Meet Benjamin Tarrolly, one of the new generation of online comedians that is taking online media by storm.

Ben, aged 32, from Madison in Wisconsin, is a viral celebrity on TikTok, where its short format video clips are perfect for the one line jokes, puns and social commentaries that he makes for his army of online fans.

At the end of December 2020, just before the world went into lockdown, he left his job as an insurance salesman in the midwest for GEICO to become a full-time social media influencer.

He told newsflash: “I created my TikTok because my friends were constantly telling me I needed to get on the app and start making videos.”

His short clips are regularly played millions of times, allowing him to be a full-time media influencer on his TikTok account “bentellect”.

Part of the reason he was able to leave the full-time job was that he got paid some money from a TikTok creator’s fund that helps beginners make the switch from part-time to full-time social media influencing.

As well as delivering his one-liners he also does short sketches, such as one where he follows instructions on the screen to search for a little green man without success, then suddenly opens the kitchen cupboard at which point he is confronted with the weird Martian, this video has notched up 5 million views.

Others include observations about life, pictures and weird facts that he shares in a non-stop stream of mini clips with fans.

His trademark is bursting into laughter at his own jokes just before cutting off has endeared him to millions of viewers that regularly tune in to his channels.

Asked about the laugh he said had to be real, saying: “I don’t ever pre-record videos because I like my videos to be genuine and natural.”

He began by repeating short tweets part-time drawing material that he had been saving up for years which he found funny, and typically will read half a dozen for each short video.

This results in lines like: “if I say good night and an hour later I’m still online it’s not that I lied, it’s just that I failed (laughter)” or “imagine being so single that when you listen to a romantic song nobody comes to your mind”.

He admits he would record a lot of them during his lunchtime and when it started to go really well, decided to go into a full-time with fans then sending him material for him to include as well which only made the job easier.

He said: “I find a lot of my ideas on the internet. Whether it be random threads on Instagram or just researching for weird facts on google. I like to give people funny videos and also informative ones. I usually post a mix of tweet reading videos, thread videos, and comedy skits. It just depends what I’m feeling that day.”

He has three sisters before reworked insurance but in the restaurant business for five years before then doing five years in the insurance business.

His older sister, Tiffany, has an online marketing business and helps him with publicity, merchandise and video ideas, and admits that despite her enormous faith in him even she was amazed at what a success he has become, with all sorts of possibilities developing like the fact that he moved into selling T-shirts with some of his favourite expressions.

Speaking about his success himself, Ben said: “I had no clue things would get as big as they are. When I first joined TikTok I was just bored and filming videos for fun and to show my friends. It is still so crazy to me that I have a following but I try not to focus on that and instead focus on putting out more different content for my fans to enjoy.”