Fort McMurray man amasses 2M TikTok followers with offbeat questions
Is it possible to slam a revolving door? Do stairs go up or down? Is the 's' or 'c' silent in scent?
These are questions Jesse Geneau wants answered.
Geneau, a 24-year-old living in Fort McMurray, has amassed over two million followers on TikTok for his videos called "I Need Answers."
He poses questions people don't normally think about, set to intense music.
It's a bit he started at the beginning of the year, but in the last month his account has gained traction with more than one million new followers.
"It feels pretty good," Geneau said.
While three-quarters of his audience is in the U.S., Geneau is still stopped on the street in Fort McMurray and asked for a photo from fans. He said many have no idea he lives in the municipality.
Geneau said he's had an interest in comedy for years, and it's something he uses as a coping mechanism.
When he was 10, his father died in a car accident.
"You don't really grasp the thought of death," Geneau said. "If I'm not feeling the greatest or … if I'm having bad days, I just try to mask it with comedy."
Geneau works a full-time job and only makes videos on the side.
Depending on the month, he can make an extra $500 to $3,000 from his TikTok account. The money comes from a water bottle sponsorship and live streams where viewers send in donations and gifts, he said.
Eventually he'd like to expand his videos to other social media platforms.
"I could probably bring this to the next level, to where I would be able to live off of it and do it full time," Geneau said.
He has also been approached to be a guest on a sketch comedy show.
"It's changed my life in terms of just mentally," he said.
He tries to put out a video everyday, at a minimum posting three a week.
It's hard to come up with questions for so many videos, he said, but many of his viewers will comment on his posts or message him with ideas.
"I get numerous messages daily, just heartfelt messages," he said. "I get a lot of people who are dealing with chronic illness … who say that they haven't smiled in a while, and my videos put a smile on their face."
He gets hundreds, sometimes thousands, of messages daily, he said.
"It's very humbling," he said. "It makes me want to crank out more videos."
Laurie Campbell, Geneau's mother, has been promoting his account and trying to get him more followers.
"The outpouring of love and support we're getting is unbelievable," Campbell said.
She said her son's comedy helped the whole family get through the loss of Geneau's father 14 years ago.
"He really did help a lot of people."
