Cody Michael Kolodziejzyk ( ,
Polish: ; born November 22, 1990), better known online as Cody Ko, is a Canadian
YouTuber,
comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audienc ...
,
podcaster and
rapper. Kolodziejzyk first became popular on
Vine
A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themsel ...
in 2014, before becoming a commentary YouTuber on
internet culture. His style of content is often crudely comedic and profane.
Born in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...
, Kolodziejzyk graduated from
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...
with a degree in
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
. After his mobile app I'd Cap That became top of the
App Store, he worked as an
iOS developer at
Fullscreen, but quit in 2016 to focus on his internet career full-time. He had around two million followers before Vine's discontinuation.
After Vine was shut down, Kolodziejzyk shifted to YouTube commentary. With fellow YouTuber
Noel Miller
Noel Keith Miller (1 July 1913 – 26 November 2007) was an Australian cricketer. He played one first-class match for New South Wales in 1935/36.
See also
* List of New South Wales representative cricketers
This is a list of male crick ...
, Kolodziejzyk co-hosts the Tiny Meat Gang Podcast. This later became the flagship podcast of their podcast network TMG Studios, which they co-founded in October 2021. He and Miller also comprise the
comedy rap duo of the same name. TMG has featured guests such as
MrBeast and
Post Malone, and won the
11th Shorty Awards for Best Podcast. In a widely criticized 2019 video, YouTuber
Jake Paul
Jake Joseph Paul (born January 17, 1997) is an American media personality and professional boxer. He initially rose to fame on Vine, before playing the role of Dirk Mann on the Disney Channel series ''Bizaardvark'' for two seasons. Throughout ...
accused Kolodziejzyk of being a "cyberbully" for his commentary ridiculing Paul and other YouTubers, inadvertently causing his following to grow. , Kolodziejzyk has nearly six million subscribers on his main YouTube channel.
Early life and education
Cody Michael Kolodziejzyk was born on November 22, 1990, in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...
, to
Greg and Helen Kolodziejzyk. Both his parents competed in athletic competitions, and his father is a cyclist who holds several world records. He has one sister, Krista. Kolodziejzyk attended
Springbank Community High School before attending
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...
in the U.S. state of
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
after being recruited on their swimming and diving team following a meet in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
.
At Duke, he lived in Edens Quad at the
Duke University West Campus. He joined a
fraternity
A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternit ...
, pursued a degree in
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
and a certificate in markets and management, and eventually became captain of the varsity team. He eventually came to regret some parts of his time in a fraternity.
Kolodziejzyk majored in computer science. He graduated from Duke University in 2012 with a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
.
The same year, he moved to
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Cou ...
.
Career
''I'd Cap That'', computer engineering and Vine (2012–2016)
In March 2012, while a senior at Duke,
Kolodziejzyk began to develop the photo-sharing mobile app I'd Cap That, which automatically added
meme
A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ...
-like captions to images. It went viral and was the
App Store's Free iOS App Of The Week in May, amassing over four million users in four months. Kolodziejzyk wanted to join a
startup and continue developing apps.
I'd Cap That was acquired several months later by a startup called Iddiction, which launched I’d Cap That+, adding additional features. Kolodziejzyk worked there on the app for two years before quitting in 2014.
He moved to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
for his job.
Kolodziejzyk first began uploading to
Vine
A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themsel ...
, a six-second video platform, in 2013. He partnered with the now-defunct
multi-channel network Fullscreen, with Mahzad Babayan becoming his full-time talent manager. He credited the network and his background in computer engineering for his early success. In May 2014, Kolodziejzyk and his friend Devon Townsend left on an eight-month
backpacking trip around
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
. Throughout the trip, the pair created Vines and started several side projects for
ad revenue and experience creating apps with other technologies such as
Node.js
Node.js is an open-source server environment. Node.js is cross-platform and runs on Windows, Linux, Unix, and macOS. Node.js is a back-end JavaScript runtime environment. Node.js runs on the V8 JavaScript Engine and executes JavaScript cod ...
. The videos were unexpectedly viral and Kolodziejzyk became a popular figure on Vine.
He had amassed over 290 thousand followers by July.
In January 2015, the two returned to the United States. They traveled to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, where Kolodziejzyk now lives, looking for work while continuing to make Vines.
Kolodziejzyk collaborated with comedian
Hannibal Buress
Hannibal Amir Buress ( , born February 4, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper and writer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He starred on Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; styliz ...
to promote Buress'
Comedy Central show ''
Why? with Hannibal Buress
''Why? with Hannibal Buress'' is an American late-night television series hosted by Hannibal Buress. On March 10, 2015, the series was green-lit for an eight-episode season. The series premiered on July 8, 2015, on Comedy Central. The show was me ...
'' (2015). ''
People
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
'' described Kolodziejzyk's Vines as "goofy, relatable
ndoften profane". Kolodziejzyk said that his Vines were often spontaneous and advised other Viners against "trying too hard."
By November 2015, Kolodziejzyk had almost two million followers on the platform.
Kolodziejzyk worked for the company Victorious for eight months and had less time to create content. However, he frequently had to leave midday for auditions, to the company's annoyance. His manager gave him a job as a senior iOS developer at her employer Fullscreen, where they would be more relaxed about him leaving midday for content creation as a social media company. Kolodziejzyk contributed to the code for Fullscreen's subscription service. At Fullscreen, Kolodziejzyk also met
Noel Miller
Noel Keith Miller (1 July 1913 – 26 November 2007) was an Australian cricketer. He played one first-class match for New South Wales in 1935/36.
See also
* List of New South Wales representative cricketers
This is a list of male crick ...
, a web designer from marketing and fellow Viner, by chance after they had previously talked online. The pair became close and often created internet content on their lunch breaks.
In June 2016, Kolodziejzyk starred in the Vine-produced series
Camp Unplug alongside twelve other Viners.
He quit his job at Fullscreen the next month, deciding that he could support himself on sponsorships alone.
YouTube commentary, music, and podcasts (2016–2019)
Kolodziejzyk joined
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
on May 30, 2014.
After Vine was discontinued, he shifted to YouTube content.
He and Miller became popular on YouTube with their series ''That's Cringe'', hosted on Kolodziejzyk's channel, where the two react to and joke about internet content which they consider to be "
cringe".
''That's Cringe'' has over 153 million combined views and makes up most of his channel's most popular videos.
An episode on controversial YouTuber
Jake Paul
Jake Joseph Paul (born January 17, 1997) is an American media personality and professional boxer. He initially rose to fame on Vine, before playing the role of Dirk Mann on the Disney Channel series ''Bizaardvark'' for two seasons. Throughout ...
in October 2017 amassed over seventeen million views.
Another episode on the
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...
lifestyle channel
Girl Defined Girl Defined is a Christian lifestyle blog and YouTube channel run by sisters Bethany Beal and Kristen Clark which focuses on purity culture and navigating mainstream America as an evangelical.
History
The success of Girl Defined was built off t ...
spurred viral
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version o ...
memes mocking Girl Defined and their videos' themes of extended
chastity
Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains either from sexual activity considered immoral or any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for example when ma ...
.
Kolodziejzyk's other content focuses on
internet culture, such as criticism of
internet personalities,
NFTs or
ASMR
Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a tingling sensation that usually begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine. A pleasant form of paresthesia, it has been compared with auditory-tactile synesthesia a ...
videos involving dangerous acts. He and other commentary YouTubers have been described as "media critics" for an online
millennial
Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western world, Western demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as start ...
audience.
''
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
'' said that his videos helped bring attention to YouTube commentary and help it grow from a subsection of
reaction videos.
Kolodziejzyk is also part of the cast of
Jimmy Tatro
James Richard Tatro is an American actor, comedian, writer and YouTube personality. He is the creator and star of the YouTube channel ''LifeAccordingToJimmy'', which has more than 3.4 million subscribers and over 713 million video views. Tatro ...
's web series ''
The Real Bros of Simi Valley
''The Real Bros of Simi Valley'' is an American scripted television series based in Simi Valley, California. The satirical comedy both pays homage to and lampoons the culture of Southern California, and several stereotypes and tropes of unscripted ...
'', which airs on
Facebook Watch.
He used to edit his videos himself, but began to hire outside editors and a production team.
Kolodziejzyk and Miller have made satirical rap songs together as Tiny Meat Gang (TMG) since 2017.
They came up with the name for a song making fun of Jake Paul—Miller dubbed the pair "Tiny Meat Gang" after joking about "the weird idea of an 'unborn child as an ' posing in a
sonogram".
However, the two began considering music earnestly after they were contacted by producer Diamond Pistols and released their first
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. ''Bangers & Ass'' the same year.
After struggling with repeated demonetization, Kolodziejzyk and Miller began the Tiny Meat Gang Podcast in October 2017 to make up for losses. The podcast is funded solely by their
Patreon supporters, with each hour-long episode discussing various topics related to
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' ( ...
and
internet culture.
Kolodziejzyk also hosts the podcast ''Insanely Chill.''
In 2018, Kolodziejzyk and Miller went on tour and reached one million subscribers on his main channel in June. In an interview with ''
Tubefilter'', Kolodziejzyk attributed his success to "ripping on the Paul brothers."
The same year,
Post Malone was featured in an episode of their podcast
and Tiny Meat Gang released their second EP, ''Locals Only''.
Jake Paul and continued growth (2019–2022)
In early 2019, Tiny Meat Gang won Best Podcast at the
11th Shorty Awards.
Kolodziejzyk and Miller also appeared in a sold-out
live comedy tour across the United States as Tiny Meat Gang.
After Jake Paul released a
vlog
A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded i ...
confronting Kolodziejzyk, who he called a '
cyberbully
Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital s ...
', in person on
Jeff Wittek's podcast, it was widely criticized online and received over 800 thousand dislikes.
''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' described it as an example of celebrities dismissing genuine criticism as hate.
Kolodziejzyk later said the experience was extremely uncomfortable. However, he gained around 140 thousand subscribers directly after the incident and surpassed four million by late 2019.
Tiny Meat Gang collaborated with
Blackbear for the single "short kings anthem".
In October, they signed with
Arista Records
Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...
and announced a new EP.
On November 22, Kolodziejzyk partnered with
Killer Merch, which also handled Tiny Meat Gang's tour merchandising and commerce, and artist Dan Taylor to launch a merchandise collection.
Tiny Meat Gang rescheduled their next tour to the second half of 2020.
In October 2020, Kolodziejzyk hosted an eight-episode podcast on
iHeartRadio
iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbrella brand for iHe ...
titled ''The Pleasure is Ours'', with guest stars such as
Drew Gooden
Andrew Melvin Gooden III (born September 24, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently a broadcaster for NBC Sports Washington. The power forward played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) ...
and
Emma Chamberlain, in which they discuss
truisms A truism is a claim that is so obvious or self-evident as to be hardly worth mentioning, except as a reminder or as a rhetorical or literary device, and is the opposite of falsism.
In philosophy, a sentence which asserts incomplete truth conditions ...
and popular sayings.
He frequently appeared in college webinars during
quarantine
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...
.
Adlan Jackson of ''
The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...
'' noted that as Kolodziejzyk and Miller rose in popularity, many of the figures they have mocked appeared in their videos.
After criticizing
Dhar Mann for his formulaic videos, Kolodziejzyk produced one of his videos and shifted his opinion, saying they were made that way so that his audience, mainly foreigners and children, could understand. Controversial entrepreneur
Gary Vaynerchuk also appeared in a 2021 episode of Tiny Meat Gang. Due to this, some fans began to worry about a potential
conflict of interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
and that the two "would
e incentivizedto pull their punches."
Kolodziejzyk has had numerous
angel investments, including
bitcoin
Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...
startup Lolli and JuneShine. He and Townsend started an
investment vehicle called Dumb Money Capital, which has invested in
Liquid Death, the NFT platform Autograph and Moment House.
In February 2022, he invested in the gaming startup Metafy.
Tiny Meat Gang Studios (2021–present)
In a June 2021 interview, Kolodziejzyk said he intended to develop a media network from the Tiny Meat Gang Podcast.
He and Miller co-founded
Tiny Meat Gang Studios, a comedy podcast network, in October 2021. They are represented by
United Talent Agency, who have assisted in TMG Studios' expansion. The company currently employs twelve full-time employees and has seven original podcasts, including the flagship Tiny Meat Gang Podcast and ''Insanely Chill''. The Tiny Meat Gang Podcast is now divided into two one-hour segments, with the first free and the second available only to subscribers.
It had over 200 million downloads in 2022. An October 2022 episode featuring the YouTuber
MrBeast became one of the most-viewed episodes of the podcast.
Personal life
Kolodziejzyk lives in Los Angeles.
In 2020, he bought his first home for $3.8 million, a three-story compound in the neighborhood of
Venice Beach. In 2022, he bought a beachfront unit near the
Ventura County Line for $3.7 million.
He lived in Australia for several months. Kolodziejzyk is engaged to Kelsey Kreppel, a preschool teacher and influencer who occasionally appears in his videos.
According to Kolodziejzyk,
his surname is Polish. He abbreviated it to "Ko" online due to its length and difficulty to spell.
Discography
Solo discography
Singles
TMG discography
As Tiny Meat Gang with Noel Miller.
Extended plays
Singles
Filmography
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
External links
Official channelOfficial websiteOfficial TMG Studios website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ko, Cody
Living people
1990 births
Canadian YouTubers
21st-century Canadian rappers
Canadian people of Polish descent
Canadian male web series actors
Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni
Duke Blue Devils men's divers
Male actors from Calgary
Canadian male comedians
Canadian podcasters
Canadian male rappers
Musicians from Calgary
21st-century Canadian comedians
21st-century Canadian male actors
Commentary YouTubers
Comedy YouTubers
YouTube channels launched in 2013
Twitch (service) streamers
Patreon creators
Vine (service) celebrities
Comedians from Alberta
21st-century Canadian male musicians
Canadian male YouTubers