FunkyFrogBait left their profession as a software program engineer for YouTube. It paid off.

Content material creation wasn’t within the plan for Kali, higher recognized by their on-line deal with FunkyFrogBait.

Rising up a baby of YouTube, Kali appeared as much as creators like Jacksepticeye, dreaming of creating movies themselves. However as school and the job market took precedence, that dream began to really feel extra distant, changed by the pressures of real-world duties.

Then 2020 hit. With extra time spent indoors and the rise of TikTok, Kali — affectionately often called “Funky” by their followers — determined to offer content material creation a shot. The gamble paid off. At this time, Kali boasts thousands and thousands of followers throughout platforms: 2.8 million on TikTok, 340K on Instagram, and a pair of.72 million on YouTube.

At VidCon 2025, we sat down with Kali to speak about their development as a creator and the way they pivoted to full-time as soon as they hit it huge.

When did you begin creating content material?

I began in 2020 ‘trigger I used to be bored, and TikTok was popping off. I used to be on this theater group in school, and we had been doing a efficiency of The Oregon Path, which was tremendous humorous. In that group, there was any person who was scrolling TikTok, and I’ve a definite reminiscence of them turning to take a look at me and being like, “Oh, I think you’d do great on TikTok. You should just make some videos.”

And did you begin on TikTok?

I began on TikTok. Numerous the stuff that was on my feed was sketch comedy, which I used to be like, “OK, I’ve done musical theater. I’ve done improv in college. This is kind of a convergence of a lot of my interests. This could be fun to do, and it’s what I’m already watching.” I really feel like lots of people, that is how they resolve to make one thing, there’s one thing they’re already naturally gravitating towards.

I moved from random shitposting on TikTok, getting a number of thousand views right here and there, simply utilizing random audios, to writing some skits.

Most of them did not do effectively for some time, however then one would pop off, and it was like, OK, what made this one work and never these? I stored following that formulation of placing a sketch out and seeing if folks favored the characters.

I did this sequence referred to as “Nursing Homes in 2077.” That is truly what I bought probably the most well-known for. It was only a quite simple idea: What are we gonna be like after we’re in nursing houses sooner or later? What little items of mind rot are gonna keep in our brains even after we have forgotten our grandchildren’s names? That was the primary sketch-comedy factor that I did that basically popped off.

When did you migrate to YouTube?

I did that for some time, and it was actually enjoyable. Sadly, due to the character of short-form content material, and particularly the way in which that the TikTok algorithm works, it will be so unpredictable.

I might work actually onerous on a sketch, and it will get a number of million views, and I might really feel wonderful about it. I might really feel like that is the course I must go. I might do the identical factor the following day and get lower than 20,000 views. So it was simply so up and down in a method that was so unpredictable that it began to get actually discouraging. And I discovered myself posting much less and fewer on there as a result of it was simply a lot time spent on such a brief video that may have little or no payoff typically.

Then I used to be like, OK, I did this gaming channel as somewhat child, I nonetheless like that kind of content material — let me attempt that. So I attempted migrating my TikTok viewers over to the FunkyFrogBeat YouTube channel, which was initially a gaming channel. I used to be posting myself; I might document myself enjoying a online game. It was unimaginable to maneuver a TikTok viewers over. TikTok has a really insulated platform.

Anytime you attempt to push out something that even hints at presence on different social media, it instantly will lock it down and ensure no one sees it. And as soon as once more, I hit a roadblock of simply feeling actually discouraged. I had like simply this style of like, “There is interest here, but I can’t find it.” I can not get this constant group despite the fact that I am having these little bumps of curiosity. I can not collect this viewers right into a single place and get that constant viewership. After which over time, my private consumption of the web modified.

How so?

I spent most of my time watching gaming content material. Then, most likely round 2022, I began watching loads of commentary creators—individuals who get in entrance of the digicam and discuss bizarre issues taking place on social media.

I shifted my private consumption of content material, and I used to be beginning to watch much more of that. After which sooner or later, I am scrolling TikTok, and this man comes throughout my For You web page. It is any person who has satisfied themselves and overtly declared that they imagine they’re the reincarnation of Hitler. It is such an absurd factor that simply got here throughout my For You Web page.

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I would had this concept of creating commentary content material for some time, however I did not suppose that there was something I particularly had so as to add. However then this was simply a type of circumstances the place it is like, “How is no one talking about this?”

Individuals had been reacting to it on TikTok, and so they had been getting like tons of of hundreds of views, however it hadn’t migrated over to YouTube but. I sit down at my desk, I prop my iPhone — I do not also have a tripod — and simply sit and speak at my cellphone for somewhat over an hour.

I adopted an analogous formulation to different commentary creators I would seen, however I additionally was identical to, I am simply speaking and being bizarre and being myself. I am writing dumb jokes. I am doing little punchlines, you realize? That video instantly bought tons of of hundreds of views, which is like leaping from even thousands and thousands on TikTok to tons of of hundreds on YouTube for a long-form video.

Lots of people who do not make content material do not understand that views from completely different websites imply very various things. It was an instantaneous factor, and it was so surprising. I truly virtually did not publish the video ‘trigger I used to be virtually achieved modifying it, and I used to be speaking to my associate on the time, and I used to be like, “Oh, I don’t know, this is kind of stupid.” And he satisfied me to publish it. It was such a cool second of like, Wow, I am so glad I did as a result of it was an instantaneous sure from the universe that I would been in search of — that is one thing that basically works.

So I am curious: What’s your technique now?

Once I began out in commentary, it was extra of a drama-focused angle as a result of that was like loads of commentary at the moment. You are the underdog coming in, you are punching in all instructions. You make enjoyable of people who find themselves far more well-known within the house than you. And also you’re punching up at them.

However then my platform exploded so shortly that I spotted that the dynamic had shifted. I used to be now, “Oh, here’s this asshole with a million subscribers being mean to this person.” That was a bizarre factor for me as a result of in my head, I used to be nonetheless doing the identical factor I used to be earlier than. I needed to acknowledge my place on this house had modified, the place I’ve to be a lot extra cognizant of the truth that I’m much more zoomed out now, not placing a magnifying glass on one particular particular person. Perhaps there is a pattern that I feel is annoying or dangerous, and I present you 20 completely different examples of individuals doing it moderately than one particular person.

I had a tough time processing that for some time. I used to be like, “This is unfair. I’m the same person, and I want to be able to approach things the same way that I always have.” Nevertheless it’s a two-way avenue, the place it isn’t simply who you’re; it is what the platform feeds again into you.

And if the platform says, no, that is the place you are at now. You’ve got this stage of duty, you will have this stage of affect, and you do not get to say I do not care. You need to acknowledge the truth of your state of affairs. And personally, I’ve simply felt mentally rather a lot higher with that change. It has been good to have the ability to have a broader outlook and to really feel much more happy with the issues that I put out, as a result of I do need to now put up issues that I’ve spent much more time considering by and researching, due to that additional duty.

Do I miss the times the place I may identical to punch in all instructions and be an asshole? In fact. As a result of that is enjoyable. That is actually enjoyable to do. However, additionally, I really feel just like the influence that I get to have now’s a lot higher, and the quantity of excellent I will do is a lot higher. It is finally a superb trade-off.

You’ve got this nice perspective that basically provides you empathy once you strategy the subject.

It is nice to listen to. That is what I attempt to do. I attempt to have a perspective of robust love. Even when I do have to point out a particular instance of any person doing one thing that they shouldn’t be doing, I nonetheless attempt to come from the angle that I’ve nothing personally in opposition to this particular person.

I attempt to dig into the reasoning of why they’re doing it and add additional context of like, listed below are the the explanation why I feel that this has a unfavourable influence. Or possibly this particular person particular person would not have that a lot of an influence, however they’re part of a bigger pattern that’s sort of an issue. I do not wanna discuss any person simply doing one thing silly. I wanna discuss a complete motion that I see on-line that’s actually regarding. It is rather a lot more durable, however it’s extra rewarding.

Are you all self-taught on modifying?

I’ve by no means taken any sort of cinematography or modifying class. All the pieces that I do in that realm is self-taught or includes me begging a pal to say, “Hey, can you explain this to me?” Beforehand, I edited every thing by myself, however this previous 12 months and a half, I’ve had an editor to assist.

However my imaginative and prescient for my movies may be very particular. Principally, the way it works is I’ll write out my full video and write within the edits precisely how I would like them to be. So even when I am not bodily modifying, if you happen to see a factor pop up on display, a gag, or a cutaway, it is most likely as a result of I advised the editor to take action.

So, I nonetheless have loads of inventive management over the modifying. And typically, I nonetheless return and edit as a result of typically my imaginative and prescient is so particular, and for a specific matter, it is unimaginable to speak it successfully to a different particular person. I actually felt for a very long time that incorporating an editor would take away my company and possession of the content material. Nevertheless it was only a matter of discovering any person who understood my imaginative and prescient.

Has there been a second once you realized this was your full-time profession now?

That occurred shockingly quick after the primary commentary video. I had no sense of advert income or something like that. There are loads of assumptions once you’re watching YouTube that each YouTuber is wealthy. I did not know what views translated to when it got here to earnings. The analytics take a few days to catch as much as what you are truly gonna receives a commission out.

I used to be beginning to do calculations, and I used to be like, “This is matching my current income at a job that, let’s be honest, is significantly harder.” If I preserve getting this quantity of viewership on every of today, I will begin making greater than what I am doing at this job that I went to highschool for 4 years to do. I bear in mind wanting on the analytics tab and exhibiting my associate, dumbfounded. I needed to present one other particular person, as a result of I used to be like, “Am I crazy?” I’ve achieved the mathematics, and that is truly doable.

I used to be a YouTube child. I grew up watching all of those YouTubers come into their very own, and I idolized that way of life a lot, however I would put it apart for school. I would put it apart for extra practical avenues.

I used to be a YouTube child. I grew up watching all of those YouTubers come into their very own, and I idolized that way of life a lot, however I would put it apart for school. I would put it apart for extra practical avenues. In reality, I would actually shut off loads of my inventive passions fully to pursue this specific profession path. I would fully deadened myself in some ways to the issues that basically made me really feel like myself, and to have the ability to take a look at the uncooked numbers and understand I may do content material creation was wonderful.

I labored as a software program engineer for a telecommunications firm. I bought my boss in a gathering, and I used to be like, “They’re gonna hate me. They’re gonna be so mad at me.” And so they had been truly so chill with it. They had been so encouraging. They had been like, “That’s amazing, and if it doesn’t work out for you, you can always come back and work here again. We love you. We really want this to work out for you.” It was one other sure from the universe — that is the course, that is the trail.

I really feel so creatively fulfilled, and I’ve had so many wonderful alternatives. It has been so good to know that this was the precise path to take, even when it did not really feel prefer it on the time. It is a fantastic factor that I am privileged to have the ability to do.

Mashable will likely be stay on the Anaheim Conference Heart this week, masking VidCon 2025. Test again within the days forward at Mashable.com, the place we’ll be speaking to your favourite creators, masking the most recent developments, and sharing how creators are rising their followings, their affect, and making a dwelling on-line.