On Vine, Overland Park teens are creating quite a scene with their short videos

A skinny Overland Park teen followed a heavyset man down a Wal-Mart aisle, annoying him with his saxophone. The boy’s best friend and classmate was right behind him, recording the entire interaction on his phone.

In January of last year, they posted “Following Fat People” to Vine, the social media app to share six-second videos. It’s been viewed more than 10 million times.

And now, more than 150 videos and a total of half a billion views later, the recent graduates of Blue Valley High School just moved to Los Angeles to pursue careers as Vine stars.

They’ve gotten paid as much as $2,000 for videos, and worked with advertisers such as Dixie Cups and Pop-Tarts.

Sam Golbach and Colby Brock, both 18, are famous as “Sam and Colby,” with almost 1 million followers on Vine and almost 60,000 on Twitter. A recent Vine video drew 1.6 million views in less than a day.

Just as little Justin Bieber was discovered singing on YouTube, Vine stars have used their social media success to land record deals, acting gigs and paid appearances. And while Sam and Colby gained their Internet celebrity from public disturbances, they are now trying to create a brand that promotes positivity among their young fans — many of them adoring tween girls — and are hoping to break into the entertainment industry.

“Most people that this happens to say it’s a whoops-a-daisy kind of thing,” Colby said from L.A. “But Sam and I were sitting in our rooms, writing ideas down and planning everything out. ‘Following Fat People’ was all a strategy. We knew to get famous that we had to do something shocking.”

Their earlier videos were all about causing trouble: racing in shopping carts in Target, bathing in the J.C. Nichols Fountain, placing a couch on a mall escalator — which got them permanently banned from Oak Park Mall. The antics worked: By last summer, they gained 5,000 to 6,000 more Vine followers a day.

“But we knew that couldn’t go on forever” — for moral and legal reasons, Colby said. They were getting a lot of Internet hate.

So now their social media focuses on the motto “onward and upward,” which were the final words uttered by Sam’s grandmother, who died one month before the two started making videos. They want people to realize all the good aspects of their lives. And their followers are loving the change. Fans all over the country have created “onward and upward” posters, sweatshirts, T-shirts and armbands.

The active fan base was one of their biggest adjustments, Sam said. Some girls went to great lengths to find his address. Others cried hysterically when the two surprised them with personal phone calls.

When they go out in public, they say they’re almost always recognized by fans — even in a different country. When the two went on a class trip to Europe, several fans from Ireland traveled hours to meet them. The guys have received fan mail from Brazil, candy gifts from Japan and dozens of drawings of the two from people all over the world.

But this popularity is new to them. As Colby puts it, they were both “band kids who were low on the totem pole” in high school — they first bonded over both having a crush on the drum major.

“The thing about fangirls is that most people say it’s creepy, but I find it really sweet. It’s really nice to have fans that respect and support everything we do,” Colby said.

The secret to getting millions of views is relatability, Sam said. The videos typically feature songs on the radio, a story and a punchline. Filming the 6-second videos can take 30 minutes to an hour, followed by editing on a computer.

Sam’s father, Kirk Golbach, said all four parents are supportive of their sons. Plenty of people wish they could have moved out West and explored the entertainment industry before settling down, he said. While the parents don’t endorse everything their sons post, they know the two are acting in good faith.

“I always kind of thought that this would fizzle out in a year and they would got to KU,” he said with a laugh. But he doesn’t see that happening soon. The teens are working every day to make videos, gain connections and negotiate with managers, promoters and advertisers.

And he’s proud of the way they deal with some young fans who have “really spilled their hearts out” to them. The two have handled it with sensitivity and respect, he said, specifically with girls who might be struggling or depressed during their teen years.

“I’ve asked him recently if it still happens a lot,” Sam’s father added, “and he said back, ‘Daily.’”

While their fandom is growing, with all the hours of work put into the videos, and the success that has come with it, they haven’t kept some friendships, Sam said.

“In the last six months we’ve had people distance themselves from us,” he said. “We lost a lot of friends. No one from Kansas really does this kind of stuff.”

In their first two weeks in Los Angeles, they’ve met new people and collaborated with other Viners. And while they say the biggest difference between Kansas and L.A. is the traffic, they find the people there are different too.

“People don’t judge here — everyone has their own style,” Sam said. “It’s definitely a lot more accepting.”

Sam and Colby now have a manager who’s based in San Antonio and has helped them create and organize their content. This summer they’ll travel to several major cities for appearances and hosting opportunities.

They’re hoping to get more than 1 million followers on Vine, as well as a bigger presence on YouTube. They also would like to explore acting and continue to host events — maybe even becoming the next Ryan Seacrest in the process.

“We want to be those guys who influence others,” Sam said.

But for now it’s onward and upward.

This story was originally published June 7, 2015 at 6:44 PM with the headline "On Vine, Overland Park teens are creating quite a scene with their short videos."