What You Don't Know About The Try Guys' Zach Kornfeld
Zach Kornfeld, a core member of the Try Guys comedy group on YouTube, is well known for his quirky personality and comedic talent. He and the other three members of the Try Guys (Eugene Lee Yang, Ned Fulmer, and Keith Habersberger) began creating content as a group nearly seven years ago.
The first video that started it all, "Guys Try on Ladies' Underwear for the First Time," was published on Sept. 12, 2014. All four members of the gang tested out Victoria's Secret underwear and shared their opinions. According to Zach, the selection for members of the Try Guys was quite simple. "It really came down to who was willing to show their butts," he said in a 2015 interview, per The Highlander.
So, what makes Zach Kornfeld unique in the Try Guys' world, where every member has a strong personality? Is it his choice in pets, tattoos, or both? Find out below.
Despite his dairy allergy, Zach ate ice cream on his first date with his fiancée
As most Try Guys fans already know, Zach Kornfeld kept his relationship with Maggie Bustamante a secret for two and a half years. He finally revealed that he had a girlfriend on Dec. 12, 2018, in a bombshell YouTube video posted on the Try Guys channel.
More recently, Maggie opened up about meeting Zach in a club and how they instantly felt a spark. In a July 19, 2020 interview, she talked about their first date in particular. According to Maggie, the pair went to a ramen restaurant as planned. However, they both soon realized they didn't want the date to end. "We wanted to keep hanging out," she said, via TryPods. "So, we both lied about [our dietary restrictions]. Zach has a dairy allergy. I'm lactose intolerant. But we went to an ice cream shop."
Maggie laughed about the irony but claimed their dairy indulgence didn't ruin the date. "We still wanted to keep hanging out and talking after ice cream," she continued. "So, we went to a tea shop."
Zach has a dog even though he's a cat person
Zach Kornfeld revealed that he got a new puppy in 2017 and the internet was immediately obsessed. The puppy, which is an Australian Shepherd with bright blue eyes, was named Bowie the Pooch after the rock icon David Bowie. However, Zach revealed that he actually likes cats more. "Still a cat person but I mean [sic]," he wrote in a tweet from 2017, in which he shared a picture of his new puppy.
Zach has joked about his choice in a pet ever since he got Bowie. "My new cat Bowie has been acting really weird. He loves playing fetch, is obsessed with belly rubs, and hates his litter box. Anyone know what's going on?" he wrote under an Instagram photo posted on Oct. 11, 2017.
Knowing that his fans absolutely adored Bowie, Zach created an Instagram account for his dog, which has amassed 194,000 followers. Zach and his fiancée Maggie dress Bowie in all kinds of hats, bandanas, and garments to keep his fans happy.
Zach suffers from an autoimmune disease
In a BuzzFeed video posted on Sept. 9, 2017, Zach Kornfeld revealed that he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis. Zach mentioned that he had been suffering from the disease for as long as he'd been making Try Guys videos but didn't know it.
"It kind of started before I went to BuzzFeed," he explained. "A lot of my time would be spent at a computer and I would notice that ... when I sneezed, I could feel the pain shoot from my back through the front through my chest cage." Zach said that he first thought his problems were caused by scoliosis, even though his case of scoliosis was minor. But soon, he realized that the scoliosis did not explain the pain he was going through. After a final plea with his doctor, Zach was referred to a rheumatologist who "within minutes" knew what the problem was. Zach then went for an MRI and finally received his diagnosis.
Ankylosing Spondylitis is a form of inflammatory arthritis that mainly affects the spine, per the Spondylitis Association of America. According to Zach, his body attacks the ligaments between his bones, then tries to "fix it" by building bone on the ligaments. Though Zach was initially on medication that helped with the pain, his medicine stopped working, as he explained in an interview with HealthCentral. He now focuses on lifestyle changes such as stretching and healthy eating to ease symptoms.
Though Zach is Jewish, he has never had a bar mitzvah
Zach Kornfeld has been very open about his Jewish heritage ever since the creation of the Try Guys. He has also openly stated that he is not a devout Jew, as reported by Alma.
Back in 2014, the Try Guys filmed introductory videos for each member of the group. In the caption of Zach's intro, Zach confessed that he has never had a bar mitzvah. "Though Jewish, I dropped out of Hebrew School and never had a bar mitzvah," he wrote, via Facebook. "I *think* this means I'm not a man in the eyes of the Jewish religion (?). But, if I ever record a rap album, I'll get to call it 'Hebrew School Dropout.'"
Since then, the Try Guys have created a variety of videos centering around Zach's heritage. When the group took ancestry DNA tests in May 2017, for instance, Zach discussed how proud he is of his Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. In a surprising twist, he learned that he is not 100 percent Ashkenazi Jewish as he had previously thought. He is still close, at 88.7 percent.
Zach has only one tattoo
Before filming with Try Guys, Zach Kornfeld had never gotten a tattoo. That all changed on Aug. 18, 2014, when he and several other BuzzFeed employees visited a tattoo parlor.
Zach's tattoo choice was a surprising one: he asked for a smiley face on his buttocks. "So, my idea for a tattoo is a smiley face on my butt," he announced in the BuzzFeed video. Though he seemed a bit nervous to begin the process, Zach settled into it quickly. "Tattoos are easy, guys," he said as the artist continued to draw the smiley face. At the end of the video, Zach admitted that he "thought it was going to hurt a lot more."
Once the artist was finished, Zach posted a photo of himself and his butt tattoo on Instagram. In the caption, he wrote, "Life achievement unlocked. Got a smiley face butt tattoo." After the announcement, he followed up with a joking tweet that said, "I apologize for any emotional scarring I may have caused."