Not It’s Corn-y, Guaranteed: ‘Recess Therapy’ Host Shares His Top 5 Other Clips
Before his viral hit, Julian Shapiro-Barnum had already interviewed hundreds of kids across NYC. Here are some of his all-time favorite conversations
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*CRUNCH*
By now, you probably know how it goes.
In an August clip watched over 5 million times on YouTube, Tariq, better known as “Corn Kid,” describes his favorite starchy vegetable: It’s “a big lump with knobs” and “has the juice,” he explained. “I can’t imagine a more beautiful thing.”
Maybe you’ve also heard the song. A remix made by Michael Gregory, a creator behind several other viral mashups like the Double Rainbow song, has been played 73 million times on TikTok and used in over a million other videos.
But before “Corn Kid” took over the internet, the mastermind behind the mega-hit, Julian Shapiro-Barnum, spent more than a year conducting on-the-street interviews with hundreds of other — dare we say, equally adorable — kids across New York City. In the short clips, little ones speak about every topic from the meaning of life to peeing your pants, sharing their authentic, often-hilarious selves.
The 23-year-old Recess Therapy creator launched his internet show in early 2021. The conversations struck a chord with viewers who, during the depths of a global pandemic, were in sore need of uplifting content.
By the beginning of 2022, the series had already amassed over 1 million followers on Instagram and earned a feature in the New York Times: “In Search of the Meaning of Life? Meet Me at the Monkey Bars.”
While “It’s Corn” gave a definite boost — the account now has 2.4 million followers — Shapiro-Barnum said there have been many other videos among his favorites. Kids who do especially well in front of the camera, he said, often come back for follow-up conversations and he keeps in touch with many of the families via text.
In an exclusive conversation with The 74, the creator shared his top five all-time favorite Recess Therapy clips — apart from the video that took over the summer.
Check them out:
Outer Space is TOO degreesy
What if you were President?
Money comes from WHERE?
KOMODO DRAGONS
Gas is too ‘spensive
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