Twitch, Food & Gaming: Interview with The Practical Escapist
How was your stream originally born?
I was making a YouTube channel for cooking pop culture-inspired dishes gone vegan. My husband streams gaming on twitch and I thought it would make a great way to promote my YouTube channel. As it turned out, I fell in love with streaming so much that I started making videos to promote my twitch streaming. In the end, I did the exact opposite of what I had originally planned. This question makes me laugh every time because of this.
What helped excite your early audience and get your community engaged?
My audience loved watching my cats and my daughter. My very first clip was of my youngest cat jumping on my head while I was measuring out molasses for gingerbread. My tag line In the early days was “come for the snacks, stay for the cats”. Also, a lot of audience members were interested in the plant-based cooking, which is often misunderstood.
What did you learn about yourself through becoming a food-focused streamer on Twitch?
I’ve learned so much! I think what I’ve learned most is how to be more confident. I’ve also gotten much better at laughing at myself. If you make a mistake while live, it can really sour the audience’s mood to get broody or upset, so you have to laugh at yourself, for them. And eventually, you learn to laugh at yourself for your sake, too.
What makes the food community on Twitch so special?
We’re kind of like a big family. It’s one of the smaller non-gaming categories so we’re pretty tight and a lot of us know each other. Like food, there’s plenty of twitch love to go around, so everyone shares their communities and has no trouble spreading the love.
Which streamers influenced you the most?
Rattenni’s Kitchen was the first cooking stream I watched regularly. I saw the production, the incredible food, and the fun banter, and I was blown away. I was immediately inspired. Also, I love TheHungerService—he’s such a wonderful presence and everything he makes is amazing. HappyChefTV’s presentation is just beautiful and he is so fun to watch. And MrsRuvi is hilarious and creative—and a fellow mom as well—so I can both enjoy her show and relate.
What's your favorite memory as a gamer?
In March of this year, I was playing Borderlands 3 on my husband’s stream—I was also 9 months pregnant. During his stream, I was having really intense Braxton Hicks (practice) contractions and was getting quite uncomfortable. We ended the stream at midnight and headed to bed. The contractions ramped up, and we rushed to the hospital. At 3:57 am, she was born!
Who will enjoy your stream the most?
People who are looking for a friendly community. The viewers always feel like family, and there’s always room at the table for more. We even celebrate viewer birthdays!
Anything else you'd like to add?
If you’ve ever considered streaming, I highly recommend just diving in and giving it a try. Have no expectations and have fun with it. Equipment and skills will improve. If you’re genuine, if you be yourself, and if you do what you love, everything else will come after.
