He has a bigger online following than any of WA’s high-profile celebrities and you’ve probably never heard of him.

Meet Perth man Ethan Marrell, the former stand-up comedian and filmmaker behind the massively popular “Ozzy Man” persona.

He makes a living by posting videos on Facebook and YouTube accompanied by his unique brand of satirical commentary.

“Ozzy Man” is a parody of a dinky-di Australian bogan who has a good heart despite his fondness for foul language.

He gets excited about almost anything but some of his favourite topics are sport, animals and people making fools of themselves.

Mr Marrell started his “Ozzy Man Reviews” project while he was at Curtin University completing a Master of Internet Communications.

He took a risk and made it his full-time job in January last year, when he had about 300,000 followers on Facebook and 100,000 on YouTube.

Camera Icon Perth man Ethan Marrell has built a Youtube and Facebook following of millions as Ozzy Man. Credit: Picture: Michael Wilson

The 30-year-old could never have anticipated the success he would enjoy in the next 12 months.

He now boasts 5.4 million followers across the two platforms - including 4.3 million on Facebook - and that number is growing by 600,000 each month.

By comparison, Perth Formula 1 star Daniel Ricciardo has about 760,000 Facebook followers.

Mr Marrell got the name “Ozzy Man” from American screen writing friends.

The rest of the project was a product of his past work, studies and creativity.

“You’re always looking at bogans as the ones you’re laughing at in any kind of medium in Australia, whether it’s live performing or Kath and Kim,” Mr Marrell said.

“You’re laughing at how crass and vulgar they seem and how below you they are.

“The idea with Ozzy Man was to kind of flip that on its head a bit. He’s a bogan and he represents the lower-to-middle class but he’s intelligent.”

The venture has become quite profitable for Mr Marrell, who makes most of his money from online advertising and merchandise.

He rarely has to go hunting for video content because his followers bombard his inbox with suggestions.

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Copyright law is a grey area but problems are few and far between.

He has reached a point where organisations as big as the BBC want to partner with him for the exposure.

His biggest audience is in the US, followed by the UK, Australia, Canada, the Philippines, South Africa, New Zealand, India and Ireland.

"I like that the internet is borderless because it has that Australian value of giving everyone a fair go," Mr Marrell said.

"The fans in India particularly enjoy the freedom of swearing back at me - and good on them."

It still blows him away when a video racks up 40,000 comments in a day - “that’s Patersons Stadium”, as he puts it.

But his most satisfying moments are the heartfelt messages he gets about once a week.

“It could be a sibling who’s died or a parent and they’ll say, ‘I’ve just binge-watched an hour of Ozzy Man, thanks for helping me laugh’,” he said.

“That’s unbeatable.”