If you’ve been on Tik Tok this year then you’ve definitely come across a couple of vegan livestreams, some with thousands of viewers, and some have probably made you cry with laughter.
I first wrote about the vegan landscape on Tik Tok back in March and the scene has just gotten bigger since. A new player has risen through a fairly competitive scene, there are now countless vegan communities that go live together daily, and there’s even “fan clubs” around these vegan creators and their stories.
This article will mostly cover how the Vegan King not only broke into but has since become a key player within the space, how the Vegan Samaritans livestreams have evolved but he’s still the number one vegan on the platform, and how you can replicate the same success.
Disclaimer: it is widely believed that the Vegan Samaritan is not actually a vegan, however this is irrelevant to this article. I will be breaking down the techniques used to create engaging livestreams, worlds, and communities, without touching on the vegan side too much. This is a follow on article from the earlier discussion on their techniques, and whilst I will recap it briefly, please see that article for actionable steps to replicate the basic formula.
Why Vegan Livestreams are so Entertaining
Tik Tok livestreams are a difficult balancing act of being entertaining and being worthwhile to watch. The average livestream will have 3-15 viewers, with the host normally just replying to comments or playing games with other creators.
Vegan livestreams are different because they function like a comedy show where guests will join and perform 30 seconds of comedy before being kicked off. The entertainment comes from the guests and all the host has to do is react to whatever is said. This is a simple and effective way to ensure fresh ideas and comedy every night.
In addition to this, a vegan host will likely be playing a character and overact to the guests to encourage more engagement. They’ll get annoyed easily, scream hysterically, react to anything weird said in the comments, react negatively to any gifts sent (which then encourages viewers to send more gifts), and will overall behave in a way that no rational adult would.
The comedy of these streams comes from the hosts reactions, their increasing levels of anger and insanity, and the guests attempts to get a reaction out of the host.
How the Vegan Samaritan has Developed throughout 2024
Vegan Samaritans act is simple. He is no-nonsense kind of guy who won’t tolerate any messing around (or “Malarkey” as he calls it) and he becomes infuriated as more and more people mock him.
This act hasn’t changed too much throughout the year however he now has regular guests who bring ongoing storylines, their own characters and plots, and gimmicks. These include a group of potatoes, a lady who shows Samaritan her cute cats and then starts dancing on camera, and various people acting as news shows or people of authority.
Vegan Samaritan reacts as he usually would however does now engage with a certain level of nonsense. He’ll play along with the act occasionally, especially when a third part is involved such as someone’s manager telling them off and will introduce the guest with a comment such as “ah it’s you again”. This is quite hilarious to watch and allows for ongoing jokes which rewards repeat viewers.
He has had to ease off the no nonsense attitude that made him so popular to begin with to allow for these reoccurring guests, however this has lead to a more interesting livestream since now jokes can develop organically throughout a performance. This is in stark difference to earlier in the year where you would only be allowed one instance of nonsense before being kicked off. You’re now given a few chances which allows guests to build up their jokes to a climax.
How the Vegan King Broke into a Crowded Market and Got to the Top
The Vegan Samaritan and the Vegan Veteran dominated the vegan space on Tik Tok for some time and no one was able to come close to their success until the Vegan King. He entered with a gimmick of being Royalty and built his livestreams around that by calling his viewers “his people” and reciting poems to inspire his audience. Guests would be told not to speak to their king that way and would be called peasants if they continued to mess around.
This is a great case of how to break into a pretty dominated market by adding a different element to what you’re doing. We see this all the time in most restaurant chains where each brand has something specific that makes them difference and changes the experience. Harvester has a free salad bar, TGI Fridays has great cocktails and the severs will all sing to you on your birthday, and Wagamama’s will sit you on long tables next to strangers which imitates a traditional Japanese noodle bar.
This is done because we often don’t remember the specific details of an event but instead how that event made us feel. It plays into our survival nature of remembering feelings and then basing our next choices on them. For example, if you saw a one liner comedian at a bar then you would have been hit with around 20 jokes in 5 minutes. You won’t remember every joke, but you’ll remember if the comedian made you cry with laughter and will therefore be more inclined to see that comedian live again.
This is the basis for what the Vegan King has done to break into the vegan space. He offers something completely different to others which then encourages people to check out his lives.
How Vegan King Injects Himself into the Joke
The Vegan Kings character is unlike anyone else’s. He will scream hysterically when guests muck about, he is very protective of his dog Mojo, and he plays along with guests storylines and even develops his own parts within those plots. This is different to Samaritan who will often just become annoyed but remain calm when he’s pushed and rejects any storylines that guests create.
Vegan Kings guest interactions are something quite special and is a great case study for how to insert yourself into a joke. His baseline character never changes but he will insert that character into the story and react organically as plots develop. For example, at one point the “Vegan High Council” (a plotline developed by guests with various people as authoritative figures within the organisation) were considering allowing the King to join them, but he had to pass a vote. King then played a sound of people cheering and claimed it was a large group of people outside his house who had come to support him.
He didn’t try to take control or drastically change the story, but instead added a small element onto his own section of the story. The best way to think of it is to imagine you’re moving sideways instead of forwards within the story. You’re just adding to your character and not the story itself.
Vegan King will also occasionally sing a song for his audience, and this will be a popular song with a vegan twist on the lyrics. This again has very little impact on what’s currently going on but is hilarious to listen to and makes for great content.
Regular viewers join his livestreams for these moments, which happen organically and are always hilarious. This is opposed to Vegan Samaritan where you know what you’re getting out of it and the humour relies entirely on the guests.
How Vegan King Innovated on the Formula
Another reason why Vegan Kings livestreams are so successful is because he often adds new innovative elements into a basic formula to create more hilarious moments. The best example would be “The Pledge”, where a guest must repeat a script to convert to veganism without being interrupted by gifts. This is not only hilarious because the King will react hysterically to any disruption but is also genius because it gets him more money through gifts.
Innovating on a formula is not as easy as you may think however the process can be broken down into simple steps. Start by understanding what your goals are, who you are and your themes / gimmicks, and how your systems work. Then see where there is overlap and experiment with new ideas within the overlap.
For example, the livestreams goals is to make money while being entertaining and the formula is guests coming up to annoy the host. Vegan Veteran attempted an idea of saying his phone was glitching and then allowing 6 guests up at once who would all talk nonsense, speak to each other, make jokes, and overall compete to be the funniest panel member. He would also often disappear during these segments which left the guests to do all the heavy lifting. Whilst this was very entertaining, it didn’t encourage gifts and also relied on guests working well with each other which often wasn’t the case.
Vegan King found the sweet spot of allowing for guest interaction whilst also creating an environment where gifts are not allowed, which then results in more gifts being sent. This also allows for guests to create their own hilarious moments by repeating the script incorrectly, changing their mind at the last moment, or sending their own gifts to really infuriate the king.
What is the Future for Vegan Livestreams?
These types of livestreams have only come about this year but how long will they last for? In my opinion, maybe 6 more months. I don’t think the basic formula, annoying the host through gifts and nonsense, can ever change however I believe there may be 1 or 2 more innovations left before it’s run dry.
Perhaps creating a song with the goal of becoming the “Vegan Taylor Swift” and getting guests to learn it over time and finishing every livestream with a full panel of guests all singing this song. The host would be in control of the lyrics and could dedicate parts for themselves and guests and then become furious if the guest sings their part etc. This would require a bit of set-up but if there was a song for every month then it gives viewers a good reason to keep coming back and maybe even be selected for the final singalong.
What I personally think will happen is these creators, who have 100k and 55k respectively, will eventually change their platforms into an influencer or general content creator type, once the formula becomes stale. They have large followings, fan clubs, and committed regulars, who will likely follow them into whatever their new endeavour is.