The Tourettes Guy (series)

The Tourettes Guy is a comedy web series created by Jared and Tony Six. The show is an inside view on eponymous character Danny, an angry, alcoholic, middle-aged man afflicted with Tourette's syndrome, and how his behavior and condition affect his everyday life. It began as a mockumentary focusing on the Tourettes Guy after his failed career voicing Frosted Flakes cereal mascot Tony the Tiger. Later episodes would see its evolution into something more of a sketch comedy format, taking a satirical stance as the series was gradually revealed to be fictional.

Footage of Danny, portrayed by actor Daniel Hempstead, first appeared online in 2001 on file sharing websites, Kazaa, Limewire, etc. In 2002, Tourettes Guy would continue on the independent website Elbow World housing the creative works of brothers Jared Six, the camera operator for the majority of the show's videos, and funded by Tony Six who plays Danny's Son. 6 videos were posted on a page titled “Tony the Tiger With Tourette’s Syndrome". For almost 2 years, the videos sat dormant until a fan-made website by the name of tourettesguy.com was launched. tourettesguy.com quickly became the official source for all new Tourettes Guy videos, which gained considerable popularity thanks to legions of fans posting the videos to sites such as YouTube.

Sometime in 2007, the official website was taken offline after posting an announcement Danny died in a car crash. However, on December 25, 2009, a YouTube channel by the name of “Tourettes Guy” posted a new video entitled The Return of the Tourettes Guy (Part 1), featuring an aging Danny sporting the same signature t-shirt and neck brace, along with a link to the website thetourettesguy.tv. Additional videos were released Christmas Day 2009 and 2011 before the site mysteriously shut down for the second time. However, the Return Of The Tourettes Guy series continued to be posted on YouTube annually until 2013. On Halloween 2014, a single short clip was posted to the same channel with a follow up episode uploaded Christmas Day of the same year, this time with no link to an external website. The channel uploaded yet another episode on April 1st, 2016, indicating that the Tourettes Guy is still releasing new content. The next episode, Tourettes Guy Gets The Hiccups, was posted on Christmas Day the following year. The latest episode, Tourettes Guy Buried Alive, was posted on Christmas Eve 2020.

History[]

The Tourettes Guy is run by various members of the Six family whose ages and identities have been confirmed via public records and social media. Jared Six is the man behind the show's presence and the primary cameraman for the videos, commonly mistaken to be Danny's Son. Danny's Son is, in fact, portrayed by the show's producer Tony Six, believed to be Jared's brother and mislabeled as the name of the actor who plays Danny. Shirlena is portrayed by actress Shirlena Six, sister of the aforementioned Six brothers. Danny, the star of the show, is portrayed by a man by either the names of Daniel Hempstead or Dan Smith. The former name matches public records associated with Danny's appearance, whereas the latter is the name found on the actor's Facebook page, possibly as a generic title to retain anonymity. The most accessible and highest profile actor of the show to date is the man who plays Danny's Dad, known as Sal Lizard. He is the only one of the cast to acknowledge his presence in the show.

Origin (2001-2002)[]

The first 6 Tourettes Guy clips were most likely filmed in 2001 & created sometime in 2002, posted on elbowworld.com under the title “Tony the Tiger With Tourette’s Syndrome.” The description, which didn’t mention any of the characters by name, referred to the protagonist (who we now know as Danny) as “the guy that used to do the voice of Tony the Tiger,” before leaving the business to live off of “The Voice Of Tony The Tiger Residual Checks.” A 20-second clip of a "banned" Frosted Flakes commercial was posted as footage of the voice actor going off script, and the character appeared to speak profanities to the children in the advertisement. Additional footage of the man himself was posted. Much like the succeeding videos, these clips were presented as a documentarian look into the life of a Tourette’s syndrome sufferer that were designed to “observe [Tourettes Guy’s] behavior and try to educate the public on what Tourette’s Syndrome is.”

Original Episodes[]

Elbow World initially hosted 6 videos, most of which share descriptions with clips found in the later compilation-style “episodes.” The videos posted did not have proper titles, and were simply identified with single-line descriptions of the plot. These videos, in order, were titled:

Cussing out a bottle of “Head and Shoulders” in the shower. (2:02)
Trying to watch TV, but he can’t stop cussing. (1:29)
Trying to play Nintendo, but he can’t stop cussing. (1:26)
So drunk he falls into a bathtub (0:46)
Trying to order a pizza, but he can’t stop cussing. (0:50)
4 very intense episodes of Tourette’s Syndrome. (1:01)

Interestingly, Trying to play Nintendo, but he can’t stop cussing. does not appear to refer to any existing Tourettes Guy clip, and since the video files were not publicly archived it is possible this video, along with each clip except for the first, contains lost footage.

The footer of Elbow World’s homepage declares that “Everything [on this website is] created and copyrighted by Jared Six,” who is likely related to Anthony Six, the man believed to play Danny's Son. Jared is credited on the Tourettes Guy DVD as “Writer and Director,” and is uncredited but confirmed to be the cameraman. Danny's identity had remained uncertain for most of the show's longevity, however fans have found through public records and social media website Facebook that he is portrayed by a man by the names of one Daniel Hempstead, username Dan Smith, of Columbus, Ohio.

Official Website & Rise To Fame (2004-2006)[]

In September of 2004, the now-defunct website tourettesguy.com was launched, featuring 11 clips. This included many of the initial Tourettes Guy videos, along with a few more which were also posted to Elbow World. tourettesguy.com was initially a fan-created website, and was in fact the first to coin the Tourettes Guy moniker. It soon became the official source for Tourettes Guy videos and information on Danny’s life.

The Tourettes Guy began to spread through Ebaum’s World in 2004. The videos were uploaded to YTMND by user maikeyboy in April 2005, where they became immensely popular on the site and spawned numerous memes and other derivatives. On November 2nd, 2005, YouTube user viciou5 posted the first Tourettes Guy video, entitled "Tourettes Guy" to the site. On December 8th, 2005, YouTube user sistrenliz uploaded 2 more Tourettes Guy videos. The second of which, "Tourettes Guy- Bob Saget", has since amassed almost 2 million views, and began a craze of similar posts where people uploaded Tourettes Guy videos to their own channels, sometimes with famed classic watermarks (examples: hacksaw vlogger used moyea software flv to video converter pro. lanolin used effectmatrix total video converter. cob32187 used video downloadhelper etc.) Some of these gained tens of millions of views and were actually linked by the official website as a show of appreciation.

This craze was boosted further thanks to Danny’s inclusion in numerous YouTube Poops, including the works of Deven247 [now known as Pooper], his antics and lewd actions being a particularly good fit for the humor. The advent of these parodies and sound clips would cement the Tourettes Guy's place in internet comedy, and would continue to be celebrated to this day. Danny's fame would eventually lead to a brief instance in the mainstream, when he filmed an advertisement for post-hardcore act Fear Before the March of Flames' new release The Always Open Mouth.

Danny's "Death" And The Tourettes Guy's Return (2007-2009)[]

On August 4, 2007, a post was made to the Tourettes Guy website by its main administrator, The Big Admin, reporting the news of Danny's death. He was said to be involved in a car crash, and while he did have the health to make his way out of the hospital, his life ended about a month later after complications from the accident. A DVD compiling Danny's antics was to be released in tribute to the fallen internet celebrity, with proceeds made out to his surviving family members.

Countless fans mourned and embraced the legacy of Danny, convinced that he was all but gone. However, many of the Tourettes Guy faithful refused to believe the reports of his passing. The mystique that surrounded the videos, as well as the show's creators, was reason enough for the fans to believe the news of Danny's death, but also sufficient reason to disregard the announcement. Thus began the scramble to find any hard evidence to either confirm or deny the account.

The earliest form of evidence disproving Danny's death was found in a 2008 video titled "Valentine's Day Get-super-drunk-and-forget-it's-valentine's day-a-thon 2008!" This video, periodizing aphrodisiac infomercials commonly found on public access channels and late-night programming, features the very same man who portrays Danny playing a similar character as the Tourettes Guy as denoted by his frustration, exclamations, and substance abuse. The notorious compilation was posted to YouTube in 2009 by user hcpeter under the title "TOURETTES GUY IS ALIVE-NOT DEAD" where it would amass nearly half a million views. hc peter was certain the man found here was Danny and that his passing "was fake like [the] role he played." His claim was supported as much as it was disputed, with 1.5 thousand likes and 1.3 thousand dislikes on his repost as the fanbase continued in its comment section and beyond.

The Return Of The Tourettes Guy (2009-2013)[]

The first episode documenting the Tourettes Guy's return was posted to the official website on Christmas Day of 2009. Its inevitable spread to YouTube generated rejoice among fans, bringing the show back to its former glory. Episodes would commonly be released on holidays. Another new episode was posted on April Fools Day the following year and the first to feature a competition for the fans with the Tourettes Guy Look-ALike contest. The Return Of The Tourettes Guy (Part 3) was posted on Christmas Day 2010. For 2 years to the day, there wouldn't be a new episode until Tourettes Guy 2013 in 2012. This video would eventually be renamed The Return Of The Tourettes Guy (Part 4) to complete the saga documenting Danny's return.

Sporadic Episodes (2014-Present)[]

In the years since the show's revival, the official Tourettes Guy website would be shut down yet again. The creator of the show, Jared Six, was spending his life in Costa Rica disconnected from the internet at the time. Instead, a YouTube channel (originally that of reporter wayne barnhart) would become the official source for Tourettes Guy content, organizing the majority of the footage featuring Danny into the episodes that we see today. Just as before, episodes would primarily be released on holidays; this would begin a popular trend with anxious fans waiting for a new episode especially throughout the Christmas season. The Halloween special FREDDY vs. TOURETTES GUY was posted on Halloween 2014, and the succeeding episode Speak English!!! would be released on Christmas Day the same year. Make Confidence Your Bitch!, posted on April Fools Day 2016, would be the first to feature Danny's graying hair, showing his age yet no sign of slowing down. On Christmas Day 2017, Tourettes Guy Gets The Hiccups, was posted, dedicated to late YouTube personality Angry Grandpa, star of The Angry Grandpa Show who followed a similar format to The Tourettes Guy. For 3 years, there was no new Tourettes Guy episodes until Christmas Day 2020, with the episode Tourettes Guy Buried Alive. It has been speculated that the entire 3 years was spent trashing the house just for this video.

At present, there has been no confirmation or denial on the production of new Tourettes Guy episodes, although sightings of Danny continue to be reported. A comment on Crimson Studios' YouTube video "Where Is The Tourettes Guy Now?" by user RellivaRaven has stated "I live in Ohio, the state that he lives in, and I actually do see him every so often, never interacted with him though, so yeah. He's fine, and they do upload once a year or so."

Trivia[]

Some of the show's most famous characters share the names of their actors.
- Danny, played by Daniel Hempstead/Smith.
- Shirlena, played by Shirlena Six.

References[]

External Links[]

The Tourettes Guy YouTube Channel