Clayburn Cox’s classroom of comedy inspires brand-new special

Just three short years ago, Alabama high school teacher Clayburn Cox had never heard the letters OOTD, short for outfit of the day. Now, that very trend has led to the start of him being a viral sensation with a new comedy special set to air on streaming services like Prime Video and Apple TV+ in May. 

But comedy wasn’t a new venture for Cox by any means. He’d been performing stand-up for years, beginning after a part of his graphic design class became a big hit. 

Clayburn Cox: So, as a school teacher I used to do a story of the day and the students seemed to enjoy that more than they did the content and so one night I decided that rather than do one story I’ll just have a story night at a local coffee shop and told the students, you know, if you’re interested I’m gonna have a story night. And so in hindsight, I doubt that it was that good but it felt good enough at the time, just kind of got bit by the bug. 

Despite a late start to comedy after getting married, Cox had been telling stories from a young age. Growing up in small-town Alabama with a plethora of cousins, he learned to be funny to pass the time. 

Cox: This sense of finding humor, you get so used to it because what else are you gonna do, you know, I, we couldn’t watch a movie in the old time. We had to find some way to occupy ourselves. 

These stories he developed throughout his life are what drew audiences to Cox. He didn’t go viral on his own social media after all but on his students’ TikTok accounts. These videos amassed tens of millions of views. Here, he told stories about his frustration with The Little Mermaid lyrics, the anomaly of describing clouds to aliens, and most notably, his complicated history with corn. As with many viral sensations, Cox didn’t expect this newfound fame. Wesley Anne Barnes, one of his students at the time, simply had him appear in one of her TikToks. The next thing they knew, it was everywhere. 

Cox: We put one out there and fully anticipated that 50 people would get a chuckle, you know, and it turns out the first one got just millions of views, circled the globe.

Barnes is now a junior at Auburn University, in the same town that Cox teaches. She had known Cox since junior high, after her mother, a school teacher herself, began working with him. Barnes started out making Outfit of the Day videos while modeling clothes from the local boutique where she worked. At the time, Cox didn’t even know what TikTok was. For Barnes, the content quickly became more about the stories that Cox told in class. 

Wesley Anne Barnes: It got to the point where he was starting to like come up with more ideas and I’d be like, Mr. Cox, like, I can’t film this fast. 

In the years since, Barnes has come back to visit and the two have filmed more videos. At the time, Cox had ideas written down on note cards that Barnes couldn’t comprehend. Instead, she just chose to let him take the reigns. 

Barnes: I guess his mind just works in a very different way. He’s a very creative person and his note cards are like drawings instead of words.

High School Senior Sophie Higgins also filmed TikToks with Cox after Barnes graduated. Higgins notably went viral with Cox talking about corn. Specifically, how his students tormented him with the vegetable. From putting corn on his doormat, stuffing donuts with creamed corn, and even sending wishes of a cornderful evening on the menu at his anniversary dinner, he lamented about the craze that this vegetable caused on his life. Despite the story’s wide appeal with fans, Higgins had no clue that this would go so viral. 

Sophie Higgins: It’s such a cliche thing to say, but I mean, you never really know what’s gonna go viral, and I think the way he told that story was just the thing that really got people, ‘cause it is a funny story, and I’ve heard him tell it like multiple times, and I laugh every single time without fail. 

While this newfound fame was a surprise to Cox and his students alike, others were not as shocked by the ordeal. 

Ed Wiley: That’s classic Clay. If anybody was going to blow up on somebody else’s TikTok, it would be Clay Cox. That’s right in his wheelhouse. 

That’s Ed Wiley, a Georgia comedian who opened for Cox when filming his new special “So, here’s the thing.” Wiley emphasized that Cox’s comedy appeals to people of any age. 

Wiley: Well, I mean, he’s like, he’s a middle-aged dad, but he’s like a Gen Z muse. He can, I don’t know, there’s something about him that’s just, it’s offbeat but sincere, and he really appeals to everybody. 

Wiley even encouraged listeners to watch Cox’s content with family and friends of all ages. 

Wiley: You can show them to your mom. Your mom will think it’s funny. If your grandma’s on TikTok, show them to her. She’ll think it’s funny. It’s true. Like it’s, it’s legit cross-generational humor. 

For those who are fans of Cox’s prior work in stand-up comedy, he said that this will look a little different. Much of his work for this special is inspired by the style of storytelling that got him this online fame. 

Cox: I thought it would be fun to make a comedy special stylistically very comparable to these TikToks, like not so joke-heavy but like the pithy punchy bizarre storytelling with a little crowd work. 

Cox’s role as a teacher, known by his students and fans across the world as Mr. Cox, has also played a role in his comedy. It’s never easy to make a room full of teenagers laugh, but Cox is thankful for how they help him to connect with different groups of people. He even noted that his crowd work has improved by talking to his students in class.