There is only one place where the merch line would snake three times around itself and up a flight of stairs for a chance at securing limited-released selfies, and that is at a Dan and Phil show. Surrounded by a sea of flower crowns, cat-whiskers, and sexual nun outfits, I was simultaneously transported back to 2014 and strikingly reminded that there’s no time quite like the present.
After months, Dan Howell and Phil Lester finally ended the North American leg of their Terrible Influence tour in Red Bank, New Jersey, on Nov. 22, which is where my best friend and I had the distinct pleasure of witnessing the iconic pair in action. We occupied (almost) the exact same seats two years prior to watch Dan on his solo tour, so when they announced Terrible Influence, we ran. There was no way we were going to miss out on this borderline historic, combined comeback.
The Lore
For those who don’t know, Dan Howell and Phil Lester were the epitome of 2014 internet culture. A comedic duo based in England, Dan and Phil raked in millions of YouTube subscribers across several channels and many deemed them as among the first YouTubers to ever make it big. Their influence expanded past the small screen, as they also hosted their own BBC 1 Radio show, stood as television presenters, authored best-selling books, and have gone on multiple, sold-out world tours.
Since an almost five-year hiatus on their joint YouTube channel DanAndPhilGAMES, the pair has been anything but quiet. In 2019, Dan posted a 45-minute video titled “Basically, I’m Gay,” where he described his life growing up and his struggles with internalized homophobia and bullying. Phil posted his own 7-minute video titled “Coming Out To You” in conjunction with Dan’s, where he detailed his own coming out journey. The videos garnered a combined 17 million views, and many fans cite their stories as being LGBTQ+ inspirations. In a 2024 YouGov survey on which LGBTQ+ public figures helped young LGBTQ+ Britons aged 16-24 growing up, Dan ranked second, with Phil at number four.
In 2023, Dan and Phil broke their gaming channel silence with a video titled “Saying Goodbye Forever.” Rather than an actual goodbye, the video served more as a trailer for the channel’s revival, with a life-size version of their Sims character Dil rising from a coffin. They left fans shocked, with one top comment reading, “what an absolutely wonderful day to be a full grown adult who never outgrew her teenage fangirl phase.”
The Tour
This sentiment serves as the culmination of Dan and Phil’s Terrible Influence tour. Gayer, bolder, and—in Phil’s case—blonder, the two set off to confirm whether or not they doomed us from the start during our childhoods. They confirmed or denied theories from the past, compared who they would be in alternate timelines, and even boxed against each other. Additionally, they emphasized that, yes, peers bullied us in middle school because of them, but nothing can take away the profound sense of community the fandom shares.
They took confessions from the audience—some of which were truthfully horrific—in addition to each having their own solo moment with us. And, of course, a Dan and Phil show is never completed without a dumb yet catchy ending song that lives in your head for days after. It was everything 14-year-old me could’ve asked for and more, and it certainly filled a childhood-shaped hole in my heart.
Their Lasting Impact
Dan and Phil’s show proved the point that the duo wasn’t, in fact, a terrible influence on the generation of impressionable young minds that they parasocially raised. While, sure, some of their content is questionably child-friendly, the foundation of Dan and Phil’s content is unwavering. Humor, acceptance, and unhindered devotion to being yourself lie at the forefront of every video. The vast spectrum of people in the show’s attendance demonstrated this, as Dan and Phil created an immensely safe space. Whether you identify more with Dan, with Phil, or are some hybrid combination of both, almost everybody can see some facet of themselves in the two’s online presence.
And with this tour, the duo asserted that there is a wondrous joy to growing up, and sometimes that means not having to grow up at all.
