His real name is André Schickling, but he prefers to use “Sharivari”. All of my friends call me Sharivari or just Shari since I was 13 – he says.

When I was a kid, playing pool was always something special for me. I went to the local pool hall with my Dad and we played for hours. Unfortunately, while getting older I lost the fascination for the game and we only played every couple of months – until it even became only once a year. I regret that. If you want to become really successful in anything, you must work hard from an early age. Sharivari elaborates.

At the age of 23 he joined a pool club and found his fascination for the game again. At that time, I was more than a rookie. The only thing I knew was a stop, follow and draw shot, he says sincerely.

Today Sharivari obviously isn’t considered a rookie anymore. His knowledge about the game is tremendous. In his many video lessons, he demonstrates principles about position play, cue ball physics and fundamentals.

How can a beginner transform into one of the best online pool coaches within this short time range?

I learned more and more about the game and realized how complex and beautiful it really is. I was digging every piece of information. Pool became my passion and the only thing I could think of. You could almost say it’s a love story. The pool hall was my living room. When I wasn’t there, I was either watching pool videos, reading books or just thinking about the game.

Eight years later Sharivari combines over 100,000 pool players at his YouTube channel.

I remember the time when I was watching my subscriber counter and couldn’t wait to reach one hundred. At that time, I was still uploading my videos in German. It took me quite a while being brave enough to change the language to English. My first video in English was actually for the AZBilliards Ghost Challenge.

In the beginning I just wanted to watch me playing on video, so that I can analyze my mistakes – Sharivari explains.

Since then his videos keep getting better and better. He is constantly introducing never seen before methods to give his viewers the best possible learning experience.

I shook my head in disbelief when I saw that line bend. I have never seen that in any other pool channel. – one of his subscribers comments. 

When producing those videos, I always try to see things out of the perspective of a student. This forces me to use every tool that I have, to make things as clear as possible. A while ago I introduced the first-person view with my GoPro. This gives my viewers the opportunity to experience everything from my perspective.

Tracking a virtual ghost ball into those first-person videos was the icing on the top of an already excellent cake. His type of videos will set the standard for future pool instructional videos.

Therefore, it’s no wonder many pool related companies became aware of Sharivari. Andrè recently signed a deal with the pool branding marketing agency “Supr Charged” to represent him in his pursuit of sponsorships, and as of today he is sponsored by many well-known brands. Just recently he also signed a promising deal with KAMUI and Shooters Pool.

So, what can we expect from Sharivari in the future?

Currently he is recording his videos in the local pool hall nearby his apartment. His next big milestone is the build of his own recording studio.

I am currently waiting for my Gabriels Billiards table to arrive. Gabriels provided me one, so that I can finally build a real recording studio. This has been my dream for a long time. The possibilities are endless.

One thing is certain! Sharivari loves what he is doing. And we love what he is doing for the pool playing community.

My passion became my job. I always enjoyed producing videos. And I love pool. I just feel so lucky that I can do this for a living and don’t want to do anything else.