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YouTuber Dax Flame continues to baffle fans over if he's a comic genius or just plain awkward

Whether it's real or all an act, he will definitely make you laugh.

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Funny on purpose or by default?

Imagine this: You're at Target when a guy in his early 30s awkwardly approaches and asks if he can "try to make you laugh with a physical comedy-type thing." He then proceeds to attempt to sneeze confetti, fumble his keys and, of course, fall down for no reason. He's open to notes. In fact, he always asks for them, and in this particular case, his extremely polite one-person audience suggests "lifting a box that's clearly too heavy?"


That's Dax Flame, and he has been creating content since he was a kid back in Dallas. The thing is, he's actually quite famous, having become one of the first YouTube stars to receive a million clicks. To say he was ahead of his time would be an understatement, as he slowly built a following by dressing up as an "angry Superman" and venting on camera, among other strange and hilarious videos. He'll stop at nothing to make people feel simultaneously happy and uncomfortable. It's so layered and mysterious that even a good portion of his longtime fans can't figure out if he's Andy Kaufman-level genius or just plain awkward.

@ttfeo

Dax Flame’s villian origin story. #daxflame #daxflameprojectx #daxflameedit #redrex #editaudio #villian #orginstory #evil #whereitallbegan #vsp #capcut #ttfeo #edits

If you Google Dax Flame, the suggested queries include: Is Dax Flame for real? Does Dax Flame have anxiety? Was Dax Flame in the movie 21 Jump Street? The answer to the latter is yes. But the other two questions remain unclear.

The truth is—it might just not matter. With 2.3 million followers on TikTok and over a million on Instagram, Dax's star continues to rise. He appeared in the films Project X, 21 Jump Street, and 22 Jump Street and often asks random people if they've seen those films. And yet, fans still wonder—is he in on the joke? Did he create the joke? Is there even a joke at all?

An entire documentary called Ice Cream Man was posted on YouTube, which explores Dax's enigmatic personality and his dreams of hosting an online game show about making smoothies. If he breaks character, it's tough to tell. One of the commenters shares, "Dax radiates charisma. It doesn't matter how you look at him; he is so genuine that you will feel drawn to him and appreciate his approach to things in life. His speech is very gentle, and he didn't put pressure on either of the contestants during the show. It was awesome."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Five years ago, the BBC did a story on him and wrote, "Dax Flame was huge on YouTube. But that was more than a decade ago. What happens as he tries to revive his career—and why does a mystery about his channel persist to this day?"

Now, a handful of years later, Dax IS reviving his career. Sort of. In the last year or so, he has started trying his hand at stand-up comedy by doing open-mics. Hard to tell if it's cringe on purpose or just a level of anti-comedy brilliance done with such an adorably deadpan delivery you'll feel gaslit. That said, he might just make you laugh harder than any working headliner today.



He also enjoys ordering pizzas and giving gifts to delivery drivers when they arrive.


That's why this week, when Will Smith appeared in one of his videos, his fans went wild. On what appears to be a basketball court, Dax asks Will, "If you check out my new song, I'll check out your new song." Will agrees, "That's a deal." And in keeping with Dax's brand of (in his words) "making people feel awesome," Dax then asks, "Do you feel good?" Will emphatically replies, "I feel great!"

One Instagram follower wrote, "It must have been such a honor for Will Smith to meet Dax Flame."

After watching these videos, we still might not have a clear answer as to "Is Dax Flame for real?" But many of us will feel awesome, either way.

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Teachers

A teacher asked a great question about superintendent pay. Then, all hell broke loose.

Her earnest question about inequality in our education system was met with a grotesque abuse of power.

Why should a superintendent get a raise while teachers in the same district struggling to make ends meet see their paychecks flatline — year after year after year?

Teacher Deyshia Hargrave begged the question. Minutes later, she was handcuffed and placed in the backseat of a cop car. The scene was captured below by YouTube user Chris Rosa, who attended a board meeting for Vermilion Parish Schools in Louisiana. You can watch Hargrave begin speaking about 33 seconds in. The situation starts becoming contentious around 6:35 minutes. Hargrave is arrested at 8:35, and then walked outside in handcuffs and placed in the back of police vehicle.


Teacher Deyshia Hargrave was questioning the school board how they can vote to give the superintendent a raise when school employees have not gotten a raise ...

"We work very hard with very little to maintain the salaries that we have," Hargrave, who teaches middle school language arts, said during a public comment portion of the meeting, stating that she's seen classroom sizes balloon during her time at the school with no increased compensation. "We're meeting those goals, while someone in that position of leadership [the superintendent] is getting raise? It's a sad, sad day to be a teacher in Vermilion Parish."

According to comments Hargrave made to BuzzFeed News, she believes Superintendent Jerome Puyau was already making $110,000 before the board voted to give him a raise of $38,000. The raise alone is roughly the salary of "a teacher, or two cafeteria workers, or two janitors," Hargrave told the outlet.

After Hargrave spoke out again later in the meeting, a city marshal on duty asked her to leave — even though the school board was still addressing her.

"You're going to leave, or I'm going to remove you," the officer told her, as seen in the video. Many people in attendance seemed shocked. "Are you serious?" someone asked, aghast, in the crowd.

Hargrave leaves the room, followed by the officer. But moments later, someone chimed in, "he's putting her in handcuffs" — and the room erupts in disarray.

"I am not [resisting], you just pushed me to the floor!" Hargrave is heard screaming at the officer, as he forcibly removes her down the hallway and out the building in handcuffs. "Sir, hold on! I am way smaller than you!"

Teacher removed from Vermilion school board meeting in handcuffs

According to KATV News, Hargrave was booked in the city jail for resisting an officer — a fact that left many commenters online flabbergasted. School officials are reportedly not pressing charges. "Umm ... what charges could they possibly make?" one Redditor noted.

With help from the Reddit community, Rosa's video has gone viral, garnering more than 600,000 views in less than 24 hours. Clearly, Hargrave's earnest question about inequality in our education system — met with a grotesque abuse of power — has clearly touched a nerve with people across the country.

"I don't know how this teacher could have been more polite and patient in her earnest desire to find out why the superintendent deserves a raise while the teachers work harder with less," YouTube commenter Scott Wells chimed in. "She continued to press because they refused to come up with an answer. Seems like a good question to me."

We agree.


This article originally appeared six years ago.

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Pop Culture

The Cure's new song 'Alone' has launched YouTube's most emotionally powerful comment section

The comments are more inspiring than the song itself.

Photo via Wikicommons and Francisco De Legarreta C. on Unsplash
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Internet comment sections can be Wild Wests of rage-bait trolling, deadpan hilarity, even flat-out cruelty. But if you find the right YouTube music video, you click away feeling deeply moved—and maybe less alone in the universe.

Ironically, a perfect example is The Cure’s lyric video for, well, "Alone." The song was released on September 26, 2024, previewing the iconic goth-rock band’s first album in 16 years, Songs of a Lost World. And, needless to say, some diehard fans were in a vulnerable place—as of this writing, there are nearly 8,200 comments, and many of them are heavy and profound, touching on love and grief and the communal power of art.

Likely inspired by the long delay for new Cure music and "Alone"’s melancholy themes of passing time, many viewers note their ages—some are late teenagers, while others are pushing their 80s. Most of them seem swept up in both nostalgia and "live for today" resilience.

"My father was a huge Cure fan," one sure wrote. "He took me to see them in concert in the summer of 2012 for our first gig together when I was 15 in a French festival called Eurockéennes. He passed away on June 27, 2024 at 53. Hope he can hear this song from where he is."

- YouTubeALONE From new album Songs Of A Lost World. Out Now: https://TheCure.lnk.to/SongsOfALostWorldYT Subscribe to The Cure ...

"I’m 76 (EEEK)," added another. "I have lived alone for most of my life (my choice) but so many of the people I cared about are dead. I have always loved sad songs. The Cure are one of my all-time favorite bands."

One commenter, 52, remembered falling in love with The Cure at age 14, after finding a cassette in a parking lot while walking home from school. "It was worn out, no case, no words on it," she wrote. "I picked it up, took it home, curious to listen to it. To see why someone had loved it so much…" That album, the 1986 greatest-hits package Standing on a Beach, "completely changed [her] entire existence" and "awakened something in [her] soul."

In one of the most heartbreaking comments, someone wrote about processing "Alone" in their car, sitting in front of their house at night—not long after separating from their spouse. "It’s absurd to see how much the lyrics are talking about me," they noted. "My wife left me two months ago and there was nothing I could do about that. I'm focused on myself and reacting well because I have to, but all the emotions related to the sadness of loss after many years together must get out of me somehow and this song came just on time. I love the Cure, but I have to manage all that sadness, so I know I will not get addicted to this song. I don't want to stay alone most of my life because I want to share and give the love I feel I have inside."

- YouTubeSubscribe to The Cure YouTube: https://thecure.lnk.to/SubscribeID Follow The Cure : Instagram ...

Numerous people wrote that "Alone"—maybe the song itself, perhaps the very fact that it exists, maybe the emotions it stirred up—made them cry. "Unbelievable," one user wrote. "I’m 56 and cried. I needed this proof that I'm alive." Someone else: "I’m 56 and cried like a baby. It feels like going home."

Not all comment sections are created equal. (Almost every classic rock song in history will bring filler posts like "Who’s still listening in 2025?") It's all about finding the right song in the right space. One Redditor, for example, wrote, "YouTube comment section makes me connect to a song more deeply."

We just have to keep seeking those poignant moments. In the meantime, we recommend you visit YouTube, bask in the post-rock grandeur of The Cure’s "Alone," and have a good cry of your own.

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Pop Culture

Man climbs a 1,999-foot tower to change a light bulb. It looks just as wild as you'd think.

Just another day at the office changing light bulbs.

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Man climbs 1999-foot tower to change a light bulb.

You know those big giant antennas that look like they reach just below the wing of an airplane at cruising height? Well, someone has to climb them every so often to inspect them or change the flashing bulb. You'd think it would be easier to have a helicopter or something drop them off, but there's probably a really compelling reason someone has to physically climb the antenna. If nothing else, it's a good workout.

For Nick Wagner, climbing these huge antennas is just another Tuesday at the office. Wagner works for a company called National Tower Controls, LLC, and apparently, they do maintenance on these towers annually. I'm not sure if there's some sort of process to decide who gets to be the one to climb the beast or if everyone that works there is expected to climb. But Wagner took everyone on his climb to change out the light bulb and inspect KDLT-TV's antenna in 2015, and while the view is beautiful, I imagine it could also give you heart palpitations.

"Must not be afraid of heights" is likely in the job description multiple times, bolded, italicized and highlighted. It's not like if you get a little wobbly you can just step down. You'd need an airborne rescue team or a parachute, which makes you wonder if that's part of their climbing equipment. In the video, the climb itself took nearly 15 minutes and it's not clear where in the climb Wagner started filming, but the view is so spectacular that you can practically see the curvature of the Earth.

What makes this whole process even more interesting is that if someone were to ask what he did all day, his answer could be, "I changed a light bulb." Wagner can have those light bulbs and I'll stick to the ones that require no more height than a kitchen chair.

Watch the incredible video below:

This article originally appeared two years ago.

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