A South Waikato farmer jumped on a new trend in 2020, unintentionally acquiring a following of 174,000 fans on TikTok.

It has opened up a whole new world for the guy who would like to be a comedian “when he grows up”. Twenty-three-year-old Wesley Nicholas is a sixth-generation dairy farmer.

“We moved around a lot with dad’s work, and I got to experience the very different approaches to dairy farming from the Far North right down to Balclutha and a few places in between,” says Wesley.

At 16, he attended the Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre, where his dad was lecturing, but left halfway through as it was “boring” and got a job in the South Waikato.

The self-professed bogan loves a bit of car racing and burnouts, and only recently shaved off his trademark mullet and long beard when his wife Angela asked him to.

Wesley is currently 2IC for a sharemilker on a 420-cow Jersey dairy farm and lives there with Angela, his nine-year-old stepson, and the couple’s two-year-old and one-year-old.

TikTok

“My daughter was in hospital in August 2020, and we had a lot of waiting around so I downloaded TikTok and made a few silly videos to pass the time.”

This proved to be the perfect platform to expand upon the silly skit videos he and his brother used to make as kids. At first he just had a few followers, then he started making original skits about his farming life.

One post, about asking your manager for a sick day during calving, went viral with more than 250,000 views, when he only had about 1000 followers at that time.

“It was a time of lockdowns and social distancing from friends. We were still working as normal but during our time off, I really went deep into TikTok.”

A natural comedian himself, Wesley was initially inspired by comedy legends Fred Dagg and Billy T. James, and currently likes Luke Kidgell, Bill Burr, and Mark Normand.

Wesley shares general opinions which resonate with farming communities. He shows very relatable on-farm situations vocalising what would have been uttered or at least privately thought by the majority of farmers in their time.

Content creation

“I like to push boundaries and touch on areas that are a bit close to the bone. I get the occasional troll but mainly people respond well to what I post.

“I try and stick to what I know, and most things are relevant to farming or family life.”

He covers everything from day-to-day farming situations, topical politics and New Zealand culture, with a healthy sprinkling of social commentary. The words “many a true thing said in jest” would be applicable here.

Wesley posts skits where he and his wife roast each other, frequently making her look long-suffering.

In reality Angela is the moderator of the posts and has on a few occasions drawn the line on him putting something live, and he totally respects that.

“While it looks like she’s roasted all the time, she is actually really brilliant with one liners and comes up with great ideas when we go through a post deciding what bits to use.”

Opportunities

Wesley rarely promotes anything on his TikTok account, apart from lollies “because you can’t say no to that, can you?”

“We did make our own ‘Nah All Good’ T-shirts and hoodies and sold a few hundred. We’re looking at some new merch options at the moment.”

The couple are being flown down to Christchurch in June to participate in BrightSIDE 2023 and Wesley will be doing some promotional social media videos in the lead up to the event. The South Island Dairy Event is about inspiring, encouraging and uplifting those starting out in dairying to show them the positive side and the opportunities that a dairying career can provide.

Wesley has been offered a 10-minute spot at a comedy show in Hamilton in July, which he readily admits is “terrifying”. He will be practicing out loud while driving the tractor, which is where he rehearses many of his skit ideas.

“If you’re not terrified of a new thing, then you shouldn’t be doing it. Taking new opportunities should be uncomfortable, that’s how you grow and change as a person.”

Wesley clearly loves farming, the cows and family life. His videos also reflect his love of New Zealand and what it has to offer. This was evident when he stood at the highest point on the farm in the sunshine, surrounded by cows and proudly pointed out the mountains he had conquered - Maungatautari, Pirongia and Kakepuke - and he could see them all from that spot.

@itsthatmadguy on TikTok