YouTube videos are a source of wondrous
hilarity. I love watching YouTube videos such as “Viral Video Film School.” These
videos compile the best and the worst Internet videos that teach people how to
do and how not to do something. In these videos, people often do extremely
stupid things that make me laugh.
One of my favorite videos is called “Viral
Video Water Fails.” I was first exposed to the film series and this episode by
one of my friends. We were hanging out one day and she showed me this clip,
saying how it was one of her favorites. We watched it and laughed so hard that
people in the hallway outside her room could probably hear us. It was
hilarious!
In this video, the narrator gives tips on
how to have fun in the water without getting hurt, and shows funny videos of
people not following these tips, doing stupid things and getting hurt as a result.
One reason I found this video humorous is because of the verbal humor. The
narrator has a tone of voice that makes it sound like he is saying “duhh” to
the people in the clip, uses puns, and often gives tips that are usually quite
obvious, but are not followed in these videos. For example, his first tip is in
order to “enjoy your time in the water, get to the water.” This seems obvious,
right? But the clip shows a kid trying to bodysurf into to water, and failing. Another
seemingly obvious tip is to “inspect your equipment before you use it.” To
demonstrate how people do not follow this tip, he shows a clip of a boat
turning upside down. He uses humor to describe the scene. He calls the boat a
“non-conformist boat” and pretends to be the boat by saying “all the other
boats are not upside down you know, I’m different.” The tone of his voice in
this line is humorous, and boats actually do not talk. The situation is funnier
because the narrator is using humor to describe it. What would normally be tragedy
is comedy.
The “Funniest Water Fails” video is
humorous because it shows people getting hurt after trying these stunts. Now
the question is, why are videos of people getting hurt in water-related
accidents so funny and why they may be less funny in real life? One reason is
because of the context. The reaction of the person doing the stupid trick, as
well as the people watching and filming this trick, is priceless. They start to
laugh, which makes me laugh as well. Also, this if the person got seriously
hurt making the video, then it would most likely not be on YouTube, because it
would be disrespectful to put it up. Third, the people in the videos were intentionally
doing stupid tricks, probably knowing that if the trick did not work and they
hurt themselves, then it would be funny. For example, the guy who tried to dive
in a river of ice, the guy who tried to jump in the pond without avoiding the
chain, and the clip of the man who tried to jump on the table and into the
water, were all funny because they knew it would be awesome if they were
successful, and funny if they failed and hurt themselves. They intentionally
did these acts.
I want to talk about another part of the
video that was really funny. It was one of my favorites, because like most
clips, it was due to fail before the trick even started. He starts the clip by
saying that another tip is “to check the water too, to make sure there is any water.” And then a kid is sliding
down a waterslide into a pool of no water and aiming to land in a pile of inner
tubes. I laughed because I knew it was doomed. And then the narrator says how it
“looks like it’s going to be a lot more scrape-y” and “so you had time to fill
up a thousand inner tubes but not enough time to fill up the pool?” The tone,
wordplay, and sarcasm here is genius. I felt bad for the kid, but I did not
feel too bad for him because he intentionally did something stupid. It was
funny because I was not the one getting hurt, and I did not see the kid’s
reaction after he scraped himself. For example, if he were crying after he
landed, I would not have laughed.
I have provided a clip of the “Funniest Water
Fails” for you to enjoy and laugh at. And then you will see why I love watching
this clip, and how it never fails to make me laugh every time.
Hi Paige, Thanks for posting on Water Fails and adding the link. I watched the video. I admit the narrator enhances the humor with his sarcasm. I liked the boat upside down in the water the best. But the others made me cringe rather than laugh. There was potential for serious injury in a couple of the scenes, and as a medical responder all I could think about were the injuries. This is something we should talk about in class. dw
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