February 7, 2013: Vic DiBitetto Posts "Bread & Milk"

February 7, 2013: Vic DiBitetto posts a video to YouTube: "Bread & Milk."

A Brooklyn native, Vic started doing comedy in the early 1980s, doing not well enough to become a star, but doing just well enough to keep doing it, while he made a living as a garbage truck driver, and then a school bus driver, on Staten Island. In 1991, he and his son Michael won $10,000 on America's Funniest People, for a home video of a mock ventriloquist act.

The coming of YouTube inspired Vic to make his own channel, and bring his comedy to the masses, a few minutes at a time. Frequently, he would open with, "Hey, whattaya say, my Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google Plus, your sister's ass, the Pony Express? A very ticked-off Vic here. You know what ticks me off?" And then he would explain what was ticking him off at the moment. Usually, it was something really annoying and stupid, instead of something actually dangerous. Such is life when you live in the New Jersey suburbs of New York. (I understood completely: At the time, we lived 16 miles apart.)

By early February 2013, he had turned 52, and had appeared in exactly one feature film -- and it was Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. He got raves for this brief appearance in an otherwise forgettable movie, but he was still no closer to becoming a star than he was in 1991. Still, people were liking his videos and telling him he was funny. Again, he was getting just enough encouragement to continue.

Then came a weather report: A storm was going to dump a lot of snow on the Northeastern United States. Words like "blizzard," "nor'easter," "extratropical cyclone" and "bomb cyclone" were used.

When warnings of a big storm come, people tend to panic, and head to stores to get food. And paper products, such as toilet paper and paper towels. And, in case power is lost, fuel for portable generators, and candles. Runs on stores' supplies of bread and milk are common.

It's worth pointing out that this was just 14 weeks after Hurricane Sandy had ravaged the Northeast, so that was still on people's minds. There was no snow on that occasion. But if the snow that was being predicted for this occasion had turned out to be deep -- say, 2 feet (24 inches) or more, it might be days before you could get to the store again, so you'd better get what you need now, before the snowfall starts.

And so, Vic posted a 28-second video of himself running out of his house, and getting into his car to go to the store, getting more and more worried as he goes along:

Gotta get the bread and milk. I gotta get the bread and milk. I gotta get the bread and milk. Gotta get the bread and milk, oh my God! I gotta... I gotta get the bread and milk! I gotta get the bread and... They said snow! I gotta get the bread and milk! Oh my God! I gotta get the bread... I gotta get the bread and milk! I gotta get the bread and milk, oh my God!

Within a year of posting it, this video got over 12 million views. By 2022, it was up to 20 million. It was shown on CNN, NBC's The Today Show, and ABC's The View.

And the parodies of it came up fast. Within 5 days, a man recorded what he called "Bread & Milk (black version)": "I gotta get the sugar and Kool-Aid!" In January 2014, with snow already falling, another guy went through the whole shebang of saying he's gotta get the bread and milk, and closed with, "I'm gettin' Dunkin Donuts, screw this." In January 2016, with Shopkins being a toy craze, a woman taped her daughter, probably around 8 years old, getting into the car's driver's seat, and saying, "I gotta get the Shopkins!"

Vic said, "Thirty seconds of stupidity brought me more recognition than thirty years of stand-up." He now occasionally gets parts in comedy movies, usually playing guys like himself: Italians who yell a lot.

He parodies this with his character, Tony Gaga. That's with the accent on the 2nd syllable, Ga-GA, not like Lady Gaga (who is also Italian and from New York). Tony Gaga, whom Vic claims is his cousin, wears shades, an undershirt, and Bermuda shorts, and doesn't know the meaning of the words "inside voice." Whatever you're talking about, he says, "You gotta guy? You gotta go to the guy I go to! He'll get it for ya for two dollars! Two dollars!"

Vic as Tony Gaga

He also does videos pretending to be the manager of the New York Yankees, the head coach of the New York Giants (keeping his own personality for both, not pretending to be the actual field boss), Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa, Al Pacino's Tony Montana of Scarface, Marlon Brando's Don Vito Corleone of The Godfather, Robert Shaw's Quint from Jaws, or the late, great comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who was a friend of his. Sometimes, he's himself, Tony Gaga, Rocky, Tony Montana, Don Corleone, Quint and Rodney, all in the same video.

But he's still best known as "The Bread and Milk Guy." In 2021, after a year of COVID, with its runs on store supplies, one commenter wrote, "This man was living in 2020 before 2020 was even a thing." Around that time, Vic actually did get COVID. He was miserable for 4 days, but survived, and, as of February 7, 2022, shows no ill effects, but minces no words: You don't want it.

As for the storm in question: New York got 11 inches of snow, and most of New Jersey got around that as well. New England was hit much worse: Boston got 25 inches; Portland, Maine set a city record with 32 inches; and Hamden, Connecticut got hit the worst, 40 inches -- that's 3-foot-4. Both New England and Atlantic Canada (the Maritime Provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador) got hit with waves much higher than usual. Over 700,000 people lost power, some only briefly, others for days; and 18 deaths were attributed to the storm.

And, just so you know, he did get the bread and milk.

This head-tilt and glare is known to his fans as "Doing The Look."

*

February 7, 2013 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. The football season had just ended with Super Bowl XLVII, in which the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31.

Only 2 NBA games were played. That was what was scheduled; it wasn't due to the storm. The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 116-95 at the TD Garden in Boston; and the Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls, 128-96 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

There were 12 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat their arch-rivals, the New York Islanders, 4-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2 at the Prudential Center.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 in a shootout at the Wells Fargo Arena (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-0 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 in overtime at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-4 in a shootout at the First Niagara Center (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals, 5-2 at the Consol Energy Center (now the PPG Paints Arena) in Pittsburgh.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3 in overtime at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-1 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the MTS Centre (now the Canada Life Centre) in Winnipeg.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 6-2 at the Jobing.com Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* And the Anaheim Ducks, the Boston Bruins, the Colorado Avalanche, the Dallas Stars, the Edmonton Oilers and the San Jose Sharks were not scheduled.