Barry Kirkey also goes by the names of Extramask and 26. He is widely known for not kissing or holding a girls hand until that very age.
He can be found speaking, as 26, on three David DeAgenlo products, notably, Cocky Comedy & Other Conversation Skills.
Also, he is a main character, known as Extramask, in the Neil Strauss novel, The Game.
Barry’s spent a majority of his early years as an Asthmatic.
He had countless Asthma attacks from age 6 to 15 where he would be rushed by ambulance to the hospital to receive Ventolin, a medication used to treat asthma and other lung illnesses.
Later, his parents would purchase there own Ventolin pump.
Born on April 30, 1976, Barry, 13, began to develop Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
OCD, is a psychiatric anxiety disorder carrying a range of symptoms. Common OCD traits include touching something a specific number of times – and if what being touched isn’t touched properly, or not touched the correct number of times, then this could cause that person immense distress.
With OCD, some people also believe they will “lose control” and attack someone for no reason. This often causes the person to loop this thought over and over in their mind until they are convinced the thought is not true. Unfortunately, in dire situations, this can take up to months or years.
Barry adopted the symptoms above, along with a plethora of other highly disturbing thoughts and rituals.
As a result, this caused him to become very depressed.
Analyzing virtually every thought he had became a pastime. He would delve in to his intrusive OCD-based thoughts and question if they were real or not. This caused his OCD to worsen.
His unwillingness to take prescription drugs for the illness gave him a narrow approach to finding relief.
For years Barry began going through countless self-help and spiritual resources. This included: Anthony Robbins, Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra, all of which he believes are garbage now. However, at the time his goal was to get rid of his OCD through self-introspection.
In 2006, he realized that his OCD was going to rule his life forever, so he decided to have real Doctors help him. He stumbled across an OCD clinic and at the clinic he had a psychiatrist, along with a psychologist, who taught him Exposure Response Therapy (ERP).
He still has OCD, but he has much more control over it. He says that he has never felt better in his life.
Aside from having OCD and Asthma, Barry also had huge issues with acne for much of his life. His face and neck were spattered with pink swollen dots and white pustules.
In 1998, already insecure, Barry decided to find a Dermatologist. He quickly went on Accutane – a medication prescribed for the treatment of severe acne. And for many years has been virtually acne free.
Barry was born in Montreal, Canada. He used to run a Comedy Show in downtown Toronto, Canada, named The Barry Kirkey Show. A Journalism graduate, his favorite TV shows are The Office and Flight of the Conchords. He is also a big fan of the Howard Stern Show.