When you’ve just got to laugh
In search of a possible antidote and believing it might just be a click of the finger away, we asked eight of Ireland’s best-known personalities for their favourite You Tube cheer-me-up clip, the one guaranteed to put a smile on their faces when they’re having a down day.
There’s a clip of Jeremy Murat that I really like. Basically, it’s a kind of strange, magical, living statue. Murat is known the world over as one of the best mime artists. I found this performance a beautiful moment in time – very engaging and magical.
There are lots of comedy clips on You Tube but this transcends those — it’s very poetic. If you turn off the lights and put it on, you’ll simply be amazed. It’s a fantastic piece of art and I watch it when I’m in the humour to see something amazing.
Search in youtube Jerome Murat.
I have to say it’s the Rubber Bandits’ Horse Outside — the adult version. It’s a great example of Irish humour that just works in Ireland. It wouldn’t work anywhere else. These two Limerick lads with plastic bags over their heads singing a song — they’re a comedy duo who have just hit a live wire with this one.
I heard about them on the radio one day and just went home and looked it up. I must have watched it 10 or 20 times since.
Search in youtube Rubberbandits – Horse Outside=.
I don’t get down. I’m a happy person by nature so I don’t need You Tube to cheer me up. But my favourite clip features Jack, son of my good friend and colleague Sharyn Coghlan.
Jack was only 14 months at the time it was done and he’s bopping his head to music in the back seat of the car in his baby chair.
It’s so innocent and funny and would instantly put a smile on your face. What I like about it is the love of life and the enthusiasm and enjoyment in his face.
It also reminds me of my daughter, Kirsten, when she was that age. She’s 14 now, but we’ve got a video of her when she was just six months old on a couch in Miami.
Ronan Keating’s song, Isn’t It A Wonder, is playing in the background and she’s kicking her arms and legs as she listens to him singing. She’s really moving to the music. The You Tube clip of Jack reminds me of her.
Search in youtube Jacko Around The World.mp4=.
My favourite’s Charlie Bit My Finger. It’s about a baby called Charlie, whose older brother is messing with him and annoying him. The older brother — he’s about three — starts pressing on Charlie’s face but he puts his finger in the wrong place and Charlie grips his finger and bites it.
The brother’s saying “Ouch, Ouch Charlie! Ouch! That really hurt… and it’s still hurting.” I find it funny because the older sibling will typically aggravate a younger child and the smaller one can usually do nothing about it. You certainly don’t expect a baby to stop an older brother — but Charlie did.
This clip was going around Dervla’s school last year and she told me I just had to see it.
Search in youtube Charlie Bit My Finger=.
My husband’s a big You Tube fan and he spent a day going ‘you have to see this’. He couldn’t rest ‘til I saw it. It was the Rubber Bandits so it’s a bit naughty and nobody under the age of 17 should watch it.
It’s about a guy trying to pull a girl at a wedding and it’s very funny. It’s nice to see a bit of humour done well. We all need a giggle at this time of year and everything at the moment is really serious — between Wikileaks, the budget and the recession.
These guys are very creative and talented. They mightn’t have much money but the video looked really slick. If you weren’t too prudish about hearing the F word, I’d definitely recommend it.
Search in youtube Rubberbandits – Horse Outside=.
Anything to do with Zig and Zag and The Den cheers me up but my favourite’s a clip called What’s Snots, where Dustin’s doing a quiz show with two kids live on the phone. The answer to the quiz is either a person, place, object or thing and the kids are meant to ask questions that elicit a yes or no answer, but they just don’t get it. The presenter’s trying to help them but he keeps breaking down laughing.
It makes me laugh because it’s kids at their best — their innocence and the fact that they just don’t understand.
I used to be a presenter so I understand how hard it can be on a live phone call with kids to get them to do the gig. I’ve seen it five or six times but I like to take a break because otherwise it wouldn’t be so funny.
Every couple of months, if I’m having a down day, I’ll watch it or quite often I’ll show it to somebody else if they’re having a bad day.
Search in youtube The Den – What’s Snots=.
Jessica’s Daily Affirmation is a clip of a four-year-old girl with curly, blonde hair standing up at the sink in her parents’ bathroom and singing into the mirror about all the things she loves about her life.
It’s very positive and funny. She does a little jig as she gets into the song and she punches the air and claps as she goes along. She’s very into the song and excited about it, so it’s uplifting. It has that feelgood factor.
A friend showed it to me and I’ve watched it maybe 20 times since. If I was in need of a lift, it would put a positive spin on my day.
Search in youtube Jessica’s “Daily Affirmation”=.
One of my favourite cheer-me-up clips on You Tube is one my sister sent me a couple of weeks ago. It’s three women singing a song about Ryanair flights, how they’re supposed to cost just 50c but then all these taxes are added on.
The women are singing as if it’s a really serious song and then they start slagging the fact that the flights aren’t cheap.
It’s the accent and expressions of the lead singer I find most funny and how matter-of-fact her delivery is.
I just burst out laughing when I saw it.
Search in youtube Fascinating Aida – Cheap Flights=.
* To see all the You Tube clips check out www.youtube.com/irishexaminer Plus 21 reasons to be cheerful.
