Joshua Block (internet personality)

Joshua Paul Block, also known by his online handle worldoftshirts, is an American internet personality and social media content creator. He gained fame with daily vlogs on TikTok during a time when the social media platform itself experienced a surge in popularity, catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Block's videos often feature him around New York City, engaging in spontaneous performances, verbal confrontations, and "destructive" alcohol consumption.

Biography

Block, who has autism, is originally from Patchogue, a Long Island village in New York State. He excelled in school, where he participated in cross country and track racing. In 2017, he launched a t-shirt company, "World of T-Shirts", from which his Instagram and Tiktok handles are derived. Block joined TikTok in 2019, and has described his early videos on the social media platform as unoriginal and consisting of "silly dances in the bathroom". At the end of 2020 Block says he began regularly going to New York City; during his first trip he bought a wig, a leather jacket, and black pants to create an homage to Michael Jackson’s "Bad" music video. By March 2021, he had gone viral with a TikTok video featuring his rendition of "Empire State of Mind" alongside a few bystanders, in Times Square.

By 2023, a Daily Beast article on Block described him as "falling apart in real time", with his videos increasingly involving binge-drinking and erratic behavior. However, Block has pushed back on concerns about his health, stating "I'm just enjoying my life". In October 2025, he was involved in a violent incident outside a bar in Berkeley, California, where he shouted "I hate immigrants", allegedly instigated a brawl, and bit a woman on the hand, who said she planned to file charges against him.

Block has been characterized as a "LOLcow", meaning an individual, typically disabled, who is perceived as providing comedic value and is subject to mockery and disingenuous support without their awareness. Much of Block's fanbase consists of "onlookers who proclaim to obsessively watch his videos out of morbid fascination". According to The Daily Beast, comments on Block's videos include both users begging him to "slow down and seek help" and amused users who encourage his behavior. When Block– accompanied by his manager Tony Bame and a small entourage– visited the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in November 2025, members of a fraternity and other students gave him alcoholic beverages, while others shouted provocative comments at him.

See also

• Internet trolling
• Jason Itzler