How 'Dear Sister' Changed Comedy

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Thank you for watching! :)

[@KarstenRunquist]

who tf moved the comment section?

[@trinityfisher6813]

This B*tch called KZbin 🙄. She is so annoying and she thinks everyone loves her.

[@bruhmoment7430]

stephanie mcnuggs

[@lanie7569]

it’s so annoying

[@sparkfilms558]

Karsten Do a full video on Eric Andre please

[@trinityfisher6813]

@@lanie7569 I Knowwww Im always scrolling to the bottom just to be greeted by nothing

[@vasm650]

The Lonely Island has had such a huge influence on modern comedy and not many people give them enough credit

[@MrMoustouche]

amen brother

[@caitlynwinchester369]

and their music was actually good too.. and the humor is still pretty relevant.

[@marissacooper5414]

facts i love them so much

[@ThatIsDopeBro]

I think there might be something wrong with my dick; it's so small and ugly

[@sainteagle4426]

True dat.

[@john.doe.845]

Absurdist humor is probably the most resonant element of comedy for our generation

[@giuseppetiso531]

You might like psychicpebbles, if you didn't already know him.

[@jarsenberg]

@@giuseppetiso531 Psychicpebbles is the most naturally funny person I think I've ever heard.

[@giuseppetiso531]

@@jarsenberg You've seen Smiling Friends right?

[@jarsenberg]

@@giuseppetiso531 Yep, I watched Zach and Michael's stream where they announced it and watched it immediately. Super funny. I really hope they get to make more episodes.

[@giuseppetiso531]

@@jarsenberg Same dude.

[@OgamiItto70]

"Why is Millennial humor so weird?" MONTY PYTHON: Excuse me?

[@MrUndersolo]

The Kids in the Hall would like a word with you...

[@cwdoby]

Right? This idiot is calling "irreverent comedy" "millennial comedy". Sometimes I hate that anyone can act like an expert if they just talk a certain way.

[@AntiAtheismIsUnstoppable]

True, it's an extention to monty python. You can say that.

[@CT68]

Exactly! I feel like the author of this video simply had not watched comedy prior to 2014.

[@Doctor_Straing_Strange]

gen z humour is weirder, we are all gonna laughat fruit in 20 years

[@rsk9228]

The way Shia LaBeouf changes firing position each time he shoots

[@bmbullman]

First Team!!

[@DebNKY]

My favorite is his balance stance! ❤

[@FilmsStuff]

Dear Karsten, by the time you read this comment, I'll already be dead.

[@hazm.h.2463]

David Wolford Mmmmm what ha saaaAAaAy

[@JunieBug]

MMM WHATYOU-

[@Jarubimba]

PS: Everyone in this comment section will start shoot each other multiple times

[@colzarimoon8058]

*Continuously shoots other people*

[@gyllecahilig2579]

*gunshot*

[@bruhmoment7430]

this is barry's origin story

[@talitharasha8439]

@@Jdudhhsuxbsksj BRuh...........

[@hobbithunter1]

BRuh...........

[@fullpulp2424]

Who's Barry?

[@tommoritz1007]

Lol golden comment

[@LindsayBallif]

DEAD OMG

[@classicwinger6]

Impressive that the “and more” actors were Kristen Wiig, Fred Armisen, and Jason Sudeikis...

[@raijonakahara6948]

truly elite

[@almal4016]

THAT'S what I thought too. I can't believe it.

[@damunzy]

@@shanep5121 sometimes when writing scripts for video essays you have to trim some facts out.

[@CornCob7178]

I knew it was Jason Sudekisis

[@picalilly]

this needs more likes snl babies unite!

[@Zer0SumGame]

"existence is the punchline" is a great summary of millennial humour.

[@bbg5000]

that's just postmodernism

[@zammich3649]

gen z humor "we stopped just short of existence. that's the joke." or alternatively "we stopped just short of existence and then flipped it upside down, do you get it?"

[@shmooveyea]

Andy Samberg and co are all gen X

[@lh9591]

You know a skit is influential when it has more impact and more recognizable than what it is parodying.

[@aledragos9613]

Agreed, OC was viral for a couple of years, this SNL cast is just legendary and timeless.

[@zioming]

On that topic, I watched something the other day, on how, when they wanted to redo Blofeld in Spectre, their main issue was to make him distinct enough from Dr. Evil, who, despite being a parody of Blofeld, had at that point became much more influential in pop culture.

[@user-yc3qc7sk1i]

@@aledragos9613 I had never watched the OC before and had seen this sketch many times, but didn't know what it was about for the longest time. Flash forward to last year, my wife and I were watching through the OC because she liked it as a teen, and when we got to "this part" in the show, I BURST out laughing for a good 5 minutes. I didn't expect it and it was amazing.

[@Mr00Ted]

@@ziomingand yet they made blowfeld bond’s adoptive brother and that be a key to his motivation.

[@oliverjohnson4614]

strong agree on Dear Sister being super foundational for where humor is now. I think it was especially so for me at the time because I had no idea that Dear Sister was referencing The OC at all. I just thought it was the most insane thing I had ever seen lmao

[@sydstowe6163]

Mmmmm whatcha saaaaaaaayayay

[@lh9591]

I was watching “The OC “ a few years ago and my bf at the time was like “Why did they copy SNL?”

[@calvinmh5905]

i didn’t know it was referencing the OA til just now

[@Shalalacls]

It's insane to think that if 15 years ago a sound mixer had done his job properly, none of this would have ever happened.

[@bradiemaree2822]

Me too! When I finally watched the OC I was like oh OH MY GOD it’s a real thing

[@montablanc1]

Boomers : "it's just a bottle of water, I don't get what's so funny about that." Millennials: "Ah yes, enslaved moisture..."

[@Rabbit_Hill]

I had to look this one up, spent like a couple solid minutes laughing at it when I did

[@JesseLeeHumphry]

oh my God. I am crying.

[@samsmith9764]

free Lil Drip. he innocent, he dont kill nobody this year

[@MaxIronsThird]

This feels more like Gen Z "humor"

[@godhimself9468]

@@MaxIronsThird listen, dude. you may not understand it, but I don't understand french. but you know, THE LANGUAGE EXISTS.

[@PhantomTissue]

"Guy microwaving bread isnt funny, but when you put it on youtube, it is" I honestly started laughing at the thought of someone doing that.

[@Naixatloz]

That's what I love about it. A KZbin video of a guy microwaving bread is pointless. In a vacuum, its existence adds nothing of value to the universe. But the fact that, in the face of that knowledge, the guy filmed and posted himself microwaving bread anyway? The fact that someone chose to add something so insignificant to the sum total of accessible human experiences? There's something almost beautiful about that.

[@sourgang2110]

And what makes it funnier is that the guy who made that video is now a rapper signed to a major record label and was a featured artist in a Marvel movie

[@godomino5287]

Karsten: Millennial humour is this way because of the fact that society has stopped making sense and that the universe is inherently irrational Millennials: haha the man is pickle

[@mari.chenko]

funniest shit i've ever seen

[@inhle1688]

Go Domino gen Z: deep fried memes

[@coltonc8562]

Boomers: I hate my wife Youngins: Albania gang 😏

[@neegas3490]

😂

[@julienmurray3125]

I remember saying to my grandmother to explain new humor: " It's funny cause you laughed at it, as soon as you laugh at it you become the punchline" Laugh

[@theonlymexicanman4422]

Ryan Gosling’s “Papyrus” has entered the chat

[@afonsolucas2219]

Jon Hamm and Michael Bubbly’s “Hamm and Bubbly” entered the chat

[@aarongutierrez7705]

That is my absolute favorite snl comedy sketch

[@bluejay2097]

That one is pure gold

[@katelynoreilly6144]

Agreed! I love it so much I had to look up who wrote it because it’s so different so other SNL skits. Julio Torres has a bit called ‘my favourite objects’ that’s great and a show with Fred Armisen that I haven’t seen yet but I’ve heard good things

[@livvsho]

Katelyn O'Reilly YESSSS JULIO!!! makes me want to buy mini chairs for a bunch of crystals

[@ect2541]

"It starred Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Shia LaBeouf and more" That more were KRISTEN WIIG, Jason Sudeikis, and Fred Armisen. Those people are legend!

[@shmooveyea]

All Gen X hehe

[@dalebower8814]

The seriousness & emotion in each actors eyes adds to the absurdity imo

[@pancon5]

Absolutely, top notch talent!

[@KnlMohawk13]

I love Dear Sister I was so shocked when my ex boyfriend had said he's never seen it. I showed him, we laughed then he broke up with me. Completely unrelated

[@chrissalmon9516]

you should've said "I showed him, we laughed, and then he shot me, after which i shot him, and then our friend walked in and got shot by both of us."

[@gagekemsley7236]

Oooo whatcha saaaaayyy

[@fudgel1126]

Sorry... *OOO WATCHA SAAAYYYYY*

[@jalfredprufrock620]

@@chrissalmon9516 you left out "...and THEN he broke up with me."

[@JohnnoNonno]

Wow the same thing happened to me, I didn't know Dear Sister, my ex girlfriend showed it to me, we laughed and then we broke up. So spooky.

[@owenchilver1166]

It's even better how Shia became an internet meme himself over the course of the 2010s.. and Andy Samberg's role as Jake Peralta

[@blumousey]

And he embraced it, he's a legend

[@m4atty.r21xd4]

bro i knew it was him i saw it when i was young and just seen it again now i was like ay that guy looks familiar

[@ultru3525]

Imagine the comedic potential a Dear Sister reference could've had in Brooklyn 99, real shame it never happened.

[@juliettebacon1457]

I think another reason why Dear Sister was so influential is that it aired right around the time "meme culture" was getting big. It was a short that you could reference with your friends/people online simply by saying "mmm whatcha say" and everyone would know what you were talking about. The Lonely Island were really ahead of their time with creating this type of content with a bite-sized hook that was very easy to reference and meme.

[@PlGGS]

"the punchline is simply the existence" reLaTAbLe

[@youraverageeverydaynugget7994]

lmaaaoo

[@bruhmoment7430]

someone: *funny joke* karsten: how will i coalesce evanescence and didactic vivisections?

[@JM-pm3ob]

This video is seriously agonising. This trend of over-intellectualising every meaningless piece of cultural detritus needs to end.

[@fullpulp2424]

@@JM-pm3ob That's the humor of it.

[@roman.nose.enjoyer]

J M i usually don’t like this argument but it applies here. just don’t watch it

[@JM-pm3ob]

Ethan Conrad Joseph Gagné do you think Karsten is making a self-aware joke here?

[@JM-pm3ob]

nicolas blue I didn’t watch all of it. But I still sub to this channel because he makes good stuff sometimes. I want him to make good videos and not this, which is why I expressed my feelings in the comments.

[@pauciloquentflibbertigibbe5217]

It's a bit weird, but almost everyone I know who has seen this short doesn't know what it is referencing, yet we all understand it immediately.

[@aryfmac7634]

Please explain like I'm 5

[@almightycinder]

It's easy to see that they're referencing SOMETHING in particular, even if you're unfamiliar with how Logan Marshall Green didn't really react to being shot in that scene. Everybody has seen movies where somebody overacts a line or underacts a scene. Stuff like The Room, Samurai Cop, Face/Off, whatever. Six Feet Under apparently ends with the complete opposite of it, where a character had such a cartoonish reaction that it couldn't be taken seriously.

[@Soufriere84]

@@almightycinder That scene in Six Feet Under actually spawned a name for a trope that previously hadn't had one: "Narm". The shooting scene in The OC -- yes I'm old enough to have known the reference when "Dear Sister" came out even though I've never seen The OC except that one scene -- is also Narm but for the opposite reason. LMG's lack of response coupled with Imogen Heep's music was just too silly to take seriously.

[@YourMajesty143]

It's referencing that famous scene from the OC, and possibly Deathnote.

[@gavinjenkins899]

The thing it references isn't just that one show though, it happens in all sorts of things all the time.

[@CalamityCannon]

I believe, as of a few years ago, that 👏 every 👏 person 👏 in this sketch has won an Emmy. This lo-fi masterpiece had such a ridiculously talented cast to pull it off; what a treat!

[@LnPPersonified]

"It's comedy that's not meant to be understood." >spends 7 minutes trying to understand it.

[@donutsduck9862]

lmaooooooooooo

[@marielpare8290]

I feel like people need to give Lonely Island a lot more credit for shaping sketch comedy and the humor of millennials and, resultingly, Gen Z. A lot of media has been transformed from unexpected sources. Like in movies! More people need to give credit to Napoleon Dynamite for helping to popularize the quiet, subtle, cinematographic styles of quirky indie comedies that exploded after 2005, and continue to expand beyond. A lot of people think Juno is an accessible homage to Wes Anderson, but Wes is a totally different style that was already established.

[@AntiAtheismIsUnstoppable]

Threw it on the ground is insanely funny, but I don't know why. That and "dear sister" one of the best comedy of all times IMO. Just do not try to explain it. Either you think it is funny or you don't. Nothing to explain there. I don't think Pulp Fiction was funny *_at all_* for example, while my family love it and laugh their asses off. Do not try to explain such thing. Either you get it or you don't.

[@radred609]

@@AntiAtheismIsUnstoppable Threw it on the ground was funny for years after they released it as high schoolers all over the world continued to smack items out of their friends hands

[@slayerduval1]

Thank Gen X.

[@amyb1078]

The Lonely Island guys and the makers of Napoleon Dynamite were Gen Xers, not millennials.

[@marielpare8290]

@@amyb1078 Their biggest audience was teenage to college aged Millennials, is what I mean :) A lot of Millennial and even Gen Z humor was influenced by them. I know they’re young Gen X/millennial cuspers themselves. I was just commenting on their influence :)

[@encoder4d801]

The short literally has been stuck in my head for like 7 years.

[@TylerdaSilva94]

"Though it's from 2007, it feels like it would have aired on Adult Swim in 2015." ...I thought it was from 2015 until just now

[@oAldanitao]

Me too!

[@SethColby69]

i don't care what anyone says , the lonely island *MADE* the genre of comedy for the internet where "it's so stupid , doesn't make sense, yet it's so funny" you can't change my mind on that

[@SuperNeilAdams]

I'm a big fan but I think that gives them a bit too much credit. They were very good at what they did but they didn't invent oddball or musical comedy: Spaceballs, Airplane, Baseketball, anything by Judd Apatow/David Zucker/the Wayans Bros, South Park, Team America, Flight of the Conchords, Dodgeball, Caddyshack, Police Academy, Tim & Eric, Aqua Teen etc. etc.

[@StevenMenszerMusic]

Mr. T Ate My Balls. Gonads and Strife. Badger Badger Badger. Miss Muffy and the Muff Squad. I can keep going. I’ve loved the Lonely Island since the days of Channel 101 (where they were actually more ridiculous and raw). The point being, the style of random internet comedy that has been deemed as “millennial comedy” has been around fo a long time, and much of it was started by Gen X. As far as the particular brand of adult swim style farce, I would say the most affecting piece of comedy was Heat Wave and Jack, a pilot made in 1999. As far as the description of “it doesn’t make sense yet it’s funny,” that can be found throughout the history of comedy. A large chunk of 1970s zine comic strips are based on this very idea. And, as with anything, the trend resurfaced again in the ‘90s. Frankly, to consider TLI the inventors of a genre of comedy is to ignore nearly all sketch comedy ever. Again, I adore those boys, but they followed in the footsteps of Mr. Shown or Kids In The Hall who fallowed in the footsteps of SNL who followed in the footsteps of Monty Python and so on. But, what I would consider possibly the most influential piece of “millennial comedy” would actually be Andy Kaufman’s SNL appearance. But there have been examples of surrealist comedy since comedy was being kept in the history books. My point is, too say The Lonely Island invented a genre of comedy is incredibly inaccurate. They just pretty much perfected it.

[@megan5378]

@@StevenMenszerMusic An aside to your comment, Samberg and crew are Gen X, not Millennial, based on most definitions where I've seen Millennial start at 1980. He was born in 78' and Akiva and Jorma were both born in 77'. While I personally don't think it really matters which generational label we put on Lonely Island, it would probably be more accurate to say this is Gen X comedy, as those who created it are Gen X based on the most common definition of that label. And Kids in the Hall is exactly what I think of when I first saw Dear Sister. That's a great comparison. I loved Kids in the Hall, but explaining their humor to people when I saw a funny bit is really hard. That seems to be a hallmark of this type of comedy. I hadn't seen Monty Python until much later in life, but it's also a great comparison. Though often Python's bits were way more over the top - both in the acting style and the punchline, whereas the strange mundane nature of a lot of Kids in the Hall stuff, and the melodramatic style of acting made it all the funnier. Dear Sister would have been a perfect fit in the show, stylistically speaking.

[@StevenMenszerMusic]

Megan Completely agree, but I was referring to what the style of comedy is labelled. Lonely Island has been labelled millennial comedy, which I think is a silly term, since absurdist sketch comedy goes back to Vaudeville. It was more a reaction to the type of comedy nerd that thinks Mr. Show started comedy. When you consider the fact that at the turn of the century, comedy was either puns or slapstick, Abbott and Costello were pulling out Who’s on First. To me, that is the first example of absurdist sketch comedy. Though, I haven’t studied Ancient Greek theater or Noh, and both those types of motherfuckers were wacky. My point was that touting The Lonely Island as something new that changed the playing field ignores comedy for at least a century. I still love them and think they’re masters of the craft, but they aren’t bucking any trends. Even if you consider internet comedy, that’s pretty much what started mainstream internet, absurdism. And as soon as broadband was introduced, we had animated absurdism or videos on things like ebaumsworld before KZbin or Funny or Die.

[@python7275]

@@StevenMenszerMusic thank you

[@ew611]

MMMMM WHATCHA SAYYYYYY

[@somebody825]

Rip Papa Franku

[@propakindustries22]

Having been such an OC & SNL fan, this short still gets me every single time. Brilliant.

[@odineriksen889]

fantastic editing my man. it's the quality of a company but with the consistent voice of a individual. holy shit just the pacing in this is so good, so concise. this is the first video of yours I've watched and I really liked it. keep going.

[@KaleLikesWaffles]

Are we gonna ignore Rich Brian was the one microwaving bread

[@vitamins00]

brian and franku in one video? the gangs all here :')

[@tommybellardine]

I noticed that you were the only comment that I saw that mentioned it lol

[@chocolatemoose7761]

KaleLikesWaffles the richest chigga

[@adamsanda2333]

Yeah his KZbin career was crazy back in the day

[@cameracean146]

This was the first SNL sketch I ever saw, that led me to The Lonely Island which led me to Smosh which made me sit here on KZbin for endless hours of my childhood so really, this video is to blame for my current life situation (not saying it's a bad one)

[@brightwitch]

Loved this! "The punchline is simply the existence" I feel like this quote could be the subject of a whole philosophical dissertation XD

[@oOKitty86Oo]

Not to mention, Millennials are 90s kids. We were the first kids to have desktops in our homes and access to online chat rooms. We helped shape internet culture. Just look at the golden era of animation, music and art we grew up with.

[@thedude7864]

Title: How 'Dear Sister' Changed Comedy Me: UMMMMMM... WHATCHA SAY

[@HawksNestYT]

Can’t believe I’ve never seen this before considering Hot Rod is one of my favorite movies of all time

[@Aryan-ck9lv]

Wait, Hawks you are here?

[@CHRISMA52]

My name is Rod, and I like to party!

[@82jp]

Same. Ten times over. Hot Rod is sinfully underrated.

[@Alpharius180]

@@CHRISMA52 My names Dave and I like to party

[@Ashley-ro4xz]

Ugh I was just thinking this! Thankfully someone put it together before I did. Makes even more sense

[@FeepingCreature]

The "Ooh, whatcha say" is implied at the start to be a scene-setting musical backdrop, but as the short goes on it is revealed that it's actually a mechanical property of the universe - shooting and dramatic slow falls underlaid with music are actually a law of the universe in which the characters willingly or unwillingly participate. There. That is the joke.

[@dylanlenze9500]

I remember showing my parents this and while I was laughing my ass off they were horrified. They were dissecting the video like it was a serious film and said it was dark and tragic. Difference in perspectives

[@JohnAzzi430]

Do an episode on Eric Andre, he's really an auteur of avant garde comedy.

[@felixmontanez4090]

yah i love eric andre

[@PrototypeFTW]

Do you believe in God?

[@carlthums6712]

yeah okay, but LETS GIVE A QUICK SHOUTOUT TO CHRISTINA APPLEGATE!

[@crimeexpocon]

BIRD UP!!!

[@JohnAzzi430]

@@carlthums6712 Hey Carl what is your home address and make and model of your first car?

[@noahlindeman1875]

I feel like the sketch actually follows a pretty common sketch comedy format. It creates a situation and establishes a rule, then derives humor from applying that rule in continuously more absurd and unexpected ways. It got big because it’s extremely well done, and the timing was right for it to blow up.

[@pancon5]

Agreed, extremely well done, extremely well edited and played by extremely talented actors.

[@velocitydelta]

Calling this only "Millennial comedy" is just plain wrong.

[@XAVR_]

Thanks for showing those brief clips of Too Many Cooks, guess that's in my head for the next three days again

[@zilchg1rl]

I often hear people critiquing the "so random" comedy style from the mid 2000's, but I think current internet humor is just a amped up version of it. My favorite skits ever are Gabriel Gundackers "guy who likes music" and "I Hate Commercials!" and everyone I've ever showed them to never gets it, but they crack me up and I can't explain why. I love the complete rejection of specifically formulating something to be funny, and more just making something weird with the potential to be funny to so many people.

[@ActuallyRocatex]

The problem many people, including me, have with xd so quirky and random humor from the 2000s has to do with two main reasons. Generally teenagers have the biggest influence on pop culture, or at least how we think of the decades, and for the teens of the 2010s, "random" humor became the kind of humor your parents would do when they would try to be "hip" or something. Also I personally believe that legitimately random, but connected humor is actually really funny, it's just that the random humor of the 2000s ended up getting boiled down to potatoes, I'm so quirky, I'm not like other girls, and smosh. I can respect it if someone finds those things funny today, as people have individual tastes, but the predictability of the "randomness" eliminated whatever shock value the punchline would have.

[@carebear1470]

Wait, it's all random memes? Always has been

[@TheBackstreetBoysVevo]

“Guy who likes music” is one of my favourite videos of all time, and I feel like the fact that no one I show it to seems to appreciate it only makes me love it more!! Finding someone who genuinely shares your sense of humour is one of the most special things in life

[@j-skullz]

I think the difference is for the most part 2000s random humour was mostly innocent and sincere, now the absurdity is more post-ironic because we've grown up and sincerity isn't cool anymore

[@johnnytmcq]

Just like "Drinking out of Cups". Classic to some, annoying and odd to others. Ooh, just like "Old Gregg", also.

[@avocato8156]

Me, 1 hr ago: huh is that how you pronounce Imogen? Me, after watching some interviews and mini concerts: y’all know that Imogen Heap invented a new type of musical tech that basically lets her play air with her hands? She can control music and recordings with simple gestures what the fuck?

[@ChaingunCassidy]

It's not actually, it's like "Image nn"

[@gettem6341]

Its such a good parody of tv shows that take themselves too serious like O.C. and many more, how scenes like this were filmed, no one realized it was a trope until this sketch did it over and over again.

[@sivvansharma3023]

Andy, Akiva, and Jorma really formed the comedy that we know today with there writing. A lot of their work under the lonely island goes criminally unnoticed. Things like Football town and The ‘Bu really formed absurd humor and were ahead of its time, paving the way for modern meme culture.

[@romanramirez7847]

I agree. The Lonely Island really paved the way for the “Random” style of humor that exists today. Very similar to how Monty Python, The Goon Show, Beyond The Fringe and That Was The Week That Was did the same thing for their own style in the 60s and 70s.

[@Coolbillion]

Wtf I rewatched that video just yesterday for the first time in years, this is crazy

[@RevJ7]

Karsten is watching.

[@shivanshia]

me too deadass

[@2small4theMall]

@@edboy8863 They watched it years ago and only watched it again yesterday

[@edboy8863]

@@2small4theMall sorry, didn't notice it. Apparantly I can't read 🤦‍♀️

[@fakename287]

Hundreds of thousands of people have watched this very video, what are the odds that even a few of those people watched the skit several days or even hours ago Also what are the odds that KZbin would recommend this video after watching the snl skit

[@justme-ji2il]

This short is representative of how this era of snl was ELITE.

[@raijonakahara6948]

preach

[@macho10101]

I remember this being such a popular thing in general on youtube.. i would see memes with that song so many times back then. Never really knew who actually started it. And i havent seen that video for over a decade so thats some nostalgia

[@likeanoatheverlovelyjewel5008]

this is my favorite snl moment or any moment of anything ever it's so good thank you for telling me why.

[@janeleigh1015]

Warning: this is going to sound very pretentious but I thought I would share :) Rachel Aroesti’s comment on how millennial humour is a response to a world that has stopped making sense is really interesting because it reminds me of the post world war 2 Theatre of the Absurd movement. After WW2 the world was...well pretty horrible. It seemed artists were “struggling to find meaning in devastation”. All the violence and death left people feeling hopeless and confused. So then Theatre of the Absurd happened. Here’s a definition: Theatre of the absurd. n. A form of drama that emphasizes the absurdity of human existence by employing disjointed, repetitious, and meaningless dialogue, purposeless and confusing situations, and plots that lack realistic or logical development. It’s interesting to see how much of an impact the environment we’re in has on our sense of humour! I guess you could say that Adult Swim and this SNL skit has some Theatre of the Absurd aspects to it. Also if you want to get a good idea of what Theatre of the Absurd is you should look up the play Waiting For Godot. I think Ted-Ed has a good video on it.

[@flowerfairies4685]

dadaist revival 😝💅

[@janeleigh1015]

flowerfairies468 lit rally 😁

[@iAmTheSquidThing]

Also, the Dada movement. Though, I'm going to be a contrarian and say that the world actually makes quite a lot of sense. People just keep ending up shocked and bewildered because they're trying to explain and predict it using bad models which bear little relation to reality.

[@JMacSD]

Good point. So it's funny that now while the standard of living is amazing high in most developed countries like the USA, people struggle to find meaning just like post WW2. You know, when hundreds of millions of people were murdered by others. The Information Age is hard on humans, we haven't evolved enough yet to be able to process the opinions of everybody across the world.

[@GoAnnieBananie]

i literally studied theatre of the absurd in school and i completely agree that's exactly what it made me think of

[@arinanales8305]

The first shot of dear sister popped up and I started sobbing of laughter. God I love that skit. It makes something in me awaken

[@bobbabai]

What is the deal with millennials (and younger) randomly substituting one preposition with another? When did "sobbing with laughter" become "sobbing of laughter"?

[@caiorezei]

"So, with all that being said, thanks for watching, check out this short and form your own opinion, and I'll s-" *POW* _MMM WATCHU SAAAY_

[@MrHURRICANE43]

Dear Sister is actual comedic genius. Also I feel another big influence on the nihilist millennial humor was Tomska’s ASDF movie, that was my first exposure to this type of humor.

[@NardBlake]

I completely agree, ‘Dear Sister’ is my favorite digits skit. However, I think ‘Lazy Sunday’ was the first viral video to hit the internet. Also, it was the revival the show needed and was also the start of the best SNL era ‘06-‘13 imo

[@jb888888888]

Lazy Sunday is directly the reason for the existence of KZbin - well, that and Nipplegate.

[@jazzenthusiast6657]

Glad to see Karsten has found the golden gem we call "I think you should leave."

[@raykmagk]

I am sad because I don't think a lot of people have watched it, and that it's probably cancelled

[@maxvonice6495]

He recommended it in his self isolating video

[@MeccwLarp]

Ray Mag pretty sure they announced season 2 already

[@pathutchison9866]

This video is awesome. A lot of the things you said are things that I’ve felt, but have never been able to articulate, even to myself. From the first time I saw this in 07, I laughed like crazy but couldn’t have begun to explain what was even funny. Thanks for the Great analysis 👍🏻

[@AJ_Tammaro]

“Millennial humor is so weird” Gen Z humor: “Hold my beer”

[@aidenfischer7265]

*hold my capri sun

[@tommasomoro9610]

Crab

[@tuakrayee6657]

Genz homur is just an advanced version of millennial humor. For example juan. It is literally just a horse on a balcony

[@eggward7203]

@@tuakrayee6657 and do you like how I walk

[@82jp]

Tom Green: "hold my bum"

[@francis4080]

anyone else gonna talk about how he pronounced imogen heap or

[@jd-ov2fd]

My physical being recoiled when I heard him butcher her name

[@ben.1202]

@@jd-ov2fd emo gin heep

[@Paratet]

I've heard it butchered worse over here in middle America. Had a friend tell me she pronounces it "Imm ah gehn"

[@HamazingKayliee]

@@Paratet wait is that not how it's pronounced

[@urifarber5268]

How about No-am instead of no-uhm

[@HawksNestYT]

It’s literally a tiktok 13 years before tiktok was made.

[@cuturtimeshort1450]

BUT GOOD

[@marcdiamzon9616]

Nah its a vine before vine was known well

[@matthhiasbrownanonionchopp3471]

@@marcdiamzon9616 to long for a vine

[@evarobson2973]

matthhias brown an onion chopping Ninja it’s also way too long to be a tik tok but that’s not the point, it just has vine/tik tok energy

[@rodrigodias6083]

No

[@aiyonce587]

THANK YOU for putting this into words

[@samfansler653]

I want to thank you for making this video exactly as long as it needed to be. You took the time to say something about the video but didn't feel the need to make a 30 minute essay on a topic that should have been covered in 7.

[@fredgebhardt5992]

I had no idea this short was even called "Dear Sister". Lol

[@arloracc]

I look it up on here by typing "mmm whatcha say meme"

[@slaphappybullet]

Thanks for doing this! I was in high school when this new age of comedy came about, and the absurdism Lonely Island brought undeniably stood out. Their style was smart without using words. In so much of their work, the foundation of it was "How far can we take this trope?" From Hot Rod's hero journey to "Jizz in my pants" poking fun at men who use their insatiable sexual desires to compliment women- they just took things "too far" to shed some light on how we all generally felt but didn't see reflected back to us in our entertainment. There hasn't been a wave of comedy to come about since (except for perhaps stand up comedians putting out podcasts), and I see that a lot of SNL's work is still riding on the coattails of Lonely Island willing to experiment and break the mold. (That isn't to outshine other cast members of the time. They all complimented each other in their pursuit of absurdism.)

[@schuug]

Still remember the first time watching this and other SNL shorts on KZbin. 2005/6 were some crazy years, man. Early smosh was kind of the same. Their short "Dolls" is still one of my favorites lmao

[@Lionbug]

I LOVE Shia adjusting his position with each shot.. Excellent comedic acting

[@kapishjoshi4576]

Dear Sister is my favorite SNL thing ever. Never have I laughed harder at the most absurd thing.

[@RagnarokMic]

I’d say it adheres closely to comedic Norms...specifically Norm Macdonald, a master absurdist. Often his jokes aren’t the jokes themselves, but the way he tells them.

[@robertmatthias]

I think absurdist comedy is the essence of comedy in general. It makes no sense but it still brings joy and laughter. It reaches everyone of every age, maybe not all the time but in one way or another, it works.

[@zachparks6517]

This is so well put I’m stunned.

[@volcanosauce00]

Truly one of the greatest moments in Internet history

[@cwahlb1]

its so satisying to hear someone explain why we like this kind of comedy he literally hit the nail on the head

[@starkdar7553]

Had never heard of it and love it. Thanks for the heads up!

[@yellowfelloh]

great video essay, your script is so fluid! love the lonely island ❤️ (and bill hader and fred armisen and kristen wiig lol)

[@Moyeaah]

but Zendaya is Mechee and I think that is the most important thing about this

[@aZeddPrattFilm]

Comedy in the modern era: (For older people who don’t get it) -cynicism -depressing tinge -crassness -cleaver strangeness

[@restinpeas1284]

Did not expect a cleaver

[@Daniel_Delayne]

*cleavage

[@theutilitymonster2615]

@@restinpeas1284 Hence the strangeness.

[@eggward7203]

I think you’re just an edgelord, pickle Rick and engineer gaming don’t have a “depressing tinge” or cynicism

[@conchitacaparroz]

i loved the detail at the end!

[@leahsantic2964]

this has and always will be one of my favourite sketches.

[@rotsu2108]

karsten: (talks about the significance of "dear sister" and how it changed the course of comedy as we know it) me: haha mmm watcha sayy

[@dominichemphill]

I just watched it for the first time and it’s literally the most late 2000s humour ever and I love it

[@AntiAtheismIsUnstoppable]

Look at how the cops look back at each other even they have just shot each other face to face. I think each and every piece of this is funny. It's obvious they're making fun of something, and when I watched it the first time I didn't know what it was, I just found it funny in itself. But watch that series it is making fun of, it makes it even better

[@Ashley-ro4xz]

The highlighting at the beginning had me laughing thanks lol

[@Cabesandia]

1:22 I appreciate a lot the fact that you went out of your way to leave a little easter egg with the URL :)

[@tilly2907]

your pronunciation of "imogen" is absolutely sending me ghjhsgdfjahfjh

[@jamesreagan8175]

It's "HIDE and SEEK by Imogen HEAP"

[@DefenestrateYourself]

Yes. Plus how he pronounced “Noam”. Big yikes

[@ropytube]

James Reagan how are you supposed to pronounce heap though

[@revwolfe]

Loved this. Editing suggestion: add a heavier feather to your cutouts before putting them on a white background to minimize the harsh edges of hair etc

[@eysan90]

Thank you for helping me discover this masterpiece. Literally cried from laughter at the insanity of it 😂

[@HelloNewMoon]

One of my faves in the last 15 years. Made so much fun of my friend for being obsessed with the OC. Thats why I laughed so hard the first time but somehow its still fucking funny

[@danquirke792]

I remember watching this several years after it first coming out and trying to explain to my friends the pure genius that I just saw, and as I was explaining it I realized that it sounded so absurd that no one would ever think it was funny unless they just saw it. Which I think is the perfect representation for what absurdist humor is. you either get it or you don''t and you just have to see it to understand it.

[@race2681]

I was honestly just thinking about how this skit made comedy so weird

[@Kastrator13]

Wow, this is right on the money. I so vividly remember this video and the many parodies

[@bookaufman9643]

First off thank you. I had never seen this digital short though I've seen most of the ones with Andy samberg. I searched for it on KZbin and finally watched it. I laughed so f****** hard for so long. I was in a bad mood too so thanks a lot. While I was laughing I kept thinking why am I laughing? I definitely think that some people would not find it funny but it's one of the best things I've seen in a long long time.

[@cmos905]

Hahaaha ok i gotta admit, you got me really good at th- *_GUNSHOT_* MMMmm WATCHA SAAAAY

[@MattLeDonne27]

I am not a huge SNL fan but I absolutely love this skit. Ever since I saw it a few years ago I have found it hilarious every time.

[@mikester4896]

I think what makes it so funny is that the situation is so absurd and far removed from reality that it's just hilariously ridiculous. I think laughter is our brain's response to the absurd because it's so unexpected and outside of our own reality that we can't really express any other emotion like anger or sadness as we're emotionally untethered from the situation. It's why I love the beginning of The Other Guys where we don't get much time to connect with Danson and Highsmith but when they jump off the roof of a building to chase some robbers it's so absurd that it cracks me up.

[@TheAlex4905]

Keep up the awesome work bro 👍

[@tiffogun2367]

I remember how IMPOSSIBLE this skit was to find online in 2007. You’d click on a video and it would always be a remake. I agree with everything you said but I’d add that absurd parody also exists with Scary Movie and other film parodies. It also existed on MADTV. I don’t think the digital short changed the comedy landscape. I think it added to what already existed.

[@abigailmanaluz]

we need more vid essays about comedy

[@zaneberry]

I remember being in middle school for this lonely island/snl era it it just felt like what comedy was I feel very lucky for this affecting me brain at that age

[@gingersndragons]

2 years before this digital short came out, a video called Griffin vs Cojack was made doing the exact same joke, using the song and going in slow motion when one character killed the other. The titular griffin was one of the founders of Polygon and does a bunch of podcasts with his family and they are freakin great