-I love having you here.
Hey, congrats, by the way, on the new logo here.
-Thank you so much. -Look at this right there.
That's -- -Clean. Clean.
Yes. Yeah, we wanted to go with --
I mean, ever since, you know, "Fortnite" when we blew up --
And even when I was younger, I loved doing my hair,
like, a little bit different.
-Yeah. -Bangs down and the rest up.
-It's perfect. -So, yeah, we wanted something
a little cleaner, a little more professional.
And, dude, yeah, there it is, man.
-Last time you were on our show, you said,
"Hey, look for me on the big screen
and the small screen." -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-I was like, "Okay." You didn't tell me what it was.
But there you are in "Free Guy" with Ryan Reynolds.
I go, "There you go. That's the big screen right there."
-Of all the man crushes, man. I mean, dude, what a stud.
You know what I mean? I mean, wow.
-Wow. Really? -Yeah, absolutely.
You know, when we -- I remember we went to film
and he walked across the -- the street,
because they were able to close down
an entire street of an actual city
to film what we were there for.
And he, like -- like, pointed at me,
and, like, just started walking across
and, like, gave me and Jess a huge hug.
-And you were like, "That's Ryan Reynolds."
-I was...
-Oh, my God. -"Happy to be here."
And he's like, "Thank you so much for doing this
and for being on -- in this film."
And I was just like -- -Did they want you to act
from the beginning, or do they want --
Like, "Hey, teach us how to do all of it."
-They wanted -- It was more so they wanted me
to be in it and -- Dude, like, I'm telling you.
I read the script. I was a part of it.
And I was like, "You guys don't really need help
with the lingo and everything like that."
They kind of nailed it. -They did?
-Yeah... -Because I remember I --
I asked you for advice for -- -You never take it, though.
[ Laughter ] -No, but I did take it.
I just didn't -- I didn't do anything with it.
-Right. -But I have -- But I have --
I took your advice and I have all the things.
I have the headset. And you hooked me up. Yeah.
I'm kinda -- I'm set up and ready to go.
-Are you just, like, the best at everything now?
-No, I'm terrible at everything. I'm still bad.
I'm still bad at everything, but I'm like --
I wanted to pick one thing and get good at it,
and then I just can't do that.
I just play everything poorly.
But I have fun. -Well, that's all that matters.
You know what I mean? -No, it's not.
But, dude, look -- -You're a pro gamer.
You crush me at everything.
-Low-key, it's all that matters.
I mean, listen, I still get super frustrated when --
when, you know, Jess and my brothers beat me
at "Mario Kart" and, like, "Mario Party."
-Oh. "Mario Party." No, no, no.
-Do you have any of the random stars?
You know what I'm talking about? At the end? The random stars?
"Oh, you traveled the least amount of spaces.
Here's your star." -No. No.
-And I -- -Yeah. No, no, no.
-How does that work? -No, no, no.
-You can't practice for that, Jimmy.
-Oh, no. I don't -- Yeah.
I thought you were talking about when people steal your star.
-Oh, people steal your stars. -"We're not friends anymore."
-I mean, we're talking, you know, we're going to --
-What a great game. What a great game that is.
-It's more frustrating than anything to be --
-I think it's a fantastic game.
-I'm pretty sure I end every night more upset
after I play "Mario Party" with friends than -- than happy.
-No, that is not true. -Absolutely!
-No, you're psyched -- -You're stealing stars.
You're sucking coins, man.
Your -- Your bo-- You know what I mean?
It's awful! -You're very young.
I was gonna ask you, do you --
do you ever, like, wait in line for, like, a console or a game?
Like, 'cause I had to do that.
-My parents would not let me stay out
for the "Halo 3" release.
For -- For, like, the Xbox 360.
"Halo 3." Tyler -- I was, like, 14.
I was too young, obviously. Midnight release.
Because remember -- you remember midnight releases.
-I d-- Of course I remember midnight releases.
-I feel like they don't happen anymore. It's just --
-But you -- So you -- You were too young
and they go, "No, you're not -- Tyler, you're not getting it."
-So I'm 14. Jon's 18.
He goes and he stays out all night and gets the --
the midnight release copy.
I'm staying up in my bed
just, like, waiting for him to come upstairs and --
-With it. -With the game and be like,
"Tyler, we're playing." -Yes.
-Because that was the whole plan, the whole strategy.
My mom was like, "Tyler, you're not going."
And then Jon and I are like, "Alright, dude.
Like, let me tell you what's gonna happen."
"You're gonna wake me up at midnight.
-So you're already playing games.
-"And we're gonna play the game." Yeah.
We played -- We stayed up till 3:00 a.m.
And we won every team doubles game that we played.
-And so you're playing the game and then you go like,
"Oh, I think I could probably make a living off of this."
[ Laughter ]
And -- And how do you tell your mom
who just said you can't go out to the mall?
You're like, "Mom, this is my future.
I'm actually -- I'm building a future
for our family right now." -Right.
Yeah, "Listen, Mom..."
-You have a very cool mom. -That story is phenomenal.
It was simple, you know? Money talks, right?
And...
-So you started making money. -Yeah.
So once I started streaming, that was where I --
where I started making, like, a proper living,
and I started making -- I think when I started, it was,
like, $20,000, was the projected sales.
-Wow.
-And I finally, you know, started making, I think, like,
anywhere from, like, $30,000 to $40,000,
and I was also going to college full-time
and working a job at Noodles & Company.
And -- And I told -- You know, listen.
-Wow. Noodles & Company. -Phenomenal food, actually.
#NotAnAd.
But seriously, yeah, I worked there for three years.
And all of my focus was --
You know, no relationships, really.
Never really hung out with my friends either.
It was either I was streaming, going to school, or working.
And finally, I was like, "Mom, listen, if I make more than,
you know, minimum wage, I'm like --
I'm going to pursue this," right?
I'm going to go full-time, right?
Because I'm only doing, you know --
-But what if you don't make enough money?
-I told her immediately. I made a promise
with both my wife, Jess, and my mom.
I was like -- And my brothers and --
-Your girlfriend, Jess, at the time.
-Girlfriend Jess at the time.
Because, you know, she was also super skeptical of, like --
just the longevity of the whole thing.
You know what I mean? Like, you -- you don't know.
-Yeah. -I wasn't making millions.
-This is not an occupation... -100%. It was not.
-...that we grew up with -- -It was --
Yeah, it was like free agency is what it felt like.
I mean, it could have just collapsed at any moment.
And...
Like, "I'll go back to college if I ever, you know,
start making less than what I was making when I started."
-You're doing a thing. You're helping --
You're having people take time-outs off their screens.
Can you explain what you're doing?
-Absolutely, man. Yeah, so we know --
Dude, I -- I've been gaming and --
and had a screen in front of my face,
you know, honestly, as long as I can remember.
Not, like, iPads because those didn't exist when I was a kid.
But, you know, I gamed so much, and when I streamed
and when I was grinding at the time,
I was doing, like, 18-hour days, was how long I would stream for.
-Geez. -Dude.
And I wish older me would have been able to tell younger me,
"You know, you can take a day off or even, you know,
even an hour off and just relax, spend time with family,
and just kind of, you know, again, take time out of --
off the screen and of gaming."
And that's what I've been doing a lot now.
And it's -- -Who are you partnering with?
-Oh, dude, we're partnering with Thrive Global
and the Center for Scholars & Storytellers.
And we have -- You know,
we're just preaching, you know, again, take time-outs.
So for me, personally, one of my two favorite things
that I love to do -- I'm going on daily walks,
whether it be at a gym, or after,
and just, you know, pet time.
I have three amazing, beautiful dogs.
Dude, we love them so much.
-Dude, I know you. You're on the incline.
3.5. -3.5, man.
3.58-degree incline is where we're starting.
-That's my man right there. That's Tyler "Ninja" Blevins.
It's always good to see you, buddy.