Dick the Birthday Boy

About

Dick the Birthday Boy refers to a Polaroid photograph of presenter and actor Rich Evans from video production company Red Letter Media. He is pictured as a child wearing a shirt that says "Dick the Birthday Boy" alongside Billy Bob Bear, a mascot for the now defunct restaurant ShowBiz Pizza Place.

Origin

The image was used by other cast members of Red Letter Media to prank Rich Evans in an episode of their "Best of the Worst" series, posted November 5th, 2013 (shown below). The moment from which the original image appears can be found at 01:02. In the same episode a Billy Bob Bear costume coincidentally appears in the film Trick or Treat starring Gene Simmons, and the cast discuss this shocking reveal at 27:35. Other images of the original photograph have since been shared online by Red Letter Media on their Twitter account ^[8] and also the account of regular guest star Colin Cunningham ^[9].

In June 2019 the Red Letter Media creators were guest stars on the Bunny Ears podcast ^[10] hosted by Macaulay Culkin during which the history of this photo was fully elaborated on. The specific tangent can be found at 22:10 during which the original source and the spread of picture is discussed. The photo itself is now framed at the RLM studio.

In September 2022 the origin story was detailed even further with a video by Red Letter Media entitled "Dick the Birthday Boy: The Legacy Continues" ^[11]. It was revealed that this was just one of a set of family photos. However these were blurred to prevent them being shared online, to be seen only by studio guests.

In November 2023 it was revealed by Red Letter Media in an annual review catch-up that a copy of the photo was on the set of the Five Nights at Freddy's live action movie. ^[12] However, it was removed during production. Mike Stoklasa suggested that due to the themed restaurant connection he would let the film-makers use the photo in a sequel for one dollar.

Spread

The image was posted to Funnyjunk without context on September 20th, 2014.^[1] On November 14th, the image was posted to /r/WTF^[3] where it gained over 7,300 points (shown below). As a result the image spread online as a particularly memorable Cursed Image and Awkward Family Photo. Notably, it appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show in 2018, where the guest Julia Roberts revealed that she worked for ShowBiz Pizza, joking that she was the one in the bear costume.

On February 18th, 2016, the image appeared in an /r/nostalgia^[2] thread, identifying the location of the photo as Showbiz Pizza, a children's restaurant chain similar to Chuck E. Cheese's. Additionally, the photo spread as a "cursed image." On February 25th, 2018, it appeared on /r/cursedimages,^[4] gaining over 195 points. On Tumblr, it spread in numerous posts calling it a cursed images.^[5]

The photo also was used in some edits which gave the photo a paedophilic connotation. A September 3rd, 2016 edit added the bear saying "yas I will" to the shirt reading "dick the birthday boy" (shown below, left). A similar joke posted to /r/memes on April 15th, 2017 saw the bear saying "Don't Mind If I Do," gaining over 6,200 points (shown below, right).

Julia Roberts Connection

On November 30th, Julia Roberts appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show, where Degeneres surprised with Julia with photos from her past. Before becoming a movie star, Roberts worked at Showbiz Pizza and donned the costumes of the characters. One of the photos Degeneres showed was the "Dick the Birthday Boy" image.^[6]

The moment was a hit with Red Letter Media fans. It appeared in two /r/redlettermedia posts that gained over 2,400 points^[7] and 2,600 points,^[8] respectively.

Search Interest

External References