Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonothon Lyons.
Hi Jonothon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been working as a professional theater artist since 2005 performing in Off-Broadway shows like Blue Man Group and Sleep No More. In the Fall of 2020, I introduced Buddy the Rat as a street performance, and my videos started going viral.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When I first started getting attention for my work and millions of views on social media, I was told that it would take around 8-10 months to start making money from it. Now it has been two years, and it is still incredibly difficult to support myself from the meager income that even the massively viral content I’ve produced earns from the platforms. It has also been a challenge to find brands that are interested in working with me since there is a culturally negative association with a character that’s a rat. Even though Buddy the Rat is entirely positive and widely loved and appreciated as a friendly character, brands don’t seem to understand that or care to look close enough to see. I have faith that my growing fan base (now over 4.5M across the platforms) will eventually find it in their hearts to help support me via my Patreon or want to buy Buddy merch.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a multi-disciplinary visual and performing artist. My character and performances are the result of learning a wide spectrum of different skills. The mask I wear is an original design that I sculpted and built, and I had in mind what I would need in order to perform well in it. I’m not the best at any one of the skills I have, but by working with everything together, I’ve created something unique that resonates with a large audience.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I imagine the platforms will start to support creators in a more sustainable way, or there will be less incentive for anyone to try to be content creators. YouTube is introducing ad revenue sharing for Shorts in January, so that’s promising, and TikTok Pulse seems to be a similar offer. As it is now, they have many ways to try to get your fans to tip and support you, but I don’t think it should fall on the creators to be salespeople trying to extract cash from their fanbase. It should be enough that I’ve proven I can pull millions of viewers to the platform; the platform should support me with a living wage.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.buddytherat.com
- Instagram: @jonothonlyons
- Twitter: @jonothonlyons
- Youtube: @jonothonlyons
- Other: TikTok and YouTube @jonothonlyons
