World Of T-Shirts / Joshua Block

About

World Of T-Shirts or WorldOfTshirts is the social media handle of TikTok personality Joshua Block as well as the name of his online T-shirt store. Block gained significant notoriety on TikTok around October 2020 for his comedy videos, live streams and vlogs, particularly for his eccentric, extroverted and naturally entertaining personality. He quickly became synonymous with the city of New York due to most of his content revolving around New York City. For instance, in May 2021, Block paid to have a billboard in Times Square display him dancing along with his TikTok handle. He is referred to by some as an AIOPM or TikTok Lolcow. Some online belive that he struggles with alcoholism due to alcohol's prevalence in his videos and livestreams. In 2022, he became deeply involved with fellow TikToker Michael Quinn (@thisismichaelquinn) who became Block's pseudo-mentor and helped him start his tour group called The World of T-shirts Experience. In 2023, fellow TikTok Lolcow Daniel Larson and Joshua Block had an imagined beef between them, leading to their eventual May 10th, 2023, meet-up, organized by Michael Quinn. In late January 2024, Block was arrested by the NYPD for allegedly attempting subway surfing and then released and fined a day later.

History

World Of T-Shirts Store

According to Block's LinkedIn^[3] profile, he has been the CEO of "World of T-Shirts Online" since March 2017, assumedly when he started the CafePress^[4] website of the same name. The website features a wide variety of T-shirts, phone cases and more featuring various well-known catchphrases and photographs by Block, as well as generic seasonal shirts. Many of the designs are arguably basic, such as a shirt that reads "Get Off My Lawn!!!!!!" (examples shown below).

TikTok Success

On September 22nd, 2020, Block posted his first comedy video to his TikTok^[1] account @WorldOfTshirts (shown below). In the video, Block lip dubs to a song consisting of a string of swear words. The video gained over 30,000 views in nine months.

Over the course of September and October, Block made videos almost daily, some gaining tens of thousands of views. Block also began livestreaming on TikTok, being banned a number of times during these streams. On September 26th, Block made a video advertising himself as one of the few "variety accounts" on the platform because he makes dance videos, lip-dub videos and vlogs (shown below).

On September 27th, Block posted his first video to gain over 100,000 views to TikTok, a duet criticizing an account showing you how to fix a shattered toilet using only ramen (shown below, left). The video gained over 300,000 views in nine months. On October 1st, Block posted a video claiming a pandemic happens every 100 years, offering various examples, garnering over 1.7 million views in eight months (shown below, right).

Joshua continued posting near-daily "variety content" over the course of the year, gaining a significant following for his eccentric yet awkward personality, and generally unpredictable and unfiltered content. Many users comment on the way he speaks, annunciating every word very precisely. On October 6th, Block posted a video to TikTok that gained over 9.7 million views in eight months (shown below, left). On October 20th, he posted another video that gained over 1.7 million views in a comparable span of time (shown below, right).

On the same day, Block posted a video to TikTok^[6] in which he dances to "Conga" by Gloria Estefan, garnering over 800,000 views in the same span of time (shown below).

On March 14th, 2021, Block posted a video to TikTok^[9] of himself loudly singing "Empire State of Mind" in the middle of New York City, garnering over 24 million views in three months (shown below). This has since become one of his most well-known videos.

As of June 1st, 2021, the @WorldOfTshirts TikTok account boasts over 2 million followers.

Billboard In Times Square NYC

On May 31st, 2021, Block posted a video to TikTok of a billboard in Times Square showing a video of himself dancing under his TikTok handle, garnering over 2.9 million views in a day (shown below).

Block posted a number of videos of the billboard that day (shown below, left and right).

Criticism

In May 2021, a video began circulating of a TikToker with Block, who then demands $50 for the video (reupload shown below). The original poster's account is private.

On May 17th, another video of Block charging $50 for a video appeared online (shown below).

Block gained significant criticism on TikTok following these claims, with many hypothesizing that his TikTok fame went to his head. For example, on May 17th, TikToker^[8] @rt.fern posted a video secretly filming Block (or someone who appears to be Block) with the caption, "Guys don't tell Joshua," garnering over 2 million views in two weeks (shown below, left). Block went live on TikTok that month and addressed the criticism, saying he charges fans for videos and pictures so they don't "get famous for nothing," only increasing the criticism (shown below, right).

Online Presence

Autism Speculation

There is speculation online about whether Block is on the autism spectrum, however, he has never spoken on the subject. On March 9th, 2021, Redditor u/frogplushie posted to /r/autism^[2] expressing concern for WorldOfTshirts, noting how many of his comments mock him and use phrases like “joshua they can hear you” and “joshua stop everyone is looking at you” to make fun of the way he yells and sings loudly in public.

Interviews

On April 8th, 2021, YouTuber^[5] World of Interviews posted a video interviewing Block in which he recalls his rise to TikTok fame, garnering over 7,300 views in two months (shown below).

On May 28th, Instagram^[7] page @sidetalknyc posted a man-on-the-street video featuring Block in which he talks about being banned from the Gucci store, sings "Empire State of Mind" and asks a fan for $25 for a picture with him, garnering over 200,000 views in four days (shown below).

Daniel Larson x Joshua Block

Daniel Larson x Joshua Block, also known as Daniel Larson vs. Joshua Block, refers to the 2023 meet-up of AIOPM TikTokers Daniel Larson and Joshua Block in New York City. Going into early 2023, fans of both TikTok Lolcows decided to push the two to fight each other in New York City, leading to both of them namedropping one another and starting apparent beef. In April 2023, Daniel Larson revealed that he was in New York, leading to speculation that he might find Block in real life. Awareness of their possible meet-up spread online, resulting in people close to Block (such as TikToker Michael Quinn) condemning the possible collab.

May 10th, 2023, Meet-up

On May 9th, 2023, TikToker^[10] @thisismichaelquinn posted a video in which we was having a meal with Daniel Larson, gaining roughly 129,300 plays and 7,600 likes in two days (shown below, left). About an hour later, Quinn uploaded a second TikTok^[11] in which he stated that Block agreed to meet Larson in real life, gaining roughly 277,300 plays and 22,200 likes in two days. On May 10th, 2023, Block posted a TikTok^[12] showing that he and Larson were together in real life in a New York City Starbucks. In less than a day, the video gained over 2.2 million plays and 428,000 likes (shown below, right). The May 10th, 2023, meet-up caused a large number of reactions and memes on social media in the days that followed.

2024 WorldOfTshirts Arrest In NYC

On January 31st, 2024, Joshua Block was arrested by the New York City Police Department for subway surfing, which is the act of riding the subway while outside of the train, via the sides, top or in-between sections.

This activity, which leads to several fatalities every year, resulted in Joshua receiving a fine. On January 31st the TikToker darkfever^[13] posted the arrest, while Joshua Block posted a TikTok^[14] the day after his arrest (shown below, left and right).