Editor’s note: This article contains profanity in relation to an author’s videos and book.
You may know him as the YouTube sensation, the voice behind the video titled “The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger” or from his work in commercials and as narrator for Andy Cohen’s “Watch What Happens Live.”
The Internet celebrity, otherwise known as Randall, paid a visit to the university Monday evening for a book signing.
His first published book, titled “Honey Badger Don’t Care: Randall’s Guide to Crazy, Nastyass Animals,” was released earlier this year in January and has since only furthered his name in pop culture.
The video titled has gone viral, generating 42 million hits on YouTube. The honey badger has since been featured in a Wonderful Pistachios commercial and referenced in hit TV shows such as “Glee.”
The video was created when Randall’s personal assistant, Christopher Gordon, presented him with footage from a National Geographic Wild documentary excerpt called “Snake Killers: Honey Badgers of the Kalahari” shot by South African researchers Colleen and Keith Begg.
Gordon asked Randall to narrate the video footage because he knew Randall had a passion for animals and narration. They uploaded the video to YouTube and sent it to friends and family as a fun project, but he never thought it would reach such a large audience.
“When it was mentioned by Jane Lynch, [known as] Sue Sylvester on ‘Glee,’ I hit the roof,” he said. “And I was like holy crap. I just freaked out. I froze.”
The video has become so well-known that even politicians such as Sarah Palin have been jokingly compared to the honey badger.
Randall said the honey badger represents a contemporary mentality.
“I think a lot of people can relate to that ‘I don’t give a shit, [mentality]. It’s time for me to get paid and do what I have to do,’” he said. “I think that’s just in part why it’s gotten so big.”
Randall said the video has become so popular that even country music star Taylor Swift can recite the video line by line, according to VH1.com.
After the video came out, Randall said he thought it would be best to write a book in which he could reach his audience in a more direct manner.
“TV shows, movies, they take forever. With a book, it’s easier,” he said. “I wanted one to be able to go into the store and just instantly access it. I didn’t wanna have to think about fans waiting however long for a TV show.”
He said his love for animals started at a young age, as his father was a cameraman for ‘Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.’
“It was like living in school. I just learned so much. [It] really helped develop my appreciation and respect for animals,” he said. “My father opened my eyes to the fact that there’s a whole world of other living things on this planet. To have him come home and talk about the animals and his experience, I mean, it beats anything you could watch possibly on TV now-a-days.”
Randall serves both as an educator and as a comedian. This is evident in his book, when he references the Tasmanian Devil as “Satan’s Best Friend.”
He said he originally wanted to have a comedy-based wildlife narrative show, but soon the idea evolved into an animated TV show, which may be aired on Comedy Central. The show would include actor Harland Williams as the voice of the honey badger and Randall as the voice of a Life and Sciences professor.
In addition, after making appearances on ‘Watch What Happens Live,’ there is talk of Randall becoming a correspondent on Cohen’s show.
Randall said he is now trying to upload a new video every Thursday and said we can expect to see him in this Thursday’s video.
He even went on to say he might do a video for the university’s famed Horned Frog.
“I’d say, ‘This is a nasty horned frog. What’s it doing hopping around at TCU? Are you kidding me? It’s squirting blood out of it’s eyes!’” Randall said.