Stick It To Da Man on TikTok
- Jon Harder
- 22 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Recently, I have begun work on a fun concept that I have been thinking about for quite some time. It’s an idea that was inspired and developed, in a way, over three decades. It’s definitely an outside-the-box passion project and something that might not be easily understood.
The project: Stick It To Da Man.
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As a kid, I loved watching Nickelodeon. There was nothing more entertaining than sitting down on any particular day and watching Nicktoons, Looney Tunes, Guts, Space Cases, Salute Your Shorts, and My Brother And Me (a show that doesn’t get the love it deserves).
In the beautiful Summer afternoons, when I wasn’t playing outside with my friends, I was in front of the television, watching Nick In The Afternoon. And who was the host of that afternoon program?
STICK STICKLY.
I’m not sure what initially started my fandom of Stick Stickly as a kid, but being an old man, I can honestly say that there was something pure about it. A popsicle stick with googly eyes, a yellow clay nose, and a smile? It was just simple.
Nick In The Afternoon was a variety show of sorts. With Stick in front of a desk and a live “studio audience”, there were skits, including U-Dip, Straight From U, and Stump Stick. There was a cast of characters, including Holly B. Wood, gossip queen, and Stick’s mother.
Stick Stickly was so popular that they released a few Nickelodeon special episodes, including Oh. Brother, an episode where Stick traveled to New York City and found his twin brother Wood Knot. He was also so beloved that, to this day, people still remember where to mail letters to him:
Write to me, Stick Stickly
PO Box 963
New York City, New York state
10108
That address definitely received a few custom popsicle sticks from time-to-time over the mid-1990s. Count Stickula was definitely one of them.
After 1998, Nickelodeon decided to go in a different direction with Nick In The Afternoon and Stick Stickly disappeared. I was legitimately saddened. Although I just became a teenager and Nickelodeon was starting to leave my television cycle, Stick was innovative and imaginative for the younger generation to enjoy.
Stick did reappear for a short time on TeenNick in 2012, being a little more edgier in content, but it didn’t catch on and disappeared not shortly after. They were successful, however, in getting the hashtag #POBox963 trending for a time.
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Last year, I began going through a tough time personally. Stifled on creativity, I was really struggling to write, record, or even develop ideas.
One night, in my apartment, I had just polished off an ice cream bar in my kitchen. Sitting at my kitchen table, I looked at the popsicle stick in my hand and began, for some forsaken reason, to think about Stick Stickly.
Just as I had done for an episode of UNFILTERED in 2021, I went on my phone and began watching YouTube clips of Stick Stickly from back in the 1990s. Then, I went on Archive.org (the greatest place on internet Earth) and found old bumpers of Nick In The Afternoon. Inspired for the first time in months, I grabbed a Sharpie, drew a little outfit on a piece of printer paper, glued it on to the popsicle stick, and, all within a five minute span, created a character.
Stick It To Da Man was born.
It also gave me a reason to start a TikTok page. After creating over 40 more popsicle sticks, I felt like I had enough “characters” to begin creating content.
This has legitimately been a tough project to start, but over the past few months, it has inspired me to think outside the box. I’ve begun to find ways to incorporate different ideas into Stick It To Da Man.
Green screen for content? Green cardboard paper taped to an ice cream box.
Ideas for side characters? Doodle on a piece of paper, take a picture of said doodle, and clean it up on Microsoft Paint 3D.
Need to find a platform to stand popsicle sticks on? Reuse Starbucks coffee lids as “stands”.
There is literally no production value to this thing. It is me flying by the seat of my pants. Will this work? Who the Hell knows. But it might be the most fun I’ve had in quite some time,
I’m trying to get to 100 followers on TikTok so I can unveil and try an idea I want to. If you have a TikTok and want to go through brain rot like the rest of us nerds, give me a follow on TikTok.
More importantly, let’s just Stick It To Da Man.
Jon Harder
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