-David Dobrik, thank you so much for being on our show.
I really appreciate it. Thank you for coming back to us.
-Yeah, it was a far drive. Thanks for having me.
-I thought about you when we first started these shows
from home because I think you're great at what you do.
You're a YouTube superstar. You just do it seamlessly.
"And I go, "Oh, yeah, I'll do that."
-Right. -It's so much work.
It's insane. -Isn't it?
Okay. I have questions.
Are you doing it completely on your own?
Who's -- I imagine when you do these,
there's still 35 people standing behind your webcam.
-No. -No?
Prove it.
Oh, my God. -Just me.
There's no one here. Just me.
Right now, my one child is home schooling.
The other one is on, like, I think an iPad right now
next to my wife who's next to my --
it's like everyone is in a room pushed away
because they know I'm doing interviews.
-It feels like it's to the point
where you're not even posting these anywhere.
You're just interviewing people just because you miss it.
It just looks like you're just by yourself.
You're just like, "I need interviews."
-Talk to me, talk to me, anyone.
I need advice, and I need --
I need to know what am I doing wrong?
I mean, am I --
-I mean, I'm -- Okay, this was --
I said this right when you called me.
I'm so shocked that you're on an iPad.
It says Jimmy's iPad.
I think that's really cute. It's, like, really humble.
I am -- I still imagine for some reason,
like, even though you're doing it at home,
like, I just expected, like, these big cameras
still pointed at you in some way.
-You know, it's funny. Because I was like, you know,
I should call you because I want to know
what camera should I get?
There's a Logitech thing.
I should probably do it on a laptop, right?
-Yeah. I think a laptop
or, like, a desktop is definitely better.
-It's better, but then I can't just --
I can't move around and be like --
The best parts of the interview
is when I start moving and stuff.
-You're right, it is getting pretty good.
[ Laughs ]
-Isn't this more fun? -Yeah. Okay, yeah.
Definitely don't get a desktop.
-Don't you like this version of "The Tonight Show"?
It's so much freer. -Yeah. I bet.
Wow, yeah, I don't know.
I don't have any advice for, like, shooting off a webcam.
I would just say get a desk--
Did you go, like -- Did you go -- What did you do?
What did you do to prepare for this?
Did you go to Best Buy? What happened?
-I went to a P.C. Richard's, like a Best Buy,
and I bought a tripod that holds a phone.
-Like you went in there yourself, or an assistant?
-Yeah. -You went in there?!
-Yeah, I drove -- I drove my truck to the P.C. Richard's.
-You went into the store, and you told the employee there,
like, "Hey, it's me Jimmy, I have a late night show,
and I need you to help me figure out how to continue it"?
-I just kind of went around everybody and just kind of acted
like I knew where I was and what I was doing and what aisle.
I'm like -- I do that in, like, hardware stores, too,
because clearly I don't know.
They could just tell. I have a vibe coming off me when I go.
Like, I get the "Can I help you?" vibe.
No matter what store I'm in. They go like,
"How are you doing? Can I help you?"
I go, "Yeah. I look like that, right?
I look like I need help?" And they go, "Yeah.
You look like you need help."
But I try to act -- I go,
"I know. I got to get the wrench for the thing."
And I get -- then two hours later,
I leave with the tripod and I feel good about myself.
-Sure. -But then, you know, it's funny
is that -- I saw something -- when we were talking
when you were on the show, I said,
"Would you ever want to do a show like this?"
And you said, "Yeah. I actually would.
I think I'd be good at this type of show.
It would be amazing. Yeah."
I go -- And we were talking about that.
And then I saw this headline in the Wall Street Journal
that said, "David Dobrik is this generation's,
Gen Z's, Jimmy Fallon." I go --
-I know. I'm sorry.
-I feel like I'm my generation's David Dobrik.
-Shut up. -And that's what's happening.
We "Freaky Friday'd" that moment.
-That means a lot. And I'm not showing it.
But I'm probably going to freak out about it
and text my parents you said that.
-You stopped making videos during this quarantine,
except for one, which I want to get into.
But what was behind the decision there?
-I knew that I couldn't make the videos that I wanted to.
Like, a lot of my videos, like, involve like, traveling
or going out, especially a lot of random people.
Like, interacting with strangers
is, like, such a big part of my videos.
And I didn't want to water down the videos and, like,
do them in my home. Because I actually --
I actually used -- I used you as an example.
Because I was like, Jimmy Fallon,
he can do stuff at home because he has a studio
to bounce back to and people will know
when it's back to regular Jimmy.
But I feel like if I start making YouTube videos at home
and then slowly start inching out of my house
and, like, quarantine's kind of over and I'm out and about,
people aren't going to know
when is the regular David coming back.
And when are we done with, like,
this different kind of David, right?
-Right. -So it's like I'd rather just
completely quit and wait until I could make the videos
that I want to be making completely.
I actually set like a goal for myself.
There's a bar down the street that we always go to.
And I said, once it's reopened at full capacity,
I will start making videos again.
-There you go. That's the goal. You have to have goals.
Can I tell you about the one video you have done
since being in quarantine? -Sure.
-You did a YouTube video,
and you basically gave out --
you basically gave out your phone number.
-Right, yeah. So I gave out a number
that's connected to my phone, that like people can text me.
And it's really great,
because I had around 350,000 people text me.
Which was nuts, and the best part about it is we could --
in the app, we can choose
where the numbers are coming from.
So I could go like, "Okay, I'm in Orange County today.
Let's see who needs help in Orange County."
So I just single out the people in Orange County,
and then I would single out, like, mortgage.
So I would see all the people
that need help with their mortgage.
So there'd be like a list of people.
And they'd send us their address.
And, yeah, in the video, we gave out, like, iPads,
PlayStations. We paid for a bunch of people's rent,
and then we gave out a couple of cars.
And that was all based on texts
from everybody, like, texting in.
-That's pretty amazing.
It's unbelievable to watch.
If anyone hasn't seen it, I invite everyone to check it out.
The one thing I noticed is at the end,
you couldn't hug these people, because we're in quarantine.
-I couldn't touch anybody, which was just hard for me.
Yeah, it's such a bizarre thing giving to somebody
and, like, not being able to, like, have that interaction.
It was so bizarre, and it was, like, people would start crying,
and I'd just be in the car, and I'd be like,
"Okay, I got to go now."
Like, it was a very weird, weird interaction.
But it was really fun.
-It was nice of you to do that.
-Thanks. It's so fun.
-I also know
that you've been going to a few Black Lives Matter protests.
-Right, right, yeah.
-And you gave $50,000?
-Sure, yeah.
-That's amazing.
That's not a -- That's not a drop in the bucket.
That's a lot of money.
-I went to --
The first protest I went to was in Santa Monica,
and I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what to expect.
And it was just like -- I felt like I was hit by a train
when I was there. It was --
It's so eye-opening to see people --
Like, you know, you read and hear things on Twitter
and, like, you know, on the news.
But to be there in person
and to experience, like, how angry and fed up
and over people are with things not changing
is a completely different thing.
And it was like -- And it was inspiring to me
to, like, you know, want to get involved,
as cheesy as that sounds. But, like, yeah,
it was inspiring to see, like, oh my God, these people --
Like, a lot of these people need a voice,
and a lot of them are finally being heard.
And that's why I felt like it was my job
to get involved in some way, whether it's educating myself
or amplifying other people's voices
that maybe aren't being heard. I don't know.
-Yeah, it was --
I thought it was great that you were doing that.
And always, there's going to be some people going, like,
"Hey, why are you getting so political?"
-Right. Yeah.
Yeah, no, I definitely got that, too, but it's not. It's not --
I don't like getting political.
But this isn't -- This isn't political. It's moral, right?
Like, you shouldn't have to say racism is bad.
Like, that shouldn't be a thing that I have to, like, say
at this time. I feel like
that should be a pretty obvious thing.
But yeah, it's a complete moral issue
that is way overdue for some change.
-Well, I think it's -- YouTubers, influencers
are actually using social media, I think, in a real positive way.
Would you agree?
-That's the best part about, like, all the protests today
is they're powered by social media.
I think Will Smith said this. I could be wrong.
But he said something like --
something along the lines of, like, "Racism isn't new,
it's just being filmed," or something like that,
basically saying that, like, now people are recording
and now everyone sees what black people have been going through
for the past, you know, X amount of years.
And I think that's the best way to put it,
and my friend Scott said it the best.
He's like, "If you don't have any words to say,
but you choose to agree with somebody,
or, like, you don't know how to put it
into your own perspective,
amplify someone else's voice that you agree with,"
like, give someone a voice
that maybe can't reach as many people as you do.
And I feel like a lot of influencers are doing that,
and I really commend them for that,
and it's cool.
-David, thank you for doing that.
Thank you for continuing to do positive, great stuff
and putting it out there.
And once Saddle Ranch is up and running,
I expect a notification on my phone
letting me know that you're back in biz.
-[ Laughs ] See ya.
-Bye, bud. -Bye.