NXNE INTERACTIVE at the Hyatt Regency (370 King West), Tuesday (June 12) to June 15. $179-$449, stu $109-$199. nxne.com.
It would be unfair to call Epic Meal Time a YouTube show about eating bacon to excess. It’s also about fast food pizzas (burgers, tacos and fried chicken on a pizza), inside-out shepherd’s pie (made with mashed potatoes, mac ‘n’ cheese, deli meat, Velveeta and bacon) and pretty much any and every high-calorie, meat-heavy junk food Harley Morenstein can cook up.
Morenstein, the Montreal creator of the runaway hit, will present How To Win At YouTube (Wednesday, June 13, noon, at the Hyatt Regency B), a NXNEi panel about bacon, eating yourself to death and finding success on YouTube.
Your presentation is called How To Win At YouTube. Care to give us any hints about what you’ll talk about?
It’s tricky not to sound clichéd, but truthfully, in order to win you have to lose a few. If you make a channel to win instead of to believe in, you’re left with something you have to do every week without passion. I did Epic Meal Time because I knew I could do it all the time, and if you truly want to amass an audience you have to be consistent. You don’t want to be in the position where you have to constantly produce content you hate.
You certainly found a niche online that continues to explode in popularity: bacon. How did you know the internet loved bacon so much?
There was some chatter here and there before Epic Meal Time, but that didn’t affect us. We use it because it’s the best, not because it’s popular. And it’s popular because it’s the best.
You’re famous for eating some insane stuff. Would you ever consider taking bath salts in order to up the ante?
I actually thought up the idea of Epic Meal Time while on bath salts!
You’re a teacher by training. How does that work?
I have a degree in education and taught high school for a year. Production is my passion, but teaching was great. It gives you an incredible sense of accomplishment.
When we started, I completely blocked all students on Facebook, never let them see my videos and was careful about what content I produced. In the second episode of EMT, I said “shit” and beeped it out. I consciously made that decision because it could’ve affected my ability to get teaching jobs.
A part of me wants to pop back in randomly and take a subbing job. Getting drunk and eating bacon is more fun, though.
Given the side effects, do you see Epic Meal Time as a sustainable career?
Yes. I’m ready to die for it.
People criticize you for overeating, particularly overeating meat. What do you say to the haters?
We don’t get caught up in what people are saying about us. We do it because we like it. Sometimes I get people saying we make kids fat, or that humans shouldn’t eat meat. That’s just crazy. Fat kids will be fat after Epic Meal Time, just like fat kids were fat before Epic Meal Time. Also, humans should eat meat.
MORE THAN 80 PANELS @ NXNEi
This year’s NXNE Interactive, guided by the theme “How will the future of media be defined?,” includes over 80 presentations and panels, full-day workshops, a demo lounge and experts galore.
For example, Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham discusses how punk shaped modern music (June 13, 2 pm), Hal Niedzviecki talks narcissism’s effect on brands (June 14, 9:30 am), while RocketHub’s Brian Meece tackles crowdfunding (June 14, noon). See the full schedule at nxne.com.
joshuae@nowtoronto.com | twitter.com/joshuaerrett
