How do you go from running a “cash for gold” shop and hiding your content from your family to becoming an 83-million follower comedy powerhouse?
Welcome to the Forbes Top Creator Show! This week, host Steven Bertoni sits down with short-form sketch comedy legend and entrepreneur Anwar in his first podcast appearance ever!
In this episode, Anwar reveals his journey from being the class clown to avoid getting bullied, to accidentally going viral by stopping freeway traffic with a fake magic trick involving a loose toilet. He opens up about dropping out of college, hiding his early success from his traditional Middle Eastern family, and eventually moving into 1600 Vine—the legendary Hollywood apartment building where he lived and collaborated with creators like King Bach, Lele Pons, and Logan Paul. Anwar breaks down his highly optimized downtown studio production process, his strategy of continuously repurposing 10-year-old videos, and his strict boundaries on turning down lucrative brand deals to protect his credibility. Finally, he discusses taking his comedic inspiration from legends like Jim Carrey and Edgar Wright to fuel his ambitious pivot from 6-second clips to writing and directing a feature film.
#Anwar #ForbesTopCreators #CreatorEconomy #ComedySketches
Subscribe to FORBES:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1
Check out the Forbes Top Creator List:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2026/06/23/forbes-top-creators-2026/
0:00 Anwar’s First Podcast
1:37 The Origin Story: Using Comedy to Avoid Bullying
4:14 The First Viral Hit: A Magic Trick With a Loose Toilet
6:32 Dropping Out of College To Create
8:40 Inside Anwar’s Production Studio and Creative Process
10:39 The Strategy Behind Repurposing 10 Year Old Videos
18:35 Moving to 1600 Vine: The Creator Incubator
24:24 Protecting Credibility
29:17 The Next Step: Directing Feature Films
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.
