Orange You Sorry I Showed You This?

Last year some dude named Dane Boedi created a little film called The Annoying Orange. It was made using the old trick of superimposing human mouths and eyes onto fruit – fairly simple, and very annoying.

Now the orange has its own YouTube channel, and in just a few weeks has over 50,000 subscribers, and is rated the number 2 most popular channel on the site this month. Amazing.

Here is the first video that caused the sensation:

You’re A Smart One, Mr. Zonday

Tay Zonday had his 15 minutes of fame a couple years ago with the youtube phenomenon Chocolate Rain.  He then was smart enough to capitalize on that brief success a year later when Dr. Pepper introduced the new flavor Cherry Chocolate Pepper and he became the soda’s spokesperson.  Now another year later, Tay is making his online presence know again.  He has recorded himself singing the Christmas classic “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch”

I have to give Tay a lot of credit is keeps finding ways to make himself popular online, without getting attested or being a jackass.  I also think he would be a great voice for Hollywood.  He would be perfect for doing movie trailers and voice overs.

A Rapping Twit

Everything Miley Cyrus does annoys the hell out of me and this is no different. I know all the 40 year old men will be heart broken not knowing when little Miley is shitting or putting on a Hannah Montana wig, but Miley has decided to close her Twitter account. That shouldn’t be annoying, right? Well in order to explain herself to all of her adoring pre-teen and pedophile fans she decided to rap about it and put it on YouTube.

Useless Tube

Searching for something watchable on YouTube is like trying to find a gold dust flake in a rhino’s rectum; you know something good is in there, but you need to slosh through seven foul layers of hell to find it.

A recent search for a simple STAR TREK clip led me through seven cleverly-disguised clips of TREK mash-ups, which combine an actual clip with the audio replaced by a Korn or Tool song. And played loudly, at that.

Beyond mash-ups, YouTube is awash in hundreds of billions of videos featuring very lonely, talentless womb-scum ranting into their shaky, grainy webcam. These seem to be uploaded on a whim rather than reason. Still others have a point, but it is quickly lost amid the freakishness on display; recent YouTube “stars” Tay Zonday and Chris Crocker are recent examples of this dubious trend.

I’m glad to know I’m not the only one to notice the continued stupidity thriving on YouTube. The good folks at THE ONION have released one of their better stories on the subject:

I Love Fred

Some internet phenomenons come and go. Remember Tay Zonday and his creepy Chocolate Rain song? Remember Chris Crocker?

Yeah, I didn’t think so. These guys and many others have become Insta-Hits on YouTube mostly due to their glaring LACK of talent. They make the mistake in thinking that having the whole world laugh AT you is a good thing.

But a recent rising star on YouTube has earned his place due to his suprisingly subtle comedic timing and clever improvisation. He is only 14 years old, and he is simply known by adoring millions as Fred.

Fred is the creation of a talented young actor named Lucas Cruikshank who has, over the last two years, been making comedy videos on the site with his twin cousins. Most of these videos were childish and goofy, much like the rest of the content littering every channel on YouTube. However, inspiration struck earlier this year when Lucas began to form the Fred character in a series of shorts. Quickly, the rapid cutting and manic expressionism evolved into a comedic goldmine that has transfixed legions of fans.

In its current incarnation, Fred is a six year old boy plagued with a short attention span and an even shorter fuse. He’s in love with the girl next door named Judy, and tormented by the neighborhood bully Kevin. His mother is an alcoholic, and his father left town years ago to, as Fred imagines, become a rock star. His wild imagination and constant loneliness fuels many of the episodes, as Fred’s energy threatens to spin wildly out of control.

This is an episode from a month ago. It has been viewed over 3.6 million times.

One of my favorite episodes is called “Fred Loses His Meds.” Some of the timing here is absolutely perfect:

That has been seen almost 5 million times.

This remarkable kid has some real talent here. He’s cartoon-cute, smart, and quite a nuanced performer. He might be the best thing YouTube has ever produced. I hope he manages to parlay this instant burst of fame with something enduring, because he is the real deal. This might be the best child character in any form of media since Pee Wee Herman back in the eighties, or the South Park kids in the nineties.

Yes, he’s that good.

The big question: Is there a future for this character as successful as the preceding examples?

I hope so. GO FRED!!!!!