You may never have heard of IShowSpeed — but the kids have.
The 20-year-old has 44.3 million subscribers on YouTube, more than 40 million on Instagram, and 2.3 million more on Twitch. At 2:30 on Thursday afternoon, 56,000 people were watching him cruise around San Francisco wearing a Steph Curry jersey. It was Day 29 of IShowSpeed’s 35-day trip around the country, all captured 24/7 on livestream. (The full stream is embedded at bottom — you should really watch it.)
Speed, as he’s known to fans, is famous for his athletic talent, his namesake swiftness, and his unfiltered humor. One of his first stops was visiting someone with the same attributes, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, as we verified via an Instagram reel recorded at City Hall and posted on the mayor’s account. (One comment: “This was epic to see you there at our family wedding today❤️🔥.”)
Speed was impressed by the palatial interior beneath the golden dome, but not by Lurie’s blatant glaze of local sports teams. (For olds: “glazing” is complimenting, particularly when the object is undeserving.) In fact, Speed hadn’t even heard of the city’s baseball team.
“The Giants?” he asked the mayor. “The New York Giants?”
Lurie’s team did not provide details about how the link-up (olds: meeting) came together, but the mayor’s willingness to appear on a social video with a mega-influencer is yet another example of his elected role as cheerleader-in-chief. Lurie’s Instagram tripled its following during his first quarter in office, according to his 100-day progress report (opens in new tab), and now has more than 150,000 loyal watchers.
The strategy has paid off with residents who say the constant boosterism is endearing.
“I literally do not know what he’s doing policy-wise, but these are things that are nice,” tech worker Yitong Zhang told The Standard in May. Some commenters noted that the meeting of the mayor and Speed was like two influencers coming together — though one is way more famous and powerful.
After he left City Hall, IShowSpeed visited a fire station in Mission Bay, where he donned bunker gear, participated in drills, and squeaked painfully down the pole. That worked up an appetite, so he asked his chat (the chatroom of his live stream, Mom) where to eat in SF. “Try Red’s Java House!” one viewer suggested. But in true tourist form, Speed was most excited at the idea of an In-N-Out burger.
From there he headed to Union Square, where he shot hoops at an arcade-style basket. Zoomers in patterned beanies and long shorts trailed him, screaming and recording video on their phones. At Dolores Park, a gaggle of fans swarmed from all sides, yelling his name and angling to appear on stream.
His schedule Thursday lists 15 city locations. Still to come are the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, the Japan Center Mall, Lombard Street, Pier 39, the Conservatory of Flowers, the Bison Paddock in Golden Gate Park, and the Gashouse Cove Marina.
“Stoooop I love the Bay for this,” a commenter wrote under a TikTok of Speed in the Mission.
While at a red light on the Embarcadero, Speed accepted a bag of dried mangoes from an impassioned nerd.
“Speed! Come to our hack house!” he said, breathless with excitement.
As Speed rode through the city with his window down, passing motorists called to him. One asked what he thought of San Francisco.
“Y’all lit over here,” Speed responded. “Y’all lit and crazy.”