PAX East is right around the corner, and we’re so stoked to see the #BBTVfam representing at gaming’s biggest event! In this series, we wanted to get the inside scoop on some of YouTube’s biggest talent – starting with our boy MandJTV!
Tell us a little bit about yourself!
My name is Michael Groth, also known by my YouTube name MandJTV. I’m 23 years old and do YouTube full-time.
What type of content do you make?
I make Pokemon videos, focused mainly on the games but occasionally about the anime or TCG as well. My most frequent content is Let’s Play videos (where I play Pokemon for 30 minutes while commentating over it), but my more popular content are Top 10s, analyzing Pokemon questions, and my series “Pokemon Talk,” a comedy series starring talking Pokemon plushies hosting a talk show.
How long have you been a YouTuber?
I started my channel in June of 2009, so about 8 1/2 years. I’ve been making Pokemon content for about 4 1/2 years (since August 2013), and I’ve been a full time YouTuber since May 2017.
PAX east is a pretty incredible event! What are you most excited to do/see?
I’m most excited to meet up with and hang out with YouTube friends and fans along with checking out the expo floor. My girlfriend and I had a lot of fun last year, and we’re really looking forward to attending again.
STORY TIME – What was your first event? Were you nervous or excited to go?
My first event was The GameCon in Galveston, TX in the summer of 2016. It was a relatively small convention, and I attended with my girlfriend. I wasn’t too nervous, but I was excited since I’d never been to a convention before.
Tell us about your favorite memories during the event
For some unknown reason, I ended up on a panel for “Console Gaming.” The only console I owned at the time was a WiiU, and the other two guys on the panel with me almost exclusively played PC games. It didn’t make any sense. Even so, the panel was a lot of fun. Because it was so seemingly tossed-together-last-minute, we were very casual about it. We talked mainly about fond memories of console games we played as kids, and we were able to be very interactive with a relatively small crowd. It’s the only panel experience I’ve really had, but it was a lot of fun.
What do you wish you knew the first time you went to an event as a YouTuber?
If you plan to vlog the event, film it on your phone or a relatively small camera. Lugging around my Canon Rebel t3i (a sizable DSLR camera) got very tiring very quickly!
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