TikTok comedian Ben Palmer is coming to Des Moines. He may have already trolled you online.

There’s a chance you may have encountered comedian and TikToker Ben Palmer over social media without even knowing it.

For example, if you were upset when Costco stopped carrying a brand of pimento cheese and took to Facebook to air your disappointment. Or, if you were less than impressed when diner chain IHOP altered its name to IHOb to temporarily promote its burgers and left a comment on the company’s social media page saying so.

Palmer finds these comments littered across the social media accounts of different companies, ranging from the trivial to scorning a company’s decision to support LBGTQ+ matters or the Black Lives Matter movement.

Then, he responds to these comments. Except it appears as if the company’s official social media page responded and tossed out professionalism in favor of a witty comeback.

It'll sometimes prompt some back and forth between Palmer, controlling the fake social media account, and the commenter, upset by the unexpected response. But it always leaves his millions of followers across his social media accounts, including 3.7 million followers on TikTok, in stitches when they see the ridiculous interactions he has, posted to his social media under his name or Palmer Trolls.

Palmer, who has also infiltrated various Facebook groups and posed as a reporter as part of his comedy, brings his professional trolling experiences to Funny Bone comedy club, 560 S. Prairie View Drive in West Des Moines, on Oct. 5. Tickets, starting at $25, are available to purchase on the comedy club's website for the 6:30 p.m. show.

The Des Moines Register spoke with Palmer in a phone call in September about finding success in trolling on the internet and if Des Moines, or Iowa, has ever been a victim of his expertise.

Note: Answers edited for clarity and length.

Des Moines Register: I read in an interview with Tucson Weekly that back in the days of Myspace, you were on there making people laugh as a 19 year old. What came next for you, and how did you eventually get to the point of trolling companies?

Ben Palmer: That's when I first really found the joy of seeing people's comments online when you make them laugh. It started with just a simple blog of me writing some one-liners about my life, trying to be funny about stuff that's happening. And the handful of friends that followed me on Myspace they were leaving comments saying they loved it and laughing and ever since that, I kept doing them and like when I would put the blog out, there was no greater joy for me than reading the responses if they came out good. Ever since then, I've been chasing that.

Des Moines Register: So how did your comedy morph into this opportunity to troll companies and their sometimes incredibly oblivious customer base? What point did you realize this was something you could do and that it was working with audiences?

Ben Palmer: I was always putting stuff on Facebook in the early Facebook days, making people laugh on there. Myspace went away so I shifted over to Facebook. I put my blog on Facebook, and then the companies started joining Facebook, all the corporations. And to me, Facebook was just a playground. So, now they were coming into the playground. I would write to the companies just like the most ridiculous complaints or requests to see if they would respond. Sometimes they did. Most of the time they didn't. And one night, I was on Uber’s Facebook page — that was when Uber just started — and I saw tons of people complaining to them and Uber wasn't responding at all. So I was like, “Well, if they're not going to respond, I'll start responding for them.” I started signing my name as Ben Palmer, freelance customer service representative. I put some posts out the next day and people reacted very well to it. You could tell it was like, “Oh, something has clicked here.” I must have done it a million times. I've been blocked from all the corporate pages. So, I just keep trying to refine it and get better.

Des Moines Register: Have you ever trolled an Iowa-based company or created anything like a fake city of Des Moines social media page?

Ben Palmer: I need to now. I definitely need to promote. I really should. I'm glad you brought that up. I really should be doing that before I come to these cities.

Des Moines Register: Do you ever find it fascinating that all you need is to say you’re a reporter or that you’re part of a company and people believe it? As in, that’s all you need in order to gain someone’s trust?

Ben Palmer: It used to be a lot easier and now people have seen troll accounts. Back in the day, trolling was like an underground internet. Only like if you're very well-versed in the internet you knew what trolling was. When I first started trolling, I didn't know there was a word for it until someone called me a troll… the game keeps changing. People get a little more sophisticated. Although, don't get me wrong. People still fall for some of the simplest stuff (like) pretending to be Walmart. You really think Walmart would respond to you like this? I try to disguise the things I say with professionalism, so it's not just me going, “Screw you, sincerely, Walmart.” I try to rope them in with a well written response that would sound like it's coming from a social media manager. And then just put a little dig in there or a little something that might trigger a response from them. Some people know. Some people are like, “Oh, this is a troll account.” But a lot of people, they just don't have time to think it through because they read the response and it triggers something in them. They get angry and then I think the anger just clouds their brains. Logic and calming down and checking, just simply checking the page to see if it has any followers, or if it's verified, is not something they think about because they're too busy penning up their epic comeback to Walmart.

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at PBarraza@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: TikTok's Ben Palmer of Palmer Trolls brings his comedy to Des Moines