About

I Want To Be Monkey Again refers to a viral video of a little boy being interviewed on a beach boardwalk who claims that being "monkey again" is the "best way to become stupid again." He then does a goofy dance in front of his mom. After it was uploaded to TikTok in mid-2022, the video was stitched and dueted because creators thought it was cringe yet wholesome.

Origin

On July 23rd, 2022, TikToker^[1] dominicditanna uploaded a video from is Ocean City, New Jersey beach boardwalk interview series, wherein, he held a microphone on the Jersey Shore boardwalk, interviewing children and adults who approached him. In the July 23rd, video, he interviewed a little boy who was wearing a backwards and inside-out blue shirt, standing with his mom. The kid said, "What's the best way to be stupid again?" and then said, "To say, 'I want to be monkey again!'" He then did a little dance. Over the course of two weeks, the TikTok received roughly 3.5 million plays and 314,600 likes (shown below).

Spread

On July 24th, 2022, TikToker^[2] vibehub._.69 uploaded a video that edited dominicditanna's TikTok, cutting from the little boy's catchphrase to an image macro of a monkey. Over the course of two weeks, the video received roughly 43,900 plays and 1,500 likes (shown below, left). On July 26th, 2022, TikToker^[3] rose.zay uploaded a video that cut from the kid's catchphrase to a disintegrating emoticon screaming, "AHHHHHH!" The video received roughly 3.5 million plays and 409,000 likes in two weeks (shown below, right).

The kid's catchphrase was used in more TikTok videos going into August 2022, with each earning more engagement. Overall, creators labeled the video as cringe, using memes like My Reaction To That Information to highlight it.

Various Examples

Search Interest

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External References