Parting Shot
Zach King
“King” is not just Zach King’s last name—one could argue it’s also his status on Tiktok where he has the most-watched video in the platform’s history. Known for his “digital sleight of hand,” King is the viral magician, leaving viewers asking “How did he do that?” after almost every video. If you ask King, though, he’s not reinventing anything. “If Charlie Chaplin were here today, he would definitely know that I’ve been stealing from him and his work.” Unlike many of his fellow Tiktok stars, this isn’t the beginning of King’s reign. He started back in 2011 on Youtube with his viral video “Jedi Kittens.” But it was in 2013 on the short-lived six-second video app Vine where King really found his voice, and which largely laid the groundwork for what he does on Tiktok now. “I’ll always love Vine because it did break the ground and prove that a short-form video platform could work.” Even though Vine didn’t last, King’s influence on other content creators is clear on Tiktok. “It’s fun to see a lot of people take the concepts of the jump-cut or the magic sleight of hand and do it for themselves.”
What do you think of the potential ban on the Tiktok app?
I don’t worry about it for myself as a creator. I think there’s something sad if Tiktok gets shut down because this was a different playing field for people. At the same time, it’ll be okay. Whether it’s shut down or not, the next generation of updates and apps will have that similar algorithm, which I imagine takes some nuance to create, but isn’t impossible to replicate. An algorithm that allows anybody the chance to blow up. That’s what I hope comes out of this whichever way it falls.
What makes a good Tiktok video?
The perfect Tiktok video is the same across the board. I don’t change what we’re making at the studio just for Tiktok. It’s got to be really intriguing from the beginning. A lot of people do shock value content, and that’s not the best content. There’s no story to that. At the end, it’s got to have an “aha moment.” Then the magic is just a big, big plus. You can’t make a video without the magic for me.
Has the coronavirus pandemic impacted your content in any way?
It has its own challenges. There’s a lot of “at home” concepts. I got to have the kids in the videos and explore some of those concepts, like we really do wish we were camping right now. Well, there’s a magical way to do that. What if, in my world, you hang a little tent and then open it up and then you’re in the forest?
“There always will be that hot new app, and we’ll be a part of it if we can.”