By: Scott Muller
I’m always a little slow when it comes to finding things on the Interwebs. Sometimes, however, I seem to come across a hidden gem that my friends and coworkers haven’t hit upon yet. It certainly doesn’t help that, more often than not, Internet “humor” falls a little flat. At the risk of sounding like an old peepaw, when moving pictures were relegated to television and movies, the number of “celebrities” was limited in quantity. Now the term “Internet celebrity” ensures that anyone who can get their hands on a camera and a computer can broadcast themself to the world.
While I’m all for folks pursuing their dreams, this glut of Internet videos means that quality content is a little harder to find, buried in a sea of fodder for Tosh.O and Ridiculousness. That being the case, I figure I’ll do you folks a public service and separate the wheat from the proverbial chaff and tell you what I believe is some of the funniest stuff on the Web. In this list of what I consider some of the funnier stuff on the web, I tried to steer away from some of the more obvious stuff (“Weird Al” videos on Vimeo or Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco are obvious comedy gems). Since I’m a little on the older side, odds are, many of you have seen this stuff before, but for those of you who haven’t, I’m hoping this can bring some joy into your day! I realize this is one guy’s opinion, but I’d like to think I have a pretty decent sense of humor. Hopefully you, dear reader, will agree. Enjoy!
Okay, maybe we’ll start with one of the more popular items on the list. It certainly isn’t creative genius, but there’s no doubt this video is pretty clever in both concept and execution. Its popularity can’t be denied, as it spawned a parody of its own in the form of the opening to The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (cleverly titled Unbreakable). I don’t know if Charles Ramsey knew he was going to be a nationwide (well, at least Internet-wide) sensation after he gave this interview, but he’ll certainly be part of pop culture history with this silly song that’s difficult to get out of your head. I actually spent a couple bucks to download it on iTunes and it makes me smile every time it comes on.
As a gigantic fan of Chuck, it didn’t take much for me to become an even bigger fan of Yvonne Strahovski, but this video from CollegeHumor did the trick. In the video, Yvonne performs a pretty spot-on parody of three of music’s biggest “manufactured images” in Kesha, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry. Despite the fact that she doesn’t sing, her costuming and pantomiming are pretty spot on and good for a laugh. It’s nice to see Strahovski bust out her comic chops, considering that she had to play it pretty straight-laced on Chuck.
I don’t quite recall how I stumbled upon this video, but it made my heart warm, especially in the wake of the horrible live-action GI Joe movies. If you haven’t seen this video, I’m not going to spoil the who’s-who of actors they got to play iconic GI Joe characters like Snow Job, Scarlet, Shipwreck, Zartan, Destro, and The Baroness, but I guarantee you’ll be pleasantly surprised when they pop up. The song, a ballad about what the members of GI Joe and COBRA like to do in their spare time, starts a tad slow, but builds up to an absolutely amazing crescendo with a phenomenal cameo at the end. As a child of the 80s, this video couldn’t be cooler to me.
While we’re on the topic of GI Joe, I must mention these bizarre videos as some of the funniest I’ve seen. Essentially, if I had to guess, a few stoned guys got together and thought, “You know, we should do some sort of goofy Mystery Science Theater number on the old GI Joe PSAs!” I don’t know much about the company who created these wacky videos (Fenslerfilms), but I can say for certain that they are some crazy folks. The videos barely make any sense, but it’s difficult to watch them without breaking out into fits of uncomfortable laughter. They’re not all PG and they’re a little dated (I told you that I’m old and I don’t find these things right away!), but if you don’t mind the occasional naughty word, you’ll get a kick out of these videos.
This video isn’t fancy or anything, but I challenge you to get through it without laughing at least once. This is one of those videos that hit me early and had me crying by the end. Some of the spelling and grammar are so poor that it’ll make your brain hurt. I know I let the occasional participle dangle and spilt my infinitives from time to time, but some of these questions will make you lose faith in humanity. If you think this video is funny, there’s also an almost-as-funny video where people ask questions about Ouija boards. You’d be amazed at how many people think it’s spelled “Luigi.” Yes, like the video game character. Sigh.
Okay, so these things started in 2010, but I only know of a handful of people who have even heard of them. The brainchild of two rappers named Nice Peter and EpicLLOYD, these videos pit some of history’s most famous folks (with “famous” being a relative term) against each other in rap battles that are…well, epic. Sometimes, Peter and Lloyd get some of their famous friends (including the likes of “Weird Al,” Key and Peele, and Snoop Dogg) to step in. Some of my favorite battles include The Ghostbusters vs. The Mythbusters, The Mario Brothers vs. The Wright Brothers, Walter White vs. Rick Grimes, and Batman vs. Sherlock Holmes. Some of the battles aren’t quite as epic as others, but it is truly amazing how Nice Peter and EpicLLOYD can pull off the looks of so many different people. The lyrics in each song are truly amazing, with subtle references to each historical figure/character that have to be heard to be believed.
I’ll be honest, before I did my research for this piece, I didn’t realize just how many of these crazy videos there were. I can’t speak for the entirety of the Bad Lip Reading oeuvre, but the videos I’ve watched have been pretty funny overall. My viewing has been limited to The Walking Dead, NFL, and some of the political videos. While this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s difficult to not at least give the creators of these videos credit for some of the utterly bizarre things they can come up with to match the relatively innocuous things that some of the folks in the videos are saying. Two of the more ridiculous, yet more cohesive and humorous creations are “songs” from The Walking Dead series of Bad Lip Reading. Carl Poppa and La-Bibbida-Bibba-Dum, created by doing bad lip readings of Carl Grimes and The Governor, are songs that are goofy fun that will stick in your head. Even The Governor himself, David Morrissey, got a kick out of the song when it was presented to him at a convention panel; Norman Reedus cracked up, as well.
In addition to The Walking Dead, NFL, and political Bad Lip Readings, there appear to be versions for Star Wars and a plethora over other popular movies. If you haven’t had a listen to these videos, give them a shot – you might get a chuckle or two out of them.
I saved the best for last. I can’t recall how, when, or why I stumbled on these videos, but they are absolutely hysterical. Simply explained, the creator(s) of these truly honest trailers say what pretty much everyone thinks about popular (and sometimes not so popular) movies and video games. In addition to clever writing and spot-on observations, the voice of the trailers, Jon Bailey, is as amazingly accurate as the former trailer voiceover guy (Don LaFontaine, who passed away in 2008 having done trailer voiceovers for over 5,000 movies) as you’re going to get.
I will admit that some of the trailers are funnier than others (with the trailer for After Earth, Suicide Squad, Grown Ups, and Terminator: Genisys being among my favorites), but there aren’t many true stinkers in the bunch. Kudos to the gents who came up with these creative, extremely funny, and most importantly…honest trailers!
Well, those are, in my humble opinion, the funniest of the funny videos available on the information superhighway. I’m sure some of you out there have some other suggestions of stuff that’s as funny or funnier than the selections I’ve made. These types of lists always foster debate, and there’s nothing wrong with that! Humor is subjective, and I’m hoping that this list will stir up some discussion of what you folks find funny on the ol’ interwebs. Share your suggestions and maybe we can provide our fellow nerds with something to brighten them up on a bad day or something to talk about on the subway with a stranger. Remember, fellow nerds, we’re all mightier than the sum of our parts…that’s SY-NERD-GY!
Happy Internet surfing, folks!
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