melbourneAP —
Joseph McGrail Baitup is an Australian professional air conditioner cleaner and honorary town shouter, known as the loudest man in the world.
Guinness World Records confirmed last week that the 58-year-old Canberra resident had recorded the loudest individual scream in history. He yelled “Come on” at 122.4 decibels.
This beat the previous record of 121.7 decibels, set by Northern Ireland schoolteacher Annalisa Flanagan in 1994. She let out a deafening scream of “Hush!”
This is within the noise range of chainsaws, jets taking off, and ambulance sirens at close range.
The record attempt wasn’t something McGrail Baitup could train for, he said Tuesday.
“It’s impossible to actually train for it, especially in a world record attempt, you have to keep it up for the day,” McGrail-Bateup said.
“It took me seven tries to write the single word ‘now’ and my voice was recorded for the next few days. It was husky. It was awful. So, no, I can’t really practice it. But when I’m doing it, it’s a lot of fun,” he added.
McGrail-Bateup considered himself not just the loudest person, but the loudest man in the world, he said. There has never been a record for the loudest man.
“I’m glad she (Flanagan) has made the record. I mean, she’s still the loudest woman in the world and I’m still the loudest man in the world,” McGrail-Bateup said.
McGrail Baitup said he had searched Guinness World Records for feats in the field of street crying without success, and came across Flanagan’s record by chance.
He became vocal in his competitive spirit after being appointed capital city Canberra’s official town crier in 2017. This is a prestigious part-time role created by the local authority and he considers it “a bit of fun”. His town spokesperson’s name is Lord Joseph.
He presents at community events, school fairs, car shows, and more.
This work also earned him membership in the Ancient and Honorable Guild of Australian Town Criers. The guild is a competitive professional organization dedicated to preserving the historical and ceremonial roles of its members.
He won the 2024 Guild competition with the loudest “Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes” at 98 dB. It was a command to silence and caution before shouting in Australian towns.
He tried out several words for his world record attempt before settling on “now.”
His screams were recorded on 2 May at a radio studio in Canberra by a professional sound engineer in the presence of witnesses. The file was sent to Guinness World Records, which announced the record on Friday.
This is the second time McGrail Baitup has broken a world record. In 2019, he broke the archer’s speed record for shooting 10 arrows. His time of 60.03 seconds beat the previous record since 2015 by just one second.
Nine months later, a 7-year-old boy broke the McGrail bait-up record by 11.4 seconds.
McGrail Baitup had no interest in trying to recover the archery record or maintain the screaming record.
“If someone can beat me, that would be great,” he said. “Records are meant to be broken.”
