For an intro to this series, click here. For the original series way back in 2009, click here.
Earlier this week, Charlie Brooker (hilariously acidic skewerer of British media) put up a tweet that said, “Possibly the most powerfully seductive record of all time.” The link led to this bizarre ditty from Northern Irish comedian/showman Frank Carson. I think you’ll agree it is quite sexy. What woman could resist golden pipes like this?
The mere mental image of a batter striding to plate as Carson sang IP, DIP, CHIPPERDY DIP makes me crack up. Bless you, Mr. Brooker.
It’s Friday! Procrastinate and count down to happy hour with these lovely bits!
Several friends of mine on the The Twitter and The Facebook posted a link to this video yesterday. It’s British funnyman/commentator Charlie Brooker showing the essential elements needed in any news segment. Though this was done on the other side of the pond, it’s clear that such rules transcend borders.
This reminded me, Hey, Charlie Brooker’s pretty damn funny! Brooker hosts Newswipe on BBC4 (yes, there’s four of them now) and is known for his adept, savage skewering of the media. I know the word skewering is tossed off every time someone takes shots at The Boob Tube, but Brooker’s pieces are truly worthy of that adjective. Think of Jon Stewart in his best moments of righteous indignation, but angrier and more Cockney.
Like his take on American news media, pitched at a British audience blissfully unfamiliar with the likes of Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck.
Brooker can be just as good when going after less serious topics, as in this clip, where he lists “The 10 Biggest Cocks in Advertising”. (Cock = douche, jerk, etc. He’s not naming the 10 Biggest Cocks in the Greg Oden sense.) I’m not really familiar with most of these ads, but Brooker tears them apart so well–in ways both clever and silly–that it doesn’t matter. Funny is funny.
Or this spot-on (as the Brits say) takedown of MTV’s My Sweet 16. “I think this might be an Al Qaeda recruitment video.”
Just a brief sampling of the peeved hilarity Mr. Brooker has to offer. You could spend hours watching his collected works on the YouTubes. So go ahead! It’s only Friday. C’mon, you checked out of work by lunch on Wednesday, didn’t you?
Finally, Aziz Ansari posted a video on his web site that is, no joke, the craziest thing you will probably ever see. I cannot embed it, so you’ll have to click there and take my word for it.
The video is an pregame intro for an Alaskan collegiate hockey team, featuring their CGI polar bear mascot. It is not cheap, tossed-off CGI. If anything, this video is a little too well done. I will not ruin any of the madness for you. Suffice to say that, if you took Chuck Norris and The Punisher, and multiplied them by infinity, then multiplied them by INSANITY, they would still look like pussies compared to this polar bear.