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.
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.
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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.