Hello, hello, hello!
Joshua Charlie Joseph Bradley (born 4 September 1992), also known by his online identity Zerkaa and his stage name Josh Zerker, is an English internet personality.
Bradley is a founding member of the YouTube group the Sidemen, as well as their brand manager. First known in his early YouTube days (extending to the first year of the group) for hiding his face behind a mask until he warmed up to his eventual popularity, today he's known for maintaining a consistent look of combed black hair and a moderately thick beard, being the oldest and often only sane member of the group (although co-member Simon Minter is just three days younger than Bradley), and his occasional bizarre remarks and outbursts he makes in frustration.
Hey guys, and welcome to my trope list:
- The Ace: Is revered for his exceptional ability in a multitude of games such as GTA V races, Skate 3, Trivial Pursuit, Cards Against Humanity, 3D Ultra Minigolf, and London 2012. He even won The Sidemen Experience because of his gaming skill.
- If his Twitter bio is to be believed, Josh also single-handedly founded the Sidemen's clothing line.
- Though not all the time. He's come dead last in several GTA V races, and has won very few rounds of Uno.
- Averted if recent performances are to be seen. He's suddenly becoming so terrible and screws up so often, even KSI now can beat him regularly if he doesn't screw up just as often.
- Achievements in Ignorance: He often accomplishes difficult stunts in GTA races on his first attempt, and even finds it surprising when the other Sidemen struggle with them.
- Acrofatic: His Skate 3 character is a purple-mohawked and fairly overweight man who has the same airborne agility as anyone else, but doesn't have quite the physique to do technical tricks on the ground.
- Berserk Button: Formerly, calling him by his real name instead of the "Josh Zerker" alias. This has stopped since it became public knowledge.
- Blasphemous Boast:
- While playing Akinator, Simon asks for Josh to think of a random person to test the site. Josh picks Lord Farquaad, since (according to him) Josh himself is a lord.
- From READING PERVERTED COMMENTS W/ THE SIDEMEN!!
(a video that Josh was featured in alongside JJ and Simon):
"I am Mohammed." - Blue Oni: To Simon's red oni, though it's often reversed when the two are the only ones in a video.
- Butt-Monkey:
- His "shit excuse for a beard" is his prime point of ridicule.
- The whole "Fuck off, Josh" Running Gag.
- Character Catchphrase:
- "FINITOOOOOOOO!" — Italian for "finished", Josh yells this when he is about to cross the finish line in some GTA Online races.
- He has a habit of saying "fuck it" when playing a card in Cards Against Humanity.
- "Have a shot, mate!" — In FIFA when he's about to shoot. Usually prefixed with the name of the player he's using.
- "Your mum!" or "Your mother [insert something here]!" being Josh's most favorite words to say whenever he's angry.
- Celebrity Resemblance: Many have noted a resemblance between him and Jeremy McKinnon.
- Cloudcuckoolander: When playing games with Simon, with Simon serving as the Cloudcuckoolander's Minder.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: His GTA vehicle colour is orange. In minigolf games, his ball colour is green. However, around late 2017, his GTA vehicle colour was changed to green.
- Defiant to the End: In "THE LUCK IS INSANE" (Monopoly Plus), Josh ends up being the last man standing against JJ, who has an insane lead and has become fully Drunk with Power, after everyone else (Tobi, Ethan, Vik) files for bankruptcy. While JJ tries to get Josh to quit and accept his Foregone Victory, Josh continues to play even though he practically knows there's no beating JJ.
- Ditzy Genius: Although he is generally intelligent and skilled, he does showcase shades of this at times, such as when he mentioned a "left clit".Simon: I didn't know there [were] two!
- Do Not Call Me "Paul":
- He was quite adamant on stating that his stage surname "Zerker" is his "real" surname, even though his name is documented on Companies House showing him as an officer for Sidemen Clothing Limited and ZRK Ltd. As he said in a strange response to Vik in a GTA Online race:Josh: Sweat out like a madman, come on.context
Vik: Nah, I don't wanna hear it Josh. I don't wanna hear you swear you're a madman... [unintelligible due to Josh talking over]
Josh: I don't want to hear your "I'm not a groupie, tell me your real name" speech; [my] real name is Zerker.
[Beat]
Vik: [giggles] Yo, he's rehearsed that! He's rehearsed that!
Ethan: [speaking at the same time as Vik] That was the queerest thing... [that] I have ever heard! - A February 2017 game of Cards Against Humanity has "Josh Bradley" appear on a white card and read by Simon, yet Josh didn't react at all to his real surname appearing on a CAH card. It's most likely that he was being Genre Savvy by deliberately not drawing attention to it since he remained adamant on the fake surname.
- By September 2022, however, this trope has started to cease for him. In a Quiplash 3 video posted that month, Harry made a quip using "Josh Bradley", with Zerkaa saying, "Fuck's sake," in amusement.
- He was quite adamant on stating that his stage surname "Zerker" is his "real" surname, even though his name is documented on Companies House showing him as an officer for Sidemen Clothing Limited and ZRK Ltd.
- Embarrassing Nickname: "Pubes". Yeah...
- The Faceless: Previously, but that ended in 2014.
- Hidden Depths: He has an A* in GCSE Business Studies, which explains why he's good at organising things for the Sidemen.
- Hollywood Tourette's: Josh has said so many strange things in his remarks and outbursts that fans and the other Sidemen believe that he may have Tourette's syndrome.
- I Banged Your Mum: His (in)famous "Your mum" quotes, as mentioned above.
- Iconic Item: Previously, the mask he used to hide his face.◊
- The Leader: He is more or less the de facto leader of the group as he hosts the Sidemen's online gaming sessions, creates the playlists for GTA Online sessions, and founded the Sidemen's clothing line.
- Not So Above It All: While he is the last Sideman you'd expect to get over-the-top hammy, he does occasionally partake in the group's whimsical endeavors.
- Only Sane Sideman: While he has his moments, Josh is not as excitable as the others.
- Phrase Catcher/Precision F-Strike: "Fuck off, Josh."
- Running Gag:
- His extremely modest, lackluster beard.
- In 2011, Josh uploaded a trailer for a COD series called Illuminate that promptly never saw the light of day. To this day, fans and even the rest of the Sidemen have persisted in urging him to go through with it.
- His penchant for picking CAH cards that are ever so slightly out of left field that the other Sidemen can sometimes instantly tell what card is his.
- Being referred to as "Daddy (AF)".
- Stage Name: He refers to himself as "Josh Zerker" and the other Sidemen often invoke Full-Name Basis with him to reinforce this.
- Team Dad: Being the oldest Sideman, Josh is often called "Daddy Josh" or "Father Josh" and is the most (relatively speaking) above the rest of the Sidemen's antics. He even has grey hairs.note
- This is often referenced whenever the Sidemen plays Overwatch. Josh's favorite character to play is Soldier: 76, the character whom the Overwatch fandom has turned into the (a rather grumpy one) Team Dad.
- It also seems that he's in charge of general things in the house, like washing the dishes. On this video by Calfreezy, he's actually caught washing dishes on-camera.
Freezy: You would be washing up, wouldn't you? - That's What She Said: In his younger days, Josh loved saying this when someone makes a perceived innuendo.
- Those Two Guys:
- With Simon when they play random games together.
- With Tobi, forming "Team X Years" ("X" being the number of years of their friendship).
- Trademark Favourite Food: Dr Pepper. He usually has a small drink of the soda at points in his videos. He's received a Dr Pepper cake for his birthday, attempted to make a pizza with Dr Pepper for a video, and Dr Pepper Snapple Groupnote even sent him an ice sculpture in the shape of a Dr Pepper can! However, ever since the group started taking their health more seriously after KSI and Logan Paul announced their fight, he's cut back on the soft drink.
- Troll: Often tries to mess with others in the name of X Must Not Win in games like Golf with Your Friends. See here for an example.
- Two First Names: Four like with wroetoshaw. Just don't say any of the last three names to his face.
- Victory by Endurance: Aside from his role as The Ace, many of Josh's victories in GTA races come from him starting from behind but benefiting from the others screwing themselves up and inadvertently clearing the way for him.
