Five Videos You Need to See… When You Just Need to Shut Off and Laugh

It’s been one of those decades.

Earlier I wrote about five movies that are a little off-the-beaten-path. Movies that consistently give me pleasure and enjoyment, well past their primes.

But we don’t always have time for movies. And sometimes we just need to get to that point where tears are dripping from our eyes with laughter. Sometimes we just need to shut off all the crud that’s been bothering us about the past ten, twenty, thirty years, and laugh our asses off.

The YouTube Rabbit Hole

But, of course, we’ve all experienced those moments where nothing is doing the trick. We’re down some awful rabbit hole on YouTube, hoping and praying that something can bring laughter, or even a light smile to our faces.

What we really need, more than anything, is a few go-to videos. Videos that consistently make us cry with the giggles each and every time. So I would like to present five of mine, in no particular order. Here are five videos that have made me crack up more times than I could count.

A brief warning: I don’t like cursing. It’s not my thing. But for humor’s sake… I’m happy to make a few exceptions (for both curses… and perceived curses).

The $*%&*^ Count Video

Many of you have probably been blessed to see Jimmy Kimmel’s famous bit called This Week in Unnecessary Censorship. For this sketch, brilliant and fantastically patient writers comb the media looking for great places to bleep out words (and sometimes blur images) to create an hilarious effect.

While diving down the rabbit hole of these endless comedy treasure troves, I stumbled upon the following video, and I still cannot watch it without cracking up hysterically.

OK, so my sense of humor might still be trapped in middle school. I get that. Perhaps this enhanced my experience as a middle school teacher…

But if you can make it through this video without cracking at least one or two guilty smiles, you may have no sense of humor whatsoever.

Even Stephen Colbert is Laughing

Stephen Colbert is a very funny man. And God knows, I truly miss the Colbert Report, when comedy was original… and not exclusively about Donald Trump.

But the only thing funnier than when Stephen Colbert dazzles us with his whit and composure, is when he can’t hold it together. In extremely rare moments this comedic icon just can’t keep character. And those short instances might just even be better than the show itself.

There are some legends surrounding the reason for Colbert’s reaction, but I don’t know how much of any of it is true. However, I can tell you that I have shed tears watching this clip multiple times. It’s priceless.

By the way, there’s another great example, where Colbert discusses a new beverage called Dewitos, which is a Doritos-flavored Mountain Dew drink. Sadly, I could no longer find the clip on YouTube. But hunt for it! If you find it, you won’t be disappointed.

Louis CK on Divorce

I’ve written once or twice about divorce. It might be a subject I know a little about.

However, whereas I write about divorce extensively, both in this blog and in the form of eBooks, the masterful (albeit controversial) comedian Louis CK has done so much more than I could ever imagine in just a few short minutes.

Now, this clip isn’t just funny to me. During some of my darkest days I would listen to these hysterical words over and over again. There is something so refreshing about taking a painful and damaging subject and injecting such levels of humor into it.

The process of surviving that period was not a simple one for me. But laughter is one of the ways I got through it all. And I am forever grateful for those who have so mastered the art of comedy that they were there for me when I needed them.

But even if you don’t need any pick-me-up in a difficult time in your life, just listen and enjoy. These jokes are golden!

My Favorite Substitute Teacher

OK, I know I am by no means the first to recommend this video. It’s quite the popular.

But I had to include it. It’s extremely funny. Every facial expression from every actor is perfect.

And on top of that, there are so many little bursts of truth embedded in the video. And I couldn’t create a list like this without paying tribute to Key and Peele.

I’m not sure what’s funnier to me: The humor of the video or the fact that I’ve heard real Baltimore inner city stories that are just as bad as what we see here.

Regardless, this video didn’t just make us all laugh. It changed American culture. And has even had an impact on the names people choose for their children. If your name was Jacqueline or Aaron before Key and Peele’s famous Substitute Teacher sketch, it’s guaranteed some things have changed for you since.

Sorry about that. We appreciate that you took one for the team though.

The Only Four Chords You Need

Finally, this is my favorite YouTube video of all time.

I’ve easily listened to it a hundred times.

Now, this video, albeit humorous, is not exactly a laugh-out-loud or an uncontrollable giggling kind of video. It’s a brilliant commentary on the state of music over the past several decades in the most pleasant and exciting way.

These Australian musical comedy geniuses deserve to be listened to by the masses. I just listened to it again. Still entertains me each and every time. If you’ve never seen this video… well, you’re welcome.

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And there you have it. Five fantastic videos that could brighten up just about any day. Thank God for YouTube. And thank God for laughter. Today was tough… and now it’s that much better.

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Do you have any videos that consistently make you cry from laughter year after year?