‘Gurning Rave Guy’ Finally Revealed the Drugs He Was on in Viral Video

It’s been a decade since a night out with friends turned Shaun Jackson into a meme.

The UK man became infamous after appearing in a promotional video for the Rumes nightclub in Preston in 2014. The clip included Jackson on the dance floor, where he appeared to be enjoying himself—very intensely.

Footage of Jackson’s wide-eyed, teeth-clenching enjoyment quickly went viral, earning him the nickname “Gurning Rave Guy.”

(One Urban Dictionary entry defines gurning as “the muscle tension in the face that usually ends up with the jaw and tongue rolling and teeth grinding as a result of amphetamines.”)

Jackson opened up about the moment in a 2019 interview on the Flexxed podcast.

“So I’ve gone out from there that night, three-quarters of a bottle of Vodka already down by neck and then three or four drags of real good MD (MDMA),” he shared.

“The rest is history,” the podcast co-hosts laugh.

Despite the substances, Jackson claimed that his on-camera performances as “Gurning Rave Guy” were totally deliberate.

“When I go out anyway, if there is a camera there or not, I am always doing a bit of mad stuff just to get people laughing,” he shared.

The 15 Minutes of Fame has continued to follow Jackson throughout the years. He made headlines when spotted at the Glastonbury music festival in 2022, and even had an action figure made in his honor that same year.

Jackson’s only regrets? He claims things got wilder as the night went on—there was just no one filming.