One sure sign of true comic talent is the ability to tell the same joke over and over … and over, and it’s funny every single time. Case in point: YouTube's The Fine Brothers (the two of whom I’m starting to suspect aren’t really brothers).
"50 Comedies Spoiled in 3 Minutes" are the latest victims in the Fine Brothers spoiler series. As with "100 scary movies in 5 minutes," "50 Book Spoilers in 4 minutes," "100 TV Spoilers" and a whole bunch more, plots are boiled down to their formulaic essence. In this case especially, the results are markedly more entertaining than the source material. (Pay special attention to Fine Brother Left’s face during Fine Brother Right’s “Valentine’s Day” breakdown. It's all you need to know.)
Speaking of source material, this rapid-fire wrecking of Saturday afternoon cable fare also marks a departure for the Fine Brothers. For the first time, all 50 movies spoiled — from the "Austin Powers" trilogy to "Yes Man" (Ugh. I know, right?) — were suggested by viewers as part of the HP ePrint Live sponsorship on YouTube.
The six-day showcase of crowd-sourced improve comedy, hosted by Rob Riggle (formerly of "The Daily Show") and featuring members of the primordial talent pool that is the Upright Citizens Brigade theater, runs through January 26.As with the Fine Brothers' "50 Comedies," viewers are invited to submit their improve skit ideas via the Internet. The accepted submissions print out from the HP printers on stage where they are performed.
That’s pretty much all the advertising you’ll have to endure — fairly painless, considering ads you’re asked to sit through before watching a lot of videos. And it’s an interesting marketing experiment for YouTube’s largely unsung/untapped hardcore audience.
"Rather than have us do something heavily branded, they allowed us to use their technology to help be part of our existing series," Fine Brothers Benny & Rafi said in an email. "Something we hope more brands start to do."
Fingers crossed!
Check out the HP ePrint Live improv comedy special here.
More stories about the annoying way we live now:
- YouTube star is hetero bear wrestler on Google
- Texting fountain lady's problems bigger than YouTube fame
- Facebook calls Roger Ebert's blog post 'abusive content'
- 'Animals on Treadmills" will shame you to fitness
Helen A.S. Popkin writes about the Internet ... a lot. Get your fill of her blather on Facebook and Twitter.
