New York City-based tour guide and content creator Joshua Block, who goes by worldoftshirts on TikTok, is a beloved online sensation with more than 2.6 million followers.
Hailing from Patchogue, Long Island, Block, who reportedly has autism, first joined the platform in 2019. Block’s TikTok username comes from the name of his company, World of T-Shirts, which he launched two years before that.
He’s geeky, warm and extroverted, and he has a knack for making silly scenes at NYC hot spots. After becoming a sensation during the pandemic for his original Times Square “Empire State of Mind” video, Block went on to film himself belting the iconic anthem from increasingly absurd locations. Like, for instance, hanging out of a helicopter.
Block is obsessed over near-constantly on the r/WorldofTShirts subreddit, where a community of avid rubberneckers pore over his every move. Lately, though, a lot of his moves have involved binge-drinking.
Nearly every single one of Block’s videos posted within the last couple of months feature him, bespectacled and sporting his signature sea captain’s hat, chugging Twisted Tea, vodka, or any number of nuclear-grade cocktails while riding the subway.
“People keep saying I’m an alcoholic and that I should go get help, but I’m 22 years old,” Block told The Daily Beast by phone this week. “I’m just enjoying my life.”
To many of his viewers, Block seems to be falling apart in real time. In several TikToks, he shares that he’s fallen asleep on the subway and has woken up with no idea where he is. Block’s increasingly erratic behavior is so avidly scrutinized there’s even another TikTok account—titled @worldofalcoholtracker, with 113,000 followers—dedicated solely to tallying his daily booze intake.
On Nov. 28, that account calculated that after consuming rum cocktails, shooters, two Irish Car Bombs and a vodka cranberry cocktail, Block’s blood alcohol level was around 0.38. “This is like, past the blackout range. This is like, lethal,” the account’s creator narrates. A video posted to the TShirts subreddit dated December 19th, filmed by an onlooker, shows Block vomiting on the subway.
At around noon this past Tuesday, Block, wearing his omnipresent captain’s hat, posted a TikTok of himself chugging what appeared to be a miniature bottle of vodka. “Leaving for Miami tomorrow night,” the caption reads. (Block has been teasing this upcoming trip for weeks). The video already has nearly 400,000 views. Three hours later, Block posted another TikTok, this time taking a huge swig from a Twisted Tea tallboy.
It was later that evening that The Daily Beast reached Block by phone.
“I need a vacation,” the TikToker said of his trip to Miami. “I need a change of scenery. I’m gonna chill on the beach and drink a cocktail.”
How much, exactly, does he drink these days, we asked?
“I don’t drink as much as I used to,” Block insisted. “I’ve been cutting down for sure.”
Block’s most recent Live, documented by loyal Redditors, shows him seated alongside a man named Michael Quinn, who’s become a prominent figure in the Block universe and a point of contention amongst Block’s fans. Many insist Quinn doesn’t have Block’s best interests at heart. Block, meanwhile, thinks his fans are “being very mean” to Quinn. “They want to try to get him canceled,” he told The Daily Beast.
“He doesn’t pay my tab,” Block said, referring to Quinn. “We both have separate tabs. When I want alcohol, I buy it myself. I pay for my own drinks.”
Block went on to explain that he met Quinn about a year ago. “We were at Rolf's German restaurant drinking eggnog,” he said. “You know, like the Christmas restaurant? We were drinking bourbon-spiked eggnog and we went out to dinner. That’s where I first met him.”
Quinn, the co-owner of Coney Island’s iconic hot dog spot Feltman’s and a fellow New York City TikToker, frequently posts updates to his own followers about Block’s health.
“I was on the phone with Josh for quite some time today,” Quinn says in a TikTok he posted Monday. “The two of us were discussing him getting some help. It’s something that he did say he would consider, not at the moment, but he did say he could see himself going to AA eventually. It’s something that I’m really pushing for…but I can’t force him to do it. Tomorrow the two of us are going to be on a podcast, and we’re going to be answering some of these questions.”
TikToker Evan Rugen, aka “Bowery Boi,” posted a preview of the interview on Wednesday. In the clip, Quinn is seated next to Block. “Something quite a lot of people have accused you of is making money off of Josh,” Rugen says to Quinn.
“None of that’s true,” Block answers quickly.
“The thing about Josh, if you know Josh as well as I do, if anyone’s making money off of him or he’s giving money, he would let you know,” Quinn says, grinning.
The Daily Beast reached out to Quinn for comment but did not receive a response.
Block told The Daily Beast that he currently lives on Long Island with his grandparents.
“My mom died of cancer, and my father was an alcoholic and a drug addict,” Block said. “He’s in rehab now. He’s been in rehab for many years. He had a really bad drinking problem.”
Asked directly if he’s considered quitting alcohol altogether, Block replied, “I just want to enjoy my young years. If I feel like I need help, I’ll go to AA meetings.”
Under every one of Block’s front-facing camera videos, a chorus of commenters steps in to gawk at the latest upload. Some people beg Block to slow down or seek help, while many clearly just find the whole thing hilarious and encourage him to imbibe even more.
Several TikTokers who gained fame and notoriety specifically for drinking to excess in the videos they got famous for on the platform have died, including 23-year-old David Lee Perez and Chinese TikTok phenom Brother Three Thousand, who passed away in May after ingesting huge quantities of liquor called Baijiu for his followers on TikTok live.
On Monday, Block posted a TikTok in which he ascends an escalator in an opulent Manhattan shopping area decorated for the holidays. “Josh, why is there not a drink in your hand?” the top-voted comment reads. “Fix it!”