A young child’s unexpected appearance on Australian television made waves across the globe as they left the hosts in stitches with a hilarious vegan joke. Poking fun at those who avoid eating meat. Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo, co-hosts of the Today show, found themselves visibly taken aback when the young student delivered a joke that was quite out of the ordinary for morning television.
However, the hosts couldn’t contain their laughter once their initial shock subsided. Stefanovic clutched his head, rolling with amusement on the couch, while newsreader Brooke Boney couldn’t help but cover her mouth in sheer delight. According to Daily Mail Australia, this hilarious moment was entirely spontaneous. Catching the producers off guard as they had no prior knowledge of the joke or its punchline.
The vegan joke started off like this
The youngster began by asking: “A vegan and a vegetarian are jumping off a cliff to see who will hit the bottom first. Who wins?’
Stefanovic replied, “I don’t know” and his co-host, asked: “Who wins?”
Not missing a beat, the boy replies deadpan: “Society.”
Abo replied: “We weren’t expecting that.”
Subsequently, this moment was shared on the Today show’s TikTok account and quickly spread across various social media platforms. Accumulating tens of millions of views. Commentator Benny Johnson hailed the joke in the United States as “the most iconic moment in television history.”
One person commented under Johnson’s video: “That kid’s an absolute legend.” Another added: “The hosts cannot even control their laugh. It is unexpected and delivery is amazing.” A third added: “Taking a break from watching this on repeat to say that I’m watching this on repeat.”
But it didn’t end there as Byron Kirk made another appearance shortly thereafter
On Thursday morning, 10-year-old Byron Kirk returned to the breakfast show for an in-studio chat with co-hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo, where they discussed his recent viral joke. Byron didn’t stop there, though; he followed up with another witty vegan-themed joke, and this time, he even took a playful jab at fans of the Collingwood football club.
‘Why are all Collingwood supporters vegans?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Stefanovic said.
Kirk replied: ‘Because you need teeth to chew meat!’
Once again, Byron’s joke left the co-hosts in delightful shock, with Sarah Abo playfully scolding the 10-year-old, and Karl Stefanovic exclaiming, “Booyah!” Earlier in their conversation, Byron’s mother Melissa disclosed that the initial viral joke was entirely unplanned when he appeared on the show through a Zoom link.
“I kind of stirred him up beforehand. It was like, “Loosen up, tell a joke.” And then before he went on live, I was like, “Don’t tell a joke.”‘ she explained. “And then as soon as you asked for one and it went, I just said, I tried to make it not happen!”
A local star without even trying
Kirk, who resides in the outback Queensland mining town of Mount Isa, also shared that although he doesn’t use social media himself, his friends have been stumbling upon the video “every single day.” Kirk further elaborated on his journey to viral fame, highlighting his recent interview with TV host Piers Morgan.
He mentioned that the conversation with the controversial British presenter went smoothly, as both of them agreed that those who took offense should learn to find humor in things. “Mum kept telling me he’s a really really big person,” Byron said. “He didn’t ask me any hard questions but we were on the same page.”