August 28, 2007

• I didn't. I want the two minutes that I spent watching this back.
• No. You can't have them! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
• See squid, you should have just called it at 30 seconds like I did. Silly rabbits, learn to grab your audience's attention!
• Bah. You're all fools. The kid speaks wisdom, I tell you. Wisdom.
• He's got 40K subscribers. YouTube is a weird place, methinks.
• "Exhaust pipes are ozone layers." Uh, my brain hurts. Couldn't make it past the foot-on-chair point. Of course, I was already predisposed by the horrific spelling. But then, I am a spelling Nazi.
• Way to Gudwin the thread, spelling Nazi.
• That's right, guys, STICK YOUR HEADS IN THE SAND!!!
• You mean it gets better after 30 seconds/2 minutes?
• You mean it gets better after 30 seconds/2 minutes? I honestly believe that this kid is a comedic genius, and I strongly recommend watching all 7 minutes of his video. But I understand that comedic geniuses tend to be, by their very nature, divisive, and I'm okay with the scorn. Lord knows I didn't know what to think of him the first time I saw him.
• Ah, dear NickD, it's no scorn against you. Indeed no scorn against the video per se. It's simply a matter of getting to the point. (more on that later). I can definitely understand wanting to share a comedic genius. So, I watched the thing again. Past 30 seconds. Past 2 minutes. The whole dang thing. Here's a transcription of my reactions: 2:21 "How do we build a million houses underwater for each person?" I snickered. 3:06 "What do we solve by being living underwater? Everything!" I laughed. 4:02 "You see, I could breathe all day." Wonderfully demented conviction. 5:16 Eating demonstration with flour. An audible giggle. 6:40 "Soon these questions will be answers." Good writing. 8:32 Bathroom craters Genius, way to top the animal submarine. *** So yes, some good stuff there. But it takes way to long to get there. Waaaay too long. I don't care that it's youtube. I don't care that he's a teenager. Actually the fact that he's a teenager is encouraging. That means he's got plenty of time to work on acting classes and improv classes so that his timing--and especially delivery is good. Right now it... takes. too. long. to. get. to. the. funny. He's got some conviction--I have to believe the jean shorts thing is part of the schtick--but he needs more presence. The editing needs work to be sharp as well. The youtube/teenager thing makes me give him a pass on the lighting, but the slow editing means it takes too long to get to the funny. He understands that you need to be serious about being silly. I like that. He seems to respect the funny. That's good. Don't make me wait for it though. Work mercilessly hard for the funny. Work so hard it seems effortless. I don't care if someone says you're the world's greatest comedian or you're some kid with a video camera. Take the stage. Make a splash. If you're funny, you're funny. Let's do this thing. Don't waste my time. I don't know how Squid feels about it (I know he's a filmmaker as well), but I feel when I'm working on a new short film, I need to do my damndest and play to win. It doesn't matter what the budget is. Bring the funny. Bring the drama. Bring whatever you've promised the audience and grab 'em from the get-go. THAT'S what I was referring to with my previous comment. Nothing about posting potential comic genius. I'm glad I gave the video a second chance as I saw someone who wanted to play. But I was also right in my first assessment. It's way too rough. It takes too long. He needs to play to win. Easy? No. The pros don't always do it. Perhaps he'll do something in the future I really enjoy.