most youtubers have a ceiling a limit to their reach even the biggest creators millions of subscribers sold out theaters viral moments they all exist within a defined space a realm of possibility but then there's speed this isn't just influencer fame this is something else this is michael jackson in the 80s beatles in the 60s the kind of hysteria that doesn't just trend online it shuts down entire cities a youtube star with 33 million followers has caused absolute chaos on the gold coast police had to stop traffic and block off streets and the school he's flocked to catch a glimpse of i show speed now what if i told you that all of this and i mean all of it really started with just $1.79 and a random kid named bradley the date is march 26th 2022 and this is darren watkins a 17-year-old kid who's better known online as i show speed at this point he's doing pretty well for himself 6 million subscribers a loyal fan base and a reputation for being loud unpredictable and completely unfiltered but in the next 10 seconds speed's trajectory is going to change forever he just doesn't know it yet bradley donated £1.79 through super chat what soccer football team do you support crystal ronaldo sooie three words cristiano ronaldo suie a simple answer a throwaway moment but what speed didn't realize what nobody realized was that this wasn't just another clip it was a portal a gateway into a world far bigger than anything he'd ever known why well because football no not that football this football see most americans we live in a bubble and to us football means tom brady tailgates and super bowl commercials but outside of the us football isn't just another sport it's a religion it's woven into the fabric of daily life it's in the favllas of brazil where kids are dribbling barefoot on concrete dreaming of being the next name it's in the alleyways of paris the packed streets of logos the beaches of thailand it's the pulse of a country the pride of a city and when that clip escaped the bubble it hit the internet like a grenade reposts retweets millions upon millions of views overnight speed it stumbled into an audience he never even knew existed now for my fellow americans out there let me put this into perspective the super bowl averages around 115 million viewers huge right but the world cup the 2022 final alone had 1.5 billion people watching across the entire tournament over 5 billion tuned in bradley didn't just donate $1.79 he unknowingly handed speed a ticket to the biggest stage in the world so speed picked up a soccer ball for the first time booted up fifa and something clicked as he butchered players names lost his mind over pack openings and celebrated every game like it was the ucl final the football world didn't just watch they embraced the chaos fans poured in from every corner of the globe not just for the gameplay but for the spectacle and at the center of it all one man one obsession cristiano ronaldo cristiano ronaldo isn't just a soccer legend he's the biggest name on the biggest stage in the entire world over a billion followers across social platforms more than any musician actor or influencer to millions he's not just a player he's a symbol of greatness and speed built his entire persona around him [Music] first it was just clips then it became hit songs music videos and even cr7 tattoos soon every stream every viral moment every sui it was all leading to one defining moment yo chad y'all think one day i'll meet uh i'll meet uh ronaldo y'all 2009 speed went from a fan to a fanatic his obsession with ronaldo consumed him turning a dream into a mission he was going to meet his idol no matter what and before anyone realized it speed wasn't just reacting to everything ronaldo he was chasing him across the world from the fa cup in london to the world cup in qar he flew across continents screaming from the stands desperate for ronaldo to notice him and every time he failed it was like a match-hitting jet fuel the fire didn't just grow it erupted the chase had grown into a movement online fans weren't just watching they were invested they wanted it to happen they needed it to happen and the hype got so loud that even ronaldo's own teammates took notice okay yeah answer this truthfully okay truthfully does ronaldo know me this pursuit really pulled speed out from behind the desk and removed him from the same video game focused path that most streamers follow as he hopped from country to country from training sessions to sold out stadiums this irl format unlocked his full potential his chaotic energy wasn't just entertaining it was electric with 17 million subscribers now rallying behind him the chase wasn't just a dream anymore it was destiny following a three-0 win over bosnia a stadium of portugal fans buzzing with energy and deep in a parking garage after months of chasing screaming speed's dream finally became reality but along the way speed started to notice something he had fans back home sure but here in the rest of the world it was different the energy the crowds the sheer scale of people showing up for him it was unreal so what did he do well he basically started a global tour japan the uk india brazil each destination was different but the effect was the same one day he was playing cricket in india the next he was screaming sooie at the ball and door he was embracing local culture standing face to face with his audience country by country city by city he wasn't just passing through he was leaving behind entire waves of diehard fans you get money cuz you look cute at first it seemed like a traveling circus wherever speed went people gathered drawn in by the sheer unpredictability of speed's stream they just wanted to watch to see the chaos unfold in real time to witness whatever unpredictable thing that he would do next was there a moment where you were just starting out where you're like "oh wow." like my streams feel different now it's not just me like in ohio or traveling to a few location it's like feels bigger than before uh i think during yes when i did my first euro tour in the summer of 2024 speed set his sights on something bigger a full-scale tour spanning across half of europe 18 countries in 30 days from trying a donor kebab in germany to meeting the prime minister of albania to playing soccer in the streets of poland every stop became a landmark moment fans sprinted through miles weaving through traffic desperately trying to be a part of the action yo what is this bro 25 26 and 27 million subscribers all milestones that take most youtubers a lifetime to reach yet speed was hitting them like clockwork gaining over 2 million subscribers in a single month i want to thank every country poland austria switzerland belgium netherlands his fan base wasn't just growing it was erupting and every other day he popped into a new country and with each stop the crowd swelled their energy was insane but there's a fine line between fandom and frenzy one wrong move and chaos is just a heartbeat away and in norway speed was forced to learn this lesson the hard way bro we got to call the police bro we got to call the police there's no way we get out of this in norway a crowd grew so fast that it took just 9 minutes and 6 seconds to swallow speed in his team hole trapping them inside of a souvenir shop and with nowhere to go no security strong enough to stop the swarm the only way out was to force through it but norway wasn't an anomaly it was just a more extreme version of something that had been happening across europe everywhere speed went fans didn't just want to see him they wanted a piece of him they lunged at him clawing for anything they could grab his hat his shoes even his hair it wasn't just excitement it was desperation a chance to touch internet royalty to leave with a souvenir proving they'd been there that they had met speed cities weren't prepared security wasn't enough in speed he was in the middle of it trying to navigate the madness as the walls of people closed in around him give me back the way stop banging [Applause] you're like the beatles you're like michael jackson when you go like when lebron when i see these these nba players go and they go to indones and and they go to the uh asia and how the crowd just thou hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people you get that kind of uh uh uh reception yeah yeah that's how it is when yeah what they don't tell you about being an 18-year-old kid skyrocketing to internet fame is that there's no playbook no guidance no blueprint you're forced to learn through trial and error with your mistakes playing out in front of millions speed's european tour shattered the limits of what a social media influencer was supposed to be able to achieve the sheer size of his crowds rivaled a-list musicians and doing this became dangerous not just for speed but for the fans and walking into these places unprepared was simply no longer an option if he was going to keep doing world tours he needed more than just hype he needed infrastructure how do you prepare how do you get ready like okay you're going to asia and you're probably go i'm going to say you're going to be gone for what a minimum of 10 days 7 to 10 days 10 days okay 10 days how do you prepare for a trip like that oh there's a lot oo there's a lot in the back end that people don't see you got to take security details yeah security cars what are we going to do what exits we're going to take cuz it's we're going to it's it's going to be like 5,000 people following us so it's a lot that go into these streams that people don't see like people just see the 15 second clip of me you know what i'm saying but it's a lot that goes into that you're i didn't plan nothing cuz i i had to improvise i'm still getting better when it comes to these tours then after stream you got to you got to shake the the the fans off that's following you switch cars doppler gamer you got to like i i got somebody on my team to look like me then we go on a different car it's a lot it's a lot speed's next move was calculated a tour across southeast asia and it was smart for one reason you see most american a-listers don't even think about southeast asia when they go international it's the usual circuit london paris tokyo maybe australia if they're feeling generous this really ties back into the bubble that i mentioned earlier if you live in la new york or just about any major us city seeing a celebrity on the street isn't that big of a deal even just catching a concert is just a short drive away but in southeast asia that kind of access is almost non-existent which for speed meant the anticipation was at an all-time high and almost instantly he was greeted with this from getting mobbed in the philippines scammed in vietnam and crashing a tuk tuk in thailand every stop was a chaotic mix of fan frenzy cultural immersion and classic speed antics he met manny pacquiao sparked local fighters tried exotic foods and even crossed 30 million subscribers in the street of cambodia [Music] [Applause] but the record books were broken in indonesia during his live stream from jakarta speed achieved something no english-speaking streamer had ever done before he surpassed 1 million concurrent viewers a million people all watching live it's beautiful it was the ultimate testament to his rise what started as a chaotic over-the-top personality had evolved into a global phenomenon shattering records and cementing speed is the most watched live streamer in the world oh my god that's really 1 million bro [Applause] speed's momentum only grew taking him from australia to new zealand and across all of south america but his journey isn't just a list of global tour stops it's a whirlwind of unpredictable moments one day he's grinding fortnite subathons with kaisenat the next he's diving head first into the wwe royal rumble and somewhere along the way he even met bradley the kid whose $1.79 donation set all of this in motion you're the reason why i'm sitting in this chair right now bro by the end of 2024 speed had done what few ever could he cemented himself as the biggest name in streaming taking home the most prestigious award in the industry and the streamer of the year award goes to i show speed streamer of the year that's a crazy one but look i want to thank i want to thank a lot of people i want to thank my management team i want to thank my like my team my cameraman my my mom my dad the countries that allow me to you know stream in them places you know i want to i want to thank everybody having a family that support you in what you wanted to do how instrumental was that in your success um well at first i didn't really have support mom i don't give a all right okay okay all right i don't give a all right i'm going to be on the recording okay all right all right [Music] [ __ ] come on turn me up shut the hell up mom come on why she always doing i'm not in the mood right now man i'm not in the mood i'm not in the mood right now you streaming right now you always doing this while i'm screaming my mom always supported me you know she just didn't understand it you just going to disrespect what i saying right now you shut up i am gone bro i am no longer no longer in ohio man unfortunately i got into my mother and i moved out my mom kicked me out of my house at 14 i moved to michigan with my dad like my dad is just the guy like "go you know do it do it be go be happy." yeah exactly so i love you dad you're my inspiration that was huge man that touched me dude jake donated $1.99 through super chat thanks man can you say hi yos h i'm really glad that i still got them in my life you know and yes yes and it does help it's just good for the mental right it's good for the mental how have you stayed been able to stay speed that you haven't let all the success monetarily the fame how have you been able to stay so grounded i'm a human just like everybody else and i just try to you know i try to really understand things and i really just try to make people happy right and smile you know and and just never let things get to your head you know you always just got to just stay locked in that's really pretty much the answer long as you stay locked in you got it anything else as you look ahead i think 2025 will be a really upstep in term of business obviously making my content better you know making my content better and really taking an upstep on that i'm not 16 anymore you know i'm just growing like just the natural thing that a human does i'm growing and i'm maturing better and i still want to be me though you know and i'm at the same time i still want to be me but that's where i see myself in 2025 just a better version better and better what do you want to be remembered for oh the greatest streamer to ever live the greatest content creator to ever live say that [Music]