Hey everyone. I've been really sick for the past week or so, fighting off a very bad sinus infection. I'm trying to get two posts a day but it doesn't take much for me to have to step away from the screen at this point. Sunday was the first day I felt up to writing anything substantial. The medicine is making me groggy with few moments of clarity throughout the day. I'll get you one a day, but I'm not promising two until I can breathe like a normal human again.
One of the more distinguishing features of Comedy Central's Tosh.0--a web video version of The Soup--is the weekly Web Redemption. In it, host Daniel Tosh invites famous (or more often infamous) stars of web videos to appear on the show for a second shot at their video. He's had a wide variety of guests, from Laterian--the young child who stole his grandmother's car--to the Double Rainbow guy--the outdoorsmen who cried over the appearance of a double rainbow. Tosh sets up a few funny set-pieces to interview and train the guest in before giving them a chance to do a modified version of their video for America.
Take, for example, the failing hurdle girls. This was the video where two high school girls seemed to be in a race for worst hurdler in history as they tripped, slipped, and fell over most of the hurdles in a race. The video became a constant source of mockery and has been ripped and reposted so much as to dilute the view counts of any particular version. Daniel Tosh brought them in for a rematch that clarified a whole bunch of things we didn't know about the original video.
There have been three ways these videos have gone. First, and my personal preference, is when the subject of the Web Redemption is in on the joke. The Hurdle Girls got it, and so did Antoine "Bed Intruder Guy" Dodson, the I Like Turtles kid, and Samwell (What What In the Butt). This kind of subject is willing to laugh at themselves and play along with Tosh's jokes.
The second variety is the deniers. These are the people who refuse to acknowledge they did anything worthy of derision or intentionally screwed up to save face. People like the home shopping host who confused a horse for a butterfly get mocked mercilessly by Tosh, yet won't budge on their stance. It's humiliating to the person appearing on the show and funny, but sad, for the audience that the subject won't admit they're human. The Average Homeboy (a very bad rapper) is the worst of the worst, as he not only refuses to admit his video is unintentionally funny but also spouts off a lot of racist commentary that clearly makes Tosh uncomfortable.
Then there's the third kind: delusional. These are the people who think they're going on TV to promote their brand and identity. Tron Guy didn't seem particular aware that Tosh was making fun of him the whole time, for example. It's just bizarre to watch these Web Redemptions. The subjects are willing to play along, but they don't seem to quite get why they were flown out to LA to appear on the show.
Whatever inspires these web video stars to appear on the show is irrelevant. Daniel Tosh manages to make the most of their visits with funny and inventive spins on their videos. Even if you don't watch the show, it's worth poking through the show's archives to watch the Web Redemptions of people you recognize from popular videos.