The Try Guys are an American comedy collective lead by Keith Douglas Habersberger (born: June 18, 1987) and Zachary Andrew "Zach" Kornfeld (born: July 26, 1990). The group also included Edward Gallo "Ned" Fulmer (born: June 11, 1987) before his ouster on September 16, 2022, and Eugene Lee Yang (born: January 18, 1986) before he announced his departure on May 23, 2024. Their YouTube channel was created on May 22, 2018. They started uploading videos on the network BuzzFeed in 2014 until their departure in June 2018. An expanded cast was introduced on May 22, 2024, adding nine new members to the group.
History[]
Keith, Ned, Zach, and Eugene formed the Try Guys in 2014 and uploaded all their content on the BuzzFeed network and their YouTube channel with their first video being uploaded on September 12, 2014, titled "Guys Try Ladies' Underwear For The First Time".
On June 16, 2018, The Try Guys announced that they would be leaving BuzzFeed to start their own independent production company under the name 2nd Try LLC. They also hosted the 8th Streamy Awards of that year which broadcasted live on YouTube.
On December 26, 2018, they uploaded a video explaining what their life was like before starting The Try Guys.
Since then, The Try Guys have a successful YouTube channel, as well as a podcast titled "The TryPod". They have also written a book titled The Hidden Power of F*cking Up and have embarked on a worldwide tour. In 2021, they signed a deal with Food Network to produce a television show which will be a spin-off of one of their series, Without A Recipe, to be broadcast on that channel and on the Discovery+ streaming service. The series, titled No-Recipe Road Trip with the Try Guys, premiered on August 31, 2022, and lasted for five episodes.
On July 14, 2021, The Try Guys starred in a YouTube Original series with the Olympic YouTube channel titled How To Olympics. It was produced to coincide with the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, which was held a month later.
On September 27, 2022, The Try Guys announced that Ned was no longer part of the group (and the company) after a thorough internal review in light of a workplace relationship that was widely circulated online.[1]
On May 22, 2024, The Try Guys launched its own independent subscription service, 2nd try, as well as the introduction of an expanded cast. A day later, Eugene announced that he was officially leaving The Try Guys to focus on other projects, as well as to wind down his public appearances, become a private individual again, and preserve his mental health.[2] However, his departure was prematurely revealed in a Rolling Stone article, published a day prior.[3] Despite this, The Try Guys confirmed in a TryPod episode that Eugene still remains as a co-owner.
Members[]
Current[]
Keith Habersberger[]
Keith Habersberger (born: June 18, 1987) is a graduate of Illinois State University with a Bachelor's in acting and French horn. He is married to Rebecca Miller.
Zach Kornfeld[]
Zachary Andrew "Zach" Kornfeld (born: July 26, 1990) is a filmmaker married to nurse Margaret Angela "Maggie" Bustamante.
2nd try Cast[]
They were officially introduced on May 22, 2024, and is comprised of frequent collaborators of the channel.
- Jonny Manganello
- Joyce Louis Jean
- Miles Bonsignore
- Ryan Garcia
- YB Biste
- Marissa Rivera
- Jared Popkin
- Ash Perez
- Kwesi James
Former[]
Ned Fulmer[]
Ned Fulmer is a former chemist and a father to two children. He was fired due to an extramarital affair with one of his employees.
Eugene Lee Yang[]
Eugene Lee Yang (양유진) (born: January 18, 1986) is a South Korean-American YouTuber who hails from Texas. He came out as gay on June 15, 2019. He is dating Matthew McLean. Eugene officially announced his departure from The Try Guys on May 23, 2024, but remained a co-owner of the company.
Other channels[]
Second Try[]
Second Try is the official second channel of The Try Guys which contains compilations, behind-the-scenes, and extra content that do not fit with the usual long-video format of the main channel.
Podcast channels[]
The TryPod is the weekly podcast of The Try Guys, currently hosted by Keith and Zach. It was launched on May 4, 2019.
You Can Sit With Us is the second podcast produced by The Try Guys. It is hosted by the Try Wives, the term coined for the wives of The Try Guys. It is currently hosted by Becky Habersberger (Keith's wife) and Maggie Bustamante (Zach's wife), with frequent appearances by Matthew McLean (Eugene's partner) and Rachel Ann Cole, the executive producer and COO of 2nd Try LLC. It was formerly co-hosted by Ariel Fulmer (Ned's wife) before she took on an indefinite hiatus after the controversy. It premiered on July 6, 2020, on the TryPods YouTube channel before it moved to its own channel in 2022.
Guilty Pleasures, is the third podcast produced by The Try Guys, focusing on movies considered guilty pleasures. It is hosted by Zach, Kelsey Darragh, and Garrick Bernard. It premiered on February 15, 2021, on the TryPods YouTube channel before it moved to its own channel in 2022.
Controversy[]
On September 27, the official Try Guys Twitter account announced on their channel and social media accounts that Ned was no longer affiliated with them after a thorough internal review.[4]. On September 28, 2022, he admitted to cheating on her.[5][6] His affair partner Alexandria Herring was also unfaithful to her own fiancée of ten years, Will Thayer.[7]
This was met with major backlash, with many fans condemning Ned and standing with Ariel. Ned was accused of being a manipulative scammer as a lot of his brand image was based on his obsession with his wife, and they had even released a cookbook together.[8][9][10][11][12]
Even the official The Try Guys YouTube channel began editing Ned out of their more recent videos as well as setting some older videos to private, and the Twitter account removed him from their banner and Twitter bio. Their website also removed him as a model of their merch items, and his and Ariel's cookbook was discontinued. [13]
Shortly afterward, his page on the Try Guys Wiki was vandalized by fans to call him derogatory nicknames. Ned's page was later locked.[14][15]
On October 3, 2022, a week after Ned's removal announcement, the remaining Try Guys released a joint statement about the controversy, articulating the timeline of events that led to Ned's ouster from the group. They revealed that the internal review began after they were alerted of Ned's unusual behavior with an employee during the Labor Day Weekend. It lasted for three weeks, with the company opting to remove any association with Ned in newly released videos, in merch releases, and in other digital references during this period, as mentioned earlier. The internal review, without disclosing its details, concluded that Ned had indeed engaged in conduct that was unbecoming of the company and thus, they signed a written consent on September 16, 2022, that removed Ned as part of the group and of 2nd Try LLC.[1]
Subscriber Milestones[]
- 1 million subscribers: July 2, 2018
- 2 million subscribers: July 19, 2018
- 3 million subscribers: July 31, 2018
- 4 million subscribers: October 19, 2018
- 5 million subscribers: December 31, 2018
- 6 million subscribers: June 22, 2019
- 7 million subscribers: March 14, 2020
- 8 million subscribers: October 8, 2022
Trivia[]
- Ned and Keith are white, Zach is Ashkenazi Jewish, and Eugene is Korean.
- Zach has been featured in a BFDIA episode twice.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://youtu.be/t6fIp7mMJ90
- ↑ Love, Eugene
- ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/try-guys-eugene-yang-leaves-secondtry-tv-subscription-1235025468/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/tryguys/status/1574827249408176128
- ↑ https://twitter.com/nedfulmer/status/1574840236495945728
- ↑ https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fdr2v0YaIAAKo8-?format=jpg&name=large
- ↑ https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/6323663/try-guys-alexandria-herring-will-thayer/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bFN61ICUf4
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1n4rxx4MbI
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XafAerjCsuo
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yVTJOWnopg
- ↑ https://twitter.com/nedfulmer/status/1442905578490130432
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TheAffinityMag/status/1574841937332506657/photo/2
- ↑ https://twitter.com/duarteswrath/status/1574810654984339458/photo/1
- ↑ https://twitter.com/citruscandies/status/1574837924482486304?t=R66N_LjyZ44nfRbUMqw1GA&s=19