Matt Ketai loves to test his best friend on his pop culture knowledge.
“I feel like I’ve seen the internet,” Ketai, 35, tells TODAY.com. “And Tim… has not seen the internet.”
Ketai and Tim Janas, 36, have been best friends since high school after meeting at speech and debate camp — “That’s a whole other story in and of itself,” Ketai says — and clicking instantly.
Flash forward to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when Ketai, an actor, and Janas, a lawyer, found themselves with time on their hands. So they took their love for comedy and started a joint TikTok account, where they identify themselves as “Matt (GAY) & Tim (STRAIGHT).”
Now, they post a “variety show”-style collection of videos, including sketches, observations about each other and games, like Ketai’s pop culture quizzes.
In their most recent video, which was posted Oct. 11 and has racked up more than 130,000 views, Ketai poses a simple question to Janas: “Is it a Taylor Swift song, or a song from the musical ‘Wicked’?”
Ketai starts by asking Janas how well he knows Swift’s discography.
“Just what you’ve taught me,” Janas responds.
And when it comes to his knowledge of the songs from “Wicked”?
“‘Defying Gravity,'” Janas says.
“Great,” Ketai responds.
From there, Ketai names a series of song titles, which Janas has to try and place under the two possible categories. (Watch here to play along, or scroll down for all the questions and answers.)
@mattketaiandtimjanas Taylor and or Wicked – a perfect crosssection #taylorswift #taylorsversion #taylornation #wicked #wickedthemusical ♬ original sound – Matt (GAY) & Tim (STRAIGHT)
First up: “Dancing Through Life.”
“Taylor Swift,” Janas says, before Ketai says, “No, ‘Wicked.'”
Janas answers the same for “I’m Not That Girl” — also from “Wicked” — before Ketai poses, “Dorothea.”
With a confused but cautiously knowing look, Janas answers, “Wicked.” After all, the musical is a retelling of “The Wizard of Oz,” the main character of which is a wide-eyed girl named Dorothy.
“No, Taylor Swift,” Ketai responds, as Janas starts to laugh.
The game continues:
- “Thank Goodness” — Janas’ guess: Taylor Swift. Answer: “Wicked.”
- “Haunted” — Janas’ guess: Taylor Swift. Answer: Taylor Swift.
- “How Did It End?” — Janas’ guess: “Wicked.” Answer: Taylor Swift.
- “For Good” — Janas’ guess: “Wicked.” Answer: “Wicked.”
- “What Is This Feeling?” — Janas’ guess: Taylor Swift. Answer: “Wicked.”
- “Happiness” — Janas’ guess: Taylor Swift. Answer: Taylor Swift.
- “The Best Day” — Janas’ guess: Taylor Swift. Answer: Taylor Swift.
- “A Sentimental Man” — Janas’ guess: Taylor Swift. Answer: “Wicked.”
- “As Long As You’re Mine” — Janas’ guess: Taylor Swift. Answer: “Wicked.”
- “Witch Hunters” — Janas’ guess: Taylor Swift. Answer: “Wicked.”
For anyone keeping track, Janas’ score came in 4/13 correct. But that wasn’t his most embarrassing pop culture quiz moment, he tells TODAY.com.
“What was more embarrassing was the time that (Ketai) tested me on Taylor Swift or Bath & Body Works candle,” Janas says. “That was more embarrassing because those were not supposed to be hard.”
Ketai and Janas describe themselves as “yin and yang.” Ketai grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was raised in a Japanese-American household. Janas grew up in the country of Georgia, and after moving to the U.S., learned English by watching TV. Where Janas is “calm, cool and collected,” Ketai brings a “frenetic energy,” they say.
“It’s like if a porcupine and an elephant were friends, but we never know which one each one (other) is,” Ketai says.
Some of their most viral videos involve sketches about relatable things, like filing taxes or playing “Connections.” Others involve asking one friend to re-enact another’s attributes and behaviors, like Janas describing Ketai during kickball season. (“During kickball season, following you around on a city street, it’s what I imagine it’s like to be the friend of a congressional aide during legislative season in D.C.,” Janas says in one video.)
But what unites all of their TikTok videos is that they represent a portfolio of moments.
“I always think about it also as like an archive that I’ll be able to look back on and just be like, ‘That’s just what my friend and I did for so many years of our life,'” Janas says.
Ketai adds that not everyone finds a “best friend.”
“I know that this is an archive of time that I have recorded of spending time with my best friend,” he says. “And sometimes at night, if I’m sad or if I’ve had a long day, I’ll look at some (videos)… where it’s just us talking or doing something. And I’ll just watch it, and it’s like watching a memory.”
