We track down the man who has exposed the world to the Creatures of Manly
You would be hard-pressed to find a person on the Northern Beaches under the age of 30 who doesn’t follow the account @creaturesofmanly on Instagram. Of course, it’s not confined to that demographic – I’m over 40 and a daily viewer. I’ve often discussed antics witnessed on the channel with our mayor, local MPs or other more ‘respectable’ people than my good self. More than 100,000 of us are watching, whether we admit to it or not.
For the uninitiated, it could be described thus: reader-submitted videos highlighting some of the more unusually behaving characters seen on the Northern Beaches, usually in Manly. There’s drunken debauchery, there’s some quirky and borderline mentally ill folks doing unexpected things, there’s furries taking photos of themselves on the beach and teens doing tricks on e-bikes or surfing buses… there’s firefighters being champions and using their hose to make a slip and slide on Australia Day. There’s also the crowd favourite – old mate skolling a vodka then launching a belly flop off the pier at Manly Cove.
The force behind Creatures could be best described as a quintessential Northern Beaches bloke. But that’s as far as our reveal will take you. There are others who pop in behind the scenes, but it’s fundamentally kept alive by one Creature who, for his own safety and the fun of a whodunnit mystique, will remain otherwise undescribed.
Creatures and Manly Observer have followed a similar path, both growing exponentially since 2020. We’ve chatted, shared content, and swapped notes – “This one is too risqué for Manly Observer, feel free to share it,” or more commonly from me: “Hey can I share that epic video you just posted?”
I joined the dots on his identity some time ago, but keeping secrets is as much a part of my job as revealing them. He agrees to an interview under a solemn oath I won’t reveal him.
MO: I know you say there are a few of you but it’s clear you’re the main one running the show. Can I reveal your age or describe you to our readers?
The Creature, as he will now be known, wants to remain un-aged. “I like the idea that I could be someone’s dad running this page, I could be basically anyone.”
MO: Anyone with a broad sense of humour and an appetite for risk-taking, I suggest. Have you ever been sued or threatened for some of the content you’ve shared?
“Surprisingly no, though I have had people send stuff and ask for a tag and then come back a few hours later freaking out and begging me to take it down because the police have called their mum or they’ll see it and get them in trouble.”
MO: And do you?
“I usually do, if it’s gonna hurt someone. Or if more of the story comes out and it’s pretty serious or someone has a really serious mental health issue, then yeah, I actually consider and think about what we post a lot more than people expect. There are so many more that I have rejected, some of the stuff… it’s insane.”
“It’s unfortunate but we get a lot of R-rated and incriminating content that we simply can’t post. Still send us anything. We are always interested. You would be surprised how many sex videos on the beach we get sent.”
The Creature explains it can be a difficult juggle sharing content that pushes boundaries knowing that Meta can pull the plug at any time (and ironically they did for about 18 hours on the day this article was due to be published). They don’t have a backup plan and if their account gets deleted the whole brand goes with it.
“It’s for that reason I have been a bit more careful with what we post. I’ve also been putting in the work to get approvals for content, where it is possible, before sharing. Like if someone sends a hilarious video of their mate, I need to get an idea of how the people in the video feel about it. Most people, the younger people, want to be on Creatures of Manly. It’s almost a rite of passage.
“We don’t want it to feel like we are pointing and laughing at one person, we want everyone to be in on the joke. We are all laughing at ourselves, enjoying our absurdities. There are a lot of great characters on the Northern Beaches. About 40% of people who follow us are actually not from Sydney and I think it’s probably a good thing for tourism, it highlights the fun and uniqueness of the area and the people in it.”
MO: Do you feel there’s some hypocrisy in posting videos of random people in public while keeping your own identity anonymous?
“Completely. But I also want people to know I have appeared on the page myself a couple of times…”
MO: Why did you start Creatures of Manly? How do you see it evolving?
“We started the page as a joke between friends. We never thought it would get this big. We thought it might max out at a couple of thousand followers. It was a complete joke at the start. Now it’s getting a bit hard to handle!
“It all started down at Manly. We began filming kooks on the beach doing funny warmups and people doing absurd things. We started calling them ‘creatures’ and built up a collection of clips. One of the old guys who is a regular on the promenade suggested we post them online. Voilà. Creatures of Manly was born.”
There’s no commercial game plan as it’s all for fun, but you can show your love by sporting their t-shirts that have been designed by local artist Ben Brown, aka “Mental Ben”.
“Ben Brown is an absolute core lord of Manly. We didn’t even think of anyone else when we decided to make the shirts. His designs fit our style perfectly. He is a local who knows Manly like the back of his hand.” (FYI: you can grab the merch here)
MO: Why do you think it’s so popular? Everyone seems to follow it and share the content.
“Everyone loves seeing something weird. It’s in our human nature. There are plenty of meme pages out there, but I think our success comes from the fact that all the videos are filmed in Manly. When people have a personal connection to a place, they are more invested in what’s going on in their town.”
Asked if he has any message for the fans, Creature’s ask is simple:
“Keep sending us videos!”
