FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — Why do cowboys call themselves that if they ride horses? Shouldn't they be called horse-boys? Is the Kool-Aid Man the liquid or the glass? Has alcohol created more lives than it's taken?
These are some of the questions Jesse Geneau, 25, wants answered. The Fort McMurray man has become a viral TikTok sensation with his funny "I need answers" series on the platform. He has 4.2 million people following him on the platform and that number keeps growing.
Geneau has lived in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo since 2008. When he was 10, he lost his father in a car accident. Making people laugh became a coping mechanism for dealing with anxiety and depression.
“I found myself instead of bringing people down to the level I was on — which was sad, angry, depressed — I found more happiness in making people laugh, even though I didn’t want even smile myself. It was something that brought a small bit of happiness to me in the worst time of my life,” he said in a Friday interview. “I can confidently say making people laugh and being the comedian I am has saved me from a potential dark road.”
Geneau started his TikTok journey in late 2019 when one of his friends introduced him to the social media platform.
“I made a video that was basically me telling a fake story in a comedic way and I think the video got like 50 or 60 likes," he said. "I was so excited, so I kept posting and came up with this niche of me asking unorthodox questions."
His channel, @JesseJosephGeneau, continued growing after those first few posts. His follower count exploded near the end of 2020 and once again shot up in the middle of 2021, bringing him to the 4.2 million he has today.
“It was a crazy feeling because I didn’t expect it at all. You know, I was kind of just doing it for fun,” said Geneau. “The excitement I feel like even today, if a video goes viral or gets really big, the feeling never goes away. It’s excitement and you feel like your works paid off.”
Geneau hopes his story of success can inspire other people to pursue their dreams. Eventually, he hopes to do other creative projects with the platform. But for now, he is happy asking the questions that don’t make sense.
“I’m from Fort McMurray, a small town. A lot of people wouldn’t think that you could do it here, but if you stay consistent and you want something so bad, you’re going to get it," he said.
