An Australian town crier’s powerful voice earned him a Guinness World Record when he let out a yell measured at 122.4 decibels.
Joseph McGrail-Bateup, aka Lord Joseph, the official town crier for Canberra and Queanbeyan, told Guinness World Records his pipes have not always been so potent.
“When I was a kid I didn’t really have a loud voice, I was very shy, withholding all that stuff until I left school and I joined the theater. It was very clear then that I needed to pipe up, make myself loud,” he said. “So, I trained in the theater where you didn’t use microphones or anything like that and I got loud and as the years went by, louder.”
McGrail-Bateup was appointed town crier in 2017, and started participating in Ancient and Honorable Guild of Australian Town Criers competitions in 2022.
“In the first year I managed to take some places in the event, but in 2024 I took first place away for the loudest cry at 98 dB,” he said.
McGrail-Bateup broke the Guinness World Record for the loudest shout by an individual (male) with a reading of 122.4 decibels in May.
“At the beginning of this year I was wondering what I could do that was a little bit different, so not being unfamiliar with Guinness World Records — I am also a former holder for archery — I looked up shouting and here I am, six months later with the record,” he said.
“My daughter and I worked together to find the best word to hit the decibels. The previous word was ‘quiet’ but that wasn’t quite loud enough and we ended up settling for the word ‘now.'”
