About

Magikarp Guy is the nickname given to an audience member featured in a promotional clip for the Australian reality TV talent show Australia's Got Talent, who gained much notoriety online in December 2015 for his overly dramatic reactions to the contestants' performances, including one particular facial expression that drew comparison to the face of the Pokemon character Magikarp.

Origin

In late December 2015, Australia's Got Talent released a promotional video for the 2016 season of the show, featuring a man making exaggerated facial expressions while watching an unknown performance (shown below).

Spread

On December 28th, Redditor circusactone uploaded an animated GIF from the video titled "Ever go full Magikarp?" to /r/gifs,^[1] where it gained over 5,700 votes (95% upvoted) and 1,100 comments in the first 72 hours.

On December 30th, Redditor teasider posted a Shoop Da Whoop-style animated GIF of the promo guy shooting lasers out of his eyes and mouth to /r/HighQualityGifs,^[4] where it received more than 4,700 votes (90% upvoted) and 140 comments in 24 hours.

The same day, The Daily Mail^[2] published an article about the Internet's reaction to the promo video, which highlighted several Totally Looks Like images featuring the promo guy (shown below).

Identity

On December 31st, The Daily Mail^[3] identified the man in the audience as 21-year-old dance instructor Josh Saunders from Sunbury, Victoria, including several flattering photographs (shown below). In a statement to the news site, Saunders joked "They say that the camera adds 45 kilos, well I think I got the raw end of the bloody stick."

Search Interest

External References