• by Steven Rosenbaum , Featured Contributor, July 17, 2023

When you meet Ricky Lax for the first time, you expect a cape and a top hat. But he’s not that kind of magician. His parents will share that he did have doves, long ago, but a brief foray into the illusionist genre wasn’t for him.

Instead, he’s a new kind of casual conjuror who's swapped the old-fashioned proscenium stage of lore for a new performance platform.

Ricky performs on Facebook.  His public performances seem more improvised than planned. He’s often most comfortable at a Starbucks, with impromptu gatherings of young audiences who are drawn to his low-key, authentic style.

“When I started making the Facebook videos, I didn't set out to do interactive magic. Then, 20 videos in, I did an interactive trick that I created, and this is where I read the mind of the person watching the video. Before that, my videos were getting 20,000 views to 30,000 views. Then this one got 13 million, and so all of a sudden I'm like the interactive magic guy.”

Example:

What began as a way to reach audiences evolved into an extraordinary expertise on how audiences are attracted and retained on social networks. 

In 2020 the pandemic put lots of magicians and singers out of work. Lax jumped in, inviting them to make videos for his growing network  By late 2021, creators on Lax’s network were earning a total of more than $5 million a month across Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube. It was a $60 million business that was all but invisible to the outside world.

Says Lax, “Lots of magicians hate me. They don't know me from the tricks I've created, they know me from Facebook -- and they hate me because they think I'm doing stupid magic tricks. But I'm not performing for other magicians. I'm performing for billions of people out there.” 

I should be clear about where I stand on this. As former magician, and a lifelong creator of disruptive content, I admire everything about Lax and what he’s accomplished. The way we reach audiences may change, but the passion to surprise and delight audiences never changes. And Lax has reached a massive audience with his work.

Lax’s collection of creators and performers is large, thought by some to be the second largest in the world.  In just three years, his Network Media creator community rocketed to a staggering 350 billion views. The largest network is Jellysmack.

Lax has been a student of how things work going back as long as he can remember. He’s written three books:  “Lawyer Boy: A Case Study on Growing Up”; “Fool Me Once: Hustlers, Hookers, Headliners, and How Not to Get Screwed in Vegas”; and “I Get Paid for This: Kicking Ass and Taking Notes in Vegas.” If you sense a theme in those titles, you’d be right. He’s an insider that revels in being the ultimate outsider. He knows the secrets and likes letting people behind the magic curtain.

 On June 15th, Lax’s Network Media joined forces with Jellysmack, making the combined entity the largest creator network globally. (Disclosure: As a senior Advisor at Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips, I played a small part in this magical transaction.)

The Network Media-Jellysmack deal represents the leading edge of a creator economy that is just getting started. “We are excited to meet with founders who see the world differently,” said Jay Kirsch, partner of Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips. “You have to learn the new paradigm of media. Changing consumer behaviors and platforms are fueling extraordinary opportunities.”