Australia
The Inspired Unemployed is the comedy duo of Matt Ford and Jack Steele, two Australians who parlayed genuine joblessness during the COVID-19 pandemic into one of the country's most-followed social media acts.
Total Followers +0.3%
4.5M
Across Instagram, TikTok
Primary Platform
2.6M followers · 58% of audience
Engagement
3.6%
vs. 1.5% category median
Sponsorship Tier
Macro
Est. $32K–$74K / IG post
A four-part documentary series began rolling out weekly on The Inspired Unemployed and ARRIVAL's YouTube channels, tracking Jack Steele and Matt Ford from the initial idea through team-building, test trips, and major partnerships. Since launching in 2025, ARRIVAL has sent thousands of Australians on trips to Vietnam, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Nepal.
Jack Steele and Matt Ford's Better Beer brand dropped a new zero-sugar alcoholic ginger beer, available at Dan Murphy's, BWS, and independent bottle shops across Australia.
A fresh season of the hidden-camera prank series premiered June 9, 2025, featuring Jack, Falcon, Liam, and Dom in pranks, challenges, and punishments. The show has now run to 4 seasons and 32 episodes on Paramount+ Australia.
Matt Ford and Jack Steele launched ARRIVAL, an immersive travel brand offering multi-day, off-the-beaten-track group experiences worldwide, marking a major business pivot beyond their social media and beer ventures.
| Window | TikTok | Combined | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | +0 +0.0% | +0 +0.0% | +0 +0.0% | +0 |
| Last 30 days | +16K +0.6% | +0 +0.0% | +0 +0.0% | +16K |
| Last 90 days | +128K +4.9% | +0 +0.0% | +0 +0.0% | +128K |
| Last 365 days | +128K +4.9% | +0 +0.0% | +0 +0.0% | +128K |
Daily follower snapshots from CreatorDB's longitudinal index.
The Inspired Unemployed is the comedy duo of Matt Ford and Jack Steele, two Australians who parlayed genuine joblessness during the COVID-19 pandemic into one of the country's most-followed social media acts. Their early Instagram and TikTok content leaned into larrikin, self-deprecating humour — blokey skits, deadpan observational clips, and a distinctly un-polished aesthetic that resonated with young Australian men and quickly pulled in an international following across the UK and US. The name, born from circumstance, became a brand identity: irreverent, unambitious-sounding, and deeply funny. Their engagement rates sit well above category norms across both Instagram and TikTok, signalling a fanbase that actively participates rather than passively scrolls.
Ford and Steele have since expanded well beyond content creation. They co-founded Better Beer, an Australian ready-to-drink beer brand that has become a visible commercial venture in its own right, and they run a companion podcast under the Inspired Unemployed umbrella. A television pivot — a localised take on the Impractical Jokers format, currently in its second season on Paramount Plus — marks a meaningful step into mainstream entertainment. Their travel content arm, Arrival Travel, broadens their lifestyle positioning. With an audience concentrated in the 18–34 demographic and a rate card that reflects genuine macro-tier demand, they are well-placed for partnerships spanning alcohol, travel, and entertainment — categories where their unfiltered, blokey credibility carries more weight than polished influencer gloss.
Theinspiredunemployed reaches an audience concentrated in Australia primarily through Instagram, and is best activated via Instagram Reels and Stories, TikTok branded content. As a comedy creator they map naturally to brands targeting that space. With no brand deals logged yet, they read as an available, category-aligned partner for advertisers building early presence in the space. Engagement on Instagram runs around 3.6%, which points to an audience better suited to category-relevant, mid-funnel campaigns than to pure-reach buys. The channel's mix of Instagram Reels and Stories and TikTok branded content lets a sponsor choose between short awareness placements and longer, more detailed integrations. Because the audience follows comedy content rather than arriving through untargeted reach, sponsorships that match the channel's subject matter tend to convert more efficiently than broad placements. A consistent, on-topic posting focus gives sponsors a predictable, brand-safe environment, lowering placement risk compared with broad, general-interest channels. Campaigns here are best measured on qualified engagement and consideration within the niche rather than on raw impression volume. For Australia-focused brands in comedy and related categories, Theinspiredunemployed offers a defined, creative-fit audience rather than broad, low-intent impressions.
Benchmark estimates for a creator at Theinspiredunemployed's tier (Macro, 4.5M combined followers, Australia). Pulled from CreatorDB's category benchmarks.
The CreatorDB Agency runs end-to-end influencer campaigns globally — shortlisting, outreach, contracting, and performance reporting. Talk to our team about building a campaign around creators in this niche.
The Inspired Unemployed are Jack Steele and Matt Ford, two Australian mates who built one of the biggest comedy and lifestyle followings in the country starting on Instagram. Their name became the brand — leaning into the joke that two unemployed guys found fame simply by making people laugh online.
TIU Impractical Jokers is an Australian adaptation of the hit hidden camera prank format, with Jack and Matt putting their own larrikin spin on the Impractical Jokers concept. Season 2 is streaming on Paramount+, making them one of the very few Australian social media creators to land and sustain their own streaming series.
Yes — Better Beer is a low-carb Australian beer brand that Jack and Matt co-founded, and it's listed directly in their Instagram bio. It grew into one of the fastest-rising beer brands in Australia, built largely on the duo's enormous audience and their no-frills, every-bloke brand image.
The Inspired Unemployed Podcast (under the handle @theinspiredunemployedpod) is a longer-form extension of Jack and Matt's comedy, covering Aussie culture, pop culture, life stories, and guest interviews. It lets the duo do what they do best — unfiltered, casual conversation — without the constraints of short-form video.
@arrival.travel is a travel brand associated with The Inspired Unemployed, placed directly alongside Better Beer and their podcast in their Instagram bio. It represents their move beyond comedy skits into the travel and experiences space, fitting naturally with branded travel content they've produced with partners like Marriott Bonvoy.
That caption is a nod to Movember, the global men's health campaign held every November focused on prostate cancer awareness — a weak bladder or frequent urination being a known prostate health symptom. It's the kind of blunt, self-deprecating humor that lands perfectly with their predominantly male, young Australian audience.
Marriott Bonvoy appears as a tagged paid partner in their content, confirmed through their own #ad-flagged posts. The partnership makes sense given their travel-forward brand — between the Marriott deal and the @arrival.travel venture, travel content has become a genuine pillar of what they do.
Robbo is a recurring figure in The Inspired Unemployed's content universe, appearing consistently enough as a hashtag that their community clearly knows who he is. He's part of the broader crew of mates and personalities that show up across their videos, giving the channel a group-of-friends feel rather than just a two-person act.
Combined across Instagram and TikTok, The Inspired Unemployed has built a total following of over 4.5 million, placing them firmly in the Macro tier of Australian creators. Their engagement rate runs well above the typical benchmark for accounts this size — which is notably rare at that follower scale.
Australia is their biggest single audience by a margin, which tracks with their distinctly Aussie humor and cultural references. That said, they've built a meaningful following in the United States and United Kingdom too, suggesting their style of blokey, self-aware comedy travels beyond Australian borders.
Stats (followers, engagement, audience demographics, growth) are pulled live from the CreatorDB API covering YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Bio and FAQ content is AI-assisted; news items are sourced from cited public press at generation time. Read the full methodology →
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@theinspiredunemployed · Instagram
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