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Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal

The Highs And Lows Of Being A Viral Sensation - Max Fosh

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Max FoshguestAli Abdaalhost

Sep 29, 20221h 45mWatch on YouTube

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CHAPTERS

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Chapter summaries

Cold open: chance meeting with Zac Alsop, sudden viral breakout, and therapy as an early purchase
Max recalls being an “odd guy at uni,” then describes a lucky street encounter with Zac Alsop that led to filming together and the London Fashion Week stunt. The conversation briefly jumps ahead to Max’s reflections on burnout, therapy, and shifting goalposts.
- •Max describes approaching Zac Alsop on the street and offering to help as a cameraman
- •He recounts the London Fashion Week idea as the moment things “went stratosphere”
- •Ali introduces the show and frames Max as a YouTuber/standup comedian known for pranks and stunts
- •Max mentions therapy as something he invested in early with YouTube money
- •He hints at the pressure of numbers and moving goalposts contributing to negative thoughts
How Max describes himself (and why he dislikes being labeled a “prankster”)
Ali asks how Max would describe himself, referencing how he was framed as a “confident, unfashionable, blank canvas” in the Fashion Week video. Max explains why typical labels don’t quite fit and lands on “content creator” as the best descriptor.
- •Max says “prankster” is the label people default to, but he doesn’t love it
- •He notes even close family and friends can be unclear on what he does, often thinking he still does radio
- •Ali points out his bios often say “broadcaster,” which Max finds a confusing catch-all
- •Max suggests “content creator” is the most accurate umbrella term
A teenage internship that sparked his dislike of corporate life (and switching degrees)
Max explains how a week-long internship in a finance/trading environment made him feel creatively unfulfilled. That experience contributed to him changing his university course from economics/finance to English literature through what he calls “blagging.”
- •Max describes his school environment as implicitly steering people toward careers like law, finance, or medicine
- •He recounts the monotony of the office: small talk, long silent stretches, and being sent to fetch lunch pies
- •After a confrontation about “not doing anything,” he’s tasked with writing a market newsletter at very early hours
- •He changes degree from economics/finance to English literature despite not having English A level
- •Max says English literature wasn’t his strength, but it felt more creative than finance
University as a playground: societies, performance, and discovering radio
At university, Max throws himself into societies and spontaneous activities, realizing he enjoys entertaining people. He details how student radio led to hospital radio, which became a major training ground for broadcasting and creating segments.
- •Max describes joining multiple societies, including theatre and a “20 Minute Society” built on spontaneous challenges
- •He realizes he loves entertaining—on stage and through broadcasting
- •He explains student radio as a small, often unreliable setup with tiny listener counts
- •He moves from student radio to Newcastle hospital radio (Radio Tyneside), broadcasting into multiple hospitals
- •He builds skills through producing segments like vox pops and structured “what’s on” bits
From radio to video: building a showreel, street interviews, and learning confidence
Max describes realizing radio wasn’t progressing the way he hoped, so he pivoted into video by creating man-on-the-street content. He explains where his comfort approaching strangers came from and how early feedback at university built momentum.
- •Max says he wanted an agent and believed a showreel would unlock opportunities, but he lacked video material
- •After being rejected by a university TV society, he films his own interview videos and posts them on Facebook
- •He describes gaining confidence from being extroverted, a self-described show-off, and repeated discomfort-training at school
- •Max explains early formats: basic prompts, geography-style questions, and repurposing Cards Against Humanity prompts
- •He brings a friend (Coco) to film, emphasizing it was initially unpaid and low-stakes
Grinding without a breakthrough: the Street Smart “tour,” setbacks, and a lucky encounter
After university, Max attempts a self-made tour filming in 14 cities in 14 nights, but the results don’t “blow up” as hoped. While working in a pub, he happens to meet Zac Alsop, leading to collaboration and a major turning point.
- •Max describes a two-week, 14-city filming/editing/posting sprint centered on Facebook content
- •He notes YouTube uploads existed but were getting minimal views compared to Facebook
- •He feels dejected after the intense effort doesn’t translate into major growth
- •Max works in a pub while continuing to make content
- •A chance meeting with Zac Alsop leads to Max filming for Zac and gradually collaborating more
London Fashion Week stunt: costume, escalation, and the first massive viral hit
Max explains the Fashion Week plan: dressing him in absurd clothing, manufacturing attention with staged “paparazzi,” and leveraging photos to get into shows and parties. The video explodes, rapidly increasing subscribers for both Zac and Max.
- •Max outlines the outfit construction and tactics (shouting his name, triggering flash photos) to attract real photographers
- •They send photos to fashion shows to pitch Max as a “new hot model,” gaining invites to events
- •Max recalls telling his dad he’d be happy with 1,000 subscribers from the video
- •He describes the sudden scale: from 1,800 to 80,000 subscribers in about four days
- •Max reflects on why it worked: strong storytelling/editing and “punching up” at a shared target (the fashion industry)
After the rush: addictive numbers, “10 seconds of terror,” and the COVID-driven pivot to storytelling
Max reflects on how refreshing analytics became “dangerously addictive,” and how quickly the emotional high fades. He then describes how COVID disrupted his interview-based format and forced him into more narrative-led videos, including a multi-part search for a woman from a stock photo.
- •Max compares checking analytics to an addictive reward loop and notes the excitement fades fast
- •He describes being terrified during the Fashion Week shoot and coins “10 seconds of terror” as a mindset
- •For the year after Fashion Week, he keeps making street interviews and expands to events and conventions
- •COVID creates an existential problem for his interview format, pushing him to try different video types
- •He describes a six-week “goose chase” series trying to identify a woman in a stock photo, which audiences enjoyed and reframed his approach toward storytelling
Evolving identity as a creator and running for London Mayor as content
Max explains how he thinks creators become known as “the person who does X,” and why it’s important that “X” changes over time. He then details the practical requirements to run for London Mayor and how he turned the campaign into a multi-part content arc.
- •Max notes audience recognition shifts every few months (“you’re the guy that…”) and says staying in consciousness matters
- •He explains the London Mayor run requirements: a large deposit and collecting signatures across boroughs
- •He frames the campaign as content, planning to recoup costs by making multiple videos
- •Max says he needed a “baddie” in the story and positions Laurence Fox as that narrative foil
- •His stated top policy is “Don’t vote for me,” alongside a goal of motivating young people to vote in general
How his videos are built: opportunity-driven stunts, story structure, editing rhythms, and YouTube mechanics
Max breaks down how he finds opportunities, constructs narratives, and edits for pacing and clarity. He also explains how his approach to titles, thumbnails, and algorithmic performance evolved over time, including using classical music as a structural tool.
- •Max says his process starts with finding real-world opportunities and reacting to what others are doing in the moment
- •He describes capturing the “big ending” first, then building hook, exposition, process, and payoff
- •He explains the “kitchen shot” as a recurring device to narrate intent and bring viewers along
- •He admits earlier uploads were rushed (thumbnail last-minute) but later became more deliberate
- •Max describes learning that “the algorithm is just people,” and editing with classical music crescendos to create natural chapter-like beats
Scaling with help: hiring Aziz, rapid growth, and cautious team-building
Max contrasts slow growth while working largely alone with the explosive growth after hiring Aziz as a producer/editor. He describes the psychological and creative benefits of having someone to collaborate with and his cautious approach to adding more team members.
- •Max shares growth numbers: a long climb from 80k to 400k, then a sharp jump after hiring Aziz
- •He attributes improvement to having someone to sanity-check ideas and share wins and losses
- •Max and Aziz “meet in the middle” by editing from different ends of a timeline
- •He describes being scared to hire because he wanted someone who felt like “another version of me”
- •Max mentions expanding support for content aimed at a platform in China and a desire to keep a small, trusted team
How Max earns money: ads, brand deals, expensive videos, and early steps toward diversification
Max outlines his revenue mix, emphasizing that higher production ambition also raises costs. He describes standup as creatively valuable but not necessarily a major profit engine, and hints at building a business alongside content.
- •Max cites ad revenue as a significant component and notes it fluctuates with performance
- •He says much of the income funds wages and the rising costs of bigger videos
- •Brand deals form another major income stream, with rates influenced by recent video averages
- •He says standup doesn’t make “a huge amount of money” due to many parties taking cuts
- •Max expresses interest in diversifying and mentions starting something called “The Silly Company”
Career anxiety, motivation, and hedonic adaptation: chasing numbers vs sustainable “infinite games”
Ali and Max discuss uncertainty about the future, the pull of accolades, and the emotional trap of quantitative goals. They explore how motivations shift day-to-day, how goalposts move, and how therapy and journaling fit into managing self-esteem and pressure.
- •Max says he worries less about age 40–50 and more about the next six months, seeking “strings to my bow”
- •He identifies storytelling as a transferable skill across platforms and formats
- •Max describes the danger of quantitative goals: hitting milestones leads quickly to “now what?”
- •He links pressure to self-esteem and wanting to be liked, noting goals can escalate immediately after success
- •They discuss hedonic adaptation, “finite vs infinite games,” and separating creative work from commercial concerns
Standup as a second arena: learning by doing, what makes things funny, and producing an hour-long show
Max explains standup as terrifying but rewarding, emphasizing that the only real way to improve is repeated stage time. He shares how comedy relies on specificity and contradiction, how live performance differs from video, and what it’s like shaping an hour-long show with a director.
- •Max shares advice he attributes to Rob Beckett: standup is like a job learned “five minutes at a time,” so progress is slow
- •He encourages starting with open mic sets where it’s okay to be bad, and reframes failure as “a great story”
- •He explains comedy principles: specificity (e.g., naming “Uncle John”) and contradiction as a core engine for ideas
- •Max contrasts standup with YouTube: immediate feedback, the importance of “liveness,” and controlled audience interaction
- •He describes working with a director on structure, energy pacing, clear sections, and how video inserts can feel like “TV for the kids”
Burnout, time off that doesn’t feel like rest, and closing advice for aspiring creators
Max describes burning out multiple times and admits he lacks strong systems to prevent it, despite knowing what he “should” do. The episode closes with his belief that creators should focus on getting good at making videos through repetition, rather than chasing hacks.
- •Max says burnout has shown up physically and emotionally, particularly during lockdown
- •He admits he doesn’t prioritize anti-burnout habits because he can’t “see the objective value” in the moment
- •He describes taking a holiday but thinking about the channel the whole time, while finding focus during the Fringe run
- •Max’s main advice: get good by making lots of videos, focusing on delivering value (entertainment or education)
- •He suggests making “50” videos before judging whether a niche is working, and rejects the idea that YouTube is too saturated

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