Vice's Will Tilghman tried to break three records and here's how it went

Will Tilghman read the Guinness World Records 2000 Edition in the fourth grade and became captivated by all of the feats achieved within its colorful pages. Back in the day, he and his friends also tried attempting some of the fun records they read about.

Years later, the comedian, host, and producer from Vice Media would try again, this time to officially aiming to break several Guinness World Records titles during a recent episode of his series, “I Tried.”

To fully immerse himself into the world of record-breaking, Will watched and researched attempts by others, including David Rush and Ashrita Furman. He also spoke to Ashrita on the phone to receive guidance on the types of records to consider.

With only a week to practice, Will narrowed his attempts down to three titles that included known or yet to be discovered skills. He credits his girlfriend as his biggest motivator, as well as his producer and colleague Jordan, and his roommates.

In March and before the lockdown in the US, Adjudicator, Chrissy Fernandez joined Will on-set at the Vice Studio to verify his attempts.

To start, Will attempted the title for the most teabags thrown into mugs in 30 seconds, which features a current record of 7 teabags. He was sadly unsuccessful with only 2 teabags making it into the mugs.

He then went on to test his appetite for the fastest time to eat a raw onion to beat the current record of 29.56 seconds. 

He didn’t achieve that record with his time of 4 minutes and 55 seconds but was still eager to land a title during his final and most dangerous attempt.

With the most lit candles in the mouth, Will needed to beat the current record with 101 lit candles. During his first try and various safety precautions, the fire and heat still became unbearable, so he dropped the candles into the safety bowl and didn’t achieve the title then.

With the continued support of his colleagues on-site and mom cheering him on via video call, he tried again.

One of the extra candles did not light up due to wax covering the wick, though, to his surprise, he tied the record with current record holder David Rush on this second try with 100 candles successfully lit. “I’m proud of you, Will,” said his mom as he beamed while holding his Guinness World Records title certificate.

In the future, Will hopes to re-attempt and break the most lit candles in the mouth title, as well as Most Cans Hit with A Slingshot in 1 Minute.

For now, he’s enjoying his new status as a Guinness World Records title holder.