Popcorn Guy at Texas movie theater goes viral. ‘The Butter King.’

What’s the old saying? There are no small roles only small actors? Bingo. Because before I saw this video I would have said that working concessions at a movie theater is a fairly run-of-the-mill job. Grab the Junior Mints*, dole out soda cups the size of infants, and shovel popcorn into a bucket. But this guy saw a small role and made it into something MUCH bigger. I could watch The Butter King aka Jason Grosboll prep popcorn buckets all day long. He’s spinning the bucket on his finger like a basketball, shovel, butter, flip, shovel, butter, flip, shovel, butter. It’s mesmerizing. Like an And 1 mixtape for popcorn.

And one of the really cool things, arguably the only cool thing, about the social media age we live in, is that we all get to enjoy these theatrics. Before Tik Tok or Twitter or Instagram, Jason would have been a local legend in Corpus Christi, but that’s it. But because some guy took notice of the charisma/butter oozing out of Jason’s pores, we all get to see this! The Tik Tok video has over 10 million views, and a local TV station did a write up on him. In that article he talks about how much fun he’s having reading the kind comments in the comment section of the video. Rewarding all the way around. Let’s attack 2023 the way The Butter King attacks a bucket of popcorn.

*MOVE THEATER CANDY POWER RANKINGS:

3. Dots

A true classic. Fruity, chewy, easily shareable.

2. Sour Patch Kids

I’m convinced these only taste good at movie theaters. I’ve bought them before at stores and they just don’t taste the same.

1.  Junior Mints

Who’s gonna turn down a Junior Mint? It’s chocolate, it’s peppermint, it’s delicious! It’s very refreshing.

Honorable Mention: Peanut M&M’s and Milk Duds.

PS: All other movie theater concession workers take note of the butter distribution from The Butter King. THAT’S what we want. I don’t necessarily need you to be spinning the bucket like the Harlem Globetrotters, but butter distribution at every level shows you care. Butter is caring.

PS: My wife Lindsey and I had a similar experience in Nashville about 5 years ago. We were drinking at a downtown bar near the Bridgestone Arena, when we found out there was a Fleetwood Mac show at the arena that night. Well we just happened to be there around the time the show was let out, and very quickly the bar was flooded with people leaving the show. I’m talking SLAMMED with people trying to get post-concert cocktails and beers. Well one of the bartenders at this bar put on an absolute SHOW handling all of these people. She was shaking drinks with one hand, lining up taps with the the other, taking credit cards behind her back, cashing out tabs with her toes. It was unreal. We just stood there and watched her work for an hour. Nobody waited more than 60 seconds for a drink and the lines were 5-6 people deep. One of the most entertaining parts of that trip and that’s saying something.