Collins Key (born May 9, 1996) is an American

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

, entertainer, comedian, and magician. As of March 2024, his channel has amassed nearly 24 million subscribers, generating more than 75 million views per month with over 6.7 billion total lifetime views. As a magician, he was a finalist on the eighth season of ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

,'' and later toured as part of

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), she starred in the Disney Channel short series ...

's Neon Lights tour. Key created and starred in a campaign for

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

called ''The Disappearing Girl,'' for which he received a number of awards. Key has also been nominated for multiple Teen Choice Awards.

Early life

Key was born on May 9, 1996, in Los Angeles, California. His parents are Steven and Anne Key, and he has a younger brother, Devan Key, who he regularly collaborates with on his

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel. At age 13, after doing magic for nine months, he was accepted into the elite Junior Program at the Hollywood Famous Magic Castle.

Career

At 16 years of age, Key was discovered on YouTube by the producers of ''America's Got Talent'', and invited to appear on their eighth season. Key became the first magician to make the finals of the show. He is often referred to as "Magic’s First Pop Star". In 2013, he toured across the country with ''America’s Got Talent'', visiting 36 cities in six weeks. In 2014, Key joined

on her Neon Lights tour, opening for the singer with other acts such as

Fifth Harmony Fifth Harmony, often shortened to 5H, is an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and formerly Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group signed a ...

Little Mix Little Mix are an English girl group that formed on the eighth series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor.'' They are the first group and the only girl group to win the original UK series. The lineup consisted of Leigh-Anne Pin ...

, and

Cher Lloyd Cher Lloyd (born 28 July 1993) is an English singer. She participated on the The X Factor (UK series 7), seventh series of the television talent show ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor'' in 2010, where she finished in fourth place. F ...

. Each night, Key hosted and performed magic. In addition, he was asked to present at the 2014

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...

alongside other presenters including

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

and

Kylie Jenner Kylie Kristen Jenner (born August 10, 1997) is an American media personality, socialite and businesswoman. She starred in the E! reality television series ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' from 2007 to 2021 and then the Hulu reality televisi ...

. After his appearance on ''America's Got Talent'', he focused on his YouTube channel, growing from 2 million to 18 million subscribers in two years. He and his brother, Devan, primarily upload comedy videos. He also created, produced and starred in

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

''The Disappearing Girl'' in partnership with

. The series won a Shorty Award, an AdWeek Arc Award, a Cannes Lions Award, and a Streamy Award. In 2017, Key was the first digital creator given the opportunity to create and produce six weeks of interstitial content for

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

leading into the Fall Season Friday Night Lineup. The same year, he gave a

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

talk at the University of Santa Barbara about his experiences as a magician. In 2018, Key headlined the YouTube FanFest concert in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, India, and was nominated for Choice Male Web Star and Choice Comedy Web Star at the 2018 Teen Choice Awards. In 2020 he surpassed 22.5 million subscribers on YouTube.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Key, Collins 1996 births Academy of Magical Arts Junior Achievement Award winners American magicians America's Got Talent contestants Living people YouTubers from Los Angeles