-Show it to the camera.
So, like, look it in the eye.
-I see it.
-Your challenge is to not spit it out.
-[ Spits, coughs ]
Everyone can get famous on TikTok,
so I'm wondering, why can't I?
I'm peeing right now, and it's getting in my shoes.
Does it feel like you're always wearing a face
that maybe isn't yours?
-Yeah. -We almost died.
I'm going on a journey to see what it takes
to make it on TikTok
and if I have the chops.
♪♪
Los Angeles -- Home of the rich and famous.
And me.
Hey, do you want to answer some questions about TikTok?
Nope. Do you want to talk to me about TikTok?
Sadly, I'm neither, which is not how I expected things to go
when I moved here five years ago.
Why won't anyone talk to me about TikTok?
Back then, TikTok didn't exist,
and it seems like it's the easiest way
to get famous these days.
Literally everyone is obsessed with this app.
Even the boomers on the news are talking about it.
-TikTok. -TikTok.
-If you want to jump on TikTok,
now is the time. -It's time for me to jump
on the bandwagon before it's too late.
If Gen-Z teens can become stars on TikTok, why can't I?
-TikTok that. That's what you do, baby.
-So I definitely don't represent what, you know,
your standard TikToker is like.
I'm not 17. I don't really have the TikTok look.
So I hit up Michael Weist of Juice Krate Media,
a social media manager with his own agency.
He's an industry vet who's seen just how cutthroat
the business can be. -You got to stop the fans.
-An ugly truth captured in the documentary "Jawline."
He was also on an episode of "Dr. Phil"
to talk about the drama of his social media convention
to TanaCon, which was a total bust.
Even with all this controversy,
Michael is still working with the biggest people online.
So I wanted to learn how to reinvent myself as a tech talker
and see if he might take me as a client.
People make it look so easy to be on TikTok,
but is it that easy?
-I do not think so. Everyone thinks it's so easy.
You can go viral. No, it's like a constant amount of work.
You literally have like 2 seconds -- the time it takes you
to do like this -- to get someone's attention.
So they're doing that and it doesn't engage,
they're going to just do that again
and swipe up and then it's gone.
That's like the most important part,
whether that attention is -- is vanity
because you're good looking or a prank video and it's shocking.
All you have to do is gain attention.
Then, you know, the future is yours.
-Michael was super helpful.
-It's kind of crazy to think
you can just get famous on social media
and that, like, a manager like me
would take you on as a client. It's laughable, 'cause that's --
It's funny, like, no.
-And his words of encouragement had me excited
to start TikToking.
I was determined to wow my way onto his talent roster,
so I went home to plan my first video.
So there's this one called the Pee Your Pants Challenge.
It racked up 3.9 million views on TikTok.
I'm peeing right now, and it's getting in my shoes.
I should have brought an extra change of socks.
Turns out the Pee Your Pants challenge didn't make a splash.
I'd have to crank it up a notch.
-All you have to do is gain attention.
If it's something shocking,
obviously you're going to keep watching.
-How to eat a high protein breakfast
if you don't have time to cook.
Six raw eggs and a raw beef brain.
-So I reached out to Weam Breiche,
a fitness enthusiast whose macho and controversial
takes on health and nutrition have gotten him press,
as well as an ongoing TikTok suspension.
Surely he would know how to turn hate into views.
-Carnivore diet is --
is an animal-based diet.
On a daily basis, I have a lamb liver,
beef kidney, beef brains, testicles --
could be lamb, could be veal, could be anything.
-Do we yell, like, "Fuck vegans"?
-No. No, no, no.
You show vegans sympathy because you feel bad for them.
I do use the word soy boy a lot,
and it pisses the fuck out of them.
-Okay, let's get some hate. Hey, TikTok.
I'm Zach Shucklin. To prove that I'm not a soy boy,
I'm about to eat a bull nut.
-Fucking brilliant. -You like that?
-That is fucking brilliant. I love that.
Now you got the soy boys hurt.
-So I'm about to eat some raw piss grapes.
-There you go. -'Cause I'm not a soy boy.
-You are not a fucking soy boy.
♪♪
-[Coughs] -It has to be bizarre.
It has to get a reaction.
You got to tell people who the fuck you are.
-I'm not a soy boy.
I'm not spi-- I'm not spitting it.
[Coughs]
-The more bizarre it is,
the more shares you're going to get.
-One, two, three.
♪♪
-What's going on?
-Good. Ha, not a soy boy now.
Weam introduced me to a world of new and exciting foods,
but the idea of pissing people off for a living
had my stomach in knots.
I didn't want to be hated. I wanted to be desired.
And in the TikTok world, nobody is more desired
than the lucky few of LA's content houses.
So I reached out to the Breezy Boys,
a crew of six shirtless guys who all live together
and churn out TikTok content 24/7.
Were they sexy? Were they cringy?
I really couldn't tell.
But with over 15 million total followers,
clearly they were doing something right and I wanted in.
Even though the Breezy Boys only formed in 2021...
-I've known these guys since I was like a kid,
it seems like, you know what I'm saying?
-Was that like last year?
...these boys are family
and they each brought something different to the table.
I like to do a lot of gym content.
I like to work out a lot. -I'm like an anime guy, like,
kind of like dark vibe, like positive, like funny.
-While I was still exploring what my TikTok style might be,
they seemed to have me already figured out.
-I see him as kind of like a,
you know, one of those funny guys
who does, like, the words on the screen.
-Yeah. -Or something like that.
-Or, like, makes, like, sarcastic reactions
-Yeah, reactions type. Yeah.
-I wasn't quite sure what they were talking about.
So we called a content meeting to strategize and brainstorm.
It seemed like all people
wanted to see these days was boys getting wet.
-The trend is you get in a shower with clothes on.
-The person in the chair, like,
that's being hung over the pool has to finish the lyric.
-We'll just get in the shower
and, like, literally shower with clothes on.
-And if you get it right, you get pulled back in.
If you get it wrong, you get pushed in the pool.
-When someone scrolls and they see someone in a shower
with clothes on, it's like, "What's good?"
-All of us getting in the shower and with our clothes on,
like, being stupid as hell,
that's going to get views. That's getting views.
It's -- How would it not?
-For us, what we've tried to consider
is to do a lot more personality videos
so people can connect with us
and build a stronger connection with us.
And that's what we've tried to implement as a group.
-We can't really make a brand out of just being, like, flirty.
Like, you have to actually create something
of, like, yourself. -With substance, yeah.
-Yeah, substance. -Like throwing a friend in the pool.
-Yes, exactly.
-While I was getting wet in my own way...
It's getting in my shoes.
...I didn't think my content so far
was meshing with the Breezy vibe.
I clearly had my work cut out for me.
-We have 5:00, fitness, later today.
-3:00 -- 3:00 to 4:00, we'll do content.
-Get you into that Breezy content.
We're going to give you a makeover.
We're going to turn you into a Breezy Boy.
-This is the highlight of the Breezy Boy --
-We wake up every single day just to do this.
-9, 10. -BB!
-Yeah. -Alright, left side.
-How often do you work out? Like, do you work out often?
-I'll, like, run.
I'll take, like, a class.
-That's there. -Oh, yeah?
-I'm a little blown away, little blown away.
-When you're lifting, to be honest,
you're not really thinking about anything
besides, like, that moment in time.
And I feel like that's a big part of, like, our lives,
because we're always thinking about the future,
the past, all that kind of stuff.
-Like, on social media, you're trying --
that's how you get followers. You have to impress.
So, like, it's really stressful dealing with that all day.
Like, how do I make everyone like me?
-After a pump session at Plyo Fitness,
we went back to the mansion to sweat some more
by learning a viral dance together
in their manager's...closet? I might mess it up.
-No, it's okay. That's fine. We do this -- Yeah.
-It takes so long sometimes. -Yeah.
So. Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm.
"Fortnite" moves. Mm.
-There you go. -Okay.
What advice do you have for me
to really make it on social media?
-It could take a day, or it could take a year.
But if you really believe in yourself
and you're dedicated, it's only a matter of time.
-If you are consistent and you are having fun with it,
at the end of the day, it's going to be like
a snowball effect and it's going to pile up
and you just got to be consistent with whatever you do.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-How long were you posting
before you started gaining traction?
-For me, it was like literally within the first week.
I hit like a 100k on the first week on TikTok.
-Well, I guess some people are just meant to be famous,
but hate on them all you want.
The Breezy Boys put in work to get where they are,
and I just didn't know if I had that level of dedication.
Still, I was sucked in
by how warmly they welcomed me into their crew.
Their acceptance and validation were like a drug.
I still didn't have the abs of a teen idol,
but I left the mansion on a high and with a fresh, breezy look.
But could I impress Michael as a solo act?
Would I still shine without my posse behind me?
These questions were consuming me,
so I reached out to Sebastian Bails,
an OG influencer whose pranks have gotten him
over 12 million followers on TikTok.
He's also controversial.
His stunts tend to push the envelope,
and they've even gotten him canceled in the past.
-Is this what you want?
I'm not orange. -Still, he's as big as it gets.
So I set off to Palm Springs to see if life alone at the top
was all it was cracked up to be.
-This is like my get ready room/filming room.
This is where all the magic happens.
This is where I get ready. This is where I do my hair,
my makeup, my outfits.
I love fashion. I also love being loud and colorful.
What gets people's attention is colors.
So if you have colorful hair, colorful outfits, it works.
-See, I feel so naive jumping into this,
because I would never even consider things like that.
-I feel like I think differently.
Like, when I see something crazy go on.
most people are like, "That's so sad.
I can't believe that car crash happened."
I'm like, "Oh, my gosh, that'd be such a good video."
-Yeah.
What TikTok are we going to be making a video for today?
-So we have a morphsuit right there,
and we are basically going to be scaring people,
dressing up as mannequins,
and we're going to actually scare people in real life.
-Let's do it. -We'll just do it on the spot.
-I'll be your muse. -[ Laughs ]
Let's go. -Yeah.
-Just totally try to replicate what I'm doing.
There's so many steps and it takes forever.
-I'm having a blast.
-I'm glad because I usually don't have a blast.
I'm usually miserable doing this.
-You're usually miserable? -Sometimes I just wish
I didn't have to, like, wear so much
or have to put a face on or something. You know?
-Does it feel like you're always wearing a face
that maybe isn't yours? -Yeah.
I've had, like, identity issues, and I'm like, "Who am I?
I don't even know." But this is how I am normally.
And a lot of people are usually shocked to see me
so, like, I guess normal in a way,
because people don't think I'm normal.
People think I'm, like, mentally unstable.
-That's not very nice. -No.
♪♪
-Oh, oh! You scared me. -Good job. Great job.
-While I was nearly blind in the morph suit,
people's reactions seemed to range from amused to annoyed.
-Oh, shit. -I was kind of worried
I'd get punched in the face or give someone a heart attack.
But I was more nervous that people were going to think
this was really stupid.
-You want pranks? Okay, I got an idea.
Just go up to a server and be like,
"What the fuck is this? What is this?"
Or, like, get mad. -And get really mad,
get their reaction. -Be like, "It's so good."
-That's actually a good idea. I feel bad, though,
because I feel like you guys are all working so hard.
-No. -Do you think it's more
important to be authentic online
or to be a character?
-I think it's definitely important to be authentic,
and that is kind of contradicting
as far as what we did today.
But our ultimate goal was being viral.
So, I mean, if your goal is to be authentic and viral,
then that's going to be a lot longer process.
That's not going to be an overnight success.
-It's kind of a pickle, right? Because on one hand,
you don't want to get hate, but on the other hand,
sometimes the hate is what pays the bills.
-Yeah. -That has to factor
into your private life as well, though, right?
-Oh, absolutely.
I've had a scandal before where I got death threats.
I was so scared to leave my house.
I was scared that someone was going to, like, find my address
and, like, I don't know, attack me and kill me.
Like, the comments were so bad.
There was about a half a million comments
about basically me just deserving to die.
-There's a lot of mental pressure.
There's bodily harm. Is it worth it?
-I definitely -- Yes.
I would say it's worth it for me, at least.
-Sebastian had all the luxuries of a social media star,
but his life in Palm Springs felt lonely,
almost like an exile.
The Internet can be a toxic place,
and I began to grapple with whether fame was even worth it.
But before worrying about that, I'd have to get famous.
So I met up with Michael one last time to see
if he'd agree to represent me.
Well, I really appreciate you meeting with me today.
-Thanks for having me. I'm excited to hear
about everything that you've done
over the last week or so.
-It's honestly not as hard as I thought
because I'm peeing right now and it's getting in my shoes.
-Ew!
♪♪
-Dipping my balls in soy sauce.
-They're so submerged right now.
♪♪
Hey, TikTok. I'm Zach Shucklin.
To prove that I'm not a soy boy,
I'm about to eat a bull nut.
-Oh!
Atrocious.
-When I originally came to you, Michael,
I wanted to see if I could, you know,
do this TikTok journey and blow up.
So I collected 44 new followers on TikTok.
Like, how close am I to being client you would sign,
like on a scale of 1 to 10?
-Like a 2.
There's no point to sign an agreement with 44 followers.
-I really thought it would be easier, Michael.
I -- When I started this, I really did.
-I think everyone thinks that.
And then really quickly, they realize people
can recognize inauthenticity really quickly.
You don't have to be trying to replicate
the Breezy Boys' formula or Sebastian's formula.
Just make content that you enjoy and you won't burn out.
You can do it when you want.
And, you know, social media is for everyone.
-I'm not surprised Michael rejected me.
Rolling up with only 44 followers was embarrassing,
especially since I worked
with some of the biggest people on the app.
We all joke about how easy it is to get famous online,
but plot twist -- it's totally not.
Everyone I met seemed to be stuck on the TikTok treadmill,
and despite all the trappings of success,
it seemed stressful as hell.
So yeah, doing this full-time just isn't healthy for me
or most people, I imagine.
♪♪
Oh, sorry. I got some nut on your floor.
-No, it's all good. I just don't want it to --
It would smell very bad later.