The doctor who said 'sneezing is not normal, I never sneeze', nicknamed Dr. NeverSneezer Scrooge by Hank (2021)
running joke · status: running joke (last seen 2026) · last event: callback (2026-10-13)
A doctor said 'sneezing is not normal, I never sneeze', and Hank nicknamed the doctor Dr. NeverSneezer Scrooge. From 2021 on, John repeats 'sneezing is never normal' after his own sneezes, and the line was still coming up in 2026.
Told alongside: Brotherhood 2.0: the 2007 year of daily video letters · EcoGeek relaunch: Hank and DFTBA's eco-conscious cleaning-supply subscription, profits to the Coral Reef Alliance (2025)
About: Sarah's doctor
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-06-29 | first in the videos (callback; it began earlier) | John says part of why he can't stop thinking about it is that Hank named the doctor Dr. NeverSneezer Scrooge, a perfect joke. | Sneezing is not normal. 00:01:30 |
| 2021-08-03 | callback | Feeling Esther would want a joke, John shares something that just happened to him between takes: 'Sneezing is never normal. I never sneeze.' (playful) | I L*** Hank 00:03:25 |
| 2021-08-17 | callback | Among his ownership examples John asks whether the person terrorized by Dr. NeverSneezer Scrooge owns part of the art made of it. | Who Owns Nerdfighteria? 00:01:27 |
| 2021-10-04 | callback | John laughs and reads the line printed on a Pizzamas design: 'Sneezing is never normal, I never sneeze.' (joke) | PIZZAMAS IS HERE! 00:02:26 |
| 2023-11-07 | callback | After sneezing mid-sentence, John says sneezing is never normal. (joke) | NaFaDoYBIMSCoM 00:01:16 |
| 2024-02-27 | callback | Joking that it is widely thought abnormal, John says Jessica does sneeze: Americans report a median of four sneezes a day. (playful) | I Was Wrong about the Average American 00:03:24 |
| 2025-03-11 | callback | After a huge sneeze, John says it is not normal: what just happened to him is never normal. (joke) | Hank Green's Brother 00:02:40 |
| 2026-09-15 | callback | John names Sneezing Isn't Normal among the community creations without which Nerdfighteria would be far less interesting. | YouTube Says This Video Has 683,183 Views, It Actually Has 312,584 00:03:53 |
| 2026-09-29 | callback | As an example of bit commitment, a way he and John honour their friendship, Hank says every time he sneezes in front of John, John says 'Oh God, what was that?' (playful) | Pretend You Don't Know This 00:01:20 |
| 2026-10-13 | callback | After a sudden sneeze during the lightning question, John says he met the "sneezing is never normal" person on tour. (playful) | My Lungs Are on the Outside of the Body 00:03:19 |
What is said about it
8 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2021-06-29 · Sneezing is not normal. — John: 46 days ago listener Sarah wrote that when she was diagnosed with asthma eight years earlier, her doctor said sneezing is not normal and that the doctor never sneezes. — 00:00:17
- 2021-06-29 · Sneezing is not normal. — John: For eight years Sarah has thought of this doctor whenever she sneezes; now John does too, and since the episode aired hundreds of people have told him the same. — 00:00:43
- 2021-06-29 · Sneezing is not normal. — John wonders how the doctor explains their own sneezes: a fluke, a sneeze-adjacent phenomenon, or a moral weakness to hide from the public. (playful) — 00:01:07
- 2021-06-29 · Sneezing is not normal. — John: In our attention economy, where capturing attention is itself valuable, John says 'I never sneeze' captures more attention than being a good doctor. — 00:02:02
- 2021-06-29 · Sneezing is not normal. — John calls this a diagnosis, not a treatment, because he doesn't know the treatment for thinking of the line every time he sneezes. (unsure) — 00:02:44
- 2021-06-29 · Sneezing is not normal. — John genuinely dislikes that a random doctor saying something ridiculous has reshaped his sneezing experience forever. — 00:03:19
- 2026-09-15 · YouTube Says This Video Has 683,183 Views, It Actually Has 312,584 — John says YouTube's interest has always been co-creation between creators and audience: Nerdfighteria would be far less interesting without Sneezing Isn't Normal, Pizzamas and TB Fighters, which came more from the community. — 00:03:53
- 2026-09-29 · Pretend You Don't Know This — Hank contrasts raising a child, which is about the child because the child matters, with saying 'Oh God, what was that?' instead of 'bless you', which honours what exists between them. — 00:03:24