I had the honor of creating Biff Wiff's Wikipedia article.
Unfortunately, it wasn't until the day after he died.
Like all I Think You Should Leave fans, I was saddened to hear of the death of actor Biff Wiff. I am a big fan of I Think You Should Leave. I’m one of those people whose language has been infected by it. I say “I’m not in trouble at all” or “I should’ve got that” or even “Bozo did the dub” in conversation, whether warranted or not. I don’t think I’m annoying about it. I might be, but I don’t think I am. People often don’t know I’m quoting ITSYL at all.
While saddened, I was not surprised. I had been aware of Wiff’s ailing health for the last year or so, since it was made public that he had a resurgence of cancer and the I Think You Should Leave fan community began chipping in for his treatment.
But what did surprise me was when I heard he died and immediately went to Wikipedia to see if anyone had updated his Wikipedia article yet—only to realize that Biff Wiff didn’t have a Wikipedia article.
For the uninitiated: who is Biff Wiff?
If you aren’t already familiar with Biff Wiff, do yourself a favor by turning on Netflix, going to I Think You Should Leave and watching the third episode of the second season.
It’s the skit that produced this moment:
And this:
And many others.
The skit introduced I Think You Should Leave fans to Biff Wiff, an actor who had never exactly become a household name—and who still didn’t, except to ITYSL fans, who immediately began to treat the man as the hero he deserved to be.
Then came season 3, where we got the “Shirt Brothers” skit.
So yeah, this guy was a big deal to ITYSL fans.
But where was his Wikipedia page?
Why hadn’t anyone already made Biff Wiff a Wikipedia article?
This is one of those things where I feel stumped by it while also knowing the exact reason. If I hadn’t made Biff Wiff a Wikipedia article, then who else would have?
Be the Wikipedia editor you want to see in the world, right?
Since Saturday, this is my Wikipedia history:
But what I keep coming back to here is whether I would’ve been able to successfully make him an article before his death. He has tons of articles about him right now, on everything from Fox News to The AV Club.
But it wasn’t this robust when I first started creating his page on Saturday, shortly after learning of his death on the ITYSL subreddit. For the first few hours after I learned he died, I could only find a handful of articles about his death.
It was just enough to create a page demonstrating his notability. You’ll see, if you go through the references on his page, some of the articles I was able to find:
Get To Know Biff Wiff, The Profane Santa Claus From ‘I Think You Should Leave’
Jake Johnson talks about a "very different" season of Minx and life in the Spider-Verse
‘I Think You Should Leave’ Fans Are Helping Biff Wiff Pay for His Cancer Treatments
Even now, I worry that some Wikipedia editor will set their sights on the “Biff Wiff” article and swoop in, nominating it for deletion and insisting that he isn’t notable enough for Wikipedia. If the above articles were all we had, I think he’d be right on the edge.
But now there has been the flood of obituaries, which surely prove his notability? Dozens of them, all circling around his impact, his late-in-life rise to a certain niche fame.
There is an essay on Wikipedia about “Obituaries as sources.” But Wikipedia essays are odd things, described like this:
This is an essay.
It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.
The essay tells us that obituaries are reliable. But it tells us this in a form that is considered, by Wikipedia’s standards, unreliable.
What are we to do what that?
Rest in peace, shirt brother.
All of this is just to say: it was nice for me to get to create and edit the Wikipedia page for Biff Wiff. It’s an experience I recommend. I only wish that I had done so while he was still alive to see it.
And yes, this is my polite suggestion that you—the person reading this now—consider making some edits yourself. Don’t start by trying to make an article. But find one for something you care about and see how you can improve it. (Which yes, might include the Biff Wiff article, as it could still use some work.)
Now go watch Biff Wiff in ITYSL or Dave or Jury Duty or any of his many other great, bizarre performances.