Why a 25 Million Subscriber YouTuber Quit the Platform

Not to brag, but I have 25 million subscribers on YouTube. And throughout the course of this video, I'm going to be showing you exactly how I got here. From the highest of highs, Dan Road to the lowest of lows and my most difficult experiences, which I have never shown before. This will be one of the craziest videos you have ever seen. But before we get into everything, I'm going to tell you a story. There was a there's a young kid called Daniel Rhodess. I think his name is. Dan the Magic Man. Hi guys, I'm Dan the Magic Man. That's me at 10 years old. Dan the Magic Man, which was the very first time I appeared on YouTube. But I'm going to

start this story 2 years before that when I appeared on television for the first time. Yes, I was a child actor appearing in TV shows. You're after it all short films. You can't stop it. And even on the stage. Now, don't get me wrong, I definitely enjoyed acting, but I think the thing that was really getting my juices flowing was all the attention and validation that a seven-year-old being on the big screen could have ever possibly wanted. So, with my newfound love for attention, it makes complete sense that inevitably I became a magician. I spent every hour of the day mastering the secrets of magic from YouTube tutorials, which

subsequently led to me posting my own videos. Now, at first, these videos weren't getting too many views, which was fine. After all, the thing I really loved was just being in front of a camera. Hello boys out there. Hi guys, it's Daniel here again. I'm sorry I haven't posted a video in a while. So, uploading at every chance I got, coupled with performing magic at every chance I got, safe to say it came with some really cool opportunities. Please welcome Dan the magic man show off. My name is Daniel RH. I'm going to say yes. Things were starting to look up. With 20,000 Instagram followers performing magic and with a few TV slots under my belt, my little magic career was

certainly on an upwards trajectory. But little did I know things were about to take a sharp turn. From this evening, I must give the British people a very simple instruction. You must stay at homeirus public health emergency. As you are most likely aware, in 2020, the entire world went into a lockdown. So, without the possibility of performing magic in the real world anymore, it left little old me with only two options. Option one, cry about it. Or option two, make magic videos from home. And being the stoic individual I am, you know, there was no other choice than going with option one. But then I took a good look at myself in the mirror and said, "Dan, be a man." So going full

send with number two was the only option. And good job, I did because it was at the exact time when Tik Tok was becoming the next big thing. Tik Tok is the number one downloaded app. Without fail, I was posting my magic content every single day on this platform. No sunshine or rainbows yet, but what do you know? I stuck to my routine. And here's what that routine consisted of. Wake up, film, edit, post, sleep. And then repeat. Wake up, film, edit, post, sleep. Wake up, film, edit, post sleep. Wake up, film, edit, post. Wake up, edit, post. But still, no views and no followers. But I was just hoping, well, praying that if somehow I kept

consistent, I could contribute to Gen Z's brain. I mean, don't hate the player, hate the game. But with all jokes aside, the reason I remain this persistent and didn't give up is because I made a certain promise to myself a whole 6 years ago. Because that, my friends, is when I vowed to never give up on my dream. This video is based on the law of attraction. And if you don't know what it is, it's the idea that if you have a vision in your mind or a goal or an idea and you work towards it, there's nothing the universe can do to stop you from getting what you want. Right now, guys, I'm a 15year-old magician. I haven't got that many followers. I'm not the best magician in the world at all. But I just think that I've got the dedication. I'm

going to work so hard and I am going to make it as a famous magician. So, with you guys now all caught up to speed, you know unequivocally why I couldn't give up. After all, some of the most important promises we have to keep are the ones we made to ourselves. The day finally came. My first viral video followed by a few more. Then my Tik Tok following absolutely exploded. Kept posting, kept gaining followers, more virals, more followers, more views. But it felt like I didn't even have chance to breathe it in because if you'd allow me to show you guys, things got even crazier. Before very long, we had a million followers.

Boom. 1 million followers. Then it was 2 million followers followed by 3 million followers. 4 million And the support from the people cross platforms was unbelievable. I was really feeling the love. And this big moment of mine transpired in the year of 2021, which was the same year that YouTube introduced YouTube Shorts, or as I like to call it for myself, the game changer. And I'm not talking, you know, reversing a waiter sort of game changer. I'm talking some serious stuff because the trajectory of my life was literally about to completely change. I just didn't know it yet. But obviously now I do because I'm making a video in my present about the past. And you, my dear viewer, are watching right now in the future. Crazy. It's incredible how

dramatic I can make everything sound while I add this music. Now that's the real game changer. The crazy brick trick was viewed 165 million times when the 17-year-old posted it a few months ago. We just hit 100,000 subscribers on YouTube. Since when? After that, things got absolutely mindboggling. In just 3 weeks, my channel went from 100K subscribers all the way up to 1 million subscribers. Literally so speechless right now. I used to look upon myself.

Thank you so much for 4 million subscribers. Creating his magic at the kitchen table. Dan Rhodess. Dan. Dan Rhodess. Arrow. Jesus. That kind of scared me. 74 million views. Oh, you just given a rope a stiffy. Oh, wow. That was pretty cool. 130 million views. Dude, I love seeing these behind the scenes. Dan Rhodess again. Hey, Dan Rhodess is killing it. If you want to see me and Dan Rhodess do a video, let me know in the comments down below. We have somebody that has more subscribers than Simon and I combined. Mr. Dan Rhodess.

Hello. Thank you for having me. Oh my god. Can I teach you something? There we go. Snap your fingers. You just put the ink on the back. Is hugely popular on social media as just 19 years old. Dan Rhodess. We have some tough. Wait, what? If I could really do magic. What? How did you do that? Right here. I'm an invisible orange. Here the invisible orange and throw it in the air. This is not going to work.

Dan, hold on. The invisible orange. No way. Oh no. Yeah, that's mad. I'll give you that. Well done. Thank you, sir. No, that is You see that two pound there? It's actually a giant two. Oh my god. All right, my friends. I'm with this man is a magician. I have I've been working on a book. I have my very first book coming out. It's called Dan Rhodess to Magic. The book teaches my audience how they can become magicians as well.

It must be. Driving Dan Rhodess 1.9 million views in his first month of view. He gave me 2 million subs in a month. I met him. I was on 9.9 million. He was on 8.6. He hit 10 mil before me. Million subscribers. 1 million subscribers. I'm ready. I'm ready to see the button. Oh. Oh, there it is. Wow. Oh my god. That's so heavy. Turn it around. Oh my god. That is insane. Look how look how many finger things I've got. Yes. On the 24th of March 2022 is when I received my diamond play button fingerprint magnet. And just less than one year later I hit 20 million

subscribers. A stat which is statistically harder than winning an Olympic gold medal and apparently even more difficult than becoming a billionaire. I wish this was real money. And here's a few more crazy stats worth showing you. We became the fastest channel to ever hit a million subscribers outside of a traditional celebrity. And one that baffles my brain is for 7 months I was literally the fastest growing channel in the entire world. Only second place to the big man, Mr. Beast himself. Hey, I guess that's not too bad for silly magic videos I was filming on my phone in my room. And I was even listed as a top 10 creator in 2022 alongside some of the greatest YouTubers on the platform. I had no

business being there, but uh I'll take it. But on a serious note, guys, I cannot begin to tell you how unbelievably grateful I was and still am right now. The impossible dream that started when I was merely a 7-year-old performing magic at every chance I could had now come true. And ultimately, I guess that's the main job of a magician, right? To make something that seems impossible possible. And like any 21st century kid who made a little bit of money, I definitely splashed on a few things. Thank you so much.

Won't be nameing this one anymore, mother. Let's get rid of that one. But more importantly, I had the incredible opportunity to travel the world. Me and work with a multitude of extraordinarily and truly inspiring people. I was in a movie and several TV shows, and I probably performed magic to at least 10,000 people. But more importantly than all of the above, I got to meet you guys, which has been the biggest blessing. You see, followers going up on a screen is great. Don't get me wrong. However, it's when I actually went out into public and saw the impact my videos were having in some sort of way and meeting you guys, hearing your stories, having chat, that's when I knew in that moment that I had made the 7-year-old

version of myself proud. So, from the bottom of my heart to you watching right now, thank you. I really do owe you one. But like any good story or bad story, you be the judge. When everything on the outside appears to be going perfectly well, you're probably thinking, "What went wrong?" Okay, maybe that's a little on the dramatic side. Maybe. So, what happened? H much better. Let me tell you. You see, in 2022, my life goals were completely completed. In a whirlwind of crazy events, it seemed that I'd finally reached the peak of the mountaintop, which I'd spent my entire life trying to climb. Also, if you could just call it great art, Dan, then that would do wonders for my ego. But you see, as the famous saying goes,

for every high, there must be a low. Over the next few years, I went from a channel that posted at most seven videos a day to just about 20 vids a year. And the time I spent not uploading, I wasn't really doing anything. And for the first time in a while, I found myself saying no to a lot of things from career opportunities to family events, phone calls, and at this point of time, I found myself feeling quite numb to the world. After achieving my impossible dream, I just feel as if I was uninspired. And it didn't make any sense because it's not like I wasn't grateful for the crazy things that we had achieved, but I think the truth really lied in the fact that I felt as if I'd lost my purpose. I was no longer feeling

any dopamine from creating and posting content. And as it pertains to magic, my once true love during this period, I didn't even touch a deck of cards. I know the logic just doesn't add up. How could I have achieved my dream yet somehow feel lost? I didn't fully understand. However, I had other things to think about because my double jaw surgery was fast approaching. Double jaw what? Allow me to supply some much needed context. You see, like a lot of kids, I had braces, but as my jaw began to develop, it became apparent that I had something known as an underbite. Basically, the bottom part of my jaw protruded the top, which caused a variety of complications. Complications

such as joint pain, breathing problems, not being able to eat properly, etc. And the only way this could be corrected would be via double jaw surgery. Double jaw surgery. A lot of the swelling stuff comes from those first couple days. It's a rough recovery for sure. But rough recovery aside, I was confident that it'd be worth it. So now with the date in the diary, everything was ready to go. Full transparency, from now on, things do get a little graphic, but I feel as if he could handle it. So for the final chapter, let's make this dramatic.

Oh, space it out more. Today is the day. Surgery day. Yay. All right. So, I've just given my teeth a scrub. I've also just had a shower and used some pre-surgical wash. I am going to the hospital in about 2 hours. Surprisingly, I don't feel nervous at all. Uh, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Uh, I feel like I've been waiting for this for such a long time now. I'm just ready to get going. So, yes, let's surgery, man.

This is the room I shall be sleeping in after the surgery. I'm here with my brother. Hello. Hi, Dad. Command a few words. All right, we are moments away. Um, it begins in 10 minutes. So, going to put the dressing gown on, go downstairs, and I shall see you after. Goodbye. Hi guys, I'm Dan. and reposition the upper and or the lower jaw.

the dessert pretty well. update. I'm watching TV. Hey guys, it's day one. I look very, very swollen. Don't be alarmed by the blood. It's just because when they inserted the breathing tube, they had to put it up my nose, so it's still healing. I am very glad it is now done. I know I'm swollen, but this was to be expected. When the pain gets bad, the staff gave me a pain medication, so that's been fine. And yeah, all in all, we're having a decent time. So, I'm just going to sit back and relax.

It is day two posts surgery. I know I don't look great, but I feel great. And that's all that matters. Feeling great, I did, but that was just the strong painkillers talking because when it was time to go home, it was a bit of a different story. A couple days later and I was practically yellow. I was finding it difficult to eat the most basic food. And at this point, the pain was really starting to kick in. Damn, I was not ready for that jump scare. I was out there looking like Sid. Okay, so I haven't been able to speak for literally days because I had a wire on my mouth which got removed yesterday, which is good news. Unfortunately, the surgery didn't go 100% to plan. So, tomorrow they're going to have to

slightly tweak my jaw. My surgeon said that it happens sometimes that when the jaw swells sometimes it can be repositioned which is pretty unfortunate. I am quite bummed out to be fair. But with that being said, I will see you all tomorrow for my second surgery. Hopefully it all goes to plan. I really wish. And just like that, your boy was back in the hospital ready for another procedure. So there you have it. The second surgery was done and I am glad to tell you all that everything went perfectly well. Oh, thank you guys. Oh, that's too much.

Stop it. It stopped. Recovery was pretty slow. I spent the first month with a head the size of a basketball. Oh, it's funny looking back. The first two weeks definitely wasn't a pleasant experience. It felt like hell. I was on a liquid diet and trust me that coupled with liquid painkillers is not a good combination at all. But the character development that transpired over the next few months with my face was honestly insane. I think I've got to show you Hello. It has been a minute. How are you all doing? One moment. Hello my friends. Feast your eyes. This is what my face looks like 12 months after the surgery. For you visual folks, here is what my face looked like then and here is what it looks like now. Not

too bad, I'll say. Anyhow, so all in all, recovery from my double jaw surgery was pretty slow it felt. But it was specifically the first month which came with its main set of challenges. I could really feel the pain of my broken jaw. Even with the painkillers, one of the painkillers gave me a really weird rash, but that's another story. I remember 2 weeks in looking at myself in the mirror, not even recognizing myself, which quite honestly felt like a really weird out-of- body experience. But after a couple months, the swelling subsided. And then I was able to start the process of chewing again, which was very promising, you see, because for the first month, I was on a liquid diet. And

I know it's super bizarre, but that liquid diet literally made me feel a sharp pain down my stomach. Literally as if I had a sword stuck down my throat. Sorry, that's the sort of thing you find funny when you have spent far too much time in the house. My jaw and bite are now pretty normal and I don't have the issues I were facing before. And the recovery process all in all wasn't actually that bad in hindsight. You know, in no way am I saying that I had like a serious illness cured or anything like that. I wasn't even specifically documenting my experience to put it in a YouTube video, but I think it's very

important that I showed it to you guys in this video because quite honestly, this experience was really humbling for myself. In the time I spent recovering, I felt for the first time in a while and a bit of a standstill, stuck in the mud, if you will, almost as if I couldn't really do anything. And at this very time of feeling stuck after 2 years of being pretty uninspired, in that exact moment, I wanted nothing more than just to create things again. But at the same time, I feel as if we all need a bit of a factory reset sometimes. It's not that we're bored. It's just sometimes we can feel uninspired. So, if there's one overarching message that I want this video to convey to you right now, it's

that if you are feeling bored, lost, uninspired, whatever, as of right now, just remember this. Things get better. And on a personal note, I am so glad to feel that creative spark once again. And I'm trying my best to enjoy the little things, you know, the ones that we all take for granted, like hanging out with friends or for me personally, performing magic again. But most importantly, I'm trying my very best to live in the moment because at the end of the day, I guess that's all it's about. Better off without me. I should send this world.

You're beautiful. Thanks for watching the video. If you made it this far, then you really are a real one. And if you want to see a little bit more of my face, then just tap the video on the screen there. Go on. What are you waiting for?