The Try Guys is an American online entertainment group and media production company that produces content for theirYouTube channel. The group was founded by Keith Habersberger, Ned Fulmer, Zach Kornfeld, andEugene Lee Yang. The Try Guys are known for testing a wide range of activities, such as testing their sperm count, raising toddlers, shaving their legs, and wearing women's underwear. The four men created The Try Guys while working forBuzzFeed before forming their own company, 2nd Try LLC, in 2018.
They have since expanded their company to include more than twenty employees, starred in aFood Network show titledNo Recipe Road Trip, and released a book titledThe Hidden Power of F*cking Up. As of October 2022[update], the channel hosts eleven spinoff series starring employees of the company and other collaborators.[1] Then in 2024, they launched a boutique subscriptionstreaming service called 2ndTry TV.
Fulmer was removed from the company in September 2022 following an extramarital affair with an employee. In May 2024, Yang announced his departure from their flagship show; he will, however, retain co-ownership of the company.[2]
The group was formed at the companyBuzzFeed in 2014 by then-employees Eugene Lee Yang, Ned Fulmer, Keith Habersberger, and Zach Kornfeld[3] with the creation of their first video "Guys Try Ladies' Underwear for the First Time".[4] Elizabeth de Luna forMTV News emphasized the innovative character of the show:
"Back in 2014, BuzzFeed had not yet developed a show around a recurring cast. A series called “The Creepy Guy” starred a single producer and ran from 2013–2015, but The Try Guys was the first series to consistently feature the same group of talent. It was also the first to turn BuzzFeed producers into on-camera personalities, a motif that now anchors BuzzFeed’s original programming."[4]
Their showSquad Wars premiered onYouTube Red in early 2017. Their most-watched video, "The Try Guys Try Labor Pain Simulation", has garnered over 35 million views as of March 2021.[5] The group has accumulated over 100 million views among their videos on BuzzFeed's YouTube channel.[6]
In 2017, the Try Guys were nominated for theStreamy Awards audience choice Show of the Year award.[7] In 2018, the Try Guys hosted the 8th annualStreamy Awards and won the audience choice Show of the Year award, the same one for which they had been nominated in 2017.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
On June 16, 2018, The Try Guys announced that they had left BuzzFeed and started their own independent production company, 2nd Try LLC.[16][17][18] 2nd Try LLC gained all rights to The Try Guys brand;[19] BuzzFeed remained as the branded content and advertising sales representative for several months.[18] On December 2, 2019, the Try Guys explained that they decided to leave Buzzfeed as their contracts were expiring, with Kornfeld and Fulmer contributing to the idea of developing their own independent production company.[20]
On their own YouTube channel, the Try Guys have received over 2.5 billion views[21][22] and over 8 million subscribers.[23]Slate highlighted that nearly 80% of their subscribers are women and that their audience "skews young, particularly women in their late teens and early 20s".[23]
On January 30, 2019, the Try Guys announced that they'd co-written a book,The Hidden Power of F*cking Up.[24] It was released byHarperCollins on June 18, 2019.[25] The book follows each of the four Try Guys as they challenge themselves to improve their lives, discussing how their failures have impacted them and helped them grow.The Hidden Power of F*cking Up reached the number one position on theNew York Times Best Seller list in the self help, advice, and miscellaneous category soon after its release.[26][27] One review described it as "completely approachable in the way it's written… an honest, open discussion about failure."[28] The group also went on tour, titled "Legends of the Internet", and launchedThe TryPod podcast in 2019.[29]
By 2021, the company had grown to almost 24 employees.[30]In the same year, they produced anOlympic-themed original series,How To Olympics, an eight-episode series that gives viewers everything they need to know about select Olympic events. The series coverssport climbing,taekwondo,rhythmic gymnastics,hammer throw,artistic swimming,breaking,badminton, andfencing—telling viewers how each event is scored, how to win, and what it takes to master these athletic disciplines.[31] The Try Guys host theFood Network showNo Recipe Road Trip with the Try Guys, inspired by their YouTube seriesWithout A Recipe.[32][33] The show, initially a one-off special, was due to premiere onDiscovery+ andFood Network in 2021,[33] but was postponed when it was ordered for a six-episode season,[34] which premiered on August 31, 2022.[35]
On September 27, 2022, the Try Guys announced that Fulmer would no longer be working with the group following an internal review regarding Fulmer having an extramarital affair with an employee.[36][37][38][39][40] On October 3, 2022, the Try Guys announced that Fulmer would be removed from upcoming videos except in several sponsored videos,[41][42] "ostensibly due to contractual obligations".[1] Zoë Aiko Sonnenberg, writing forSlate, analyzed that beyond the Try Guys' comedy "shtick", their brand promises the "performance of authenticity" with personas as "good guys".[23] Sonnenberg wrote, "to this end, all four of the Try Guys are very publicly partnered, and those partners have become famous themselves. [...] The Try Guys had to act quickly when Ned's character as a devoted husband and father fell apart and breached an essential contract with the audience."[23]
In May 2024, the Try Guys launched a boutique subscriptionstreaming service called 2ndTry TV.[43][44]The Hollywood Reporter commented that the group is not leaving "YouTube altogether" as they plan "to lean on it as a marketing tool for 2nd Try, to encourage viewers to give their own platform a chance" with hopes that their own platform will be more "sustainable".[44] They also announced that it was Yang's final season on their flagship show as he was stepping away to focus on other creative endeavors.[43][44][45]
Keith Douglas Habersberger[46] (born June 18, 1987;/ˈhæbərsbɜːrɡər/HABB-ərz-bur-gər[47]) was born to Donald and Patricia Habersberger inCarthage, Tennessee. He is the youngest of three brothers,[48][49] including Brian Habersberger, the creator ofTwitch channel "Nothing, Forever".[50] He is a graduate ofIllinois State University with a Bachelor in Acting and French Horn.[51] Habersberger is married to Rebecca "Becky" Habersberger (née Miller),[52] with whom he has a son.[53] Habersberger is reportedly 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), making him the tallest of the Try Guys.[54]
Habersberger is part of the comedy music group Lewberger with Hughie Stone Fish and Alex Lewis. The group has appeared on several television talent shows, includingBring the Funny in 2018[55][56] andAmerica's Got Talent in 2021.[57][58]
He is known for his love offried chicken and has focused on food-related content over the years, the most prominent shows beingEat the Menu,Chicken Watch, andGourmet Garbage. He is also one of the creators of the Try Guys' seriesWithout A Recipe. On November 30, 2019, Habersberger announced the release of his signaturehot sauce, Keith's Chicken Sauce, which sold out within two days and was well received by consumers.[59][60] Habersberger now has a line of Burger and Taco sauces also available through Heatonist.[61][62]
Zachary Andrew Kornfeld (born July 26, 1990), was born to Jewish parents Adam and Margo Kornfeld inScarsdale, New York. He became involved in filmmaking and editing after receiving a LEGOSteven Spielberg Movie Maker Kit as a child.[63] He is Jewish but does not keepkosher and did not have abar mitzvah, though he did choose the Hebrew nameRakedan (Hebrew: רַקְדָן), meaningdancer.[64][65] Kornfeld was diagnosed withankylosing spondylitis in his late twenties.[66][67] He graduated fromEmerson College with aBachelor of Fine Arts.[68] As a child, he appeared onSaturday Night Live in an episode hosted byElijah Wood that aired onDecember 13, 2003.[69][65] In December 2018, he announced he had been in relationship for the past two years with Margaret Angela "Maggie" Bustamante,[70] apediatric nurse.[71] In 2019, he decided to undergohair restoration, a combination of surgery andmicroblading, to combatpattern hair loss.[72][73][74] On May 13 2020, Kornfeld announced his intention to start a six-part series on the Try Guys YouTube Channel challenge of starting his own business, Zadiko Tea Co., for less than $500.[75][76] Kornfeld and Bustamante announced their engagement in August 2020 and married in February 2023.[77][78]
Eugene Lee Yang (born January 18, 1986;Korean: 양유진) was born to Korean immigrants Jae Yang and Min-young Lee inPflugerville, Texas.[79] Yang graduated from theUniversity of Southern California with a B.A. in Cinema Production.[80][81] He regularly participates inLGBTpride events and has worked withThe Trevor Project.[82][83] Yangcame out on June 15, 2019, in a YouTube video, "I'm Gay".[84][85] In 2019, he announced that he has been in a long-term relationship with Matthew McLean.[86] Despite still being listed as an official member, he has made increasingly infrequent appearances on the channel. In 2024, it was announced that Yang would only be doing one more season as part of the cast before stepping away for other projects, though he will still retain his co-ownership of the company.[43][44][45]
Edward Gallo "Ned" Fulmer (born June 11, 1987) was born inJacksonville, Florida. He graduated fromYale University with a major inchemistry.[87] He had a career working in a chemistry lab before he had a career change and started working at Buzzfeed, where Fulmer developed the video fellowship program. He previously lived inChicago, working at arenewable energy lab by day and performing improv and sketch forSecond City and iO Chicago house teams by night,[87] where he was named a "Critic's Pick" byTime Out Chicago.[88]
He was married to Ariel Marie Fulmer (née VandeVoorde), aninterior designer, and they have two children.[89][90][91][92][93][94]The Verge highlighted that much of Fulmer's "public persona revolves around being a husband" and that he "successfully built a fanbase and brand around this relationship specifically", calling him a "wife guy".[94]
Fulmer was removed from the group in September 2022 following an extramarital affair with an employee.[37]
On May 4, 2019, The Try Guys announced viaYouTube that they would be embarking on a 20 city, nationwide tour (called “Legends of the Internet”) as a part of their “Summer of Try”.[95] Then on July 30, 2019, The Try Guys announced they would be bringing Legends of The Internet toAustralia[96] and, laterSingapore.[97] Finally, on September 3, 2019, the group announced the final leg of the Legends of the Internet tour, this time in thePacific Northwest (which was missed on the original run of the tour).[98] In total, The Try Guys performed 26 shows ofLegends of the Internet worldwide.
Title
Dates
# of Cities
Legends of the Internet
June 21, 2019 – July 28, 2019; October 15, 2019 – October 17, 2019
23
Legends of the Internet (International)
September 23, 2019, September 24, 2019, September 28, 2019
^Yang, Eugene Lee (June 15, 2019)."I'm Gay – Eugene Lee Yang". The Try Guys.Archived from the original on December 15, 2019. RetrievedAugust 3, 2019 – via YouTube.
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