The “A Barbershop Haircut That Cost a Quarter” Meme, Explained

Download Article

Learn how the Newsies lyric is linked to the destruction of the universe

Co-authored by Sophie Burkholder, BA Reviewed by Tobi Nwodo

Last Updated: September 10, 2025 Fact Checked

Download Article

Understanding the Meme

|

The Original Video

|

Popularity on TikTok

|

Video

If you can read the line “barbershop haircut that cost a quarter” without hearing it spoken with a bombastic, melodic, and distinctly turn-of-the-century-New-Yorker accent, this article is definitely for you! We’re explaining this line, the song and musical it belongs to, and how/why it’s been so thoroughly meme-ified on TikTok! Below, you can read everything there is to know about the “barbershop haircut that cost a quarter” meme (aka, the “bro had the entire audience in less than 5 seconds” meme), including what the meme means, the original video it comes from, and how it became so inescapable on the theatre kid side of TikTok.

What is the “barbershop haircut that cost a quarter” video?

“Barbershop haircut that costs a quarter” is from a production of Newsies, where an actor forcefully sings the line (with an amusing accent on “quarta”). The meme has TikTokers reenacting the video (and rating their accuracy), or creating absurd edits where the actor explodes the world/universe with his line delivery.

Section 1 of 3:

What is the “Barbershop Haircut That Costs a Quarter” meme?

Download Article

The meme features edits or reenactments of a viral video from a Newsies performance. The “barbershop haircut that costs a quarter” meme is based on a clip from a performance of the Broadway musical Newsies. The original clip (which you can read more about below) features an actor who passionately and boldly sings the line, “a barbershop haircut that costs a quarter,” which is a lyric from “King of New York.” The explosive performance of the line, along with the old-timey pronunciation of “quarter” as “qwarta,” quickly went viral and became meme-ified.^{[1]
X
Research source}
- Some of these memes are called “Accuracy Reenactments.” In these videos, TikTok users film themselves recreating the original video. They then attach a caption to the video that says, “Barbershop haircut that costs a quarter ___% accuracy,” with the accuracy percentage being based on how close to the original they sounded.
- Here’s an example (with 98.999% accuracy) that was posted by TikTok user @magicalsweetkitty.
- Other memes are of the “brainrot” variety, where people edit the clip in nonsensical, absurd ways. They might speed it up, slow it down, or add in crazy effects.
- Because one of the first “barbershop haircut that costs a quarter” videos had the caption, “bro had the entire audience in 10 seconds,” users started to create ~explosive~ edits of the original video with captions like “bro really detonated the core of the Earth in 5 seconds” and “bro destroyed the hierarchy of infinite spatial dimensions in 5 seconds.”

Section 2 of 3:

What is the original “Haircut That Costs a Quarter” video?

Download Article

The original “barbershop haircut that costs a quarter” video was posted online in 2021. And, it actually went viral then, too! The clip is just an innocent snippet from the musical Newsies. In the video, the cast is performing “King of New York” and one actor sings the lyric “a barbershop haircut that costs a quarter.” The actor’s line delivery, especially compared with the other actors singing before and after him, is incredibly forceful, passionate, and enthusiastic. His voice is strong and moving, and he takes on an old-timey New York accent for his pronunciation of “quarta.”^{[2]
X
Research source}
- The actor in the video is named Kevin James Sievert (@kevinjamessievert on TikTok). He plays along with the online memes and his newfound virality, and he often posts jokes about the meme on his own social media pages.

Section 3 of 3:

How did the “Barbershop Haircut That Costs a Quarter” meme go viral on TikTok?

Download Article

The video was first posted by TikToker @jordanarrasmith in March 2021. This video gained some momentum on TikTok, getting over 151,900 likes in four years. However, things really kicked off after a December 2023 repost of the original video by @shawndholmes, which garnered more than 1.9 million likes in two years. From there, the video was reposted by Instagram user @marynaaksenov, who posted it with the caption “bro had the entire audience in less than 5 seconds,” speaking to how the actor basically stole the show with one brief line. The video continued to be reposted and spread around on TikTok, with the “bro had the entire audience” caption becoming fodder for memes about “bro destroying the world” or “blowing up the time-space continuum” in 5 seconds.^{[3]
X
Research source}
- The Accuracy Reenactment memes also became popular in 2025, after TikTok user @mokamochaa posted this video.