As a rule, by the time the MSM sinks its collective teeth into an entertaining vehicle of originality, the model has been driven around the blogosphere so many times it's scrap metal.Keeping up drives me bonkers, the challenges many. Back in my dating days, my mother helped keep my chin up with a gentle reminder. It only takes one. Mom never said anything about finding the "right" one, but hey, no body's perfect.
These days, I'm on the prowl for that lucky break, the story that will push this enterprising upstart into the stratosphere of "must reads" allowing yours truly to live out the rest of her storied existence in a tattered bathrobe and three day old underwear.
How's that for setting the bar? A girl can dream, can't she?
She can also waste her time watching too many videos.
This morning was no exception. I don't know what I was thinking, maybe that I could sift through the drek of video repositories magically locating the one shining jewel that would finally allow me to lead an El Dorado life of leisure...maybe...possibly...
No such luck to save my life.
Still, there's one thing the publicity-grubbing whores and hard-scrabble publishing hounds can't take away from me. I know what I like. And last night's Hilton rebuke was hilarious. Of course when WBAL radio talk show host Shari Elliker mentioned it on today's program, I knew right away the feng shui had run dry.
Time to move on to the next big thing. If you can call it that. And I think I can.
FunnyOrDie.com started out as a somewhat eclectic collection of video talent, the brainchild of former SNL funnyman Will Ferrell, John Hugh's successor Judd Aptow, and some other dudes I've never heard of who must be very big names in the biz. After one of Ferrell's productions went viral, I wandered around for a look see, occasionally embedded a funny video or two, then continued along my merry way.
It never occurred to me to lay anchor. I already spend so much time over at YouTube, they could name a link after me. Why punish myself with yet another account? Only recently, in part due to the Hilton viral, did I return to Ferrell's upstart. And let me tell you, FunnyOrDie is not just another receptacle for lousy video.
It's a niche site for lousy video showcasing celebrities.
To someone like me, that's radical. No more network middle people. Just raw creativity in all its naked glory, good or bad, funny or die, leaving me to decide which videos to promote or kick to the curb. Awesome.
Don't get me wrong, anyone can open an account, upload videos and grow an audience. Just like YouTube, the site attracts raw talent, some of which comes off the street and some of which is mainstream Hollywood. The main difference is the way the place connects people like me with mainstream talent, something I hopefully plan to leverage for the benefit of The Spewker in the months to come.
Before the Googleplex gets some lame idea to start a "Celebrity" category over at YouTube, a few words of advice (look at me throwing out words of advice to the Googleplex - as if). Don't. If this rube from Pigtown is using a dinky blog to promote FunnyOrDie as THE site for the next hot property, it can only mean one thing. This ship has sailed. Ferrell is the original. And when it comes to entertainment, nobody -- not even a Baltimore hon -- will flock to a knock-off.
Okay, maybe a Baltimore, hon....
In the meantime, here's a sampling of Whitehouserace, a farcical series mixing up politics and pop culture in a way that skewers everyone. Nobody escapes unscathed, plus the changing intro voice over is pure gold.
The creative genius behind the "23.95" series should upload more episodes before the general election. This sampling is at least seven months old. Outdated but not forgotten. FunnyOrDie has hit its stride.
I'm not sure why, but embedding these videos isn't working. If the problem doesn't correct itself, you can view the episodes here and here.
See more funny videos at Funny or Die
See more funny videos at Funny or Die
