South African Caspar Lee – YouTube Millionaire at Only 20!

At only 20-years-old South African Caspar Lee is a YouTube millionaire, living in London, who’s just starred in his first movie (with John Cleese), done an internet show with “living legend” Lisa Kudrow (from ‘Friends’), appeared on BBC Radio One and delivered his first live stand-up comedy routine.

His routine begins with the words “hi, my name is Caspar, I’m from South Africa…and my name has haunted me my entire life.”

He then adds “see Mom and Dad – when your son grows up in a country with hundreds of years of racial division and aggression; a country in which the white people locked up Nelson Mandela (!)…it’s not a good idea to name your son after the whitest cartoon character in existence!!!”

It’s this humour and brash honesty which have earned Caspar a following of over 3-million people on YouTube, a milestone he reached this month. He describes the achievement as “mind-boggling and great, and I kind of don’t believe it”.

Caspar’s journey to YouTube success began four years ago when he was still living in Knysna.

“At the age of 16 I started making YouTube videos because I was bored and I could use them to procrastinate my homework way more effectively,” he half-jokes. After some trial and error during the first two years, he then launched Dicasp which stands for ‘Director Caspar’.

“Six months after starting Dicasp, it became fairly popular, so I travelled to England to meet and collaborate with people like Jack and Finn Harries, Sam Pepper, Marcus Butler, Alfie Deyes and Bertie Gilbert. These collabs dramatically increased my following, and I went back to South Africa with one intention: to make a life out of YouTube.”

Speaking South African – Caspar attempts to teach Jack Harries some South African slang:

http://youtu.be/nvQFShoc68o

At the moment Caspar’s subscriber numbers are growing by about 130 000 a month. And the money is rolling in. Google – which owns YouTube – pays 55% of ad revenue generated on a channel to the video creator, and keeps the 45% balance. According to the Sunday Times, YouTube statistics service SocialBlade estimates that Caspar earns as much as R5-million a year.

Today, Caspar lives in London, building his YouTube career. He has a starring role alongside John Cleese and Troye Sivan in the South African film “Spud 3: Learning to Fly” – due out this year – and has appeared alongside global celebrities like Lisa Kudrow.

“A huge part of me wanted to stay in South Africa, but I’m positive I’ve made the right decision,” Caspar says. “Living in London allows me to work with some of the best YouTubers in the world on a day-to-day basis.

“I know I won’t live here forever, but it’s going to be my home for at least a year. I then hope to go back to my country, South Africa. At the moment I’m the happiest I’ve ever lived in my life. I’m literally living the dream.”

http://youtu.be/IJ_hDh_tZEM

A few days ago Caspar uploaded a video called “Moving on from YouTube” to reassure his millions of followers that although he is enjoying success in other fields – he will NOT be moving on from YouTube.

He said although the radio, TV, movie and comedy shows are “great”, what “means the most to me is definitely YouTube”. Caspar said he will continue to “build my career as a comedian actor type thing if I can” and added, “I’m not sure yet; I’m young, I have time…and I have you guys which is the most important thing to me.”

Moving on from YouTube

Great video to see a quick summary of Caspar’s life to date including trailers of his movie, radio and stand-up work.

View more Caspar Lee videos on YouTube

Based on an article on www.mediaclubsouthafrica.com