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B. Dylan Hollis
Born
Benjamin Dylan Hollis

(1995-09-07) September 7, 1995 (age 29)
Paget Parish, Bermuda
Occupation(s)Social media personality, baker, social media comedian
Years active2020–present
Known forTikTok videos about unconventional vintage American recipes with an off-kilter humour.
TikTok information
Page
Followers10.2M
Likes250.1M
Last updated: September 20, 2023
YouTube information
Channel
Subscribers2.18 million[1]
(March 9, 2024)
Total views423,466,833[1]
(March 9, 2024)

Benjamin Dylan Hollis, better known as B. Dylan Hollis, (born September 7,[2] 1995)[3] is a Bermudian-American social media personality and baker. He is best known for his TikTok videos where he makes, samples, and comments on unusual vintage American recipes. He has over 10 million followers on the platform as of October 2024,[4] as well as over 2 million subscribers on YouTube.[5] Hollis has appeared on Good Morning America and The Kelly Clarkson Show.

His first cookbook, Baking Yesteryear from Penguin Random House became one of the most pre-ordered books in the history of its publisher, surpassed only by the memoirs of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and Prince Harry.[6] Released in July 2023, it debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Sellers list and remained on the list for an additional 12 weeks.[7][8]

Early life

[edit]

Hollis grew up in St. George's, Bermuda[9][3][4][10] and attended Warwick Academy.[9] In 2014, he moved to Laramie, Wyoming to attend University of Wyoming, where his longstanding fascination with mid-20th century American culture led him to study 1940s big band jazz, as well as purchase and daily-drive a 1963 Cadillac Series 62 which he named "Ernest."[9][3][4][10] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music in 2021[11]

Career

[edit]

Hollis began using TikTok in April 2020 to pass time during the COVID-19 pandemic.[9][3][4][10] He initially made short humorous TikTok videos about jazz and his life in Wyoming.[3][10]

Having little baking experience before the pandemic,[3][10] Hollis was inspired after finding in his vintage collection a 1915 recipe for a "pork cake", a fruitcake with ground pork in it, which he found "ridiculous" and decided to film himself preparing.[4][10][12] The video, in which Hollis describes the dish as tasting like "a good question mark", was viewed over 1 million times as of June 2022.[3][10] Another video on Depression-era peanut butter bread received almost 34 million views.[3] By April 2021, Hollis had over 2 million followers on the app,[13] over 37 million likes,[9] and was ranked seventh worldwide for influencer growth on TikTok.[9] As of February 2023, he had 9.7 million followers.[4] Besides TikTok, Hollis also has substantial following on Tumblr, entering the site's top 20 list of web celebrities in April 2022.[10] His videos are often downloaded from TikTok and re-uploaded to Tumblr.[10] He also had 1.1 million YouTube subscribers and 396,000 Instagram followers as of May 2022.[5][14]

Hollis's videos use recipes from 20th-century vintage cookbooks, typically spanning from the late 1800s to the 1960s. The recipes in his videos span from 1865 at the oldest to 2001 at the newest,[3][13] however the recipes he touches on are typically from the Great Depression.[4] Recipes highlighted in his videos have included cassava pie,[9] peanut butter bread,[3][4][10][15][12] tuna salad Jell-O,[3][16][10] a fake apple pie,[3][16] a SpaghettiOs Jell-O ring,[3] chocolate potato cake,[4][13] a water pie,[4][13][10][17][5] a jellied meatloaf,[4][5] "magic mayo",[16] the aforementioned pork cake,[3][10] and potato doughnuts.[10] Videos typically cover the preparation, cooking, and tasting of each recipe within one to two minutes.[10] Hollis chooses recipes based on whether they meet his "three Ws" criteria: "wild, wacky, and wonderful".[4] He has also said he is cautious of trying certain recipes to avoid cultural appropriation.[10] Hollis's videos sometimes also include discussions of his upbringing in Bermuda and clips of him performing jazz piano.[9]

Hollis has been noted for his animated personality and slapstick humor in videos;[3] Eater described his persona as "alternating between droll quips and cartoonish overacting" and "[feeling] like a Marx Brothers film on 2x speed,"[10] while The Food Channel wrote that he "combines the zinging one-liners of Rodney Dangerfield with the oddball charisma of Ed Grimley (Martin Short circa 1984) or Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens circa 1983)."[5] Hollis cites radio programming of the 1930s and 1940s as influencing his on-camera persona.[10][15]

Hollis appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show in October 2022, where he baked pork cake alongside host Kelly Clarkson and guests Jay Leno and Ayo Edebiri.[4][18] In a May 2021 New York Times column, comedian John Hodgman mentioned watching Hollis's videos, particularly noting his tuna Jell-O salad and chocolate mayonnaise cake videos.[19]

In June 2022, Hollis announced he would be writing a cookbook, Baking Yesteryear. The book's 101 recipes, spanning from the 1900s to the 1980s, include some of the highest-rated recipes from his videos, including but not limited to cornflake macaroons, ANZAC biscuits, Ricciarelli and the homebake version of Buster Bars popularised in the 80's by the release of the Dairy Queen ice-cream bar of the same name. The book was released on July 25, 2023 via Penguin Random House.[4][14][20]

Personal life

[edit]

Hollis has a collection of over 340 vintage cookbooks, which fans often contribute to.[3][10]

Hollis is gay, having come out in 2019, and often makes humorous references to it in his videos.[12] He told PinkNews that he had difficulty expressing his sexuality growing up, due to hostile attitudes in Bermuda, and that his TikToks are "my way of sharing myself to what I assume are accepting people, and it’s proven to be that way – and it’s made me feel a whole lot better about myself."[12]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "About YouTube channel". YouTube.
  2. ^ B. Dylan Hollis [@bdylanhollis] (September 7, 2021). "Another year down! It's been a fortunate one beyond my belief - and I've so many kind friends, family, & fans to thank for it :)". Retrieved May 30, 2023 – via Instagram.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Eng, Jess (November 30, 2022). "TikTok's B. Dylan Hollis gives wacky vintage cookbook recipes new life". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Would you eat these vintage recipes?". BBC Food. February 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e Cury, James Oliver (May 11, 2022). "Food TikTokers You Should Know: The Crazy Comedian Vintage Recipe Tester". The Food Channel. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  6. ^ Priya, Krishna. "How TikTok is Reshaping the American Cookbook". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  7. ^ "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Books - Best Sellers - Books - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  8. ^ "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Books - Best Sellers - Books - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Finighan, Gareth (March 29, 2021). "Bermudian's TikTok posts on island life attract millions of views". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Broderick, Ryan (June 6, 2022). "Meet the TikToker Going Viral by Baking His Way Through Great Depression-Era Cookbooks". Eater. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  11. ^ "University of Wyoming Fall and Summer Semester Graduates: Resident". University of Wyoming. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d Baska, Maggie (July 23, 2022). "Gay TikTok star tries wacky and ridiculous baking recipes – and it's hilarious". PinkNews. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  13. ^ a b c d Staff (April 6, 2021). "This TikToker attempts to make vintage recipes from centuries ago". In The Know. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  14. ^ a b Perchikoff, Sarah (February 14, 2023). "Tik Tok creator B. Dylan Hollis has new cookbook coming soon". Guilty Eats. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  15. ^ a b MacPherson, Adrianna (June 13, 2022). "The Baker Who's Captivated TikTok With His Depression-Era Recipes". Mashed. Static Media. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  16. ^ a b c Brinkley-Badgett, Constance (August 13, 2021). "This guy tests weird old recipes so you don't have to". Mediafeed. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  17. ^ Farris, Valerio (August 20, 2021). "Water Pie Was a Depression-Era Treat—Why Are People Into It Now?". Food52. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  18. ^ "Video: Dylan Hollis On Kelly Clarkson Show". Bernews. October 15, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  19. ^ Hodgman, John (May 20, 2021). "Judge John Hodgman on Fearing the Bundt Cake". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  20. ^ "Baking Yesteryear by B. Dylan Hollis: 9780744080049". Penguin Random House. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
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