Comedy experiment: Does ‘Yakety Sax’ make everything funny?
I am posting this YouTube video with the understanding that many people will automatically find it distasteful. It’s an interesting exercise in comedy, however, because it asks this question: Can “Yakety Sax” (the Benny Hill theme music; you’ll recognize it when you hear it) make anything funny? Watch the video and see for yourself.
The reason part of it doesn’t work for me is that many parts of the video are in slow-motion (or at least the events in them happen slowly). For “Yakety Sax” to achieve its full comedic impact, it must be accompanied by sped-up visuals. The parts of the video that are sped-up do indeed make me laugh. But not because I’m heartless or jaded! It’s the music! I’m powerless against the music!
September 13th, 2007 at 11:07 am
That’s not right
September 13th, 2007 at 11:22 am
I was shocked and appalled at this. Seriously aghast. And then the sped-up visuals combined with the Benny Hill theme made me crack up! And then I was aghast again. And shocked. And appalled.
So I think the answer to the question, at least in my case, is “yes.”
September 13th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Count me in with the “not amused” crowd. I didn’t really find the music funny, either.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:38 am
No, because 3000 people dying is never funny, unless they’re all clowns. Then it’s both sad and funny at the same time, with the pathos and the honking and the clown wigs being carried away by the soft, summer breeze.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:50 am
I shamefully admit the music got to me and I did laugh. Excuse me while I flog myself for penance. Thanks a lot, Eric.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:52 am
No, it’s not funny - but mostly only because it’s edited so poorly that it never sells the joke. I bet someone COULD make it funny, but those guys think the idea alone would make it.
On the other hand, there’s this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0C4ZDO5r58
which is VERY funny. There’s a whole set of videos just like it, but you get the idea. Yakety Sax + cartoon sound effects + sped-up motion = comedy gold.
[Moderator's note: That video has to do with Jesus (well, an actor playing him), so some viewers may find it sacrilegious.]
September 13th, 2007 at 11:53 am
I don’t even find Benny Hill funny with that music.
September 13th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
3000 people dying isn’t funny. But video of the event accompanied by Yakety Sax is.
If the music had been applied so some other (non-American) tragedy, I wonder how many of the indignant would change their views.
September 13th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
I found the fireman running away funny…seeing planes hit and towers collapse..never funny-just sad.
I would like the music with other sped up action…
September 13th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
My vote is for not funny.
September 13th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
That’s SOOOOO wrong, but I laughed the whole time. Curse you Rackety Sax!!!
September 13th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
I vote not funny. I tried to find the funny, really, I did. But no funny was to be found. Not even a little.
September 13th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
I’m was expecting a lot more shocked and appalled in the comments. Go figure. I didn’t think it was particularly funny or offensive. I was just amazed that someone had thought to do it and they Eric was willing to share it.
September 13th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Not funny at all, really. The music on its own is funny, and probably would be funny with a lot of other footage, but nah, that didn’t work for me considering what it was.
September 13th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
This is just a powerful statement at the power music has over us.
September 13th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Put me in with the not funny crowd. I’m not offended or anything, but it just wasn’t funny. The strange thing was I thought I would find it funny because the music is rather silly. It’s probably because I’m on the East coast and those pictures will never be funny to be because of the emotions I have associated with them. Someone who wasn’t close to the event like me would probably find it more hilarious.
What really shocked me was how sad I felt when I saw those images. Even sped up, the people still look scared and shocked. The towers falling is heart wrenching even today, especially when I remember how many people died. I guess I’ll never be able to laugh at the event, but I don’t dislike people who can.
September 13th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
I need to add that I just watched the Passion thing on youtube and that got a smile from at the times it had extra silly sounds and silly looking visuals. But overall, it wasn’t funny to me either. One thing that makes Benny’s stuff silly is you can’t see much. It’s just a mass of movement, but in both these videos you can see the people very clearly (and the fact that they are very somber). Maybe if it was sped up more or something.
September 13th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Oh my gosh, that was bad. I’m ashamed of myself. When the video first started I thought, how can he possibly make this funny? But when the firefighters and other people were walking quickly I started laughing. I never would have thought it to be true, but this music pretty much can make anything funny.
September 13th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Hm. I wasn’t offended or shocked in the least. But I never broke a smile, either. I just didn’t think it was funny. But then, I think Benny Hill is retarded, so perhaps it’s my personal prejudices that are playing into this.
September 13th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I didn’t laugh or even really smile at the 9/11 video. I didn’t find it offensive or anything, just not really funny. Now the “Passion” video linkned above I did find amusing in a few parts and caught myself grinning. I think the most important thing is the way that the video itself was edited (not just the music).
So the answer to whether “Yakety Sax” can make anything funny is: It depends
If the video is edited well, then I think the music can probably make it funny, but simply adding the music to any random video won’t.
September 13th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Yep funniest vid ever.
September 13th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Not funny, because of too much build-up on Eric’s part. A big part of humor is surprise, after all.
September 13th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Not funny. I can see how it was supposed to be funny, but it didn’t work.
September 13th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
I’m with Travis. This does show how much power music can have. Now I’d like to see the Benny Hill stuff without the music and judge it again.
I still generally grieve when I see the 9/11 images, but this time I laughed. I was almost crying because I was laughing. What a powerful statement.
September 13th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Oh my Gosh… It IS hilarious! (…but only when the clips are moving fast.) I wish the video would have gone on longer, though–it had the potential to run on a lot longer without becoming tiring.
Even though 9/11 was horrible doesn’t mean that humor won’t always triumph in the end. After all, isn’t that often how we get over our grievances?
P.S. Did this make anyone think of Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange”? It’s using the same technique, but for comedic effect rather than to be serious.
September 13th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
That was very funny. I too enjoyed the segments showing people running in fast motion. I do feel a little guilty for laughing, but I mean come on, it’s Yakety Sax!
September 13th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
This Yakety Sax video of American soldiers taunting Iraqi children does not make me laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQo5Few_9c8
September 13th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
The 9/11 one is mildly funny, it would require more sound effects to be funny. The Passion one is hilarious and had me in tears, but maybe that’s because I hated that movie with a passion (oh, you better believe that pun was intended).
September 13th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Eh.
September 13th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
The American soldiers one would be funny if there was no audio from the soldiers. I think the key in things like the 9/11 and the Passion videos is to keep any connection/humanization at the very minimum. Once we start hearing voices, we start connecting with those people, and then it’s not funny anymore.
September 13th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
That’s a good point thejoeinme.
September 13th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
I’m going to have to go with not funny. I still feel sick to my stomach when I see those images so the music didn’t really elevate it to the funny level.
September 13th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Definitely not funny and the Passion of the Christ one, while I admit I involuntarily laughed at the funny sound effects, turned my stomach.
Life is sacred and should not be comedy fodder, whether it be 3000 lives or the one transcendent life.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Even funnier is the 50 Cent mashup with Yakety Sax. Now *that’s* comedy gold.
September 14th, 2007 at 10:55 am
I didn’t watch the videos (no sound on the computer at work!) but I think that “Yackety Sax” makes many things much funnier. The Simpsons has used it to fine effect more than once. Heaven knows Benny Hill would be totally useless without it.
My ex-boyfriend maintains that the song makes absolutely EVERYTHING funny (Shindler’s List is his prime example), and that is why it’s his ringtone on my phone.
September 14th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Not funny - Tom Green would be proud.
September 16th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
I always think stuff set to Enya’s one song is funny.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Now, for non-controversial evidence that Yakety-Sax can make anything funny:
I present to you, A Shrimp Running On a Treadmill:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMO8Pyi3UpY
September 29th, 2007 at 8:59 am
About a year ago, I posted Yakety Zapruder on Youtube.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=E952QoAh9pQ
I dabbled a bit with Yakety Fuhrer with some success.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iBiE7VzS7dc
I had Yakety World Trade Center completed with people falling out of buildings, But I felt it crossed the line. Although, it was funny. Yakety Auschwitz was another one I abandoned.
Did you rip this idea after seeing Yakety Zapruder? Or did you come up with it on your own?
If its merely Zeitgeist, thats too weird!
September 29th, 2007 at 9:02 am
No, your video is older.
I find it very disturbing that there is more than one person who thought of this.
September 21st, 2008 at 7:26 am
omg it really does - i’m sad to say that i LoL’d!! Yakety Sax is the shizzz!