TwitchCon 2024 was a total whirlwind. During the three-day-long convention for the streaming platform, I saw drag performances, fake debates, wild cosplays, and a Chevron installation. I brushed elbows with big Twitch streamers like Hasan Piker, Caroline Kwan, JuiceBoxx, Deere, and more—all while incredibly jet-lagged.
One of my last interviews was Will Neff, a streamer and actor who is, notably, dating Kwan. He’s the host of the TwitchCon live show Name Your Price and runs in a close circle with Piker, AustinShow, and QTCinderella. He’s also an unabashed New York Jets fan, a former G4 host, and a motor-mouthed ham. Neff, who has a master’s degree in interactive media, was recently banned from Twitch for 48 hours after streaming The Shawshank Redemption during his “film school” sessions.
I sat down with him before that ban, on the second day of TwitchCon 2024, to have a light-hearted discussion about *checks notes* sucking dicks, being from Long Island, and his friendship with Hasan Piker. Oh, and his undying love for The Binding of Isaac. He also very kindly gave me a bottle of his hot sauce, though TSA took it from me—sorry, Will.
Our conversation, edited for clarity and brevity, is below.
Alyssa Mercante: This is not anything serious. I’ve had enough serious interviews.
Will Neff: You got it.
AM: Wait, did you go to school for game design?
WN: No, well, so I went to school for a major that is known as Interactive Media. Which was kind of very millennial-coded in that it was trying to repurpose traditional forms of media for the web. And so I had a film emphasis and my focus was taking film elements and putting them on the web. And so, my thesis at the end of my master’s was using a program called Galahad to make a choose-your-own-adventure movie… For my master’s program I went to Cuba and I shot a documentary about their state-funded organic farming program.
AM: Cool.
WN: Um, and how like this, these very small, um, kind of urban farms in Cuba outperform farms in the United States, which is like fascinating ‘cause they have almost nothing… But yeah. I used to be, you know, fun and worldly and now I sit at my desk and make jokes about sucking my own dick. So.
AM: I think that’s great. I have a master’s and maybe I should do the same.
WN: Make jokes about sucking your dick?
[Both laugh]
AM: Or at least just, you know, not do smart shit anymore. ‘cause it doesn’t really pay.
WN: Yeah, that’s, well I was a screenwriter for years and that’s, that’s ultimately how I found my way to streaming is it just didn’t pay.
AM: Yeah and you did the new version of G4.
WM: I did G4, I was at BuzzFeed. Um, Fullscreen.
AM: You’ve done all the media stuff
WN: Yeah.
AM: I’m not saying you would condone everyone quitting their jobs and doing something like this, but like, could you have even imagined that this would be where you are, considering what you did before? Or does it feel like a natural sort of progression?
WN: No, I couldn’t have imagined it… I think a lot of people kind of in our age range, we got saddled with a lot of the ideas of our parents. And one of those, predominantly, is that you have to work for someone.
And especially in entertainment, that’s such a sticky wicket because it’s a very predatory business. And you are, as a young creative person, you’re so eager to prove whatever demons wrong that you have—your family, friends, whoever—that you have talent and that you can make a living out of this, that you’re willing to put yourself through levels of discomfort that I don’t think any other profession would tolerate.
Especially from what we’re getting paid. Ultimately, I think that comes from the mentality. You know, my dad’s 94 years old. And this mentality that’s like, “With a firm handshake and good work ethic, you can have a home,” and it’s just not that anymore.
AM: You guys fucked the economy.
WN: Right. It’s not what we inherited. So I think I worked for so many people, you know, I created such great work for BuzzFeed and Fullscreen and for so many others, and I would go home with less than $US30,000 a year, which in LA is not very livable.
Ultimately, the way I found my way to Twitch was I was about to quit everything and go be a beekeeper with my cousin. ‘Cause we still own a farm in Michigan, and my cousin is my closest family member. And I was literally making plans and Hasan Piker got me drunk one night and was like, “You’re gonna buy a gaming PC and you’re gonna stream, bitch.” And I was like, “No, I have $US2,000 in my bank account, it’s over.”
But with that $US2,000, I bought a Core Power PC from Walmart, I’m pretty sure. And I started streaming, and it was like a love affair because I’ve always been a performer and I’ve always been an entertainer. And I get so much from, you know, creating happiness or laughter in people. And I was getting that immediate feedback loop, that Twitch feedback loop is so quick. It’s like the smack of social media where the moment you put content out, you’re getting your comment thread.
And so I was immediately hooked. But it wasn’t like, “Oh, I’m gonna be very successful at this one day.” It was like, “I gotta get on and see what people think of this.”
AM: And now look at you.
WN: Years later it’s uh, it’s kind of surreal to be a streamer. But it’s very gratifying and I’m super lucky.
AM: And you have your core group, you guys all understand what each other does every day, ‘cause you’re all streamers. Is that kind of weird or is it good because you guys understand that, like, Hasan’s gonna be unavailable for eight hours?
WN: Yeah it’s always interesting and fascinating, things that you can get used to, and ultimately, Hasan was a guy I knew back when he was a fat, sweaty mess.
AM: How did you know him? From school?
WM: So, my best friend growing up was his best friend in college. And so I met him when I would visit my best friend from when I was like 12 years old and he was at Rutgers. Then one day we all went to lunch together in California ‘cause Hasan was living there. And it was like the third time I ever hung out with him. And my friend brought his girlfriend and they got into a big New Jersey style fight at this lunch and walked out and we were kind of sitting silently, Hasan and I at the table. And, I looked at him and I was like, “Do you want to eat their food and stiff them with the bill?” And he was like, “More than anything.”
[Both laugh]
And we have been very close friends ever since. Ultimately, I’m so happy with Hasan’s success and I think he’s a much better rounded person now. But there are days that I miss like the sweaty Backyardigans version of him.
AM: I mean, you guys were all darts off yesterday. I was at Debatelords and I was like, oh, this is a shirtless hour.
WN: Oh yeah.
AM: Was that planned?
WN: No, no, no. Okay. I just think we were all former fat kids now who have muscles and it’s like, any chance I get my tits are coming. Hell yeah. I worked hard for these tits.
AM: Hell yeah. I feel the same way as someone who works out quite a bit. If I have an excuse to take my butt out. I’m taking it out.
WN: Do it. God, yeah.
AM: Because also I think mooning is funny.
WN: Mooning is very funny.
AM: And I think we as a society lost that. Butts are funny.
WN: Mooning and flashing and is just funny.
AM: Still funny.
WN: It’s a good time.
AM: And it’s the simplest form of entertainment.
WN: Yeah.
AM: Every time my sister drops me off at the train; I’m from Long Island—
WN: Where?
AM: Why?
WN: [points to himself] Oyster Bay, Greendale.
AM: Wait, what?
WN: Yeah.
AM: Farmingdale.
WN: Oh my God. Are you Jets fan?
AM: Yes.
[Both laugh]
WN: Oh my God. Wait a minute.
AM: Wait what?
WN: Did we just become best friends!?
AM: Wait, what? I didn’t know that. You’re from Long Island.
WN: Oh, I am. I am from Long Island and—
AM: How long did you live on Long Island? Why don’t you have a fucked up accent?
WN: Because I left when I was eight years old.
AM: Oh wow. Yeah. Okay.
WN: And again, my father is 94. So he’s a person with, like, very practiced diction.
AM: So they are they from New York? Your parents?
WN: My dad is from New York and New Jersey and my mom is from Michigan.
AM: That’s fucking awesome, dude. Yeah. Have you ever gone back? I mean, why would you?
WN: I go back to Manhattan every once in a while ‘cause a lot of my friends are still there. And it’s interesting to see like, they’re so worldly and so fun and then there’s like moments where they’re just so depressed.
AM: [laughs] Yeah. Oh yeah. Long Island’s also crazy ‘cause like, I didn’t realize, I guess ‘cause I grew up in it, how conservative it can be.
WN: It’s a very interesting brand of conservative too. It seems strange because they’re like wild partiers. They’re very not into puritanical values. But at the same time they’re like, “Whoa,” at this. None of that weird shit. [laughs]
AM: That’s so funny. I’m from—we call it the Dirty Dale.
WN: Oh really?
AM: Yeah. Like real trash.
WN: Yeah. I got arrested when I was like 15 for underage drinking.
AM: Dude, you have Long Island in your blood. I love making fun of Long Island, but it is a magical place. It made me who I am today.
WN: It’s magic. Listen, all you need to know is the Jets are the losingest sports franchise in history and yet they have the fourth strongest fanbase.
AM: Long Islanders are loyal to a fault.
WN: And there’s something really admirable about that.
AM: Maybe there’s something in the water out there. You know?
WN: The same thing that makes the bagels great.
AM: What about hockey? Are you a hockey person?
WN: I was not an Islanders/Rangers guy growing up. I was a Devil’s fan growing up, unfortunately.
AM: We’re not best friends anymore. I’m a Rangers fan. I hate the Islanders.
WN: Really?
AM: I hate the Islanders. I hate them. My dad was like, “I like classic hockey, original six teams.”
[Both laugh]
WN: None of that new shit.
AM: Oh God. You’re a Jets fan. You know heartbreak more than anybody.
WNL Dude, I was watching on Thursday when we absolutely shellacked the Patriots for the first time at home in—What is it? For the first time in 15 games they won a home game against the Patriots.
AM: That’s bad. That’s pretty bad. I should probably ask you about video games—what’s your favorite?
WN: I think I have an unfortunate disconnect where ,like, single player games, I really won’t play on stream much. ‘cause chat is the most obnoxious where if anything isn’t done at the speed of like Mensa.
AM: They’re like, “You’re a fucking idiot.”
WN: [laughs] Yeah, more than one attempt… But I love the early Metal Gear Solid games. I am absolutely obsessed. They were so pivotal for me. And then recently I’ve just fallen in love with roguelikes. I love the element of like a good run versus a bad run and game IQ kind of enhancing your experience.
So the game that I play just the most often is Binding of Isaac. I got my girlfriend [Caroline Kwan] into it and now like on any flight she’s like, “Let’s play Binding.”
AM: Hell yeah. What do you play on? Steam Deck?
WN: Yeah.
AM: I have one, and then people on the subway are like, what is that? What’s that thing you got?
WN: They’re so big.
AM: It’s so big. You can hurt someone with it. It doubles as a weapon on the subway. I’m worried about anything happening, I can.just literally crack someone over the head with it.
WN: Yeah. Just crack a masturbator in the head—happens every day in Brooklyn.
The rest of our conversation descends into jokes and other nonsense, including him promising that he was going to take his shirt off during the Name Your Price segment later.
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