Canadian TikTok stars who've kept us laughing during the pandemic

The start of the Covid-19 pandemic in Canada feels like an eternity ago. It was a time of banana bread baking, home workouts, a lot of walks, and for many, their introduction to TikTok. With everyone home yearning for entertainment and human interaction, many turned to the video-sharing app for some comedic relief during such unprecedented times. 

However, the start of the pandemic didn't only lead to an influx of TikTok users, we also saw a rapid increase of creators, with many TikTokers' careers taking off over the 12 months that followed. Among the number of creators who have kept us laughing throughout the pandemic are four Canadian TikTokers from all over the country.

@SnarkyMarky

Known as "Snarky Marky'' online, Mark Gaetano is an 18-year-old TikTok creator from Toronto who blew up by recording hilarious and relatable videos that bring us back to our school days. Gaetano's videos consist of him doing satirical impersonations, including a school lunch monitor, a rude customer named "Karen" and an office worker named "Donna." However, most famous are his TikToks in which he pretends to be a school teacher. 

In February of 2020 Gaetano uploaded an original sketch of him impersonating a teacher who was upset with their class for being too loud on the bus. The video instantly went viral, amassing over 15 million views as TikTok users were in awe of it's hilarious relatability. The TikTok's audio also went viral, being used hundreds of thousands of times by different users. The line "the volume inside this bus is astronomical" has now become a well known phrase on TikTok, gaining "Snarky Marky" 4.3 million followers and over 172 million likes. 

@Bomanizer

Also from Toronto, Boman Martinez-Reid, known by his username "Bomanizer" has been keeping people entertained throughout the pandemic. Martinez-Reid's videos are highly dramatised skits filled with reality TV tropes, that turn common everyday occurrences into what feels like an episode of your favourite reality show. The 23-year-old's love for reality television was first sparked in highschool by the show "Dance Moms", and has since led him to 1.4 million TikTok followers and a billboard at Yonge and Dundas Square.

Martinez-Reid, his friends and family deserve to be nominated for their theatrical performances in his videos, bringing drama and humor to an otherwise dull or depressing time for many. The TikTok star's videos ironically remind us to laugh things off and not sweat the small stuff, which is the exact opposite of what his TikToks consist of. In one of his most popular TikToks, Martinez-Reid's friend gently coughs from across the room, the camera zooms in on him, dramatic music begins playing in the background and the video cuts to him in a confessional describing the traumatic experience in which his friend "coughed in his mouth" and he "couldn't breathe."

@kallmekris

When the pandemic hit, Kris Collins, a hairdresser and certified lash technician from Abbotsford, British Columbia found herself having to close up shop. Without work the 24-year-old found herself, like many others, bored at home with nothing to do. Her younger brother convinced her to download TikTok and after binge watching videos for a few days, she decided she would upload her own. Collins began posting improvisational skits in which she pretended to be her mother and her videos began gaining traction for their hilarious relatability and accuracy. 

Now Collins has a range of characters she's created that her followers have come to love, including a toddler with tiny hands, a Twilight obsessed version of her 12-year-old self, a nosy neighbour named Deborah, a Russian grandmother and many many more. The tiny plastic hands she uses to impersonate a toddler have become an internet favourite and each of her characters has their own unique story line which her followers have become increasingly invested in. Collins' creative and entertaining videos have taken the internet by storm and she has now grown her following to a whopping 22 million, with over 888 million likes. 

@aliciamccarvell

Have you ever had a friend that encourages you to be yourself and knows just how to make you laugh after a long day? That is the role Alicia McCarvell fills for her 1.6 million followers on TikTok. The Halifax native began posting on the app in 2019, the third video she made went viral and the next morning she woke up with over 50,000 new followers. McCarvell uses her platform to spread body positivity and incite a little bit of humor into the lives of both herself and her followers'. 

TikTok users have truly taken to the 31-year-olds relatable content and she has formed her own little positive community online. McCarvell's videos consist of her dancing, joking around with or pranking her husband, working out and talking about self-love and body positivity. In October of 2020, McCarvell posted a video letting her followers know that she was quitting her job to pursue TikTok, with the message "Lets see if I can make ya'll laugh and feel good about yourselves FULL TIME."