It can be hard to find a corner of the internet that feels playful yet smart (especially with the inevitability of doomscrolling these days), but that delightful blend of humor and comfort content is what you’ll find on EJ Marcus’ TikTok account, where they share comedy sketches about hyper-specific situations under the username @ejhavingfun. The 25-year-old Los Angeles-based comedian fell into the TikTok creator space by accident, following a January 2022 video captioned “Cool LA dad picking up his kid from hipster preschool.”
That video now has over 794,000 views and was inspired by the parents that would come by the preschool where they were working at the time. “Cool LA Dad” is now a staple character on Marcus’ account — along with recurring bits like “Friend who thinks they’re in a movie leaves you a voicemail” and “The roommate that loves living with you.” Once that first video took off, Marcus started fleshing out TikTok scripts and developing characters who “come from a place of love” in a little yellow notebook while the kids at preschool were napping. Six months later, content creation is their full time job with an account that has over 269,800 dedicated followers, which Marcus believes is priceless.
“As a queer person, it’s so awesome to imagine little queer kids seeing me… maybe they appreciate the visibility and connection,” they say. Below, Marcus shares the video ideas that didn’t make it out of their Notes app and the weirdest thing that has happened in their TikTok comment section.
The Fast Follow With @ejhavingfun
What’s the last Wikipedia hole you went down?
Thelma & Louise. I probably already know everything about that, but I was just double-checking.
Who’s your favorite person you’re following right now? Why?
Maybe this is cheating because she’s one of my friends in real life, but DaMya Gurley (@itsdammywise) on TikTok. She just does awesome stuff. She’s got incredible characters.
What’s the best thing you saw on the internet this week? What did you learn from it?
I saw a Twitter thread where someone was on a date and they wanted to order food. So they handed their date the Postmates app and he had a notification up that said, “You’re the best dumpling orderer in the city,” or something. What I learned from that was obviously our phones know everything about us.
What’s the weirdest thing you currently have written down in your Notes app?
It was actually a TikTok idea I had that I immediately vetoed, because it’s not funny. But it just says “roommate who just fried an amazing egg.” I literally thought that was so funny in my head that I pitched it to my friend like, “Imagine they’re like, this egg’s so amazing that they can’t stop talking about the egg since it’s so perfect.” And my friend said, “Um, why don’t you try and expand that? That’s really specific.”
What’s the best thing you’ve purchased on the internet recently?
Honestly, my bike helmet. It’s really safe and everyone should wear a helmet. That will be my hill that I die on.
What links do you currently have up in your tabs?
Oh my God. I’m so boring. Literally just this Zoom and my email. I wish I’d made something up.
F*ck, Marry, Kill: Twitter, Instagram, TikTok? Why?
I’d kill Instagram, f*ck Twitter, marry TikTok. I feel like I’m contractually obligated to say that.
Who’s the person that followed you that you were most excited by? Did you interact at all after they followed you?
Brian Jordan Alvarez followed me. He’s brilliant. He’s so much more than a TikToker, but he’s so f*cking funny. I messaged him immediately and was like, “Hi.”
What’s your most underrated TikTok that you totally thought would go viral but… didn’t.
It was a video about a person who broke up a cat fight the night before. They heard cats fighting outside their window and said, “Hey, break it up!” and then couldn’t stop talking about it. That’s one of the few videos that when I was making it, I was laughing to myself, like, “This is so funny.” It did not go viral in the slightest. Maybe because that was at the beginning of when I was consistently making videos. TikTok is not always where I think my funniest ideas are going to fly. At the end of the day, it’s an algorithm and people are scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, and sometimes they want a specific thing and you’re not it.
Have you ever slid into someone’s DMs? What came of it?
I messaged this singer-songwriter that I love a while ago, because he has really curly hair. He has a very similar curl pattern to me and his hair looks amazing all the time. And I sent him such a long message that said, “Hey, your hair looks amazing. What products do you use? What’s your routine?” He didn’t respond and it’s totally fine … totally fine.
What’s the weirdest TikTok comment you’ve ever received?
Well, this wasn’t maybe the weirdest one, but I did take note of it. It was the first video that I posted on TikTok where you could see my full body. Someone commented, “Finally, we get to see your legs. Thank you.” Then I spiraled — were they waiting for them? What did they need my legs for?
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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