Photographer: Zac Olewnicki, Wardrobe Stylist: Indigo Boy David, Interview: Gibson Johns, Executive Producer: Alex Hughes
One look at Steven Morea or one of his many viral TikToks, and you can tell that this guy is a star. The NYC-based content creator has an “it” factor that is hard to pin down, but one thing’s for sure is that he’s going to make you laugh.
Whether it’s one of his earlier online skits, documenting his unemployment, his slice-of-life YouTube videos or making one of his homemade cakes, Steven has a glint in his eye that you can’t look away from. And perhaps that’s what makes him such an exciting online presence to keep your eye on: His comedic timing comes through no matter what he’s doing.
Speaking with Steven, it’s clear that he’s very aware of the fleeting nature of social media, so he’s smartly not trying to put all of his eggs in one basket. But he is open to the many different avenues that his content could take him in.
So.GAY caught up with Steven to chat about turning his burner account into a 500,000-follower juggernaut on TikTok, why he loves YouTube so much, his love of baking cakes and much more.
So.GAY: Hi, Steven! How would you describe what you do to someone who might be unfamiliar with your work?
Steven: When I’m introducing myself to someone, I’m like, “Oh yeah, I’m a content creator,” and then they ask what type of content, and I’m like, “I don’t really know.” But, I guess it just leans comedy and lifestyle. It started out with me just recording when my car broke down in 2020, and then it just blew up from there. It started out with skits, like two toxic gay guys talking to each other—very skit-forward and kind of like acting, right?
It turned into more lifestyle content on my burner account, which is @aprilf00lsday, which eventually turned into my main account. From there, it was just basically whatever I wanted, just like me around the city, me filming my unemployment journey. And now I do long-form content on YouTube.
So.GAY: So YouTube is what’s making you tick right now when it comes to what you’re posting online?
Steven: Yeah, it’s what excites me, because short-form content is so easily digestible, and people get really sick of it quickly. Like, I’m even victim to that: I’ll love someone and be like, “Oh, my God, this creator, is so funny and so new.” A week later, I’m like, “Okay, I have the ick.”
So.GAY: Or they just, like, disappear from your FYP and you never see them again.
Steven: Exactly! And I feel like with YouTube, people get to really know you as a person, instead of just the character you play in your short-form content. So, for me, YouTube is really my end goal of where I would love to spend the rest of my social media days—however long that lasts. I just find more joy in it.
So.GAY: Since you started doing so many skits, is that a route that you would ever want to go down? Like, really pursue comedy, or would you prefer to continue to just exist as yourself online?
Steven: I honestly don’t know the answer to that question yet, because I’ve never really tried it. But I feel like I would love to try it. I feel like whenever I film something, people tell me that I’m a natural in front of the camera, so I’d want to explore that.
So.GAY: In one of your clips, you’re stealing a piece of fruit and somebody comes up to you to confront you over stealing the fruit, and you’re pretending that they’re actually recognizing you from TikTok. Do you get recognized in everyday life in New York? If so, where does that happen?
Steven: Yeah, I actually do! It still jars me when it happens. Because I’m like, “Oh, yeah, people do watch my content. People know me.” It’s the craziest thing. But usually it will happen a lot near colleges, like downtown by NYU or near Pace, where I used to go. It’ll also happen in SoHo and Times Square, places like that.
So.GAY: How do you balance what you want to document and post online versus carving out private moments for yourself that are not for online consumption or documentation?
Steven: That’s actually something I’ve struggled with. I’ve kind of taken a step back, because in my older YouTube videos, I was like, “Okay, I’m sharing a lot of my life,” which is not necessarily a bad thing, because I feel like some people need to hear that the people that they watch online are going through the same things that they are. I remember when I was going through my unemployment and I was honest with my audience. I was like, “I’m not doing well, I’m really depressed, I have no joy,” and people would comment, like, “This is so real, this is so refreshing, it’s nice to hear that.” But then on the other side of that, it’s like, I need to remember that this is my life, and there are some things I want to keep to myself, so I don’t need to tell them everything.
So.GAY: Is there a reason you haven’t pursued being a full-time content creator?
Steven: I just have this fear. Like, after college, I was like, “Okay, do I go full-fledged content creator with management and just do it? Or do I go down the route of like, let me use TikTok to my advantage on my resumé and try to go down that route?” I didn’t make that decision. I ended up doing both. [Laughs]
And, honestly, for right now, both is good. I didn’t close off any avenues that I can go down. So it’s like what I said in the beginning: However long the social media thing lasts, you just never, ever know when it’s gonna go away, so I love to just have my work and my portfolio as a backup just in case this bigger thing in social media doesn’t really work out.
So.GAY: And it will work out! You’re so talented and people love you, but there’s also a lot that’s misunderstood about the realities of being a full-time content creator that people don’t talk about. Do you feel like your focus on YouTube is part of your longer-term strategy or vision?
Steven: Yes, absolutely. Especially with the looming bans, you just never know what’s going to happen with any given app, so it’s always good to have your feet in different places.
So.GAY: We’ve talked mostly about the near future of your work, but what do you want your career to look like in five years? Do you have any pipe dreams or things written down somewhere that you hope to accomplish in the longer-term?
Steven: This is gonna sound completely out of left field, and I don’t know if you know I do this, but I make cakes on the side. During my unemployment journey, I was like, “I’m so bored. I can’t look at LinkedIn for one more minute.” And I’ve always loved to bake. I’ve always loved to just get my hands dirty, so I spent that time just formulating random-ass cake recipes, and then I started selling them. I fell in love with it.
I think a combination of using my social media expertise and using that as kind of like a marketing avenue for my cakes and opening up my own little cake store somewhere small. I’ve seen this girl do it for her candy company called Lil Sweet Treat, and she documented that whole thing, and she has, like, five locations now. So I’m like, “Hello! I already have an audience. Let me use that to my advantage for something that I can work towards and have until I’m an old man.”
So.GAY: This interview is obviously for So.GAY, so I always ask my interview subjects: What is so gay about you? What do you love about being gay?
Steven: I like to say that I live my life completely transparently. I am myself through and through. I don’t fake it. I don’t have a separate personality, like I am myself 100% of the time and I think that comes with being queer and being gay, just that unapologetic energy that comes with it. And also the community. I think it’s something so special and something that I think people outside of the community don’t truly understand, like it’s not even just a community, it’s like a family. Whenever you’re with a bunch of queer people, it just feels like home, and that’s something that I think is so special and not something…I’m not saying that straight people don’t have that, but it’s different for us, and it’s beautiful.
