'TikTok Rizz Party' Legend 'Turkish Quandale Dingle' Talks About Going Viral, The Group Leader And Becoming A School Celebrity

Last month, TikTokers brought the TikTok Rizz Party meme to new heights when a few videos of some teens dancing to 'Carnival' went viral on the platform. In typical TikTok fashion, viewers took the videos and created a whole world of lore around them. In particular, Michael Amato, now known online as Turkish Quandale Dingle, became a runaway star thanks to the memes and his dubious-at-best resemblance to meme star Quandale Dingle.

We spoke with Amato to learn what it's like to become a meme overnight, find out how it affected him and what he thinks of all the memes.

Q: So what's the story behind the sweet 16 that's now known as the TikTok Rizz Party?

A: This party was originally a sweet 16 that me and my friends were invited to. When we went, we were just looking to have fun, but we really didn't know there was gonna be like a whole camera crew there. So, when they walked in, we were kind of shocked.

Throughout the night, we kept dodging the camera and everything, but towards the end of the night we were like, "All right, let's just get into it." 'Cause we wanted to have a lot of fun. So, we got into it and then the "Carnival" thing happened and then "I Just Wanna Rock" happened and all that happened.

Q: Did you know those videos were going to end up online?

A: We knew they were gonna go online 'cause the [camera guy said they're] gonna be on TikTok, but before we went on the dance floor we looked him up and he wasn't that popular. So we're like, "Oh, all right. It's not gonna get that many views."

The next morning we woke up and it had a bunch of views and then over 500,000 likes. We didn't realize how much it was gonna blow up.

Q: What do you think of the memes? Do you find them funny and were you aware of the TikTok Rizz Party memes before the videos blew up?

A: I think they're funny, some of 'em. Most of them, like analyzing the TikTok Rizz Party and impressing the group leader. I find those funny, but it's all part of the lore now that they made. But yeah, I find it funny.

I wasn't aware of the poster and all that. One of [the memes] was like, "nightmare, blunt rotation" and another one was TikTok Rizz party and all those. But we didn't know there was a poster about it. When they were added to one of the edits, we found it really funny.

Q: What was your initial reaction to seeing the videos going so viral and becoming memes?

A: At first we thought it was stupid. We were like, "Oh my God, they got us dancing. We look so stupid just trying to have fun." The next day in school, of course we got comments. People were like, "Oh my God, you guys were dancing, you had your tongue out and everything."

But towards the end of the week we realized it was getting popular and people were like, "Oh, these kids are actually funny. These kids are chill. They were just trying to have fun." So, yeah, towards the end of that week, everyone was realizing we were just trying to have fun and have a good time.

Q: What's all the extra attention in the hallways at school been like?

A: It's been cool. I like getting the attention in the hallways. I'm just trying to get to class and I just hear "Turkish!" in the hallway and I'm turning around like, "Who's calling my name?" People were doing my dance in front of me, I just laugh at it and then go to class.

Q: Are you really Turkish?

A: No, I'm Italian.

Q: When did you first see people referring to you as Turkish Quandale Dingle and what's your opinion of the nickname?

A: The first time I saw Turkish Quandale Dingle was when they were analyzing [the videos]. They were analyzing it and Turkish Quandale Dingle with his big nose is trying to impress the group leader.

I mean, I don't see the resemblance at all. I see what they mean by the nose part, but I don't really see a resemblance. I just stuck with it because that's what they want. So I'm like, all right, if that's what they wanna call me then they can do that.

Q: What are your favorite memes that have come out of all of this and were those your actual dance moves you were showing off in the videos?

A: I'd probably say impressing the group leader when he was doing his dance, but really I was just trying to get in the circle. 'Cause it was really him the whole night dancing, Sebi the Blue Tie Kid. No one was getting in the middle. So I'm like, all right, I'll go in. I told him to wait and then I just danced. I was just trying to dance 'cause no one else was dancing.

I mean, it's a popular dance, the song we danced to, "Just Wanna Rock." I guess Lil Uzi did that in one of his concerts or something.

Q: Has everyone featured in the videos had the same reaction to the virality? Do they all like the memes?

A: We found it stupid at first, but then we started to find it funny towards the end of that week. So, we all took it the same way and we realized that we were just trying to have fun. We realized the memes were actually funny, so we just took it and laughed.

Q: How did people perceive you at school before the Rizz Party memes as opposed to after?

A: Before the whole thing, people used to see me as like, just a person. They used to just talk to me. But now, most people, like in public, they see me as a character. They're like, "Oh, I don't know if I wanna take a picture with him or not. Is that really him?" All that's happening. So that's really what changed.

Q: What does your family think of the memes?

A: My family knows about the whole thing. They think it's really funny and they support it, they know we're just trying to have fun. I appreciate them supporting me doing it.

Q: You recently started posting videos playing into the meme. What made you decide that was the right move?

A: We decided two weeks after the Rizz Party, 'cause me and my friend Sebi, the Blue Tie kid, we both realized we can turn this thing around and make it positive, do reactions to it and flip it around.

Q: Do you want to be a content creator?

A: Yeah, making content is one of every kid's big dreams, but this opportunity has been handed to us and it's a big thing for us. So we're gonna try to take it and make some big stuff happen.

We're probably gonna make some vlogs with each other, be ourselves in the videos, have some fun with it and also do collaborations with other people, all the big YouTubers and all that. We just came back from LA this last weekend. Lance Baker flew us out for a haircut interview and we just hung out the whole day and made a bunch of content with other creators.

Q: Do you get recognized in public a lot?

A: We get recognized in public a lot. People, they look at us as like characters now. They're like, "Oh my God, it's him. It's really him." Some of them are actually brave enough to ask us to take a picture. We take pictures, we tell them what's been happening.

Q: Some of the comments and reactions have been a little hateful towards you guys. What's your opinion on that side of things and how do you deal with the negativity?

A: At the beginning, when the "Carnival" video came out, they were calling us a "bop fest" or "bops" in the beginning. But then when the "Just Wanna Rock" video came out they realized, "Oh, these kids were just trying to have fun. They were just trying to have fun dancing at a sweet 16." Some of the comments were like, "Oh my God, Blue Tie and Quandale Dingle are having a battle for group leader" and all that. So we're like, "All right, this is sick. Let's try to turn this around." So then we started making lore about it and everyone's carrying it.

Q: It can be hard for TikTokers to break away from one viral tactic into new content avenues. How do you plan on using this fame to successfully branch out into other content?

A: I think we can overcome it. I know this meme's gonna die down soon, maybe in another week or two, but once this meme dies down, me and Sebi, my friend, we're trying to form a background for us just to be ourselves in videos for the future. We just wanna be ourselves and start to build another structure of just us, not known as the Blue Tie Kid and the Quandale Dingle kid.

Q: Any advice for people who might go viral like this and not know how to deal with it?

A: My advice is, don't let the negativity get to you. Try to turn it around, make it positive and try to make a part of your living out of it. Try to make it like you're part of that life now, or like you're that character.

A big thanks to Michael for speaking with us. You can follow Michael on TikTok @Michael_Amato1 or on Instagram at Mike.Amato3.