I grew up with the internet. Not like those digital-native freaks who don’t remember 9/11 and had the internet as just a consistent part of their life; as I grew up, the internet grew up with me.
Early doors, I used to download comedy off the internet illegally (sight-unseen) and just hope it was funny/not a virus. Then came the first batch of made-for-internet comedy that you had to hunt for yourself on random websites like CollegeHumor or Newgrounds. And finally YouTube, where random people made niche videos for no reason (monetisation came later) and they were all in one convenient location. It matured as I matured.
There’s still heaps of stuff I laugh at online because, as a standup comedian, the internet has become the repository for every set, TV show clips, comedy special, sketch series and blooper compilation ever – it’s like Sportscenter for humour. All the highlights (and lowlights) are there. But I thought for my list I’d focus on the good old days because current internet “content” is so homogenous and so blatantly trying to sell something that I thought we were due for a palate cleanser.
So while I might not necessarily still find them the funniest as I’m not 13 anymore, here’s the 10 things that I found funniest on the internet. I have tried to keep it vaguely reverse-chronological order. Enjoy!
1. Norm Macdonald is married to a real battle axe – Conan
If you’re talking about what I find funniest now, I could easily do 10 Norm Macdonald late-night clips. He’s so hilarious and the hosts’ reactions make him even better. If you can watch David Letterman’s face while Norm does his Bob Uecker impression without laughing then abandon these lists forever, I reckon? Anyway this is my favourite, it’s a book promo which is so dry but Norm makes it great in like three different ways and does so while Conan is telling the audience exactly what the joke is … and it doesn’t matter.
2. Gary Gulman – state abbreviations
This is the perfect late-night standup set. My dog is called Dottie because of this clip and that’s all you need to know really. And yes, she’s a pistol.
3. Bill Burr on Night of Too Many Stars
Probably my favourite comedian ever and my favourite set of his. As a comic, you think about the context of a set a bit more than most – so to do these jokes in front of a charity gala, tuxedo-wearing crowd, super late into the event and KILL with that material is just absurd. Plus it’s the only recording I’ve ever found of his Steve Jobs bit which is an all-timer and will change the way you view pears forever. So stop reading this and watch the clip. GET ON IT!
4. Patrice O’Neal – Ain’t that better?
Probably my second-favourite comedian ever and a perfect joke. “Men want to be alone but we don’t want to be by ourself” is just a perfect observation; it’s irrefutable and gets everybody on board immediately. I’ve shown my mum this joke, I’ve shown my wife this joke, I’ve shown my dentist this joke; they all loved it because it’s impossible to dislike this joke. And Patrice’s suit for this taping deserves a wider audience as well.
5. Preston walks off Never Mind the Buzzcocks
I remember being introduced to Simon Amstell hosting Never Mind the Buzzcocks first year of uni and being blown away. He was so fast, the jokes were so good and how mean he was to his guests was incredible (especially compared to the absolute friendliness of Spicks & Specks). That said, I think Bill Bailey is the MVP of this clip: a celebrity walks off a panel, he jumps in with a perfect one-liner and then replaces him with a lookalike member of the studio audience like nothing happened … who immediately gets a bigger laugh than Preston did the whole show. So good.
7. PurePwnage – FPS Doug
Look, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t find this particularly funny any more. But as a teenager playing computer games at a Burwood internet cafe, this was hilarious and it gave gaming a context that didn’t really exist when I was in high school. It definitely has some very homophobic language, but remember – this is a satire of hardcore gamers from 2004 so while it might be offensive, it’s not inaccurate. This is my favourite episode just because the character FPS Doug is so stupid, but we yelled out “BOOM HEADSHOT” for years anyway.
Another absolute classic, I had no idea it was an Academy Award nominee until I made this list. Just watch and enjoy knowing there’s an entire generation of people who can only hear the words “My spoon is too big” in that voice. In hindsight it’s weird how accurately this guy nailed internet humour’s vibe before it became a thing people were actively trying to do.
9. John Cena prank call
Pranks online have become horrific, but the prank phone call was always an internet staple and this for me in the GOAT. This was before John Cena was a meme – hell, it might’ve even been before meme was a word. But just hounding this poor lady, BLASTING his theme music, bringing up supporting the troops just to trick her again … and then the switch up of a lady calling instead of the original guy to get her one last time is genius. It just makes me happy.
10. “I’m in your face”
This is when the internet made sense to me. A scene from the not-yet billion-dollar Fast & Furious franchise and someone took it upon themselves to do some dodgy editing for a dumb joke. No call to action, no “like and subscribe”. Blink and you’ll miss it. I’ve watched this at least 1,000 times and I’ve never regretted it once.
