HOLLYWOOD, CA—Executive producers of the episodic Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts TV commercial disguised as an ornate, intricately layered cinematic universe, “The White Lotus,” announced today that the anthology series creators had chosen the next exotic locale for their upcoming chapter in the series – Fort Lauderdale, Florida – and added that the upcoming season would follow the story of one of the internet’s deepest, obscurest mysteries: “the Skyrizi tambourine guy.”

For readers unfamiliar with Skyrizi, Plushcare describes the product as “a liquid, injectable prescription medication for adults who are experiencing moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis (UC), and psoriatic arthritis.”

For readers unfamiliar with Mike White’s work, he is best known for portraying Ned Schneebly in the 2003 Jack Black hit comedy film, School of Rock. However, the mild-mannered actor is also known as an internet meme, decent at making fires as evidenced by his performance on season 37 of Survivor¹. White also occasionally dabbles in screenwriting. For example, he apparently also wrote the screenplay for School of Rock, and is the showrunner and creator of The White Lotus (sometimes abbreviated to, TWL, for brevity, or “Loti,” to describe its vastness and multilayered, episodic nature).

White explained his choice in picking the “Skyrizi Tambourine Guy” for the subject of the next season of TWL: 

“Look, nobody knows this guy or where he came from. I asked around, but came up blank. Who is this mysterious guy? Why is he shaking his tambourine so vigorously, with so much guttural force, if with arguably rhythmic imprecision? He’s obviously handed the tambourine by a hotel staff member, so that level of customer service maps well onto Loti’s brand identity – but this also tells us that the tambourine doesn’t belong to him. We know this for sure. So, the “Skyrizi ‘tambourine guy’” moniker is more of a shared identity there, encompassing both the ‘Skyrizi’ branding (and we have gotten their content marketing team involved to assure faithful representation of the brand), as well as the ‘tambourine,’ which really can be a metaphor for the Four Seasons in general (and with whom we’ve worked very closely for the series run and which whom we will continue expanding the series in this new, exciting backdrop of Fort Lauderdale, which some say compares in its exoticism to Thailand). 

But putting aside that dual brand identity, this unnamed, unknown man of mysterious origin, simply known to the internet as “the Skyrizi tambourine guy,”consider the way he shakes this tambourine that’s just handed to him casually. At first, shy, even charmingly reluctant to shake it, as if to say, “who me? I’m the one you chose for this profound musical privilege?” Then, he follows this quaint meekness up with such unrestrained, beatific vigor. There’s a lot of nuance, sophisticated tact and decorum, in addition to ownership there. And there’s a real palpable sense of joie de vivre in him. All of this, that’s the thread we want to unravel in this season, unmasking this mysterious figure, seeking truth, defining the character, and exploring who the man is. ”

Despite Mike White’s measured comments, it was reported that White had not met or truly fully understand who was behind the tambourine guy persona featured in the widely played Skyrizi commercial – adding to the mystique. It was said that White was in talks with Skyrizi’s brand marketing team, who would put him in contact with the commercial actor. It was also said that the actor was simply listed as playing “Skyrizi Tambourine Guy,” with the actor listed as “Self,” in the show’s production credits.

Further, the actor’s IMDB page was similarly sparse; listed not by name but as “Skyrizi Tambourine Guy (I), his credits include Skyrizi Commercial and The White Lotus 2026, though he is listed as “Self” in the White Lotus, and “Skyrizi Tambourine Guy” in Skyrizi Commercial. Additionally, the actor’s IMDB page only has two photos: one of the actor shaking a tambourine beside a hotel staff member and other hotel guests. The other photo shows the actor shaking a tambourine in front of two hotels staff members, though the tambourine is held closer to his face, and the actor is smiling and looking upward toward the sky as he shakes the tambourine, exhibiting the “joie de vivre” that White had described. Finally, the actor’s bio also speculated that “it is possible that ‘control is everything to’ him, considering the brand’s messaging'” to the effect.

Whether the the Skyrizi Tambourine Guy’s story arc will resonate with audiences remains to be seen, though there is plenty of internet lore surrounding him, with one Reddit user rhetorically posing, as a potential explanation for his jubilance, “this guy snort Skyrizi?” Reddit user Far-Elderberry-3583 expressed disdain for the commercial: “Can’t stand any of these commercials they are all horrible!😬😣”, while user Hot_Air3169 seemed to believe the OP’s theory: “Ha looks like he may have.” While White wouldn’t express whether the character would be challenged by a Skyrizi drug problem, he did note his research into the character, having seen the commercial 37 times within three days while casually watching TV, had led him to this Reddit thread.

At press time, White, describing the project with TTT reporters in the living room of his Los Angeles bungalow, had busted open a tube of Skyrizi and was seen snorting it, while saying, “This some good shit. You want a bump?” Though the reporter had refused, White had pressed the issue, adding, “C’mon, man. Control is everything to me,” while menacingly eyeing the reporter before lunging at him.

-TTT.

1. *For those unfamiliar with Survivor, Wikipedia describes it as an “international… television franchise,” which first appeared in America in May 2000, “hosted by Jeff Probst, who is also an executive producer”; the show apparently “places a group of people in an isolated location, where they must provide food, fire, and shelter for themselves. The contestants compete in challenges including testing the contestants’ physical abilities like running and swimming or their mental abilities like puzzles and endurance challenges for rewards and immunity from elimination.” Who knew? ↩︎