Max Fosh
Born
Maximilian Arthur Fosh

(1995-04-03) April 3, 1995 (age 29)
London, England
Education
OccupationYouTuber
Parent
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2017-present
Subscribers3.78 million[1]
Total views1.02 billion[1]
100,000 subscribers2019
1,000,000 subscribers2022

Last updated: 24 April 2024
Websitemaxfosh.co

Maximilian Arthur Fosh (born 3 April 1995) is a British YouTuber and comedian. As of February 2024, his eponymous YouTube channel has over 3.6 million subscribers.

Early life

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Maximilian Arthur Fosh[P 1] was born on 3 April 1995 in London, England,[2] to father Matthew Fosh[3] and mother Helena,[P 2] and has an older sister, Talitha Fosh.[P 3] He attended Arnold House School in Westminster, London,[P 4] before progressing to Harrow School[4] - the same school his father attended - and was in Bradbys House at Harrow from 2008 until 2013, from ages 13–18.[5][6]

Career

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Radio

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While studying for a combined honours in English literature and business at Newcastle University,[7] Fosh began presenting at Radio Tyneside. When at Radio Tyneside, he won gold in the "Best Newcomer" category at the National Hospital Radio Awards in 2017.[8][9]

On Christmas Day in 2022, Fosh presented a half-hour "TikTok Takeover" show on BBC Radio 1,[10] following an event almost two years earlier which involved printing his CV in large text on the roof of a car, and parking it outside of Broadcasting House in London.[11][12]

YouTube

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Fosh's main and eponymous YouTube channel has amassed more than 3.6 million subscribers, and includes "silly" pranks and jokes[13] - as well as other comedic content. The channel was started on 13 January 2016 and posted its inaugural video on 18 October 2017, which started a series called "StreetSmart" (the channel's name at the time) where Fosh would interview people on the streets.[4]

Gatwick Airport prank

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In May 2022, Fosh placed a large sign reading "Welcome to Luton", visible from the approach path for Gatwick Airport, to trick arriving travellers into thinking they were instead at Luton Airport, triggering reactions from local news and social media[14][15][16] The sign was 60 m (200 ft)[14] long with the letters each 8 m × 3 m (26.2 ft × 9.8 ft) and, although initially anonymous, Fosh claimed the prank on Justin Dealey's show on BBC Three Counties Radio,[17] as well as tweeting "Guilty..." as a reply to another tweet picturing the sign.[18] Being noticed by the media, Fosh made several appearances on TV and radio, although some people criticised the prank as having caused undue stress for arriving passengers.[14] Fosh had use of the land on which the sign was placed for six weeks,[19] and said that renting the land and materials for the sign cost more than £4000.[20]

The following month, BBC Three Counties put a similar sign reading "Welcome to Paradise" under the approach to Luton Airport.[21]

Stand-up comedy

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Following his YouTube success, in 2021 Fosh toured the UK with his show "Zocial Butterfly", which he had originally written in 2019.[22] He then went on to take the show to the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2022, his debut at the festival,[23] Isobel Lewis of The Independent rated the performance two out of five stars, said he was "promising" despite lacking the "comedy chops needed for a Fringe show."[24] On 3 November 2022, Fosh played the show in London once again, this time at the London Palladium.

Other

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On 9 September 2023, Fosh played in the Sidemen charity match, an association football match to raise money for charity, for the YouTube Allstars team.[25][26] He scored the 7th goal of the match in the 56th minute.[27] In the 78th minute, Fosh tackled and fouled Sidemen member Miniminter, resulting in referee Mark Clattenburg issuing him a yellow card. In response, Fosh pulled an Uno "reverse card" from his shorts and showed it to Clattenburg, garnering Internet and media attention.[28][29]

2021 London mayoral candidate

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Fosh was an independent candidate in the 2021 London mayoral election, which was eventually won by the incumbent, Sadiq Khan. Fosh admitted to running simply to "wind up" fellow former Harrovian Laurence Fox, who was running as a right-wing candidate for the Reclaim Party, which Fox had recently founded.[30][31] Fosh aimed to get more votes than Fox,[32] as well as increase youth turnout.[33]

Fosh launched his campaign in a YouTube video on 12 March 2021,[12] although did not expect to win and even encouraged people not to vote for him, claiming "I would make a terrible mayor".[34] His jovial policies included putting a seed in every cigarette butt, providing every household with a cow so they know when it is going to rain, and carpeting the M25 to make it "the smoothest motorway in the world";[35] he also said he would replace all police sirens with Fox's song "The Distance", which he quipped would make people move out of the way 23% faster.[35] Given this election was held in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fosh also said "I would listen to all of the scientists and people from industry to try and get us the best solution to get us out of COVID-19",[12][33] which was in direct contrast to Fox who had been a vaccine skeptic.

On 30 March 2021, Fosh appeared at Fox's campaign launch. Fox arrived on a classic London Routemaster bus, emblazoned with his campaign messaging. Fosh had been tipped off about this and pulled up alongside in a small red car, printed with the slogan "Don't believe everything you see on a bus".[30]

After Fox agreed to a policy debate against Fosh, on 28 April 2021, Fosh arrived outside Fox's campaign headquarters with two lecterns, but Fox did not show.[36] Over the course of the campaign, Fosh also snuck into Fox's headquarters and registeredlaurencefox.orgto display his manifesto.[37] In the election, Fosh finished in 19th place out of 20 with 6,309 (0.2 per cent) of the votes.[38][39]

Awards and nominations

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Awards for radio presenting
Award ceremony Year Category Result Ref.
National Hospital Radio Awards 2017 Best Newcomer Won [8]
2018 Best Male Presenter Nominated [40]

References

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  1. ^ a b "About Max Fosh". YouTube.
  2. ^ "Here's how a Youtube prankster became world's richest man for 7 mins". Business Today. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  3. ^ Harrow Association (9 November 2019). We hope you are enjoying the HA Podcasts. This week's spotlight is on our interview with Harrow School Governor and Harrow Development Trust Trustee... | By Harrow AssociationFacebook (Video). Retrieved 23 April 2024 – via Facebook.
  4. ^ a b Bullivant, Tom (4 June 2021). ""I definitely do have responsibility; the level of that responsibility I don't know yet." Max Fosh at The Cambridge Union". Varsity Online. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  5. ^ Harry Bucknall. "Harrow Generations - Matthew Fosh & son Max" (Podcast). Harrow Association. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Harrow Newsletter Autumn 2022" (PDF). 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Meet the alumni who have made an impact in student media over the past 7 decades". Newcastle University. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  8. ^ a b "National Hospital Radio Awards - 2017 Winners". Hospital Broadcasting Association. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Radio Tyneside upgrade studio with a little help from the Canford Community Fund". Canford. Canford Audio Limited. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  10. ^ "BBC Radio 1 announces first-ever TikTok Takeover on Christmas Day". BBC. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  11. ^ Scott, Jim (17 December 2020). "Former Newcastle student comes up with bizarre way to grab attention of BBC bosses". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  12. ^ a b c Petherick, Sam; Atkin, Elizabeth; Martin, Rachel (7 May 2021). "London Mayor Election 2021: Who are all the candidates?". Metro. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  13. ^ Logan, Brian (22 August 2022). "'Am I going to get shot?' Comedy's wild pranksters on their most daring stunts". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2023. "I try to stay away from the word prank," he tells me.
  14. ^ a b c "'Welcome to Luton' stunt panics Gatwick Airport arrivals". BBC News. 22 May 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  15. ^ Coffey, Helen (23 May 2022). "'Welcome to Luton' prank sign panics Gatwick Airport passengers". Independent. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  16. ^ "'Welcome to Luton' sign in England: Prank scares arrivals into London Gatwick Airport". Sydney Morning Herald. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  17. ^ Fosh, Maximillian. "YouTuber Max Fosh behind 'Welcome to Luton' prank". BBC Three Counties Radio (Interview). Interviewed by Justin Dealey. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  18. ^ "Prank Switching London Airport sign panics passengers". New Zealand Herald. 22 May 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  19. ^ Smith, Lawrence (23 May 2021). "'Welcome to Luton' prank near Gatwick Airport: YouTuber Max Fosh surprises air passengers". Luton Today. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  20. ^ Fuller, Christian (26 May 2022). "YouTuber Max Fosh claims responsibility for 'Welcome to Luton' sign at Gatwick airport". The Argus. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  21. ^ "BBC Three Counties radio rivals 'Welcome to Luton' banner stunt". BBC News. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  22. ^ "Meet the Popular YouTuber and Comedian Who Rose to Fame Making Hilarious Videos on the Streets of Newcastle". Living North. August 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  23. ^ Lewis, Isobel. "Meet the TikTok comedians taking over this year's Edinburgh Fringe". Independent. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  24. ^ Lewis, Isobel (17 August 2022). "Edinburgh Fringe comedy reviews, from Jayde Adams to Patti Harrison". The Independent. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  25. ^ "Max Fosh". Fotmob. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  26. ^ Stolworthy, Jacob (9 September 2023). "YouTube fans prepare for Sidemen Charity Match – but which YouTubers will be playing?". The Independent. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  27. ^ "Sidemen FC vs YouTube Allstars". Fotmob. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  28. ^ Perrie, Stewart (10 September 2023). "Player whips out an UNO Reverse card after he's given a yellow card by the referee". LADbible. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  29. ^ Smithers, Dominic (11 September 2023). "Player who whipped out UNO reverse card after getting yellow card speaks out". LADbible. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  30. ^ a b Strick, Katie (7 May 2021). "London mayoral election 2021: who are the candidates in the race to become London mayor?". Evening Standard. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  31. ^ Golby, Joel (29 April 2021). "Two YouTubers, Count Binface and a man who drank his own urine. Who gets your vote as London mayor?". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2023. His whole shtick is trolling Laurence Fox.
  32. ^ Wyatt, Tim (6 May 2021). "Who are the candidates standing for mayor of London this year?". Independent. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  33. ^ a b Max Fosh (19 April 2021). Max Fosh: 'I want to engage young voters and beat Fox'. BBC.
  34. ^ Waterson, Jim (30 April 2021). "How YouTubers turned running for London mayor into content". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  35. ^ a b Doherty, Simon (5 May 2021). "We Asked a YouTuber Running for London Mayor to Review Every Candidate". Vice. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  36. ^ "Video: Laurence Fox stands up rival mayoral candidate Max Fosh at debate". Metro. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  37. ^ Zitser, Joshua; Greenspan, Rachel (5 May 2021). "YouTubers running for London mayor are using prank videos and trolling candidates to get votes, and the race follows a global trend". Insider. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  38. ^ "Results factsheet 2021 | London Elects". London Elects. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  39. ^ "Mayoral Final Results 2021" (PDF). London Elects. May 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  40. ^ Dedicoat, Alan. Alan Dedicoat Nominations 2018. Hospital Broadcasting Association. Retrieved 17 September 2023.

Primary sources

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  1. ^ Fosh, Maximilian Arthur (19 December 2021). I Paid A Private Investigator To Follow Me For A Month (Video). Event occurs at 5:22. Retrieved 23 April 2024 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ Fosh, Maximilian Arthur (23 May 2021). I Have Hidden £10,000 For You To Find - Clue 2 (Video). Event occurs at 1:55. Retrieved 23 March 2024 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Fosh, Maximilian Arthur (19 February 2023). I Sued My Sister For A Crime She Committed As A Child (Video). Event occurs at 8:29. Retrieved 23 April 2024 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ Fosh, Max (26 July 2020). I Recreated My Primary School Sports Day With My Old Classmates (Video). Event occurs at 0:24. Retrieved 16 May 2023 – via YouTube.