Dan Hentschel

Dan Hentschel
Hentschel in 2025
Born
Daniel George Hentschel

(1996-06-04) June 4, 1996
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
EducationSavannah College of Art and Design
Comedy career
Years active2017–present
Medium
  • Social media
  • stand-up
  • viral stunts
Genres
Instagram information
Page
Followers688 thousand
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2022–present
Subscribers625 thousand
Views85.8 million
Last updated: August 15, 2026

Daniel George Hentschel (born June 4, 1996) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, media personality, and satirist, known for creating caricatures of himself and other original characters. Through his viral stunts, Hentschel has repeatedly pranked news outlets and viewers of his content into believing parody stories and advice.

Hentschel first became a viral phenomenon after posting satirical relationship advice on TikTok in 2021. On his YouTube channel, Hentschel frequently films lengthy videos with outrageous premises in his car. Hentschel's content has been mentioned by many news outlets including New York Post, Vice, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian.

Early life and education

Daniel George Hentschel was born on June 4, 1996,[‡ 1] and was raised in a Catholic household in Harford County, Maryland.[‡ 2][‡ 3] He attended The John Carroll School. Hentschel won the first prize at the Baltimore High School Film Festival.[1] He received a major in Dramatic Writing at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia.[2]

Hentschel first began working as a stand-up comedian in 2017 during his studies at SCAD, performing in two talent shows and becoming the Vice President of the college's stand-up comedy club.[3] Hentschel later moved to Los Angeles, California.[4]

Career

In 2012, Hentschel made his first viral post; a review of the book The Fault in Our Stars by John Green that he posted on Tumblr.[‡ 4]

In 2021, Hentschel had his first mainstream breakthrough on TikTok. The video featured Hentschel reviewing canned sardines in an unappetizing way — which would quickly get viewer attention. He would go on to post many similar videos.[‡ 5][‡ 6]

In 2022, Hentschel gained widespread attention when he posted a series of videos to TikTok with satirical relationship advice, such as how to use a water bottle to determine whether someone is having an affair, in a video with over 10 million views on TikTok.[5][6] And a video wherein he suggested that viewers should photoshop their ex out of an old photo to see if their partner would notice, claiming it was a "genius" method to detect if a significant other still has romantic feelings for their ex. The video was then posted by the New York Post.[7] In December 2022, Vice and ABC reported that the idea of "quiet quitting" a relationship could be attributed to Hentschel, after he uploaded a video where he pretended to be a psychiatrist and gave satirical relationship advice.[8][9]

In June 2023, Hentschel posted a series of videos on TikTok where he convinced viewers he had put salt in his partner's water in order to dehydrate her. The videos showed Hentschel in various costumes as he claimed to put bacon grease in his partner's beauty products. The storyline led to her being hospitalized for poisoning and dying. The joke was an elaborate parody that involved a fake mugshot photo of Hentschel, a fake New York Post article and doctored security footage.[10] After changing his TikTok profile to appear as a true crime news outlet, Hentschel was able to fool viewers into thinking the story was real, including fans who did not know it was his TikTok account.[11]

In August 2024, Hentschel claimed to have taken his girlfriend on a road trip across the United States, with the road layout spelling the words "Will You Marry Me". He followed up by implying that at the end of the road trip, his girlfriend had broken up with him; the fake story immediately caught the attention of some news outlets.[12][13][14]

In January 2025, Hentschel posted a video on social media where he stood on the campus of The John Carroll School, his former school. In the video, he says that he was "almost a school shooter" in 2013 and describes alleged memories of wanting to fire an AK-47 into the bleachers during a sophomore homecoming game.[15][16] The video caught the attention of administrative staff at The John Carroll School, who identified Hentschel and alerted authorities on January 4. Later that month, the Bel Air Police Department launched a criminal investigation into Hentschel, releasing a statement on Facebook in which they called the video "disturbing".[15] Despite assuring the public that Hentschel and his immediate family did not have access to firearms, Hentschel faced a trespassing charge.[16][17]

Comedic style

Hentschel admits that "an accidental byproduct" of his videos have been "how outrageous [he can] make the premise", with viewers openly relating to his satirical behavior.[18] Hentschel's videos, some of which are up to 145 minutes in length, are filmed in his car with his camera propped up on his dashboard unedited.[19] He believes that viewers enjoy his content because it feels "spontaneous" and realistic.[19][20] Due to the fact he does not edit his videos, Hentschel believes it "feels like somebody who's just talking to you", which adds to the realism of the satire and sympathetic approach to some of his characters.[19]

Hentschel has stated that his comedic inspirations have included John Mulaney, Amy Schumer, Michelle Wolf and Mike Birbiglia. He also mentioned that he used to be a fan of Louis C.K., but disavowed him due to his sexual misconduct allegations.[3]

Characters

Hentschel is known for creating caricatures of himself and other original characters.[10] In his early YouTube and late TikTok days, he mostly played characters with social or professional dominance—most notably a disgruntled therapist who documented his hatred for patients and their issues, a teacher going through a mental breakdown, a judge handing out life sentences to avoid missing lunch,[21][22] and a priest.[20][23] When this was pointed out on "I need God Pod", Hentschel suggested that these flawed characters of authority may have been subconsciously inspired by his mother. He recalled her returning from work, listening to voicemails on speakerphone and commenting things such as "Oh my god, shut up".[‡ 7] Common themes throughout Hentschel's newer videos involve disgruntled employees, anti-establishment influencers, characters recounting themselves committing a crime such as murder, and characters suffering mental crises. He often wears face paint or over-the-top costumes to gain viewer attention.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Dan Hentschel, '14, captures 1st place in film festival | The John Carroll School". archive.johncarroll.org. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  2. ↑ Dembling, Ian (March 9, 2018). "Free tickets available for live taping of SCAD's newest sitcom". WTGS. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Joking Around With Dan Hentschel – SCAD Radio". April 14, 2018. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  4. ↑ "American health content creator makes unique marriage proposal using GPS technology - DeccanChronicle". August 18, 2024. Dan Hentschel, a resident of Los Angeles, California
  5. ↑ Tran, Cindy (February 27, 2023). "Is your partner cheating on you? The 'genius' water bottle trick to expose infidelity". 7NEWS. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  6. ↑ "'Genius' water bottle trick to expose a cheating partner". news. Archived from the original on May 15, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Trick to find if your partner is cheating". news. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  8. ↑ "How to Know If Your Partner is 'Quiet Quitting' Your Relationship". VICE. December 13, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Here's how to tell if you or your partner are 'quiet quitting' your relationship". triple j. November 10, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  10. 1 2 Mathew, Christy (June 23, 2023). "TikTok prankster Dan Hentschel tricks viewers with fake crime story of poisoning his partner". Dexerto. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Satirical TikToker uses common true crime video tactics to trick viewers into thinking he got arrested for poisoning his girlfriend: 'That feels illegal'". Yahoo Life. June 26, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Road Trip That Spelled Out 'Will You Marry Me' on US Map Ends in Breakup". Times Now. August 17, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Man on road trip spelled 'will you marry me?' on map, realises they 'a good fit for each other'". India Times. August 17, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  14. ↑ DC Web Desk (August 18, 2024). "American health content creator makes marriage proposal unique using GPS technology". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  15. 1 2 Olaniran, Christian (January 7, 2025). "Police investigate threat after viral social media video filmed at Maryland high school - CBS Baltimore". CBS News. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  16. 1 2 Brennan, Stewart (January 6, 2025). "Police in Maryland investigate influencer's video discussing purported 2013 school shooting plans". Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. Archived from the original on January 28, 2025. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
  17. ↑ Griffith, Kristen (January 7, 2025). "Influencer investigated for 'disturbing' post about Harford County school". The Baltimore Banner. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  18. ↑ Cavender, Elena (October 20, 2022). "How Gen Z is using TikTok to learn about social etiquette". Mashable. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  19. 1 2 3 Lorenz, Taylor (August 20, 2024). "Why Creators Have Stopped Editing Their Content". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  20. 1 2 3 Miles, Ruby (November 27, 2024). "Ruby Miles: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  21. ↑ "The Disturbing Truth Behind Comedian's Bit About 'Hangry' Judges Giving Harsher Sentences". YourTango. October 6, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Comedian jokes judges' rulings are harsher when they're 'hangry.' A study surprisingly backs him up". scoop.upworthy.com. May 10, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  23. ↑ Plunkett, John (September 19, 2023). "This joke was already good but the comeback made it even better". The Poke. Retrieved December 5, 2024.

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

  1. ↑ Hentschel, Dan. "GO FUND ME IN BIO This account will now be run by the surviving estate of TikTok Star Dan Hentschel. Thank you all for your support". www.instagram.com. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  2. ↑ Hentschel, Dan (February 13, 2025). "Yes, My School Shooter Joke Actually Got Me In Legal Trouble". YouTube. 25:30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  3. ↑ Daniel Hentschel (November 12, 2023). I need god pod. Retrieved December 29, 2025 – via Spotify. I was raised catholic
  4. ↑ "Transcript of the Dan Hentschel podcast". The first piece of content I ever made that was successful was a review of a book called The Fault in Our Stars by John Green that I posted on Tumblr.
  5. ↑ "Transcript of the Dan Hentschel podcast". It wasn't until later that summer of 2021. Actually, probably two years ago this month that I really got my first taste of the limelight. I made a video about canned sardines, basically reviewing different brands of sardines. It was a couple of videos that were like sardine taste tests.
  6. ↑ "Compilation of Dan videos from the canned sea food era".
  7. ↑ Daniel Hentschel (November 2023). I need God pod - Timestamp 15:27. Retrieved January 27, 2026 – via Spotify. It was interesting too, because as a kid I would remember my mom coming home. From her day of seeing clients and she would like listen to the voicemails on speaker and just sort of say like, Oh my God, shut up.
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