Viral videos are all the rage

Featured, Quirky — By ken on July 29, 2010 at 9:55 pm

Of the professionally produced content, music videos lead the pack on YouTube with their popularity, though there are many user generated videos that have something really unique about them that induces millions of people to watch. A quality that also encourages people to share them with their friends, like the latest and most hilarious joke. Unfortunately jokes can lose something in the telling, that often only a true comedian can deliver.

Now amusing and funny items can be spread easily by email and instant messages.

Here is a small sample of YouTube offerings that have gone viral since the establishment of this video sharing site back in 2005.

Evolution of Dance – By Judson Laipply

Performed for the first time in 2001 as the closing act of a Judson Laipply performance, it was just a little more than two minutes of music. Then in 2006 and thirty plus songs later, the six minute routine materialised into the world’s most watched video on the Internet with over 148 million views. Judson soon found himself on the Today Show, Inside Edition, Ellen, and a whole host of worldwide, radio, TV and print media outlets.

Judson Laipply
Judson Laipply is an American motivational speaker and dancer from Ohio, USA and is best known for his performance in the Evolution of Dance clip.

“Chocolate Rain” Original Song by Tay Zonday

With over 54 million YouTube views, “Chocolate Rain” is a song and music video written and performed by Tay Zonday, that was uploaded to YouTube in 2007.

Tay Zonday, whose real name is Adam Bahner, is an American musician and voice actor who rapidly gained fame with his song after YouTube exposure, followed by considerable media coverage on television and in the press. He is a People’s Voice Award-Nominated, Youtube Award-Winning and Webby Award-Winning singer.

TayZonday
The baritone voiced Tay Zonday blasted into the worldwide spotlight with his viral hit “Chocolate Rain” and has been interviewed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Good Morning America, G4TV’s Attack Of The Show, Lilly Allen & Friends, CNN Saturday Morning, The Opie & Anthony Show, The Jace Hall Show, Rachel Ray, Maury Povich and the front page of Sunday’s Los Angeles Times as well as The Chicago Tribune’s RedEye, The Toronto Star, and USA Today. He has been referenced in “South Park,” “Robot Chicken,” “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” “Girlfriends” and “Guitar Hero World Tour.”

Dancing Cadet

Jeffrey Pelehac became famous in 2005 after a viral video of him dancing was placed on YouTube by his roommate Brian Stoops, who recorded him without his knowledge. Pelehac became known as “The Dancing Queen” among his friends.

The then Cadets First Class Brian Stoops and Jeff Pelehac were the class of 2007. The video was made in their sophomore year, 2005. Pelehac also made his way into the commencement address at the Air Force Academy’s graduation ceremony in Colorado Springs, Colorado, when the US Defense Secretary Robert Gates mentioned to the nearly 1,000 graduates at Falcon Stadium about Second Lieutenant Jeff Pelehac’s now infamous YouTube video. The Head of the Joint Chiefs even gave Pelehac and Stoops little medallions for improving academy morale.

Jeffrey Pelehac – Wikipedia

fleaman100

Dancing Cadet – Fox News interview – Circa 2005

Dancing Cadet – The original

liloandsonicfan
This video of Jeffrey Pelehac was taken by room mate Brian Stoops, who then shown to friends before being posted on various Internet sites, including YouTube.

Star Wars Kid

Here is the story of the “Star Wars Kid” as explained on the website www.motherboard.tv.

The author claims that Ghyslain Raza of Quebec, Canada, suffered depression as a result of this video being leaked to the Internet in 2003, due to the millions of viewers finding it highly entertaining, in a perverse sort of way. The humorist Will Rogers was quoted as saying that, “Everything is funny, as long as it’s happening to somebody else.”

raze7ds
This is one of the top viral videos of all time. The person who posted this on YouTube tells the story… “I got it off some site I don’t know which one and wanted it embedded on my Myspace because at the time I thought it was funny. That happened to be when YouTube was mostly unknown. I uploaded it and it was the first to go on this site so whenever someone types “Star Wars Kid” my video will be the first one they will choose to watch.”

Benny Lava

Over 17 million YouTube users have viewed this song and dance sequence from a Bollywood movie, that is lampooned by the use of satirical subtitles. The clip features the Indian dancer, choreographer, actor and film director, Prabhu Deva Sundaram, singing and dancing in the Indian movie “Pennin Manathai Thottu”. The song “Kalluri Vaanil” is performed in the Tamil language.

The video is presented with English subtitles that are phonetically approximate to the original Tamil lyrics, but no attempt is made to preserve the original meaning, as this is corrupted for humorous purpose instead. The name “Benny Lava” comes from the subtitling of the lead line “Kalluri vaanil kaayndha nilaavo?” as “My loony bun is fine, Benny Lava!”.

The clip was uploaded to YouTube by Mike Sutton (Youtube user Buffalax).

“Pennin Manathai Thottu” is a South Indian Tamil film released in 2000.

Prabhu Deva Sundaram has been called “India’s Michael Jackson” for his fast-paced dance movements.

Buffalax
Mike Sutton, 24, finds humour in words or phrases misheard in ways that yield new meanings. Because the songs parodied by Sutton, who goes by the YouTube username Buffalax, aren’t in English, his videos serve up a rapid-fire string of silly and sometimes foul-mouthed nonsense lyrics.

Woman and Dog!

This short video attracted over 13 million views due to the odd and amusing nature of its content.

noswonky
Here is a case of a dog trying to have sex with a fully clothed lady, who is caught by surprise whilst innocently trying to take a scenic photo in a public recreational park.

Retarded Running Horse

This basic animal animation gained more than 10 million views.

caitlinrox1234
The equine mini-model for easy parking.

You can watch this 100 times and still laugh

More than 9 million views for a 5 second video!

seaweed810

The Numa Numa Guy

Gary Brolsma of New Jersey in the USA is now known as The Numa Numa Guy after posting a webcam video of himself miming to the song “Dragostea din tei” by Moldovan pop band O-Zone on the Internet in 2004. People soon found his video entertaining because of his facial expressions and crazy arm movements. It has attracted more than 9 million YouTube views.

NewNuma
VH1 presented the 40 Greatest Internet Superstars on March 23, 2007. This is the clip featuring the Numa story.

Gary Brolsma says, “I am very honored to have received the “#1 Internet Celebrity” title and feel very fortunate to be a part of something that brings happiness into the world.”

“It is encouraging to watch all of the Numa videos that were created by others in the same fun-loving spirit regardless of what part of the globe they happen to live. Smiles are universal. Happiness knows no culture or geography. Joy is bipartisan. Be kind to everyone – for everyone is having a hard time.”

The original Numa Numa video

Orangutan auditions in Hollywood

Here is a video that has gained a reasonable level of popularity, though its not from a non-professional.

Ben Kaller is a behind-the-scenes stills photographer for various Hollywood films. After an internship with Spike Jonze he is moving onto viral videos and advertising. The music to this video was provided by the brother of Spike Jonze, Sam Spiegel, also known as Squeak E. Clean. Spike Jonze (born Adam Spiegel) is an American director and producer, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television. He is best known for his work on the 1999 film “Being John Malkovich”, the 2002 film “Adaptation” and for the 2009 film “Where the Wild Things Are”. He is also credited as a co-creator of MTV’s Jackass, another project Ben Kaller has worked on.

Unbuttonedfilms
Benzo Theodore directed a great little video of Rocky the Orangutan trying to get his Hollywood break by going on an audition. This a second in a series of viral videos created by Unbuttonedfilms to promote Levi’s jeans. Their video of Guys Jumping & Doing Backflips Into Their Jeans (also directed by Benzo Theodore) made the rounds, racking up over 3 million views so far on YouTube.

Then there are some people who make it onto YouTube when they would rather they hadn’t.

Wig, Fake Breasts, Clown Pants in Pa. Robbery

Police say a man dressed in a wig, fake breasts and clown pants stole a BB gun and robbed a bank, then tried to escape by taking a woman’s car from a gas station.

AssociatedPress

Animal stunts are always something that will make it into the News and onto the Internet.

Dolphin Jumps Out of Tank During Show

AssociatedPress
Startling footage from a marine show at a Japanese aquarium. Tourist watch in horror as a dolphin suddenly leaps out of a tank during a July 4th show at the aquarium in southwestern Japan.

Then there’s those people who need to be protected from themselves…

Man Bitten While Trying to Sit on Crocodile

AssociatedPress
A man ejected from a pub in Australia broke into a zoo and climbed onto the back of a crocodile named Fatso, which bit him on the leg but then let him go. Police say they’re surprised the croc didn’t inflict worse damage.

People are not the only odd things in this world… as the egg laying, duck billed and furry Platypus will testify.

Platypus Looking for Love, Gets Stuck Instead

AssociatedPress
A baby platypus had to be rescued from a sewage treatment plant in the Australian state of New South Wales after it ventured down a pipe looking for a mate.

But then you get people making animals do things that animals don’t often do…

Parachuting donkey scares children

NewsOnABC
Authorities launch an animal cruelty probe into a stunt in which a donkey parasailed over a beach in southern Russia.

A cake in the face is always worth a laugh…

Groom, Bride Hold Cake Eating Contest

AssociatedPress
A wedding cake eating contest may seem a bit odd, but not when the groom is the number 9 ranked competitive eater in the world and hotdog eating champ and number-1 ranked competitive eater Joey Chestnut is a guest.

Technology can always be trusted to come up with new surprises…

Paraplegic Man Walks Again With Bionic Legs

AssociatedPress
A New Zealand company invents ‘robotic exoskeleton’, also known as Rex, to allow paraplegics to walk again.

Japan Births Robot Child

AssociatedPress
Researchers have created a baby bot in the hope that it’ll lead to an intelligent robots that can live with humans. The tiny androids are also being tested to help scientists understand more about the early stages of child development.