Ryan Higa Bio

(American Internet Personality Who is Best Known for His Comedy Videos on YouTube)

Birthday: June 6, 1990 (Gemini)

Born In: Hilo, Hawaii, United States

Ryan Higa, better known as Nigahiga for his YouTube channel of the same name, is an American YouTube personality of Japanese origin. The channel was created in 2006 by Higa and his friend Sean Fujiyoshi, who started by posting videos of themselves lip-syncing to songs of famous singers. They soon shifted to comic videos and the series of 'How to be' videos on so-called 'tips' to become a ninja, gangster or nerd became very popular with his fans. A natural comedian, Higa produces, directs, writes for, and acts in his videos which often feature guest appearances by Tim Enos, Ryan Villaruel, Kyle Chun, and Tarynn Nago. When it comes to the numbers, Higa has had an eventful timeline on YouTube. One of the most subscribed to YouTubers, he has over 18 million subscribers to his primary channel ‘Nigahiga’ and 4.4 million to his second channel ‘HigaTV’, which usually contains behind-the-scene footage from the videos on his primary channel. He was the first YouTuber to reach 3 million subscribers, and once even had more subscribers than the famous Pop singer Taylor Swift. He also gained second spot in the Variety magazine’s #Famechangers Digital Star ranking in 2015.
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Quick Facts

Also Known As: nigahiga

Age: 33 Years, 33 Year Old Males

Family:

father: Wendell Higa

mother: Luci Higa

siblings: Kyle Higa

Height: 5'8" (173 cm), 5'8" Males

Notable Alumni: University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

U.S. State: Hawaii

More Facts

education: University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

The Meteoric Rise To Stardom
It might come as a surprise to his fans that Ryan Higa's life wasn't supposed to be at all like what it is now. In fact, he was training to be a doctor of nuclear medicine. What is more surprising is that when he first tried YouTube back in 2006, he used it to share videos with his friends and family. Only after receiving encouraging comments on his 'personal' videos from strangers, he took up the format more seriously and started making videos for his fans as well. He has gained over 2.9 billion views on his channel, with ‘Nice Guys’ being the most watched video. With Higa and Sean's popularity as YouTubers growing, director Richard Van Vleet helped them create the movie ‘Ryan and Sean’s Not So Excellent Adventure’ which has them in lead roles. He later starred in the short movie ‘Ninja Melk’ along with Tim Enos and Tarynn Nago who had helped Higa and Sean in setting up the Nigahiga channel. Among his films, Higa is most fond of the 35-minute short called ‘Agents of Secret Stuff’ which features many other YouTubers and actors.
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What Makes Ryan Higa So Special
The name Nigahiga, according to Ryan, is a combination of 'niga' which in Japanese means 'rant', and his last name. He has an 'Off the Pill' series on his channel which captures him 'ranting' on camera without taking his ADHD pills. He also has another 'rant' series which is 'On the Pill'. His videos, however, contain not only rants; parody, spoofs, sketches, all find equal space in his videos. Higa is a person who loves what he does, and he doesn't mind being labeled or criticized. He doesn't mind being mentioned merely as a YouTube personality, rather than as an actor or a comedian, as he thinks that instead of being particularly good at something, he knows "how to do a little bit of everything". He also takes discouraging comments lightly as his experience of being subjected to racism in school has made him stronger inside. According to him, internet is the toughest place for sensitive people. His advice for young YouTube aspirants is not to let negativity ruin their determination.
Beyond Fame
Higa's journey as a YouTuber has not always been a smooth experience. He started his channel back in a time when it was not so popular a platform, and as such, not everything was under tight scrutiny as it is now. His initial uploads of lip-synced videos and some of his popular comic videos were taken down from his channel in 2008 as they contained copyrighted songs. In 2009, he even faced temporary account suspension and he had to either remove videos or audio-swap them. At this time monetization on YouTube was gaining popularity and big companies were starting to take this platform seriously. Higa then started to compose music for his videos to avoid copyright claims. Later he moved to Las Vegas to study nuclear medicine at University of Nevada. During this time he created videos all by himself, sometimes collaborating with other YouTubers. In 2012, he founded Ryan Higa Production Company and Sean Fujiyoshi joined him again to create videos for the channel. Higa is also part of the upcoming film ‘Tell Me How I Die.’

*Instantly hears that high pitch female voice singing "fast and furious, drift, drift, drift!"*

A video posted by notryanhiga (@notryanhiga) on

Behind The Curtains
The youth icon was born in Hilo, Hawaii, United States, and completed his graduation from Waiakea High School in 2008. He has an elder brother Kyle and his mom Luci Higa acts as a manager for him. Ryan Higa had been in a relationship with Tarynn Nago for several years before breaking up in 2010.
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