DENTON — This is a story of a local dancer, Wayne Reese, adopting millennial social influencing tools to get his moves out to as many people as possible.
He is very energetic and social, which helps him rack up TikTok views, likes and followers. He dances a very specific type of hip-hop that came out of the Baltimore club dancing scene. This joyous movement is leading him to fame.
Reese will be showing off his dance moves on "Live with Kelly and Ryan" this Friday for their Trivia Dancing voter contest. You can tune in to see if he wins. Viewers have voted for their favorite dancer and the tally ended on Sunday at 9 p.m. "Live with Kelly and Ryan" airs locally at 9 a.m. on WBOC and WJLA and at 10 a.m. on WBAL.
This 1997 graduate of North Caroline High School not only served near the Korean DMZ in the Army but he used the GI Bill to get a degree in psychology from Salisbury University. He grew up in Caroline County, with most of his childhood being spent at 316 North 4th Street.
He is currently working on a master of social work, but his real passion is racking up TikTok followers. He puts out monologues and dance routines on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts. On TikTok, you can search for him as “Unclegrandpaonone.”
He has over 4.1 million views on TikTok. People seem to love his character "Uncle Grandpa." This created persona dances with gray hair and a cane. On Jan. 21, 2022, he was in the Denver International Airport. After clearing it with airport security, “that something was going to happen, but you will like it,” he stood up from a waiting area chair looking like an old man and started dancing.
The people waiting for their flights seemed delighted. Thanks to smartphones and TikTok, it has gone viral.
“It is a very high-energy style of dancing. It takes skill, it takes rhythm, coordination and musicality. It is definitely good for a cardio workout. Really it is a culture that developed in Baltimore. It is from the world famous club Paradox, which was an after-hours club that was open midnight to 5 a.m. That is where I earned my stripes as a dancer and my reputation, dance-wise. I was a regular at Paradox on Friday nights. My original name was Tydageneral. The club closed in 2016 or 2017. It really was an underground culture that is just now starting to surface. I think with my character Uncle Grandpa, I am really getting more exposure,” said Reese.
He says wherever he travels, he brings a piece of Baltimore club culture with him. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he got released from the Army on a medical discharge. This freed up more time for dancing.
TikTok was born in 2017, and that gave him a whole new theater to dance in. He is a TikTok pioneer with 277,000 followers. His goal is a million. Right now, Uncle Grandpa is his ticket to stardom.
“I came up with the idea that I would dress up as an old man so no one would recognize me and then when the music drops, I would just go off. I tap into the whole character,” he said.
He even mimics the aches and pains of the aged in his routine.
He is in the same MSW program as CASA of Caroline County Executive Director Amy Horne and she recommended that he send one of his videos to the "Live with Kelly and Ryan" show, which was having a dance contest.
“Amy was watching the show one day and they were talking about the whole trivia dancer contest. Everybody sends in a video and America will vote on who their favorite trivia dancer was. She messaged me and told me, ‘Ty you should definitely put Uncle Grandpa up there. Send them a video.’ So I sent them a video and didn’t think anything of it. There was a week contest winner and there was a grand prize. Well somebody beat me for the week prize. So I completely forgot about it, not knowing that my video was part of the grand prize. I was still in the running, but I had no idea,” he said.
Until last week when one of the producers of the "Kelly and Ryan" show called him.
“They told me I was a finalist. I told them I thought I already lost. And she was like, ‘nope you’re still in the running. You were the guy dressed in all black, with the beard and the cane right? You are still in it,’” he said.
Then she explained to him that on Friday they want to do a Zoom conference with him. She gave him a time and told him to have a quiet background for the Zoom. They asked him questions.
“The more excited and involved others get around me, the more energy it brings out of me. I like spreading positive energy and just making people smile,” he said.
His dream is to become a world famous content creator and entertainer and a licensed social worker. It seems like he is on track to do both. Tune in Friday morning to "Live with Kelly and Ryan" to see if he won the virtual dance contest and $2,500. This is a special viewers’ choice award show.
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