Man Blows People's Minds By Talking Backwards

A man in the US has been blowing people's minds by speaking backwards. Check him out here:

When John Austin displays his unusual talent, it initially sounds like he's talking gobbledygook.

But when a recording is played through an app that reverses the audio, it becomes apparent that he is actually fluent in speaking backwards.

John, from Charlotte, North Carolina, discovered his rare skill when he was just five, after he accidentally played a Mary Poppins record backwards and learned to sing it in reverse.

He then began doing it more and more, but his parents discouraged him.

"They'd say, 'Don't do that... People are going to think it's strange. Don't ever tell anyone you've done that,'" he told The Charlotte Observer in 2019.

John said he 'couldn't help but be different' and his parents took him to specialists, who prescribed him with Ritalin.

Writing on his YouTube channel, the 51-year-old said he was always made to feel ashamed of his talent.

He said: "Most people do not believe me when I tell them I can speak backwards at the drop of a hat.

"That's when I pull out my iPhone with the app Reverser Cam, and say something backwards for them right on the spot. That's when they become true believers.

"I have always been ashamed of this talent because it shows I am different and I was told that was bad by family, teachers, friends, and peers."

YouTube/John the Backwords Dude

However, after being diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, John felt like someone had at last told him who he was.

He subsequently decided to embrace his talent as John the Backwards Dude, and his YouTube channel has more than 16,000 subscribers.

The channel is comprised of dozens of videos in which he exhibits his rare skill and stuns people in the street, performing requests and even singing backwards.

Having accepted who he really is, and committed himself to sharing rather than hiding his talent, John feels reborn.

"The way it's happened, growing up late, I'll never grow up. I will never be old," he said.

"I will always be like that kid inside. That is the beginning of wisdom, right there.

"It is really the beginning of the rest of my life."

Topics: Interesting, Community

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey