William The Animal Sounds Man goes viral

There is something pretty special about seeing someone you “know” go viral on the internet, especially if it is someone less privileged and it is for all the right reasons, like William “The Animal Sounds” guy that roams the streets of the Cape Town CBD making animal sounds that sound EXACTLY like the real thing!

I know William though my #365PortraitsOfStrangers project that I did last year, whereby I uploaded a photo and story of complete strangers every day onto my Instagram account, and here is his story!

365 Portraits of Strangers Day 167 – “William the Prankster” Today I heard what sounded like a kitten in distress on a balcony in the city and as much as I looked, I couldn’t find it. It was only after a minute or two that I realized it was 28 year old William making the sounds with his mouth. He has an ability that he uses to make money by busking on the streets of our city. He makes animal noises that sound exactly like the animals and there is more to it. He sometimes pranks people by walking behind them and then gently grabs their ankles and makes a perfect Maltese Poodle bark. It gets a good laugh from everyone around and to my surprise, he has never had anyone be angry at him. Rightfully so because he is a gentle guy just trying to make a buck. He is actually saving up so he can get some clothing branded so people know he is for real. He has tried out on South Africa’s Got Talent, but has not yet heard back from them yet. In total, William can make the sounds of 11 animals and has been teaching himself since he was 8 years old. If you want to see him in action, you can find him in Green Market Square or in Church Street. #365PortraitsOfStrangers

A photo posted by Mike Eloff (@thelawry) on Jun 17, 2014 at 1:12pm PDT

What makes this such a feel good post though is not the fact that I took his photo last year and got to witness him in action, but more that someone made a video of him recently making these animal noises, uploaded it to YouTube and the video has subsequently gone viral!!

When I say viral, I mean VIRAL!!! It’s had almost 1,000,000 views on YouTube since it was uploaded 3 days ago on the 26th of May 2015 and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon!

If you know if his number or spot him around Cape Town, please get his details from him and pass them onto me as I would love to give him a print of his photograph.