Around St. Patrick’s Day in 2006, a morning news program in Mobile, Ala., aired a story that turned heads: Someone claimed to have spotted a leprechaun in the neighborhood of Crichton.
The two-minute segment captured the considerable commotion that the sighting had caused. It featured a cast of local characters, each more memorable than the next, and an “amateur sketch” of the creature, which a resident had supposedly glimpsed in a tree on a dead-end street.
Viral videos were a new concept, but the story had all the makings of one. It blew up on YouTube — then still in its infancy — and became something of a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, the video has been viewed tens of millions of times.
It helped establish what became a genre of internet videos, with eyewitnesses interviewed by local news reporters becoming quasi-famous characters with catchphrases.
Twenty years later, the Crichton leprechaun remains a mascot of sorts for Mobile. Recently, some of the people who got caught up in the excitement back then, or even still feel it now, agreed to share their memories of how a local legend was created.
‘It’s a Leprechaun’
It all started with a report on WPMI-TV’s morning news program on March 12, 2006, which came after the station heard that crowds were flocking to the normally quiet Le Cren Street.
LASHEENA HOLCOMBE She has lived on the street for more than 20 years.
One evening, I came home and there were cars on both sides of the street way down to the stop sign. I thought it was a rapper or somebody down there. Some people were walking back and I said, “Who down there? It’s a rapper down there?” And they said, “No, it’s a leprechaun down there.” And I said, “It’s a leprechaun?” I said, “Where?” And they said, “In the tree.”
JESSICA WILLIAMS Her family lived on the corner of Le Cren Street.
They had just trimmed the tree. The way the light was shining, it looked like something was sitting in the hole, like an animal in the tree. Something had made a hole in the tree. And that’s how the leprechaun in the tree came about.
JUDY ANDREWS A retired elementary-school teacher, she has lived all her life on Le Cren Street.
It’s a dead end. Something new coming here? We’re going to check it out. It’s as simple as that.
WILLIAMS
The first day, it was just a neighborhood joke. The third day, we had people come from out of town. That’s what drew the news attention.
The vibe was joyous. It was never ending. You could come outside at eight o’clock in the morning to three in the morning, and it was still cars coming up and down, still people trying to see a leprechaun in a tree. It went on for a week straight.
There were some people who drove all the way from Louisiana to see the leprechaun in the tree, but they couldn’t get down Le Cren Street. We were outside taking pictures, laughing about it, and they were like, “We’ll give you $40 to park in the yard.”
SCOTT WALKER He anchored the morning newscast at WPMI-TV at the time.
The assignment desk started to get some calls about traffic being blocked and police activity and crowds of people, so one of the nearby crews was sent over to check out what was going on. Once they got to the scene, I think the local people took over and made the story their own, and all of a sudden, it was a viral story about a leprechaun and a tree and all the characters that came along with it.
WILLIAMS Her brother-in-law was Demarco Morrissette, the man with the “flute.” He died in 2019.
He was a jokester. He can come up with a joke off the top of his head. The news people say, “Hey, can we interview about the leprechaun?” And from there, he turned Irish.
He had the little flute in his hand. Well, what he called the flute. It was just a piece of trash off the ground. And that’s where he got the story that the flute that he was holding was from generations ago that had been passed down, because it was Demarco being Demarco.
Going Viral
In 2006, YouTube was barely a year old. Viral videos were an emerging concept, and the news segment on the leprechaun had all the ingredients.
Comedy Central shows spoofed it, including “South Park” and “Key & Peele.” Jimmy Kimmel has typically played a clip of it every St. Patrick’s Day, describing it as “greatest local news story of all time.”
WALKER
That was the beginning of YouTube. So there was no such thing as a viral video. There was no such thing as “Maybe we’ll see this again later.” So, if you would have told me 20 years later we’d still be talking about this, I would have said you were crazy.
INERD YOUNG He was hanging out at a house at the end of the street with other men when his cousin claimed to have spotted the leprechaun.
The leprechaun was everywhere. On ESPN, on BET, on MTV — it was everywhere. It was a big deal. It was a real big deal.
JIM GREEN He is a manager of a printing business in the area.
I think everybody was a little surprised at how it took off. But everybody knew that it was a humorous thing. And still, to this day, people smile when they see the Crichton leprechaun. They just do.
WILLIAMS She recounted Mr. Morrissette’s appearance on “Tosh.0,” a Comedy Central series that investigated viral videos.
He went from Demarco in the hood to Demarco in Hollywood.
We always say if he could do anything, he would be a comedian. It wasn’t nothing new for him to be the center of attention, be in the spotlight. He enjoyed it. We knew he was going to end up on TV one day with his jokes. And he did. He really did.
As long as he was here, he was the leprechaun guy.
The Leprechaun Lives On
As St. Patrick’s Day approached this year, the closest thing to a leprechaun on Le Cren Street was a deflated Grinch left over from Christmas. But elsewhere in Mobile, the leprechaun was inescapable — or at least the now-famous sketch of it was. The simple rendering with dot eyes and big hat was on yard signs, flags fluttering on front porches, tattoos, baked goods, painted on the side of a house and on medallions dangling from Mardi Gras beads. A downtown shop sold caps, T-shirts, even replicas of Mr. Morrissette’s flute.
WILLIAMS
We really didn’t think it was going to blow up this good. Who thought 20 years later that Mobile would still be known for the leprechaun in the tree?
GREEN
I think the leprechaun is going to be here for a long time because I think humor lasts a long time. There’s no shortage of desire from people for a little good humor.
JENNIFER CONRAD She is a co-owner of EllenJay Bakery in Mobile, which makes cookies featuring the leprechaun.
In 2017, a medical sales rep called us to make one for a physician who was obsessed with the story. “I have a crazy request for you, but can you do this?” So we did it, and it was just for her. It was a special order.
We are very active on social media. We thought it was hilarious and cute. And to wish our followers Happy St. Patrick’s Day, we posted a photo. People went crazy, and we realized, dang it, we should have actually sold these. We had to wait an entire year before we could make it a product.
Occasionally, people will be like, this is embarrassing. And I feel like people that feel that way don’t get the joke. Everybody in that news story was in on the joke and is being silly. The news people are in on the joke. It was just something fun for the sake of being fun.
YOUNG
I’m mad because we didn’t make T-shirts and sell them. Somebody else beat us to it. And the sketch they had was ugly as I don’t know what. Very ugly. Like a stickman.
WALKER He left Mobile in 2007 and worked at TV stations in Orlando, Fla., and New Orleans.
I feel like you can either embrace it or run away from it. And I always say, could be something far worse on YouTube that I’m immortalized for. So if this is it, and it’s ridiculous and it’s funny, I’ll take it.
WILLIAMS
If he was still here today, Demarco would have made him a whole ’nother viral video by now. It’s just amazing that we’re here today, 20 years later, and he’s still famous for the leprechaun. All because he found a piece of trash on the ground and directed traffic. It’s amazing.
YOUNG
Some people still come around here and take pictures. Don’t say nothing. Just get out of their car and take a picture and keep on going.
ANDREWS
To keep it going, we just went along with the story. We didn’t see no leprechaun. I’m just being honest.
The interviews have been lightly edited for space and clarity.
Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.
Rick Rojas is the Atlanta bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the South.
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