The Most Dangerous Thing We've Ever Done on Stage

[@steviedubs]

Not going to lie, John’s unbridled excitement during the clip at the end put a big smile on my face. Thank you both for being awesome! :)

[@Wordsnwood]

Makes me want to ask: WHICH Green brother is the biggest "little child" ?? I don't think that is an easy one...

[@shanaleigh1994]

I don't think either of them is a "little child," they're both just adults who know how to have fun. We should all strive to be like that

[@phoenixliv]

And here I thought John was afraid of heights. Look at those jumps!

[@fudgeybars33]

he's surprisingly bouncy

[@SnakPak]

Same. And i was in the Audience for one of those successes too

[@rubyangel9707]

Here's to the silence that teaches us more than the words that might fill it.

[@fred321]

...

[@dirkjehovah4731]

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[@KumaKaori]

+ ...

[@tomrogue13]

+++

[@michaelmicek]

+

[@labibapauline964]

Things to love in this video: 1. John's unrestrained show of emotions. 2. The way Hank's mind works. BUT WE HAVE ALWAYS LOVED THOSE THINGS

[@elainebelzDetroit]

Also Hank's shirt!

[@shaiannwyatt7749]

I was apart of the 75% where it did work, but we initially had one of the adorable "ba--" where someone forgot and we had to try a second time. Some people started booing the person who went "baa--", and Hank and John were super quick to shut it down. I think that stuck with me just as much as the doing cool things together aspect--cause when we do things together, sometimes people make mistakes. And that's okay and we should forgive and be patient with those who mess up. I still think of this whenever I hear the song.

[@michaelmicek]

+

[@holli3716]

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[@MrLarryLicious]

Oh that’s do sweet.

[@AraneaPush]

+

[@CMKSDO]

+

[@heidimorlock496]

"In every group, there will always be a subpopulation of Dorks Who Ruin it for Everyone. It is best not to formulate a worldview around them." So said a friend of mine years ago, and I've shared it dozens of times since.

[@ApequH]

In some cases it can be good to know somethings true but act like it isn't. I think this is one

[@AwkwardSquirtles]

+

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

Dorks Who Ruin It For Everyone. Or DWRIFE for short.

[@sarar4901]

Words to live by tbh.

[@IrisGlowingBlue]

"There's one in every family, Heidi-- two in mine, actually!-- and they always manage to ruin special occasions" (/jk)

[@darthtace]

To be fair, Hank, you might be looking at this backwards. It's not that there is a .002% difference between 500 people staying silent and 499 people staying silent; it's that there is a literally infinitely large difference between zero people making a sound, and one person making a sound. Much like in any video game where grabbing even just 1% chance to critically strike drastically changes the outcome of some encounters, a single person doing something can drastically change an experience. However, this is not merely a negative thing. Many things in the world have been altered for the better by the actions of a single individual (I'm unwilling to pick a single example, we can all think of instances of this). So I think that, while in these instances a single individual did manage to ruin the experience of a large number of people, it is instructive in the power of individuals within the whole. Of course, it takes bravery to stand up to the masses to do what's right and foolishness to stand up to the masses to do what's wrong, but those are two sides of the same virtue anyways.

[@AxxLAfriku]

Please stop giving me mean comments. My mother reads the comments I get and she cries a lot because of it. Please be nice, dear da

[@Adam-ds1ik]

.2%* one fifth of 1%

[@Simplebadger27]

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[@sexyscientist]

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[@KatzePiano]

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[@jayseagaming5763]

I can promise you this is not just America. England is utterly dominated by Sweet Caroline and the improvised moments. It haunts our every social move

[@stevehobgen2929]

Australia too.

[@vlogbrothers]

America's most innocuous contribution to the world.

[@hazellizer]

Canada too

[@LucasBenderChannel]

Germany too (I'm from Bavaria and we sing it on every one of our infamous beer festivals. Including the BA BA BA bit and the "so good!" "so good!" 😁🍺)

[@skittlesej]

In Ireland we do the "ba ba ba" part but I don't think we do the "so good, so good" part...

[@Hari-ic8ui]

I honestly thought Hank was going to leave us hanging without a recording, but he pulled through in the end. That clip of John jumping around manically just absolutely made my day!

[@ChrisJBT2]

This is one of the reasons I love you guys so much. I've never seen someone so excited for a _lack_ of audience participation (which seems like a very John thing), nor come up with something so brilliant as a lack of audience participation so difficult that it requires complete audience participation (which seems like a very Hank thing).

[@meisjeViv]

I'd argue this is an advanced level of audience participation though, because you need *everyone* in the audience to participate :)

[@ChrisJBT2]

@@meisjeViv Yeah, that's what I said: "a lack of audience participation so difficult that it requires complete audience participation"

[@meisjeViv]

@@ChrisJBT2 oh yeah 🙃 I wasn't super awake when I read your comment apparently 🙈

[@PopeGoliath]

Thank you for giving me a bit of John's stage energy this morning. It's got me pointed towards the day in the right kind of mindset.

[@GreatPretending]

Forget bones day, it's gonna be a "no bah bah bah day"

[@KCRambles]

As a former Karaoke host for over 12 years, I have experienced, and put to very good use, this phenomena in many many shows. If I was running a show at a bar where the list of singers was short, but the crowd in the bar was large, it became my goto mid-set tactic to break out this song... and the collective both expectation -and permission- to sing along during those parts would almost inexorably lead to a second half of the night where suddenly, far more people in the bar were freed, confident, engaged enough to start participating. The result being a far more enjoyable night for all involved. Collective behaviour is weird. :) Love everything you guys do - Keep On Keepin' On! :)

[@wwickeddogg]

>Collective behaviour is weird. Our understanding of Sociology is terrible, and we need to understand it a lot better as the world gets more crowded.

[@ThatBlackSheepy]

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[@eden9036]

Do you remember the first time you did this, and how you thought of it? I think it's brilliant !

[@emma70707]

Totally. In Catholic masses, there are parts where you sit, stand, and kneel and they're pretty much the same across almost all the US (and presumably world). However, every so often someone in the front makes a mistake and then **people who for their whole lives have been doing the same sequence of sit/stand/kneel** will sometimes inexplicably follow the person who made a mistake and then essentially the entire church, which might be close to 1000 people, will follow! Maybe 3-10 people will stand their ground and if it's enough, the rest of the church will change back to the "right" position. It's the weirdest thing to encounter and has always clearly illustrated to me how much of our behavior is influenced by those around us.

[@adriankerrison]

I wrote a chapter about this in my PhD thesis! I study conversation, and study interactions involving sports crowds where the crowd basically acts like one giant person. Specificially I talk about the structures of coordination within cheering sections (how chants work, how routines are recognised and called-upon, etc.) and how cheers get deployed in meaningful places within an event to function as requests/responses/etc. So the reason you might have felt that way about the difference between the crowd of 500 and the crowd of 499 + 1 is because structurally you were experiencing two different interactions. Thinking about it as what we call a "participation framework", one was an interaction with you, John, and one entity (the audience), the other was an interaction with you, John, and two entities (the audience, who participated in the silence, and another who didn't). Those are two different interactions, two different experiences. It would be like wondering why being alone with your partner in your car is so different from being alone with your partner in a taxi, when the driver is just one additional person. They're different because the participation framework is wildly different. In one it's the two of you alone, in another there's a third person. So the experience in the "crowd of 500" situation is going to feel much more communal because you are, all of you, alone with each other. Versus the "crowd of 499+1" where - either on purpose or by accident - someone else is there too.

[@adriankerrison]

(there's definitely going to be more going on psychologically and sociologically in terms of communal experience, but this was the bit I'm qualified to talk about!)

[@Hippopotalust]

I feel like you just explained the divisive nature of extremely right politics. When it's us vs them, no one can pay attention to the conversation that is happening/ needs to happen because an additional, distracting "someone else" has been added to the conversation.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

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[@sarahprunierlaw9147]

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[@IrisGlowingBlue]

+ Thank you for sharing a bit of your work! That's interesting c:

[@FirstNameBunchANumbers]

My mom and I went to see y'all on this tour in Charlotte (my fourth of five nerdfighter events now I believe!), and this bit was all I could talk about as we left the theater. We had to try it twice after a really funny accidental "Bah-" followed by a muttered "oh shit" and laughter, and I remember being at the edge of my seat to see if we'd nail it the second time. When we did, I shouted in excitement louder than even I expected haha. It was such a silly and creative way to test how well a huge group of strangers could agree upon one goal and succeed in it through the collective effort of something so simple as silence I love being a part of this community where even the light-hearted goofs are thought provoking :)

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

I propose that, to honor that one guy who slipped up, we shall henceforth sing that part as "Bah-oh shit."

[@kaylagilligan4919]

I was at this one as well it was honestly one of the best nights of my life

[@MerileeGoLucky]

I was at that show too! Sweet Caroline and Dr Turtleman are the stand-out memories I have of that night.

[@adibferdous826]

Watching John jump like this warmed my heart in a way that is really hard to describe. I love you all. I absolutely love this community.

[@prayingmantis8148]

I love you too!

[@SPUDog]

I'm surprised by how good it feels to see the recording of it and the excitement when it worked- as someone who isn't even from the US or was aware of this whole phenomena before.

[@WenzelSays]

If you ever get the chance to go to a party with predominantly Americans. Play this, Bohemian raphsody, or the cha cha slide and watch craziness unfold.

[@shiny_x3]

I'm lived in the US my whole life and I didn't know this was a thing either.

[@xzonia1]

@@WenzelSays What happens during Bohemian rhapsody?

[@osmia]

+

[@Equal_inDeath]

@@xzonia1 Everyone and their mother sings the whole song, every word! When I was in high school marching band we would always scream it on the bus

[@skyler5777]

Never ever have I seen someone as excited about anything as John was in that moment.

[@ducomors]

Can I introduce you to Cheese Doodle Guy: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmKshYp-gMpjq7c

[@ein-veh8185]

There are often times when I envy John and hank for their ability to get really excited about things. My brain operates differently I guess. It can only go full throttle on bad things like anxiety and existential dread, but never the things I love, and that’s kinda sad.

[@greythecrawfish7025]

I love how excited John gets when it works in the clip at the end.

[@dannyben-david6085]

I think about this moment at the SF TATWD show often. The collective breath 500 people took in that moment, and the *explosive* cheer afterwards, were just moments in a collective you don't really get otherwise. The divide between 499/500 reminds me of the difference between seeing a solar eclipse in totality versus 99.8%. Still impressive, but it's just a whole different thing.

[@jennacoffin8566]

I completely agree about the solar eclipse example! It's an entirely different experience. Everyone I was with was stunned into silence, it was so haunting and beautiful.

[@kwebst1]

I was there too

[@fireboltthegod]

Hey me too. SF representing over here :-)

[@felipevitorino7745]

+

[@AnnaReed42]

Yeah, there's still the binary of someone doing the thing/no one doing the thing, just as with the solar eclipse example the binary is some amount of sunlight/no sunlight whatsoever. The difference in effect is vast, even though the actual physical difference is negligible.

[@skylerwitherspoon]

I went to the tour in 2017 and participated in this but I had never heard Sweet Caroline at that point so it was not hard for me and also a very weird experience. THEN later when I heard it I was SO CONFUSED because I thought the ba ba ba was a part of the song! I didn't realize it was improvised! I felt like I was being tricked somehow

[@Rattiar]

St. Paul, MN - we were part of the 75% and it worked the first time....and I think there were a lot more than 500 people in that audience! That silence felt, dare I say, SO GOOD! SO GOOD!

[@Evanescence622]

I was at one of the events where this worked, and John's unbridled joy when it worked is something I'll always remember. I was in an awful place mentally when I went to that show and it really got to me how we could all do something so little--literally just shut up for 2 seconds!--and bring someone so much joy.

[@ursasanderson8742]

I have never seen a grown man jump with such glee as John did when the audience nailed it.

[@DJTI99]

I agree. It was worth hearing that monstrosity of a song, just for that one moment.

[@richardreardon9948]

I was at the Chicago show for that. We all stayed silent. John's reaction was so adorable. Also I loved Dr. Turtleman.

[@MsMockingjay07]

Thank you for showing me the other side, Hank. I was a part of the 25% that did not succeed in this endeavour. And I still had an incredible night of great fun. You two never forgot to be awesome during that tour. 🐢🐢🐢

[@AmandolinJay]

The clip made me cry. Why? It's just... kinda been a hard two years, man. Unbridled joy makes the seratonin go zzz. 💚

[@clellieirwin2155]

I just want to appreciate how fun and weird it is that Hank and John even thought to try this in the first place

[@icannotchoose]

"If you give everyone the power to ruin something, someone will"

[@rolothomosky]

Reminds me of the Broccoli Tree video John did. Eventually, someone is going to cut down a famous tree.

[@OracleAnne]

I was at the St. Louis show, and we pulled it off! It was such a good moment. We worked together and made actual magic that night. (Bummer warning) I was still mourning the death of my best friend at the time, and this moment, plus the “we’re here because we’re here” moment made me cry so much. People are good! Love and connection are the greatest forces in the universe! And a bunch of nerds in a theater together helped me see that. Thank you for all that you do.

[@laxlotharia]

I was there too :) it was awesome!! Sorry to hear about your friend, but glad you were able to have a nice experience too.

[@seeingincolor]

I was there too! It really did feel magical and emotional - I can only imagine how it added to the overload you were already feeling.

[@francescakyanda9182]

damn, I want that "John jumping up and down because the audience followed instructions" kind of joy!

[@SewlockHolmes]

Love how John just absolutely loses it every single time it works because what are the odds that it'll work 3 times in a row? I'd argue the odds improve when it's worked once before because there's that feeling of "we're all in this together" that makes you want to contribute to that beautiful thing.

[@amberbydreamsart5467]

I was at the minnesota stop, and it worked!! it was such a wonderful moment- I went alone, and while I didn't make any eternal connections that day, I had a lovely conversation with my neighbors- older librarians and professors who had the event recommended to them but didn't know much about nerdfighteria- and had a good time hanging out with some stragglers outside the tour bus for a good half hour after. it was a night that took me a lot of effort and internal convincing to get to- i lived in minneapolis without a car, so taking the buses and lightrail to get to the location was a lot of time and effort- but i'm so glad it worked. there's something so strange about seeing someone you've seen on a screen for a decade in the flesh, and it was the first time i experienced that, and it was wonderful

[@d.p.k.a.]

What I love about Vlogbrothers, since the very beginning, is that I feel like I walk away from videos having an experience of learning. Sometimes about something new, or something old, or something profound, or just something silly. Sometimes it's happy, sometimes it's sad. Sometimes it just.... is. But every time, I get to take a moment to pause in my day and just.... think. Process. Be in those little moments that remind me that I'm here. That while I'm trying to juggle grad school and lab work and thesis work and hospital work, I'm here living through the human experience. And at its core, within the good and the bad, inside the shades of grey, the human experience is nothing short of absolutely amazing.

[@cbpd89]

Hank will always bring some humor, some profound deep thoughts, and a fabulous patterned shirt.

[@SaintDuma]

Literally came here to say that shirt is so good (so good! so good!)

[@morganw2492]

@@SaintDuma same here!!

[@TracyLayden]

I'm so glad you kept the bit. I was there for one of the successes, and it was magical, that loud silence. The most connected I've even felt to 400 people. I think of that moment every time I hear Sweet Caroline

[@katec865]

the clip at the end made me CRY! seeing a crowd do something together is so powerful and it's been so so long since I've been in a crowd of people

[@scribbledjoy]

+ Same here. And then you've made me tear up again for making me reminisce about crowds. How weird is our existence rn?

[@IrisGlowingBlue]

+ ♡♡ Solidarity hearts

[@maddieroberts2352]

My favorite part of that clip is how excited John is while jumping around very intensely, I do the same but personally, I would never be able to express my excitement as much in fear of being judged. Seeing one of my favorite KZbinrs do it just makes me feel very happy and I don't quite know why.

[@februerin]

I remember feeling so proud of myself and 499 other people when the Nashville crowd got it on the (I think) second try and John danced and leaped on excitement just like in the clip. It was a great day, Hank. I’ll never forget it. Thanks for that experience :)

[@jessicaparsons9283]

I was there too!!! With my best friend and it WAS the second try after someone accidentally went ba- 😂

[@Azzarinne]

As soon as you mentioned "Sweet Caroline," I got a big goofy grin because I knew exactly where this was going. We had a few "Ba..."s at ours, but we fixed it the second time around. It's nice to see that John did the same happy dance wherever that end clip was recorded that he did at ours. 💖

[@LycanFayn]

I think I have an inbuilt reaction whenever anyone says 'mathematically' to be like 'but is it, though?' Cause sure, one way of looking at it, 499/500 people stayed silent. But to me it seems the experience doesn't care about the number of people. It cares about the difference between the noise made - 0 to 1 is huge. Infinite. When you're dealing with silence, one voice is everything.

[@dab88]

yeah Hank is a hopeful sod, lol

[@38tech]

Best part is john jumping around like house of pain came on. I would imagine the sense of joy when everybody listened and did a thing, than aggravation when that one person didn't....it's why we can't have nice things.

[@Naiyelli]

Hank is really riding that 4 minute mark with these last two videos, eh?

[@vlogbrothers]

I have developed an expertise.

[@Ross_mo]

@@vlogbrothers the most useless expertise? 😂

[@jeremy3walker]

I have no logical explanation for it, but this may be my favorite vlogbrothers videos yet. First the force, which is HANKANDJOHN, identifying the cultural phenomenon, and arcuately identifying it as strange, BUT then daring to acknowledge it head-on AND THEN challenging a large body of, by definition and intention, a highly charged and participatory group for their unified participation in the form of profound silence. This is deep, insightful, fun and so on-brand. Thank you Hank.

[@rorrodeh]

This may be presumptious (hell even using that word makes me feel like a pretentious ass) but given how honest, and open John has been with this community about his mental health, seeing him be this unbridled with excitement just makes me smile and chuckle with happiness. Thank you, you two, for having created such a wonderful community and allowing people to see who you are on a deeper level than most "public" people. All the best to you two, the wider Nerdfighteria community, and anyone who follows on a more casual level

[@mollyrose3985]

“I’ve never heard silence quite this loud” - Taylor Swift

[@ThisIsReMarkable]

In addition to all the things you said, Hank, I also think that the uncomfortable silence can teach us that being uncomfortable is not always bad. When we're uncomfortable, we LEARN.

[@TwistedRiddles]

Our group succeeded! And it was absolutely wonderful!!

[@pasttenseroyalty]

This resonates with me a whole lot re: mask wearing, vaccines, and covid precautions. It has been really easy to focus on the people who are not coming together to help end the pandemic and not recognize the vast amount of people who are. In my city we have a 55% vaccination rate, and it's really easy to focus on those 45% of people who haven't gotten vaccinated yet. They are still impacting the experience the rest of us have - like with the BA BA BAs - but 55% of people is still a lot of people to come together & do something for the good of their community.

[@CMKSDO]

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[@elerikent5981]

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[@zelda7585]

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[@claremurphy5901]

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[@tasmanmillen]

I totally agree, in my city we have a vaccination rate of 95% or more, and yet people still focus a lot on the 5% who aren't. This is just more proof that it's really hard to get every single person in a large group to agree with something, no matter what it is.

[@melimsah]

Haven't seen John do a happy dance in so long and that just gave me SO MUCH JOY

[@sam-the-moomin]

Loving the floral shirt Hank! You’re rockin it!

[@kathyh8047]

+++

[@bibliophilesunite]

I was not prepared for how adorable John's enthusiasm would be when it worked! I miss the happy dances. Thank you for this moment of joy.

[@cutelittlemoose]

Man, nostalgia hit me so hard seeing this. Seeing John's exquisite childlike display of glee again made me really miss nerdfighteria in-person events.

[@Commenter339]

Reading the comments, wishing I can go to America sometime and during my stay experience a live show of yours. Love and cheers from little ol' Latvia.

[@stephenpark8286]

The fact that this worked about 75% of the time is kinda nice though, isn't it? Like, it shows that the overwhelming majority of the time we are capable of banding together to ignore what we've been brought up to do in service of some shared goal... Or, I dunno, I guess it's just a goofy thing?

[@LeopardMask12]

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[@ijustlikethiscrapokay]

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[@greyborg3846]

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[@wwickeddogg]

>The fact that this worked about 75% of the time is kinda nice If every show was 500 people and one person ruined it every four shows, then we can conclude that 0.05% of people have some sort of mental illness that causes them to oppose or refuse to participate. It would be nice to find out what was up with those people and know why they did it.

[@Jakobknits]

I wish I was recording myself watching that clip at the end. I have never been more fully and genuinely thrilled by something I wasn't directly a part of. IT'S SO GOOD.

[@LtNduati]

John's jumps of excitement is so wholesome lol

[@nateritzman]

I was at a 75%er. It was one of the first and only moments of my life where I felt truly connected with a large group of people. I’ve been to concerts/shows/events where I have an isolated, personal experience, in the same way I would watching a movie at home. Those can be wonderful! But the feeling of being together (and even solidarity in the face of one person ruining it for the rest) with a large group, one in which I could never have an individual relationship with everyone, made it incredibly special. The silence was as beautiful as the music, the companionship as beautiful as the internal joy. A core memory indeed ❤️

[@NinjaNerdOG]

I remember being there for this and the absolute feeling of joy when our crowd managed it was so amazing. I think about this any time I hear the song now.

[@ChibiAccount]

Great video. one of my all time favorites.

[@KTRC1221]

I was at the Winter Park Show, and my mom caught the silence during the song! The feeling was euphoric, made only better by John jumping up and down! Great video Hank!

[@buffienguyen]

That clip at the end filled me with so so much joy you don't understand

[@TzarinaMystra]

I distinctly remember hearing John talk about this moment a few years ago and it remains one of the most memorable Vlogbrothers videos I've ever watched. That exercise was probably the most profound embodiment of John Green philosophy I've ever seen. And watching it really does send shivers down the spine.

[@tianacook1954]

I had the same experience with the solar eclipse in 2017. We were lucky enough to see the total eclipse and it is extremely different than seeing it just partial (even mostly covered). There are so many social lessons (from both outcomes) that are so intriguing to me, but will require a lot more thought before sharing. Thanks for always inspiring me to think deeply.

[@naomirabago7130]

Seeing John jump up and down with all that happy energy MADE MY DAY

[@rachelpang310]

Wow that’s my video clip!! I took that video! So happy to be a part of that crowd and glad you guys united everyone in something small but special :)

[@AliJardz]

I remember it working in the NYC show and it was awesome. Interesting to hear how it wasn’t a 100% success rate. It really inspired me about nerdfighteria

[@mikekeenan8706]

John and Hank should try it with the old Phil Harris song, the Thing, but I guess it isn't well known today. Part of it was " Oh, get outta here with that boom-boom-boom, and don't come back no more". Most of the lyrics had boom-boom-boom in them, but unless one grew up in the 1950s, they wouldn't know the song. Sweet Caroline works because, unless you live under a rock, you know it.🙄

[@GabrielaCenturionNeumann]

The clip at the end was so wholesome and I loved it! Thank you for the wonderfully thought-provoking reflection as well... Hugs from Paraguay!

[@femkeelders7843]

I think maybe the reason why it felt so good to hear not one single person sing ba ba ba is because its something so difficult to do. We are sooo used to singing ba ba ba when we hear sweet Caroline that when it doesn't happened and it's completely silent it feels like we've done something. We've made something work that felt almost impossible. We made something together, as a group through teamwork and dedication. Because let's be honest not singing ba ba ba is way harder than singing it. Anyways idk it just feel so good to hear nobody sing ba ba ba

[@emgladerc1756]

John's excitement is honestly just so pure, that is exactly the kind of energy I need today, thank you.

[@VideoNozoki]

That's a pair of sadists right there. "We're going to play a fun song that everyone knows the words to. When we get to the most famous part, IF YOU JOIN IN you have ruined the experience for everyone." -- Doctor Evil

[@barakfriedman1262]

Oh I wish I were there in one of the cases it did work. It seems to give people such an awesome sense of accomplishing something - even if it is such a small thing as NOT singing when you feel in your soul you should. It teaches us a lot about making an effort instead of acting automatically. Thank you for this lesson.

[@razzereign]

I was in the audience for the Los Angeles show and this skit has been on my mind ever since. It's safe to say I've thought about it monthly, if not more often, for years. I learned so much about togetherness and unified purpose and I feel as though I'm still taking life lessons away from the experience. I vividly remember John's reaction when we finally got it right after multiple attempts and I think this clip may be from that show. It especially weighs on me because I believe we were your final show on the tour. We were your last opportunity to get it right and I wanted so bad for you two up on stage to have that moment with us and when it happened I felt my face radiate with the warmth of joy and a huge smile.

[@avocadoll7285]

idk what’s happening to my body but seeing john jump around so happily made me sob good tears

[@ColinJK]

I remember going to the St. Louis show and when the silence worked, my goodness it was impressive and just amazing!

[@kateh7484]

I’m from Massachusetts and when I saw you in Boston this was physically painful to be silent during because Red Sox!

[@QualityDoggo]

From MA here too and yeah this is painful hahaha

[@Houkuko]

I remember when we did this at the show in DC and I think about it pretty often. We were one of the groups that failed spectacularly on the first try, several of us couldn't help ourselves (us, as in me too). We tried again, and I remember everyone in the room was silent except one person. He didn't "bah-bah-bah," but he did shout something I don't remember. It was such a weird 3-second roller-coaster, the first 2 seconds like, "oh my god yes we're doing it!!" then completed with, "aw crap." I'm so happy for the clip at the end, so I no longer have to wonder how success would have felt, even if just vicariously.

[@sistinechapel2124]

Watching 2 brothers just lovingly share a moment with people on stage and having the best time is so wholesome! As a music teacher, I thank you for enhancing the silence!!!! ❤️❤️

[@maryhorn7734]

I dragged my mom to the Naperville show when I was a teen (which is the one in the clip you played, I'm pretty sure) and even though it's coming on 5 years since then we still talk about it! such an amazing moment, I'm happy I got to experience it working.

[@Razbeariez]

I feel like this is also super indicative of the type of community that's been built here. I can think of plenty of other communities I've seen or even been part of, that would have a far, far harder time achieving this at one show, let alone 75% of them. Those communities may celebrate chaos, or jokes, or something else more than anything else, so that when it came time I could easily imagine half the audience "ba ba baaa -ing" and erupting into laughter. Nerdfighters have always celebrated working together in various ways from silly projects to really important ones, so the success rate is really impressive.

[@nickkester4486]

That clip at the end was phenomenal 🎺🎺🎺

[@shanaleigh1994]

This seems amazing. I'm really sad now that I've never been to a live show. Will there ever be live shows again?

[@maddiecolormixmua9658]

I have faith that there will be again! :)

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

The live-showed days are coming!

[@theseforgottenstars]

I was at the Charlotte show, and we did have a false start, but we got there eventually! There was something weirdly satisfying about hearing a crowd go from belting the song at the top of their lungs to complete silence that fast. John’s increasing excitement every time we got one right made it even better! I have mixed feelings about hearing “Sweet Caroline” in public because my name is Caroline and I hate being the center of attention, and whenever it comes on people invariably feel the need to sing it at me, which is awkward and uncomfortable. I’m not great with words, but I guess what I’m trying to say is thank you for giving me a public rendition of this song that was about something bigger than me - the togetherness of silence, as I think John put it. I very much enjoyed it!

[@RobynJG]

I feel like this message is applicable to so many parts of life. As a teacher, so often the 1 child not doing the right thing will take up your whole mind instead of the rest of the class who are. It's so important to focus on the majority, but also have the minority realise they are ruining it for everyone (or something like that)

[@LadyMacbeth1564]

++++

[@jeffreymccullough2110]

I was there in NYC when it worked perfectly and it was joyous! When you two started the setup, my daughter looked at me because I had been complaining about this for at least a decade and some of your points were almost verbatim what I'd side. I can't thank you enough!

[@Kelleyfiafia]

I was in an audience that managed the silence and it felt so weird and so nice to do something together and seeing John happy made and makes me so happy! 💗

[@francescawimer2605]

I was at one of these shows!! The audience successfully didn't sing the bum bum bums but in one of the seconds of silence someone yelled "go red socks!!!" I don't think I've ever been in another audience that laughed as hard as everyone there did in that moment. thank you for always coming up with such creative ideas, no matter what these bits of connection with the audience are so much fun

[@MakaParamoreEvans]

I was already smiling through this video but watching the clip filled me with SUCH joy that I did not know could possibly exist

[@CubingThroughLife]

I don't know about anyone else, but watching the last 20 seconds of this video put the biggest smile on my face and made my entire day. WHOLESOME JOY!!!

[@mildbill4381]

The clip of John jumping at the end made me laugh literally out loud and it made happy tears well up in my eyes then I watched the clip like 5 more time and I am still laughing and crying

[@hoodiesticks]

I got apprehensive reading the title, but I am now very glad that the most dangerous thing you've done on stage did not actually endanger anyone's health or safety.

[@Bucko55667]

I can't remember the source but "Sweet Caroline " was voted the most hated song by people who worked on cruise ships

[@vlogbrothers]

I can believe that!!!

[@nerdsparklestcl]

As a teacher I find this completely fascinating. The difference in the experiences and the learning echoes what I see every day: the actions of one can unequivocally influence the understanding of the whole. When you teach the same lesson to multiple classes, you always hope for the best, for the situation and illustration to play out just as intended for the benefit of the learning, understanding, and communal experience of the whole class. But of course, every class is different. You have "that one student" in some classes who just wants to mess it up for everyone. In other classes, your audience doesn't buy-in to the experience and commit fully to the feeling of success that could be there if they just invested. But in every case, the class (or audience) is composed of individuals who all experience and feel things differently. Collective experiences within a group are essential for learning, growing, and community. But I think it speaks to the power of the individual. In a world where many feel powerless and unable to influence the world around them, moments like this remind us that every individual DOES have power over a situation. Sometimes we have to see what's best for the collective. And I can't help but think about how this individual power can be abused to the detriment of everyone. And without digging too far into it, I think about how this applies to the pandemic, to climate change, etc.

[@RyanonBasss]

The ultimate scientific experiment of, "dammit Kevin, this is why we can't have nice things"

[@cringle10]

I was at the Naperville show. Someone messed up initially but we tried again and it worked, and I still think about that moment, the cooperation that had to happen in that room for it to happen. It was a beautiful moment, one I don’t think you could fully understand the beauty of if you weren’t there, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

[@Andi-gq4yo]

i thought "we" was referring to like society and was 100% sure this was gonna be about spider-man: turn off the dark

[@ShellArkell]

My son and I drove down to Missoula from Canada for that tour and that was one of our favorite moments. We talk about it often and it’s a great shared moment for us. Thank you for that!

[@NavyHamster901]

Good morning Hank!

[@Blawwmkw]

I was there in Nashville when you did this. We had one mess-up on the first go-around but we nailed it on the second. I can still remember the feeling in my chest in that moment, something huge and expansive and joyous. My takeaway was the elation of a moment of 100% collaboration, of a group of strangers deciding collectively to do a cool thing together. It felt like the point of Nerdfighteria wrapped up in one moment of the loudest silence I'd ever heard!

[@Crittercat1]

Hank!! I have a question for John! I'm an undergraduate student at the University of Central Florida, and I'm doing a research project on the tensions between neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals and how these tensions are expressed rhetorically in writing on the internet. I know John has openly expressed his neurodivergent status, so that's why I'm primarily asking him, but this question goes for you, too, if you'd like. I have a couple of questions that I'm asking people (both neurodivergent and neurotypical) in order to gather some data on the subject. Would you guys be open to answering them? Thanks!

[@juliettedavies1550]

++

[@theawesomesaucelady9]

This is goofy and wholesome in a way that makes you realize that caring about the little things - even just the silence in the middle of a silly song - can bring people together. It's goofy but it matters and we're here because we're here