The Try Guys

The Try Guys
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Keith Habersberger Ned Fulmer Zach Kornfeld Eugene Lee Yang
Starring	Keith Habersberger Ned Fulmer Zach Kornfeld Eugene Lee Yang Kwesi James Jonny Manganello Miles Bonsignore YB Chang Biste Jared Popkin Marissa Rivera Ryan Garcia Joyce Louis-Jean Ash Perez Rosanna Pansino
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	10
No. of episodes	956+ (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Keith Habersberger Zach Kornfeld Eugene Lee Yang Rachel Ann Cole Nick Rufca
Producers	Erica Lynn Schmueck Desiree Hurlbut Emily Stikeman Leslie Dueñas Rainie Toll
Editors	Devlin McCluskey YB Chang Will Witwer Elliot Dickerhoof Mishelle Martin Skyler Klingenberg Liam Sullivan Moira Joy Smith Chris Burke Aiko Igasaki Jonathan Kirk
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Production company	2nd Try LLC
Original release
Network	YouTube 2nd Try (2024 - present)
Release	September 12, 2014 (2014-09-12) – present
Related
Squad Wars

The Try Guys is an American online entertainment group and media production company that produces content for their YouTube channel. The group was founded by Keith Habersberger, Ned Fulmer, Zach Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang. The Try Guys are known for testing a wide range of activities, such as testing their sperm count, raising toddlers, shaving their legs, and wearing women's underwear. The four men created The Try Guys while working for BuzzFeed before forming their own company, 2nd Try LLC, in 2018.

They have since expanded their company to include more than twenty employees, starred in a Food Network show titled No Recipe Road Trip, and released a book titled The Hidden Power of F*cking Up. As of October 2022, the channel hosts eleven spinoff series starring employees of the company and other collaborators. Then in 2024, they launched a boutique subscription streaming service called 2ndTry TV.

Fulmer was removed from the company in September 2022 following an extramarital affair with an employee. In May 2024, Yang announced his departure from their flagship show; he will, however, retain co-ownership of the company.

History

BuzzFeed era (2014–2018)

The group was formed at the company BuzzFeed in 2014 by then-employees Eugene Lee Yang, Ned Fulmer, Keith Habersberger, and Zach Kornfeld with the creation of their first video "Guys Try Ladies' Underwear for the First Time". Elizabeth de Luna for MTV News emphasized the innovative character of the show:

"Back in 2014, BuzzFeed had not yet developed a show around a recurring cast. A series called “The Creepy Guy” starred a single producer and ran from 2013-2015, but The Try Guys was the first series to consistently feature the same group of talent. It was also the first to turn BuzzFeed producers into on-camera personalities, a motif that now anchors BuzzFeed’s original programming."

Their show Squad Wars premiered on YouTube Red in early 2017. Their most-watched video, "The Try Guys Try Labor Pain Simulation", has garnered over 35 million views as of March 2021. The group has accumulated over 100 million views among their videos on BuzzFeed's YouTube channel.

In 2017, the Try Guys were nominated for the Streamy Awards audience choice Show of the Year award. In 2018, the Try Guys hosted the 8th annual Streamy Awards and won the audience choice Show of the Year award, the same one for which they had been nominated in 2017.

Independent studio (2018–2023)

On June 16, 2018, The Try Guys announced that they had left BuzzFeed and started their own independent production company, 2nd Try LLC. 2nd Try LLC gained all rights to The Try Guys brand; BuzzFeed remained as the branded content and advertising sales representative for several months. On December 2, 2019, the Try Guys explained that they decided to leave Buzzfeed as their contracts were expiring, with Kornfeld and Fulmer contributing to the idea of developing their own independent production company.

On their own YouTube channel, the Try Guys have received over 2.5 billion views and over 8 million subscribers. Slate highlighted that nearly 80% of their subscribers are women and that their audience "skews young, particularly women in their late teens and early 20s".

On January 30, 2019, the Try Guys announced that they'd co-written a book, The Hidden Power of F*cking Up. It was released by HarperCollins on June 18, 2019. The book follows each of the four Try Guys as they challenge themselves to improve their lives, discussing how their failures have impacted them and helped them grow. The Hidden Power of F*cking Up reached the number one position on the New York Times Best Seller list in the self help, advice, and miscellaneous category soon after its release. One review described it as "completely approachable in the way it's written… an honest, open discussion about failure." The group also went on tour, titled "Legends of the Internet", and launched The TryPod podcast in 2019.

By 2021, the company had grown to almost 24 employees. The Try Guys host the Food Network show No Recipe Road Trip with the Try Guys, inspired by their YouTube series Without A Recipe. The show, initially a one-off special, was due to premiere on Discovery+ and Food Network in 2021, but was postponed when it was ordered for a six-episode season, which premiered on August 31, 2022.

On September 27, 2022, the Try Guys announced that Fulmer would no longer be working with the group following an internal review regarding Fulmer having an extramarital affair with an employee. On October 3, 2022, the Try Guys announced that Fulmer would be removed from upcoming videos except in several sponsored videos, "ostensibly due to contractual obligations". Zoë Aiko Sonnenberg, writing for Slate, analyzed that beyond the Try Guys' comedy "shtick", their brand promises the "performance of authenticity" with personas as "good guys". Sonnenberg wrote, "to this end, all four of the Try Guys are very publicly partnered, and those partners have become famous themselves. [...] The Try Guys had to act quickly when Ned's character as a devoted husband and father fell apart and breached an essential contract with the audience."

Streaming service (2024–present)

In May 2024, the Try Guys launched a boutique subscription streaming service called 2ndTry TV. The Hollywood Reporter commented that the group is not leaving "YouTube altogether" as they plan "to lean on it as a marketing tool for 2nd Try, to encourage viewers to give their own platform a chance" with hopes that their own platform will be more "sustainable". They also announced that it was Yang's final season on their flagship show as he was stepping away to focus on other creative endeavors.

Cast

The Try Guys
(Left to right) Eugene Lee Yang, Ned Fulmer, Keith Habersberger, Zach Kornfeld
Personal information
Born	Keith Habersberger (1987-06-18) June 18, 1987 Carthage, Tennessee, U.S. Zach Kornfeld (1990-07-26) July 26, 1990 Scarsdale, New York, U.S. Eugene Lee Yang (1986-01-18) January 18, 1986 Pflugerville, Texas, U.S. Ned Fulmer (1987-06-11) June 11, 1987 Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Nationality	American
Website	tryguys.com
YouTube information
Channels	The Try Guys The Try Pod You Can Sit With Us Guilty Pleasures Second Try
Years active	2014–present
Genre	Comedy
Subscribers	8.05 million
Total views	2.4 billion
Network	2nd Try LLC
Creator Awards 100,000 subscribers 2018 (Try Guys) 2019 (TryPods) 1,000,000 subscribers 2018
Last updated: June 21, 2023

Keith

Keith Douglas Habersberger (born June 18, 1987; /ˈhæbərsbɜːrɡər/ HABB-ərz-bur-gər) was born to Donald and Patricia Habersberger in Carthage, Tennessee. He is the youngest of three brothers, including Brian Habersberger, the creator of Twitch channel "Nothing, Forever". He is a graduate of Illinois State University with a Bachelor in Acting and French Horn. Habersberger is married to Rebecca "Becky" Habersberger (née Miller), with whom he has a son. Habersberger is reportedly 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), making him the tallest of the Try Guys.

Habersberger is part of the comedy music group Lewberger with Hughie Stone Fish and Alex Lewis. The group has appeared on several television talent shows, including Bring the Funny in 2018 and America's Got Talent in 2021.

He is known for his love of fried chicken and has focused on food-related content over the years, the most prominent shows being Eat the Menu, Chicken Watch, and Gourmet Garbage. He is also one of the creators of the Try Guys' series Without A Recipe. On November 30, 2019, Habersberger announced the release of his signature hot sauce, Keith's Chicken Sauce, which sold out within two days and was well received by consumers. Habersberger now has a line of Burger and Taco sauces also available through Heatonist.

Zach

Zachary Andrew Kornfeld (born July 26, 1990), was born to Jewish parents Adam and Margo Kornfeld in Scarsdale, New York. He became involved in filmmaking and editing after receiving a LEGO Steven Spielberg Movie Maker Kit as a child. He is Jewish but does not keep kosher and did not have a bar mitzvah, though he did choose the Hebrew name Rakedan (Hebrew: רַקְדָן), meaning dancer. Kornfeld was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis in his late twenties. He graduated from Emerson College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. As a child, he appeared on Saturday Night Live in an episode hosted by Elijah Wood that aired on December 13, 2003. In December 2018, he announced he had been in relationship for the past two years with Margaret Angela "Maggie" Bustamante, a pediatric nurse. In 2019, he decided to undergo hair restoration, a combination of surgery and microblading, to combat pattern hair loss. On May 13 2020, Kornfeld announced his intention to start a six-part series on the Try Guys YouTube Channel challenge of starting his own business, Zadiko Tea Co., for less than $500. Kornfeld and Bustamante announced their engagement in August 2020 and married in February 2023.

Eugene

Main article: Eugene Lee Yang

Eugene Lee Yang (born January 18, 1986; Korean: 양유진) was born to Korean immigrants Jae Yang and Min-young Lee in Pflugerville, Texas. Yang graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Cinema Production. He regularly participates in LGBT pride events and has worked with The Trevor Project. Yang came out on June 15, 2019, in a YouTube video, "I'm Gay". In 2019, he announced that he has been in a long-term relationship with Matthew McLean. Despite still being listed as an official member, he has made increasingly infrequent appearances on the channel. In 2024, it was announced that Yang would only be doing one more season as part of the cast before stepping away for other projects, though he will still retain his co-ownership of the company.

Ned

Edward Gallo "Ned" Fulmer (born June 11, 1987) was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He graduated from Yale University with a major in chemistry. He had a career working in a chemistry lab before he had a career change and started working at Buzzfeed, where Fulmer developed the video fellowship program. He previously lived in Chicago, working at a renewable energy lab by day and performing improv and sketch for Second City and iO Chicago house teams by night, where he was named a "Critic's Pick" by Time Out Chicago.

He was married to Ariel Marie Fulmer (née VandeVoorde), an interior designer, and they have two children. The Verge highlighted that much of Fulmer's "public persona revolves around being a husband" and that he "successfully built a fanbase and brand around this relationship specifically", calling him a "wife guy".

Fulmer was removed from the group in September 2022 following an extramarital affair with an employee.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Try Guys episodes

Main series

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired	Network
1	7		September 12, 2014	January 25, 2015	BuzzFeed Video
2	12		February 11, 2015	May 10, 2015
3	12		May 17, 2015	August 4, 2015
4	11		August 12, 2015	October 29, 2015
5	11		November 1, 2015	March 6, 2016
6	12		March 16, 2016	September 12, 2016
7	11		September 24, 2016	March 19, 2017
8	11		March 26, 2017	June 17, 2017
9	23		July 22, 2017	February 10, 2018
10	370		June 17, 2018	Present	2nd Try LLC

Spin-offs

Over the series of The Try Guys episodes, particular episodes have branched off as part of series of a specific topic or mini-series.

Series				Originally Aired		Status
Name		Starring	Episodes	Start Date	Latest Date
	Motherhood	All	5	May 6, 2015 (2015-05-06)	May 10, 2015 (2015-05-10)	Ended
	Cosplay	All	4	August 1, 2015 (2015-08-01)	August 4, 2015 (2015-08-04)	Ended
	K-Pop	All	4	September 23, 2015 (2015-09-23)	September 26, 2015 (2015-09-26)	Ended
	Santa Spectacular	All	3	December 18, 2015 (2015-12-18)	December 20, 2015 (2015-12-20)	Ended
	Ocean Survival	All	3	June 16, 2016 (2016-06-16)	June 18, 2016 (2016-06-18)	Ended
	Fatherhood	All	5	June 13, 2017 (2017-06-13)	June 17, 2017 (2017-06-17)	Ended
	Eat The Menu	Keith	31	September 23, 2017 (2017-09-23)	present	Airing
	Without A Recipe	All	19	November 11, 2017 (2017-11-11)	present	Airing
	Dirty Tour	All	3	January 27, 2018 (2018-01-27)	February 10, 2018 (2018-02-10)	Ended
	Parenthood	All	5	June 17, 2018 (2018-06-17)	July 7, 2018 (2018-07-07)	Ended
	The Barkchshler	Keith	5	July 11, 2018	December 24, 2018	Ended
	Candid Competition	Zach	11	July 25, 2018	present	Airing
	Ned & Ariel	Ned & Ariel	4	August 1, 2018	March 16, 2019	Ended
	The Try Guys: Game Time	All	16	August 8, 2018	present	Airing
	Rank King	Eugene	12	August 18, 2018	present	Airing
	DUI	All	4	October 17, 2018 (2018-10-17)	October 27, 2018 (2018-10-27)	Ended
	The Try Wives: Wine Time	Ariel, Becky & Maggie	8	December 19, 2018	present	Airing
	Old Age	All	4	April 3, 2019 (2019-04-03)	April 13, 2019 (2019-04-13)	Ended
	The TryPod	All & Miles	100+	May 4, 2019	present	Airing
	The Food Babies	Alexandria & YB	7	July 3, 2019	present	Airing
	Try DIY	Ned & Ariel	3	July 17, 2019	July 31, 2019	Ended
	4 Vs. 1	All	10	October 28, 2019	present	Airing
	Try Australia	All	5	November 2, 2019 (2019-11-02)	November 20, 2019 (2019-11-20)	Ended
	Without Instructions	All	7	February 8, 2020 (2020-02-08)	Present	Airing
	Beauty Month	All	4	March 7, 2020 (2020-03-07)	March 28, 2020 (2020-03-28)	Ended
	#StayHome	All	27	March 16, 2020 (2020-03-16)	July 29, 2020 (2020-07-29)	Ended
	Tea Time	Zach	6	May 13, 2020 (2020-05-13)	August 24, 2020 (2020-08-24)	Ended
	Date Night	Ned & Ariel	4	May 16, 2020 (2020-05-16)	June 8, 2022 (2022-06-08)	Ended
	Retry	All	3	July 15, 2020 (2020-07-15)	Present	Airing
	Tailgate Debate	Keith	3	November 14, 2020 (2020-11-14)	Present	Airing

Tour

On May 4, 2019, The Try Guys announced via YouTube that they would be embarking on a 20 city, nationwide tour (called “Legends of the Internet”) as a part of their “Summer of Try”. Then on July 30, 2019, The Try Guys announced they would be bringing Legends of The Internet to Australia and, later Singapore. Finally, on September 3, 2019, the group announced the final leg of the Legends of the Internet tour, this time in the Pacific Northwest (which was missed on the original run of the tour). In total, The Try Guys performed 26 shows of Legends of the Internet worldwide.

Title	Dates	# of Cities
Legends of the Internet	June 21, 2019 – July 28, 2019; October 15, 2019 – October 17, 2019	23
Legends of the Internet (International)	September 23, 2019, September 24, 2019, September 28, 2019	3

Legends of the Internet

Date	City	Country	Venue
June 21, 2019	Los Angeles, CA	United States	The Wiltern
June 22, 2019	Phoenix, AZ		Comerica Theatre
June 24, 2019	Denver, CO		Paramount Theatre
June 25, 2019	Kansas City, MO		Uptown Theatre
June 26, 2019	Minneapolis, MN		State Theatre
June 27, 2019	Chicago, IL		Chicago Theatre
June 28, 2019	Milwaukee, WI		Pabst Theatre
June 29, 2019	Detroit, MI		The Fillmore Detroit
June 30, 2019	Cleveland, OH		KeyBank State Theatre at Playhouse Square
July 10, 2019	San Jose, CA		City National Civic
July 14, 2019	San Diego, CA		Balboa Theatre
July 18, 2019	Irving, TX		Toyota Music Factory
July 19, 2019	San Antonio, TX		Majestic Theatre
July 20, 2019	Austin, TX		Bass Concert Hall
July 21, 2019	Houston, TX		Revention Music Center
July 23, 2019	Atlanta, GA		Tabernacle
July 25, 2019	Washington, DC		Warner Theatre
July 26, 2019	New York, NY		Beacon Theatre
July 27, 2019	Boston, MA		Shubert Theatre
July 28, 2019	Philadelphia, PA		The Met
September 23, 2019	Melbourne	Australia	Athenaeum Theatre
September 24, 2019	Sydney		Big Top
September 28, 2019	Singapore	Singapore	The Star Theatre
October 15, 2019	Portland, OR	United States	Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
October 16, 2019	Vancouver, BC	Canada	The Centre
October 17, 2019	Seattle, WA	United States	Moore Theatre

Awards

Year	Title	Nominated	Award	Result
2016	Streamy Awards	The Try Guys	Nonfiction Channel, Show, or Series	Won
			Show of the Year	Nominated
2017			Performance: Ensemble Cast	Nominated
			Show of the Year	Nominated
	Webby Awards		Comedy: Long Form or Series	Honoree
		Try Guys // Sponsored by Sony's The Shallows	Unscripted (Branded)	Honoree
2018		The Try Guys Shave Their Dads • Fatherhood: Part 4	Unscripted (Branded) – People's Voice	Won
	Streamy Awards	The Try Guys	Show of the Year	Won
2019	11th Shorty Awards		Best YouTube Ensemble	Won
2020	Webby Awards	The Trypod (2nd Try)	Comedy, People's voice winner	Won
2021	Streamy Awards	Leftovers Roulette by The Try Guys, Kroger Zero Hunger, Zero Waste Foundation	Social Impact Campaign	Won