Adding the Benny Hill Theme to Anything Makes it Funny

If YouTube had a Ten Commandments carved on stone tablets, well, this would be one of them. To wit:

* Shrimp
* Landmines
* War of the Worlds
* Lord of the Rings
* Friday the 13th
* Guys humping Ottomans
* Construction equipment
* Star Wars Kid

The theme, of course, is "Yakety Sax" by Boots Randolph. I'd like to see one of these videos with the stock market indexes free-falling towards zero, and sad guys on trading floors. Because so far, that's not funny. (Thanks, R Stevens, and BB commenters Neuracnu, Miss Cellania, and Boggis)

• [Browntown]

  I have always agreed with this sentiment. I’ve always wanted to stage a production of Hamlet where all the dead people get up and start chasing Hamlet around to “Yakety Sax”. That or every one gets up and starts partying to Journey’s “Any Way You Want It” like ending of the “Burns, Baby Burns” episode of The Simpsons. Either one would make me happy.

• [Miss Cellania]

  Yakety Sax goes a long way, but to get the full effect of the Benny Hill treatment, you must also speed up at least part of the video. Here are some more:

  http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/archives/2006/08/lunch_hour_veg_4.html

• [phillamb168]

  So, yeah, most of these are funny, but the 9/11 riff, and to a lesser extent the landmine one, are -way- out of line. Some of us lost friends when those buildings went down. It’s not something to laugh at.

• [FourFiveFire]

  The landmine one would work a whole lot better if there kept being Monty Pythonesque explosions after the initial one. And also, if everybody were suddenly in bikinis. ESPECIALLY the victims.

• [Takuan]

  the Benny Hill Apocalypse

• [brutalpootle]

  Here’s a video of some goons stealing a motorbike. Someone caught them on their cameraphone and I added the soundtrack.

• [Kieran O’Neill]

  #6: It’s the first thing I thought of. Passion of the Benny Hill, for those wondering.

• [Enry Iggins]

  Maybe its the financial crisis that makes us turn to the absurd.

  I just saw an identical posting on Coilhouse.net earlier this week! Shrimp, Yakety Sax and all! Seems we need a little Benny Hill to make things a bit lighter!

  http://coilhouse.net/2008/10/06/better-than-coffee-yakety-sax-mashups/

• [pstarr]

  hmmm. not to be a killjoy but landmines? not so much.

• [jackie31337]

  Night-vision cats and Yakety Sax is pretty good too. Man that guy rolls around a lot in his sleep!

• [Bloo]

  Please update the original post to reference “Yakety Sax”; Boots Randolph should get some credit.

  • [Xeni Jardin]

    Bloo, done!

• [mhlaxp]

  As long as we’re hitting these internet phenomena at the height of their popularity, I thought I’d make a hamster dance joke. And there it was.

• [Pjotor]

  Immortal + Yakety Sax:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLXp0_NzF4w

  This almost made me piss my pants.

• [imipak]

  Anyone ever noticed that the degree of humour that can be extracted from an awful tragedy of human misery pain and suffering is inversely proportional to the likely degrees of separation of the social group from the victims of said misery pain & suffering?

  So… there are these three James Blunts, see, walking down the street, when they see a bar…

• [Talia]

  the trading floor guys link is frigging hilarious. Well, I mean I feel bad for them and all, but comedy GOLD.

• [shhexycorin]

  I’ve made a couple…
  http://flickr.com/photos/upyerbum/2350098298/

  And we have a Benny Hill Video group on Flickr
  http://flickr.com/groups/yakety-sax/

  It’s good to know I’m not alone.

• [giantnegro]

  I put yakety sax over a sounding rocket launch:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZRxnBZ8RLg

• [bobolikebeer]

  Personal Fav… meme gold! National Socialists + Yakety Sax
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRLpFl4al-Q&feature=related

• [technobee]

  Dog licking peanut butter off nose to Yakety Sax

• [Anonymous]

  My brother wanted to play Bioshock, but was terrified by the ambient noise and the cries of the Splicers. So, he put Yakety Sax on repeat as he played it.
  For a full hour.

• [KthulhuKultist]

  Coilhouse beat you to the punch on this one Monday…
  http://coilhouse.net/2008/10/06/better-than-coffee-yakety-sax-mashups/#comments

• [Anonymous]

  #22 h n phllmb168 thnks ths r -wy- t f ln! Dd, dn’t thnk tht th ntrnt s th rght plc fr y t b hngng t. Nt f y r tht sly ffndd.

• [Anonymous]

  It’s true!
  http://animaldetector.blogspot.com/2008/10/possum-running-fast.html

• [Talia]

  As an aside, the shrimp on a treadmill video has many musical variations. Its apparently a bit viral.

  this one is my personal favorite.

  There is also:

  Willishrimp Tell’s Overture

  color changing gangsta shrimp

  Ok GoShrimp

  Remixed Daft Punk shrimp

  dragonforce shrimp

  and ok, this one is pretty funny too

  they see him rollin’, they hatin

• [feelinglstless]

  With Eminem and Doctor Who:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW0H_rprV-g

  “This feels like a job for me…”

• [brainologist]

  @#44 — Oh man, even a discussion of Yakety Sax videos obeys Godwin’s law.

  I think we’ve bumped into an analogue of Rule 34: If you can imagine it, and imagine it sped up, somewhere on the internet someone has put it to the Benny Hill music.

• [Anonymous]

  You forgot about the footage of Benny Hill’s funeral:
  Link

• [jbang]

  So funny you can’t even prepare for it.

  yakety Sax + Shrimp + coffee = dirty LCD!

• [jrtom]

  A sort of inversion of the theme:

  http://dooku.net

  Click on the text below the clip to see what this cycles (heh) through when you click on it.

  (It’s an inversion in the sense that it’s a single clip that allows the visitor to pick a soundtrack from a set of options. It’s really amazing how it changes one’s interpretation of the scene and the characters.)

• [Ugly Canuck]

  And now, yakety axe:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smplqf0FYCk

  Note: this is not as easy to play as Atkins makes it seem.

• [Santa’s Knee]

  That would be “Yakety Sax”:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakety_Sax

• [trr]

  Adding Hill’s Angels would be good too.

• [Matt Staggs]

  I think you’re on to something here!

• [Anonymous]

  Are you sure this rule always holds true?

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AYujWCCHRk

  Never mind. It does.

• [Anonymous]

  Benny Hill / “In Da Club” mashup:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8-iS0JJ6Z8

• [mikeyla]

  Trying to test the idea, I found an excellent video of a theoretical Palin presidency, and added the Benny Hill theme song. Turns something frightening into something completely hilarious!

  Here it is (proper link):
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEL-NMFPMEY

• [t3knomanser]

  What? No Passion of the Christ/”Yakety Sax” mashup? I can’t link you, I’m at work. Someone google that up and post it. It’s sacrilicious!

• [kryptik]

  My contribution to the Yakety Sax canon:
  http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AQA_7uFID6o
  People playing frisbee badly: boring
  People playing frisbee badly slightly sped up and with Yakety Sax laid over: funny

• [squeeziecat]

  LOVE IT!

  we had a pet crayfish – it kept me entertained with hours of pure entertainment. wish i’d thought to put it on a treadmill…or added a soundtrack, for that matter.

  NOTE: if you’re considering getting a crayfish as a pet, make sure you put a lid on your tank. crayfish will escape and crawl around the house, Annie Hall style.

• [Brett Burton]

  More proof that British comedy is so much more advanced than that of the US.

• [boggis]

  I like this one:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVsB3GqAgJw

• [doktor tchock]

  I honestly found the 9/11 one kinda cathartic. It felt weird and interesting to laugh at that footage, but in some way it just allowed me to use a different part of my brain in conjunction with 9/11 thoughts. I’m probably just overanalyzing a something awful forum creation, but that’s what I do…

• [danielorf]

  I’ve been testing this theory for several years now and I’ve found that the Benny Hill theme by itself does not always work, but speed up the footage and play Benny Hill and only then does EVERYTHING become funny. Guaranteed.

• [Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator]

  Anonymous @45, I think that one works better when you’re making fun of your own sorrows, not so much when you’re making fun of someone else’s.

• [Bouncy Bouncy]

  Adding the Benny Hill Theme to Anything Makes it Funny.

  Except, paradoxically, The Benny Hill Show.

• [Neuracnu]

  No one is immune, not even those infamous ottoman humping gigolos.

• [Takuan]

  what does adding “Puffing’ Billy ” to anything do?

• [Anonymous]

  Anyone has seen this one?
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K-AAmIHICA&feature=related

  Elias.

• [Gainclone]

  Very funny, except for perhaps that landmine ad. It’s a bit tragic.

• [Steven Brewer]

  Here’s is an attempt to push the envelope that I haven’t seen anyone else post yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-jcDRFId68

  • [Antinous]

    Here’s is an attempt to push the envelope that I haven’t seen anyone else post yet:

    It’s in Xeni’s post.

• [Sekino]

  It’s so true!!! I guess this somewhat proves that music is more powerful than visuals.

  Must… resist… new obssession!

• [Takuan]

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF8BgV1qMQI

• [rikchik]

  Even pulling weeds in Animal Crossing obeys this rule: http://www.dsfanboy.com/2007/11/25/dont-mess-with-animal-crossing/

• [Red Leatherman]

  Amazing how well that works
  And did you know that adding the word monkey has a similar effect when added to a word or sentance?
  yeah, that’ll keep you monkey boing boingers busy for a while. hehehe

• [Sekino]

  @ #12

  Okay, this is officially the funniest thing I’ve seen all day. How do people come up with stuff like that??

• [nnguyen]

  omg the sad guys on trading floors pics are great. The last one on the first page had me actually laughing out loud.

  “Uh oh. The market has gone from “face palm” to “face fist.””

  Hehehe, easily recognizable internet meme humor ftw!