Draft:Tiktok Rizz Party

"TikTok Rizz Party", also known as "Carnival Boys", is what viewers dubbed a viral TikTok video which was posted on March 10, 2024, and became an internet meme. The 17-second clip shows a group of teenagers dancing to the Kanye West track "Carnival" at a Sweet 16. It was uploaded by Island Entertainment, a party planning business based in Staten Island. Although nothing of note occurred in the video, thousands of TikTok and X users ironically attempted to decipher the group's social dynamics, hierarchy, and backstories, and gave the members nicknames.

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On March 10, 2024, Island Entertainment, a party planning business based in Staten Island, New York City, uploaded a 17-second video to their TikTok account. It depicts a group of teenage boys dancing and lip syncing to the Kanye West track "Carnival". The caption says, "The boys showing how it's done at Jillian's Sweet 16 [sic]". Nothing unusual happens in the clip.

Around mid-March, the video unexpectedly went viral. Humorously dubbing the clip the "TikTok Rizz Party", or "Carnival Boys", TikTok users turned it into an internet meme by ironically analyzing the dynamics and hierarchy between the teenagers. In their own videos, users gave them backstories, character arcs and nicknames such as "Blue tie leader" and the "Turkish Quandale Dingle". They also searched for other videos featuring the boys and made conspiracy theories about the video. The meme spread out to the social media platform X. Know Your Meme states the name came from a late 2023 meme, a photograph of a flyer advertising the "TikTok Rizz Party" in Florida. The top comment on the video was "TikTok Rizz Party". By April 9, the video had over seven million likes and 38,000 response videos, and, by April 12, over 58 million views. Videos related to it had a total of 100 million views. Some of the boys, including the "Blue Tie Kid", have responded to the attention light-heartedly by referring to themselves as their false names and playing into the viewer-created "lore". Blue Tie, who uses the handle @Seby_261, and another member named Michael Amato, were hired to promote the fashion brand Marc Jacobs. In a homemade-quality TikTok, the pair show up to a party with a "TikTok Rizz Party" sign but are told they need Marc Jacobs apparel to enter.

Island Entertainment's owners, Joseph Delvillar and his son Michael Delvillar, who was the DJ during the party, have had moderately successful videos before, one of which was retweeted by the rapper Cardi B, but never on "TikTok Rizz Party"'s scale. told Inc. that the video had dramatically increased their business's profile. Joseph now receives thousands of phone calls and messages daily, and Island Entertainment's website went from 200 monthly visitors to 20,000 in March. Because of the video, the business now has clients from all over the world offering to fly their team out of the U.S., and is discussing hosting a large event with influencers.

Inc. 's Kim Jao thought that the video's success indicated that "social media can be transformative in the most unexpected and ridiculous ways–and if you ride the wave of virality, your business can benefit." Lifehacker 's Stephen Johnson thought that the fascination with a "mundane moment of lighthearted, social fun" might indicate the younger generation's yearning for such a moment themselves.