How the Grinch stole St. John's: Local impersonator goes TikTok-viral
Grinch impersonator brings a little chaos to the Avalon Mall during holiday season
During the holidays, most people want to take pictures with Santa Claus. In St. John's, the Grinch has been taking over.
The green character is often on the prowl at the Avalon Mall, either stopping to pose for pictures with children or startling unsuspecting shoppers.
The man behind the mask — and a TikTok account that has 1.2 million followers — is Mitchell Marsh, who says it's fun to lose himself in a version of the character invented decades ago by Dr. Seuss.
"Being in the mask allows me to almost just be a part of that character. And I kind of forget that there's crowds and crowds of people that are coming towards me," said Marsh.
Marsh, whose Infamous_Mitch account has videos with more than 40 million views, started making content on TikTok in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marsh, who has been doing special effects in Newfoundland and Labrador for 11 years, tried out different characters. He started doing the Grinch a few years ago for a charity event at Ronald McDonald House in St. John's.
"It really brought in the crowd and I said, you know, maybe I could have some more fun with this," said Marsh.
"As the years went on, I slowly started to upgrade and spread cheer."
Now Marsh kicks off the annual holiday season by supporting Ronald McDonald House and raising money, and attends other events around town in character.
He also spends time at the Avalon Mall, the largest shopping centre in Newfoundland and Labrador, creating a little green chaos for TikTok.
Getting in character
During the holiday season, Marsh can be in character multiple times a week, for hours on end. Many weekends, he'll have three or four events in one day.
Marsh worked with St. John's seamstress Bonnie Edgecombe and his wife to create the Grinch's furry suit.
While he used to put together the Grinch's face with time-consuming makeup and prosthetics, now he uses a hyper-realistic mask that can easily come on and off between events.
He said wearing a mask and becoming a different person changes everything.
Marsh said he takes inspiration from Jim Carrey's Grinch from the 2000 film How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
He said he stays in character for so long that sometimes he'll accidentally continue to speak like the Grinch to his wife at the end of the day.
"It can be a tad bit annoying, because when you're in, it's hard to get out," said Marsh.
TikTok sensation
At first, Marsh didn't think he would get so many TikTok views.
He said he started making videos after his son dared him to make a viral video.
"I hit my first, like, viral video, and I was kind of like, see? Your old man isn't so uncool."
But Making videos isn't about social media fame, he said.
"I think it's more the fact when I have people come up and they're like, you inspired me to do this or I've had a really bad week and you've made me laugh so much," he said.
"I think that's probably the biggest thing that I could ever wish for that came out of this."
Marsh also comes out in character at other times of the year. During Halloween, Marsh can be found at a store, pretending to be a Halloween decoration, and scaring unsuspecting costume shoppers.
He also makes Tik Tok videos doing Halloween scares, which caught the attention of Spirit Halloween headquarters in New York, where he is headed next year for a special event.
Next, he wants to level up and try out some new characters, like the Cat in the Hat or Batman.
"I definitely want to do a Batmobile and kind of go around as Batman, like I already do," he said.
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