If you like music, and weird humor, you're gonna love the "Show Bits" series from Portland, Oregon-based "motion designer" Aaron Keuter. In this clever series, Keuter takes clips from various songs and artists, and inserts them into short animations, where the clips take on new, silly, weird, and hilarious meanings.
For instance, here's his rendition of a Rivers Cuomo ambulance, otherwise known as the "Cuomobile," which features Cuomo's famous "ooo wee ooo" line from Weezer's hit song "Buddy Holly" as the siren. Weird? Yes. But, does it also work? Absolutely. And here's Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst very kindly letting you have the last cookie (obviously featuring the line from their song "Nookie": "You can take that cookie!").
Some other favorite Show Bits are Pavement's Stephen Malkmus enjoying Thanksgiving dinner, which uses the line, "hand me the drumstick," from their song "Silent Kit"; and REM's Michael Stipe trying to get his friend's attention in a busy restaurant, with, of course, the line "That's me in the corner," from Losing My Religion. There's so many terrific ones, but I think my absolute favorite is Tom Waits as a blender, which uses various clips of Tom Waits' signature gravelly grunting and growling as the noises that a blender makes. Somehow, it makes perfect sense.
Aaron Keuter has a degree in Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics from the Savannah College of Art and Design and has been working as a motion graphics designer for over fifteen years. He states on his website that he brings "the right blend of expertise, creativity, and a good sense of humor to every project."
In an interview on the Something (Rather than Nothing) podcast, Keuter describes the process and meaning behind his Show Bits shorts. He explains, "I find myself noticing things in songs, and I'm like hey, if you put that in a different context, it means something else." He further describes the essence of Show Bits as, "decontextualizing the familiar musical lyric or tone and putting it in a different place," which, he surmises, is what "people connect with and are delighted with." He describes the humor as "very, very simple, base-level, one-dimensional jokes." I guess I like base-level and simple humor, because they're right up my alley!
If you, too, like one-dimensional jokes, learn more about Keuter on his Instagram or website, and see more Show Bits on Instagram or YouTube.
Previously:
• Michael Stipe returns to The Simpsons with 'Everybody Kirks'
• Amazing animal facts that will wow your friends, courtesy of Natural Habitat Shorts
• Someone made a version of Weezer's Buddy Holly from a Super Mario 64 sound card
• What if Tom Waits released a Christmas album?
• I can't believe I missed this Tom Waits performance
