no? Because that's a really hard thing.
Isaac Smith
Right. Silently. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
No, I love it that you met it. I always went, yeah, of course.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, absolutely. I'm not competitive out loud. Like, I'll never make it known. And even in games, I'm not. I won't be competitive. It's like, whatever. If I lose, I lose. But in life, yeah, I'm competitive. I'll keep track of, like, what people are doing and compare it to myself and think, oh, could I? Maybe I could do that better and then I'll catch up. Or I could go further ahead. Or I'm always. I'm always Looking at things and how things perform and how I could be better.
Jamie Laing
Because I now see that some people copy your content.
Isaac Smith
Sure. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
Have you noticed that?
Isaac Smith
Yeah, yeah, I've seen. Yeah, it's a weird one because it's.
Jamie Laing
Like they're doing your content.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. Because I don't know how to feel about it because it. Immediately I'm like, it's a.
Jamie Laing
It's a. It's a. It's a positive.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. But immediately I'm like, that's really annoying. Why are you doing that? But then I'm like, well, it's. It's a com. It is a compliment because it's like they think it's funny, so they've. They've done it themselves. It's. Yeah, it's a weird one because it's hard for me to get over the fact where I'm like, Like, don't do that. You know, make it your own. But do you ever comment on them?
Jamie Laing
Go, hey, this looks really good.
Isaac Smith
I think there was one that. There was a period where a guy had copied like four of my videos in a row, and it would be fine, but he had, like, a bigger following than me and he was getting more views on the videos.
Jamie Laing
What was the content he was copying?
Isaac Smith
There's a video where I did when a friend shows you their baby, but it's ugly. And it was like that video, and it's almost word for word. And I remember. And I remember commenting and I was like, this looks familiar. And my comment got deleted. But that's the only time that I've ever commented on something like, that's cheeky. You know, Copy kid.
Jamie Laing
Yeah.
Isaac Smith
You're just outright taking my video and. And got more views with it. But. But I'm over that now. I don't. Yeah, sounds like it doesn't. I've forgotten about it, believe it or not. But I don't. I don't comment on things anymore. If someone copies my. My video or the concept, I'm like, it's.
Jamie Laing
It's inevitable.
Isaac Smith
I'm not the first to do anything. So it's like, even I'll post a video and although it'll be like a. An idea unique to me and that's. I've thought of that. Someone probably would have done that before anyway. So it could be a subconscious where I'm like, I've seen something like this and I put it out in a video. I don't think anyone's really first to a concept. And that is. It's rare when that happens. And when that happens. It's annoying because if you. You are first to a concept and someone copies it, it's like, well, that's. That's just outright.
Jamie Laing
It's annoying.
Isaac Smith
Right? Yeah. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
When you post, do you still know when you post videos, do you look at it? If it's not doing views, do you ever delete it?
Isaac Smith
I do.
Jamie Laing
Come on, baby.
Isaac Smith
It's so in the. But what I do is I'll. I can tell by the morning if a video is. If people like the video or not.
Jamie Laing
Do you wait that long? So you post in the evening and you wait till the morning.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, but TikTok can be temperamental because it can not perform for a plethora of reasons. Like, I had a video that was a great video. It was about getting winded. And it's really relatable, really funny. Uploaded it, it was doing really well. And then TikTok took it off the for you page. But people could still see it on my account because it was dangerous. So I took it down and I waited a month. Re uploaded it. And in the caption I just said, TikTok, this is fake. So a bot would look at it and be like, okay, this is just a recreation. It's not like actual someone. Actually someone getting winded and hurt. And the video got over like 4 million views and did really well. And I was like, okay. So sometimes it's just the way you package it that all.
Jamie Laing
Wow. It's just a little difference.
Isaac Smith
Exactly. And so sometimes that will happen now where I post a video and I'm like, no, I know that's funny. There's something going on that is meaning it's not done well. So I'll. I'll private it. I won't delete it. Because I think I read somewhere that if you delete a video on TikTok, TikTok will monitor your account because they're like, well, why are you deleting videos? That's a bit suspicious.
Jamie Laing
Really?
Isaac Smith
Yeah. So your next video might not do as well. So you should always just private it.
Jamie Laing
Never delete it.
Isaac Smith
Never delete it.
Jamie Laing
Laura's looking.
Isaac Smith
And then, because I delete this. Oh, do you stop privateing? And then. And then. And then I'll re upload it on a different day and people will clock on as well. They'll comment and they'll be like, oh, I saw. I've already seen this before. I saw you delete this. Nice try getting it past us. Shut up, you fucking. But usually if I have like a gut feeling that a video should have done well.
Jamie Laing
Yeah.
Isaac Smith
And I private it and re upload it. It usually does. So it's. Yeah. TikTok can be temperamental like that.
Jamie Laing
This is a big question for you and you might not want to answer it. If a video does on TikTok, 4 million views, what revenue would you hope to get from something like that?
Isaac Smith
So it has to be over a minute long to earn money on that video. But so it works out. The way the rewards program works is so 4 million views. Only a certain amount of views are counted as actual views. Has to be watched for over five seconds and there's a few other things like that. So usually works out to be about half. So for 4 million view video, 2 million of those views count and then I have an RPM of 50p per thousand views. So what's that? It's like, what is that? 400 pound? How much is that? So 50p.
Jamie Laing
Don't worry, we'll cuddle this all out.
Isaac Smith
So 2 million.
Jamie Laing
Just make it really confident when you come back in.
Isaac Smith
Two million views. Wait, two million divided by a thousand times 0.5. Oh, £1,000.
Jamie Laing
There you go.
Isaac Smith
Oh, just work that out. A thousand pounds. No, I just really struggle with the math there. So, yeah, so 4 million. 4 million view video, if it's over a minute long and is registered in the creative fund or whatever it's called now, that will earn a thousand pounds. Whereas on YouTube, say you upload a. The RPM is very different. So it's like can be up to 10 pound per thousand views.
Jamie Laing
Wow.
Isaac Smith
So a million view video is probably getting close to ten grand. Wow. In terms of revenue. Yeah. So it's a big difference.
Jamie Laing
That is a big difference. But it's harder to get a million views on something like YouTube than it is on TikTok.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. And harder to get monetized as well. I wasn't. I was uploading for two years before I managed to get monetized. Wow. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
Hustling.
Isaac Smith
It's because I loved it. Like, that's like I said, I would do it if it wasn't my job. It was just a hobby for me. So I was like, okay.
Jamie Laing
I've enjoyed every second of this, man.
Isaac Smith
Me too.
Jamie Laing
I really have.
Isaac Smith
It's been really fun.
Jamie Laing
It's been insane. I really appreciate it and I'm so glad that we got to do this. And I just, I really admire what you're doing and your work ethic and your honesty. And what I also really admire is I think you're. This sounds. I hope this you're so grounded. I think you just obviously really well liked and that's always like a good thing of someone who's completely grounded and just a good dude.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, that's really nice to hear.
Jamie Laing
No, really is. So we like to end with eight questions. You ready for this?
Isaac Smith
Yeah. Yeah, sure.
Jamie Laing
What's the saying or phrase that makes you smile or cheers you up?
Isaac Smith
Ooh. Oh. I think I don't believe in the saying, but my mum always says it and I make fun of her for saying it all the time. Cause she'll be on the phone to her friends and you could just hear it. She always says everything happens for a reason. And even though I don't truly believe that, it's kind of some comfort knowing that that's. It's, you know, it's your mum saying, oh, everything. Even if something goes wrong, everything happens for a reason and it'll work out, you know?
Jamie Laing
Best compliment anyone's ever given you.
Isaac Smith
When someone feels comfortable in your presence. Yeah. When someone says that. Oh, I know I feel comfortable around you.
Jamie Laing
Have a great energy.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. Like if someone feels I'm comfortable to be myself around you. That's really nice to hear.
Jamie Laing
What scares you most about yourself?
Isaac Smith
I've got a terrible sense of direction that's terrifying. You put me anywhere. If I didn't have a phone, I'm not going back. And even where don't I even yesterday I was supposed to go some somewhere in East London. I ended up in West London and I had to make my way back. It was like 40 minutes out the way. I don't know how I managed it. Terrible.
Jamie Laing
I once got on a train. I was at Exit St. David's and I got on a train to go back to London and I was sitting on the train. I was like, so excited. I was like thinking about eating Scotch eggs. I was actually thinking about getting mini Scotch eggs. And I was so excited. I was like, this is amazing.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
And I was watching Parent Trap and I looked out the window and I was like, where the am I? I went all the way to Penzance and I was so angry I punched the ground and I had to fly back to London.
Isaac Smith
No way.
Jamie Laing
Yeah.
Isaac Smith
Oh, my God.
Jamie Laing
Actually, one of the worst days of my life, I spent on my knees on the ground and punched the ground.
Isaac Smith
You love Scotch eggs.
Jamie Laing
I fucking love. When was the last time you cried?
Isaac Smith
Not long ago, actually. That's probably from stress. Yeah. To be honest. Just getting overwhelmed. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
And you just cry.
Isaac Smith
Just cry. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
That screams sexy.
Isaac Smith
No, I'm an Ugly crier. So it wasn't sexy, just hideous, really.
Jamie Laing
Jamaica says don't laugh, but it is.
Isaac Smith
No, it's funny to laugh. It's funny to laugh. You should have seen my face, all squished up and wet.
Jamie Laing
What's something you can't let go of?
Isaac Smith
Drake. Actually, there may. Yeah. A lot of people have landed on Kendrick out of the Beef.
Jamie Laing
But you're with Drake.
Isaac Smith
I'm with Drake. A lot of people say, oh, his music's gone downhill. I don't care.
Jamie Laing
You still love him.
Isaac Smith
I love Drake.
Jamie Laing
I love that. Yeah. What's a guilty pleasure?
Isaac Smith
Brunch, actually. Brunch. I love brunch.
Jamie Laing
That's the best answer ever. I freaking love brunch. That's unbelievable.
Isaac Smith
I hate to. I like to pretend I don't know what it is, but I know what it is, and I love it. I want it every day.
Jamie Laing
I love brunch.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, it's great, isn't it?
Jamie Laing
Do you drink or not really.
Isaac Smith
I do drink. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
Okay.
Isaac Smith
I prefer the. Oh, I drink. Yeah. Oh, you want to.
Jamie Laing
Oh, yeah.
Isaac Smith
Don't test me. Yeah, I drink, but I like the brunch without the drink. I just like. Just. Just sober brunch. Just brunch. Just straight up brunch.
Jamie Laing
I'm with you, man.
Isaac Smith
Yes.
Jamie Laing
I think pancakes are one of the most underrated things.
Isaac Smith
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jamie Laing
What turns you off?
Isaac Smith
Arrogance. Yeah. Don't like it when people are arrogant.
Jamie Laing
What turns you on?
Isaac Smith
Oh, the Elizabeth line. Oh, it's so good, so comfortable. It's by far the best line ever. Do you know what I mean? You step in there and you're just comfortable. I could just stay. Just stay in that carriage all day. That's great for me. Yeah.
Jamie Laing
What do you like most about yourself?
Isaac Smith
I think if I decide I want to do something, I will do it. You know, if I decide, oh, that's where. That's my goal, then I'll make sure that I do. Yeah. I achieve that.
Jamie Laing
I love that, man. Bonus. Favorite swear word.
Isaac Smith
Ooh. I can say anything, anything you want.
Jamie Laing
Even the bad one, if you want to go on.
Isaac Smith
Said I like cunt.
Jamie Laing
Now, the swear word.
Isaac Smith
I think it's the best one. It's the most powerful, and you don't get to say it enough as well, so it's one that you really feel good saying it.
Jamie Laing
I also want to shout out your podcast, man. I listen to it. Thank you. Yeah, I listen. It's really good. I really like it. And it's just come back as well, hasn't it.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. Just come back for season two.
Jamie Laing
Yeah, man, you're amazing. I really enjoyed this, dude.
Isaac Smith
And I really enjoyed it. You're really good.
Jamie Laing
You're just amazing. And I just want everyone to go and check it because I remember I first saw your content. I sent. I reposted. I sent you a message being like this.
Isaac Smith
Yeah. I couldn't believe that at the time as well. Oh, my God. Jamie is. Yeah. Seen my video? Yeah.
Jamie Laing
And I am truly, truly a fan. Like, I'm. If I ever am having a day or I always go to your content that. I mean, you did one. I think it was today where you. You did the trend about. It's. It's going to be so out of date if we say this anyway. You know the trend that's going around on Tick Tock. Like, this is my emergency contact. Yeah, you did. You did the face.
Isaac Smith
Yes. Good.
Jamie Laing
Oh, man, this has been so much fun. I just want everyone go listen to your podcast. Go and check out all your content, audio, YouTube, everything like that. Before we say goodbye. Can you say goodbye as an eagle?
Isaac Smith
It's getting worse.
Jamie Laing
Thank you so much.
Isaac Smith
Thank you.
Jamie Laing
What do you think?
Jemima
Oh, so funny. So funny.
Jamie Laing
So funny. When he was doing the animals at the beginning, it was honestly genius being a hawk.
Jemima
It was the really slow frog for.
Jamie Laing
Me on stage in front of everyone.
Jemima
What's the most. Did you ever do anything embarrassing like that?
Jamie Laing
I don't think so. I did stage shows, but I never did a wood pigeon on stage in front of the hall.
Jemima
No, no, I don't think I. That's a particular kind of child who kind of doesn't think about, like, maybe someone will make fun of me for doing this.
Jamie Laing
This is gonna rock it. This is gonna be cool. I'm gonna go for it.
Jemima
Exactly. No, it was really good and so interesting. I could honestly hear him talk about YouTube all day. It's so fascinating.
Jamie Laing
It was so fascinating. And also, which I loved is people focus on successful things. So they think, okay, that video there or this thing is successful. I'm gonna copy that. No. History is the playbook for our future. Go back to the beginning, see what they were doing there and follow that.
Isaac Smith
That.
Jamie Laing
That's the way to do it.
Jemima
Also, the number 9 is better than the number 10. Odd numbers are better.
Isaac Smith
Yeah.
Jamie Laing
We would take that. I know.
Jemima
I love that.
Isaac Smith
Oh, my God.
Jamie Laing
We should put that in our title.
Jemima
Yeah, we should. Oh, that's fun.
Jamie Laing
Nine reasons, Nine reasons why. The reason why using this is going to be something. Like I said, the reason why using odd numbers is better than even numbers when making content.
Jemima
That's quite a long title.
Jamie Laing
I know. We'll think of that. Okay, everyone, remember to subscribe to our show if you haven't already. Let us know in the comments what you think of the show and also you can send us an email greatcompanyampleproductions do.uk or you can slide into our DMS@GreatCompany podcast. We're on YouTube TikTok everywhere. Go and check it us out and we'll see you next week for another.
Jemima
Episode of Great Company.
Isaac Smith
Race the rudders.
Jamie Laing
Race the sails.
Isaac Smith
Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching.
Jamie Laing
Over. Roger, wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution?
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Summary of "ITALIANBACH: GOING VIRAL IS JUST UNDERSTANDING HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY" on Great Company with Jamie Laing
In this engaging episode of "Great Company with Jamie Laing," host Jamie Laing and producer Jemima welcome Isaac Smith, better known as Italian Bach, a prominent content creator renowned for his humorous and relatable online persona. The conversation delves deep into Isaac's journey, exploring his strategies for building a viral presence, the psychological insights behind his success, and the personal challenges he has navigated along the way.
The episode kicks off with Jamie and Jemima introducing Isaac Smith, highlighting his transformation into Italian Bach, a social media sensation with millions of followers across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Jamie expresses his admiration for Isaac, noting, "What drives you to do that? You know, the constant treadmill of being on that sort of situation is a lot" ([03:46]).
Isaac recounts his beginnings in content creation, starting at the age of seven with simple YouTube videos. Initially, he collaborated with friends on projects like the "Pink Bros," where they attempted to dance despite lacking formal skills ([12:26]). His early ventures included scooter montages and gaming tutorials, reflecting a diverse range of interests before honing in on his signature comedic skits.
Notable Quote:
"I thought if I were to mirror what successful creators did at the beginning, I would see the same results." – Isaac Smith ([16:08])
A significant portion of the discussion centers on Isaac's methodical approach to growing his online presence. By meticulously studying successful creators such as MrBeast and Ryan Trahan, Isaac identified key patterns and strategies that contributed to their growth. He emphasizes the importance of understanding both the "idea" and "execution" of content, stating, "It's the idea and the execution. If you keep on top of those and keep making sure you're getting better and better, then people will watch and enjoy it." ([19:27]).
Notable Quote:
"History is our playbook for the future. 100% of this." – Jamie Laing ([18:17])
To distinguish himself in a saturated market, Isaac developed a memorable brand identity. Adopting the name Italian Bach was a strategic move to ensure uniqueness and memorability, avoiding the commonality associated with his real name, Isaac Smith ([38:17]). Additionally, Isaac physically differentiated himself by sporting a mullet and a mustache, making his persona instantly recognizable.
Notable Quote:
"You need the content that applies to an audience who don't know who you are." – Isaac Smith ([21:25])
Isaac openly discusses the mental toll of constant content creation, sharing his experiences with burnout. He describes burnout as a cycle where, after periods of relentless posting, he finds himself unable to continue, leading to temporary reductions in content output ([46:09]). He emphasizes the importance of having a strong support system, including his long-term girlfriend and inspirational friends, to navigate these challenging moments.
Notable Quote:
"I have a great life. I've got no reason not to be happy. But I'm always driven by the desire to want more and I think that limits your happiness." – Isaac Smith ([47:19])
Isaac addresses the issue of other creators copying his content. While initially frustrated, he acknowledges that such duplication is inevitable. He tries not to dwell on it, focusing instead on continuing to innovate and evolve his own content. "It's a weird one because it's hard for me to get over the fact where I'm like, 'Don't do that,' but it's a compliment because they think it's funny." ([51:40]).
Notable Quote:
"It's just human psychology." – Isaac Smith ([17:19])
Isaac opens up about his introverted nature and anxiety during childhood. Despite an early inclination towards solitude and discomfort in large crowds, his foray into content creation provided an outlet and gradually shifted his comfort zone. "Content really helped me to get through that...though I'm an introvert, I'm happy going out and doing stuff like this and extrovert things. It's not an issue anymore." ([25:17], [26:12]).
Notable Quote:
"Everything happens for a reason." – Isaac Smith ([58:18], quoting his mum)
A notable discussion point is the difference in monetization between TikTok and YouTube. Isaac explains that TikTok offers lower revenue per view compared to YouTube, citing an example where a "4 million views video... will earn a thousand pounds," whereas YouTube can generate much higher earnings with similar view counts ([55:07]).
Notable Quote:
"If you're putting out content now and it's not doing well, it's either the idea that's the issue or the execution that's the issue." – Isaac Smith ([19:27])
Isaac emphasizes the role of a robust support system in his journey. His girlfriend, who has been with him for seven years, plays a pivotal role in helping him navigate burnout and maintain resilience ([49:32]). Additionally, he credits his friendships and family for providing balance and encouragement.
Notable Quote:
"I think you're chasing a fulfillment you'll never have... that's the problem." – Isaac Smith ([48:12])
The episode concludes with a series of personal questions, providing listeners with a deeper understanding of Isaac's personality and preferences. From his love for brunch to his favorite swear word, these questions humanize the content creator, showcasing his relatable and down-to-earth nature.
Notable Quote:
"When someone feels comfortable in your presence, that's really nice to hear." – Isaac Smith ([58:55])
Overall, this episode offers a comprehensive look into the multifaceted world of content creation, blending strategic insights with personal anecdotes to inspire and educate aspiring creators.