The Nervous Kid

Thanks to the popularity of meta-humor in shows like the aforementioned Family Guy, I think our culture is more conversant in and opinionated on the rules of comedy than we were before. Yes, that's a glittering generality, but the point is it seems like everyone in our generation feels comfortable asserting that a joke has gone on too long, that it is too soon, or that the delivery was just a touch off for it to be funny.



I have no idea why this was recommended. I guess sometimes I watch Memes when I hear of them, or when they appear in my recommendations, but I can only stand so many. Simply knowing that whatever slice of life I'm about to watch has gone viral is usually enough to make me wary. Does that make me a YouTube snob?

Anyway, this not-quite-Meme is cute enough, I suppose. It treads that very delicate line between too repetitive and just repetitive enough, and it even has a punchline ending as the kid slips and curses...But is it just me, or does this all feel totally contrived? I feel like this is some little adult or else a very precocious child, who, rather than actually being nervous about saying Happy Birthday Rosanne, read (and reread) the rules for a funny delivery and followed them to a "T."

Always he gets closer to saying the line we all know is coming, and the increasingly urgent refrain "Now?" adds tension. The trail-off/stutter is very well executed, and like I said, the punchline is right on time.

So I give this kid a B for effort, and YouTube a C minus. This recommendation just feels like a tired attempt at a video that I'll find funny, like when your grandmother recommends a Meme a year after it's gotten old. Thanks, but the verdict is too long, too soon, and just a touch off.