Growing up in Los Angeles, Chuck Testa was the kind of kid who wandered where he wasn't supposed to. He'd sneak onto MGM studio lots, ride motorcycles with friends and, most fatefully, stop dead in his tracks outside a Sunset Boulevard taxidermy shop.

Despite dyslexia making school a struggle, he taught himself the craft with a DIY bird kit he bought at just 19. That first taxidermied bird went on to be proudly displayed in his parents' beach house, and laid the groundwork for what became the now-legendary Ojai Valley Taxidermy.

Decades later, another strange creation would change his life again. Here's what happened after the fame that followed the "Nope! Chuck Testa" video and meme series.

Who Is Chuck Testa, and How Did He First Go Viral?

The "Official Ojai Valley Taxidermy TV Commercial" YouTube video was first posted way back in August 2011.

The comically low-brow video features Chuck Testa propping up a number of taxidermied animals, saying, "You probably thought this deer was alive, and this coyote was alive, and this pheasant was alive." The shot then switches to him sitting on a tree trunk surrounded by his creations, saying, "Nope, they're not. They're dead. They've been taxidermist by Chuck Testa. Ojai Valley Taxidermy, I specialize in the most lifelike dead animals anywhere. Period."

Testa continues to drop his iconic catchphrase, "Nope! Chuck Testa," in classic deadpan fashion throughout the video, appearing when a man (who turned out to be his son) notices an antelope driving a car, and again when a young woman (who is actually his daughter) says, "Oh no, there's a bear in my bed."

But the ad wasn't something Testa cooked up entirely on his own. It was produced by YouTube comedy duo Rhett & Link for their 2011 IFC show Commercial Kings, in which they created low-budget spots designed to go viral.

Testa, who hadn’t even heard the word, what do you call them? Mimes? Memes? brought an endearing awkwardness that made the catchphrase stick, despite Rhett & Link's attempts to coach him.

Testa's future son-in-law decided to go ahead and post the commercial they had cooked up on YouTube after filming for Commercial Kings wrapped up, but even he couldn't have known what the internet had in store for Chuck Testa.

How Did 'Nope! Chuck Testa' Become a Meme?

On September 15, 2011, Redditor u/LunaMcLovin reposted the commercial to the /r/videos subreddit, calling it "the funniest low-budget commercial I have ever seen." Within a day, it hit the front page and racked up millions of views on YouTube.

Naturally, the memes came rolling in, with Testa getting photoshopped alongside everything from Cthulhu to the cast of Twilight.

Testa went on to appear in a number of Good Mythical Morning episodes with Rhett & Link, and the trio also followed up with "Dope Zebra," featuring a dancing zebra who is unmasked to reveal Testa.

Let's not forget the iconic Chuck Testa MC Hammer mashup, which at the time gathered nearly as much attention as the original did.

How Did Chuck Testa React to His Newfound Fame?

Chuck Testa remembers the night it all blew up. In a 2020 interview with Know Your Meme, he said that he "began to receive phone calls from some friends. I had only recently gotten a cellphone, wasn't on social media, and didn’t know what a meme was."

The daughter and son, who also featured in the video, were the ones to get a real kick out of the fame.

But as months passed and the five minutes of fame stretched into months, his small-town life turned hectic. "People dropped by my house, my shop phone rang off the hook," he said. Customers complained they couldn't reach him, and his regulars grumbled about whether the hubbub was affecting the quality of their mounts.

Still, Testa has always remained gracious and grateful. The video, he says, "shined a bright light on the art of taxidermy," and he noticed a renewed interest in the craft among young people.

He kept a close friendship with Rhett & Link in the following years, even dressing up as Santa for their kids one Christmas.

The meme also opened unexpected doors. "I had many opportunities for pilots for TV and internet shows," he said. "A Keystone Light commercial, a sock commercial, a headset one …" And best of all, Testa still gets the occasional check in the mail from YouTube.

What's Chuck Testa Been Up To In Recent Years?

More than a decade after his unexpected brush with internet fame, Chuck Testa is running Ojai Valley Taxidermy, tending to hides and mounts, and keeping the "Nope!" spirit alive.

His shop remains open and active, though Yelp reviewers from as recently as 2022 hint he's so in-demand that he might be turning away new clients.

Here's a photo of Testa and his colleague Rudi prepping to mount a Giraffe, and a little anime-style sketch a touring University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) student made of his workspace in 2024.

When he's not behind the workbench, Testa trades his apron for a uniform. He's an avid World War II reenactor, often seen at living history events and posing alongside war paraphernalia.

His Instagram (@ojai_valley_taxidermy) also offers a tender side of the meme icon. It's full of tributes to his family and especially his grandchildren, who appear to be the stars of his feed. You can also keep up with him via his Facebook page and his YouTube channel.

Between his thriving business, his historical reenactments, and his family life in the Ojai Valley, Chuck Testa seems to be enjoying a quieter, well-earned second act.

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For the full history of Nope! Check Testa, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information. To see the rest of our "Where Are They Now" series, you can find them all here. Stay tuned for next week's editorial!

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