The informant began this story with, “So I used to hear this story a lot when I was around six or seven years old from my dad.” The informant’s dad heard this story from his grandfather. When informant’s dad was younger, he would always try to pull pranks on his friends, as his friends would do the same to him. One day, he went up to his grandfather and asked if he had any ideas for the next prank he was going to pull. The informant then said that he great grandfather told her dad, “Robbie, have you ever heard of smart pills?” to which the informant’s dad replied no. The great grandfather went on to explain that “my dad should pick up some rabbit pellets (rabbit poop) and put them in a pill bottle.” After that, the grandfather suggested to his grandson that he go up to his friends and say, “Hey! Want a smart pill? It’ll make you super smart.” And then hand the friends the pill bottle. The informant told me that she never actually thought her dad gave anyone the rabbit poop but the meaning still stands that people can be gullible despite how apparent rabbit poop is. The informant expressed the humor in telling this story because of the comedy shared between her and her father knowing that her great grandpa suggested this humorous prank. I find this specific piece of folklore funny that an authority figure like a grandpa would suggest partaking in such a gross prank. I wonder if anyone would have fallen for that and wish I could place myself back in time to see. I also wonder if the informant’s father would suggest the same prank to her.
Category Archives: Humor
GilvaSunner (SilvaGunner)
GilvaSunner, the original name of a YouTube account now known as SilvaGunner, is a Youtube account that poses as a music ripper of a similar name, who upload series of video game soundtrack remixes. Originally, the name GilvaSunner belonged to a Youtube account that specialized in “video game rips” which are soundtracks taken directly from the video game. After that channel was terminated for copyright infringement, a parody GilvaSunner account was created replacing the L in the original “GilvaSunner” name, with a capitalized I, and mimicked the original account, but instead of posting the video game rips that were promised, it uploaded a remixed version of the soundtrack. Many of these remixed soundtracks consisted of humorous mash-ups or edits of songs, which is known as SoundClowns. Many of these rips, eventually permeate across many social media sites, and even become notable memes. One of these memes, involved the remix of the song “We are Number One”, from the children’s show Lazy Town, had an everlasting impact on a person’s life. Due to the popularization of the original remix from SilvaGunner, it came to light that Stefan Karl, the actor who sang the song for the original series developed pancreatic cancer. After Silvagunner linked the gofundme that would fund his treatment, on their twitter, the internet blew up, creating more remixes, while raising awareness for the gofundme. On August 13, 2017, Stefan Karl shared the message on his gofundme, stating that he was officially free of cancer metastases.
Analysis:
This event is a symbol of the moving force behind the internet. It represents the power of laughter and creativity on the platform the internet provides.
Link to Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ecwl3FTG66jIKA9JRDtmg
SoundClowns
Background:
The term “soundclown” denotes a genre of musical compositions on the music sharing website SoundCloud. They are known for humorous mash-ups or edits of songs on the platform. Many of the early popular remixes, included ones involving the main theme of the children’s show “Thomas the Tank Engine”. “Under the Booty” by TDRloid was one of the first popular SoundClowns that would receive 2 million views within three years. It was a mash-up of the song “Ms. New Booty” by Bubba Sparxxx and “Under the Sea” from the Little Mermaid which are starkly different musical compositions. Some of the other remixes would include versions of songs that would replace vocals with air horns, mash-ups of strange pairings, or even other internet memes laced to the soundtracks. Many of these eventually become popular memes and shared across social media, inspiring other remixes. Notable examples of SoundClown creators include the artists within the SilvaGunner group and Cyranek.
Analysis:
The rise of Soundclowns represent the innovation that is brought together on the internet. Through humor and music, they provide entertainment through creativity.
Link to TDRloid’s Remix https://soundcloud.com/tdrloid/under-the-booty
Bonding through Media
Informant Info: The informant is a 21-year-old male who was born and raised in Chanhassen, Minnesota. His parents both moved to America from India when they were in their twenties. He is currently a student at USC studying Electrical Engineering.
Interview Transcript:
Interviewer: Do you have any little family traditions among your family?
Interviewee: Every time I come back to Minnesota. I always watch the same episode of Top Gear with my brother. The same, single episode. It’s called the Vietnam special, in case you want to know. We’ve done it since I left for college, every time I come back. It’s such a stupid episode, but it’s just something we do together and I can’t stop it now.
Analysis:
This tradition is yet another tradition where the sole purpose is to help the family, or in this case brothers, bond. I wasn’t able to gather any context as to how the tradition started or if there was significance behind the tradition, other than the fact that the brother just really likes Top Gear.
Easter Eggs with Satire
Informant Info: The informant is an 18-year-old from St. Louis, Missouri. She is currently a freshman studying Public Policy at USC.
Interview Transcript:
Interviewer: With Easter just passing, did you or your family celebrate it? If so, how?
Interviewee: Sooooo…. We are not religious, but we still celebrate Easter. What we do is we dye Easter eggs AND then the Easter bunny would hide them in our yard on Saturday. On Easter, we would wake up and have the good ol’ traditional Easter egg hunt. And since we weren’t religious, my parents would sorta make jokes out of it. My mom grew up Catholic, so sometimes she would we toss in prank items, like Jesus band aids. We would then dinner 2pm, which I always thought was early, but hey… home cooked food!
Analysis:
Despite not being religious, the informant’s family still celebrates a typical American Easter, primarily in terms of the Easter Eggs. Across the globe, eggs are extremely important symbols of spring, regrowth, and birth. Once again, family bonding still appears to be the most important factor.