Influencer Duncan Joseph Is Ready for His Followers to 'See More of Me' After 'Playing a Character' for Most of His Life (Exclusive)
- - Influencer Duncan Joseph Is Ready for His Followers to 'See More of Me' After 'Playing a Character' for Most of His Life (Exclusive)
Meredith WilshereFebruary 1, 2026 at 6:00 AM
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Duncan Joseph.
Ben Cope
Duncan Joseph, who goes by the username @duncanyounot online, creates videos impersonating people he meets in real life
The viral personality is known for characters like Shannon Debussy and Diana Diamond
Over the next few years, however, Joseph tells PEOPLE he hopes to show more of himself online
For years, Duncan Joseph has been donning different wigs while switching between characters in his social media sketches — but now he's ready for his followers to meet the man underneath.
Joseph, known online as @duncanyounot, has grown a following by slipping into a southern accent to embody characters like Shannon Debussy or Diana Diamond, who he tells PEOPLE are inspired by "incredible women in my life, like my mom, my best friend's mom and some neighbors too."
"I'm thankfully surrounded by a lot of funny people. I live in Los Angeles and New York, and I'm so grateful that all of my friends are hilarious," he says. "The way that I get inspired, or develop characters, is by bantering with my friends, where we're playing characters ourselves in our daily banter."
Duncan Joseph
Ben Cope
"After a while, when I'm talking with them, I'm like, 'Okay, wait, what we just said is amusing, and I already have a name for this person that I just pretended to be. I need to make a video about it,'" he adds.
From there, he thinks about how he could "add depth to these people," noting that "it all starts with a video idea, and then, from that, the character comes through."
"It doesn't just start with the character; it starts with the concept," Joseph shares.
Joseph says he sees pieces of himself in each character — from mom types to jaded former reality TV stars — and the skits are often a version of his "inner monologue."
"I'm not too different from Shannon Debussy. I'm not too different from Diana Diamond. That's what makes it such a fun character to watch, because, in some ways, they're relatable," he says. "For the others, people my age, it's not just a mom character that they can see themselves through the craziness. That is what creates so much depth and makes it so fun to switch between characters."
Joseph loves that his videos often "bring people together," as friends and family also see parts of their loved ones in the characters.
"I get a lot of comments saying, 'I just sent this to my mom,' or, 'My aunt sent this to me, and was like, "Am I like this?"' I think it's hilarious that it breaks the fourth wall, and it's always lighthearted," he says.
"I don't try to shine these characters in a negative light. That's really easy to look at from a critical standpoint, but it's just fun because we all have our character quirks," Joseph adds. "Something I didn't expect is when people's parents find the videos funny because they're like, 'Oh my, that's just like my friend Sally.' "
Recently, Joseph began a new series on his YouTube channel parodying celebrity podcasts, adding more characters to his repertoire.
"I play characters, and how about we just actually mix things up and make people uncomfortable. I'm on a journey to become the best interview host possible, but spoiler, that's never going to happen," he says. "It's gonna be a lot of fun, and there are infinite ideas and games that I'm gonna play with the people who come on. They're not gonna feel fulfilled from the interview."
Joseph shares that there's a lot of new and exciting content coming across all his channels, teasing that "it's gonna be a big year."
"There are a lot of secret projects I have coming, and I'm really excited to share them. It's honestly gonna be a whole different side of myself that a lot of people haven't been able to see yet," Joseph says.
Even further down the pipeline, he hopes to expand his career outside social media.
"I'm very excited to start acting. I love to write, and I dream of directing. Filmmaking from my content is something that I really love," he says. "My social media, while it won't be the thing that my life is completely devoted to anymore, I think it'll be fun to share insight into what that life looks like, and still have fun with my social media, where I can just have fun with it and not have to think of any sort of strategy."
Duncan Joseph
Ben Cope
Now, Joseph hopes his fans and followers will be able to "see more of me" and understand the man behind the wigs.
"I love my YouTube because I'm not always playing a character. Sometimes I'm reacting or doing interviews, and people get to see me. I've realized that's my favorite part," he says. "The characters have always been great, but in some sense, my whole life, I've always been playing a character, even away from social media."
"It's been a way to protect myself from actually being seen. Now that I've grown into myself and I'm more confident and learned who I am, I want my social media and my future projects to reflect that because I think I'm pretty cool."
He hopes to continue sharing himself with his audience and "hopefully inspire other people to do the same."
"You're so much more powerful when you're authentically you, and there's no reason to hide. I am scared of hiding, and I'm gonna let myself be seen, in any way possible, because I feel like I deserve it, and the people that follow me that I love so much deserve to see that too."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
