Tall Boy Special is comprised of multi-talented musicians and comedians Alex Kagy and Zack Barker. The duo is best known for their viral TikTok success, with songs like “Fictional Aisle,” and “Hot Tub Hot Air Balloon,” making a splash on social media in 2020 when comedy content creator turned SNL writer Ceara O’Sullivan posted a video of herself eavesdropping on her boyfriend’s (now husband’s) band rehearsal. The unsuspecting boyfriend was Tall Boy’s very own Alex.
The Tall Boy Special TikTok channel was flooded with comparisons to Bo Burnham, Marc Rebillet, Tenacious D, The Lonely Island, and many other music and comedy legends. Listening to the barrage of commenters who proclaimed, “I need this on Spotify!”, the Tall Boys recorded and officially released a collection of 12 comedic tracks that vary as widely in lyrical content as they do in genre, on their first studio album, 19 Total Feet, in 2021.
The inspiration for the album title 19 Total Feet was the sum of the three original band members’ heights. Former band member John MacGregor, who acted opposite Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg in Daddy’s Home 2 (2017) no longer performs with the band but continues to be a collaborator and writing partner.
Alex’s acting credits include Wait for Laugh (2018), First Step (2020), and commercials for Honda, Hasbro and Cumberland Farms, where he performed opposite Michael Rapaport.
Zack released his hit song “Disco Snails,” which The Musical Hype called “one of the most fun songs you’ve ever heard,” in collaboration with Vulfmon in 2024 after going viral on his solo TikTok channel and being tapped by Vulfpeck’s Jack Stratton to collaborate on his album, “Dot.” Featuring talents such as Jacob Jeffries and Evangeline, “Disco Snails,” has accrued the third highest Spotify streams of any track on the album. The accompanying music & lyric video was released on Instagram Reels and is the highest-viewed Reel on Vulfpeck’s IG channel at 6.2M.
Tall Boy Special has been compared to all different sounds from Tally Hall and They Might Be Giants to The Barenaked Ladies. As a top comment on TikTok says, their songs are like, “If It’s Always Sunny and Lonely Island had a love child.” When it comes to songwriting, they said, “We love to play with genres, keeping our songs consistently different and fresh while maintaining all our signature twists, turns and dated references. Whether it be Punk, Surf Rock or Musical Theatre, Tall Boy Special has a song for you.”
On 19 Total Feet, they said, "This album is the realization of the potential we discovered while songwriting in quarantine. It’s got a bigger sound and fuller instrumentation but with the familiar comedic narratives and irrelevant pop-culture references that our fans have come to love. 19 Total Feet is a progression in our quality, being our first radio ready release. Question is, is the RADIO ready?”
Before Tall Boy Special –
Zack performed twice in the College Improv Finals in Chicago, Alex studied Music Industry at Northeastern University, and John served in the United States Coast Guard. Though they grew up in different places (Alex in New Jersey, Zack in Massachusetts, and John in California), Zack and John both attended Suffolk University in Boston and performed on the award-winning Improv team, Seriously Bent. Alex and John were both members of the main stage cast at Improv Asylum Boston from 2016-2019, while Zack served as a technician and an understudy to the main stage cast. The boys also wrote and shot a crowd-funded short film (technically a pilot) called the Mortadella King along with their indie comedy troupe Just Suspects. With this group, they performed in Boston's iconic Faneuil Hall Marketplace, along with popular Boston venues including Somerville Theater, Coolidge Corner Theatre, Hard Rock Café Boston, and the Oberon.
Alex and John’s first foray into comedic music Aunt Jenny’s Party was quickly followed by Grill Boys, released in August 2019. The Boys officially moved from Boston to Los Angeles in very late 2019. The Boys have excellent timing. They love to drink big beers and make big, big comedy.