Each month, many funny videos are posted to every corner of the internet — from Twitter and Instagram to Vimeo and sometimes other weird places we’ll have trouble embedding. Because you’re busy living your life, you might miss some of these funny videos and feel left out when others bring them up in conversation. Well, worry not! We’re here to make sure you’re not listening in on conversations but leading them … as long as those conversations are about funny internet videos. Here, our favorite comedy shorts of the month.
“Chevron Doesn’t Want You to Know This Finance Tip,†by Jon Millstein
Jon Millstein is back with another picture-perfect parody of sponsored Instagram stories. In it, you’re advised on how to score free food from Chevron Gas Mart thanks to the petroleum refineries corporation’s culpability in global warming: the source of all your problems. “Maybe you’ve been struggling dating,†Millstein says. “That’s because deep down you know your love story ends with you having kids that need to grow gills and lizard skin in order to survive.†So have a meltdown! You might get some Combos out of it.
“Dr. Jimbo Rattail - Extreme Conspiracy Theorist,†by Sarah Smallwood Parsons
A Lone Gunman type whose cryptozoological fascinations seem to stem from something in his childhood, Sarah Smallwood Parsons’s Dr. Jimbo Rattail (he was born with the goatee) is a character I’m immediately furious I didn’t grow up with in a mid-2000s comedy film. Jimbo is so extreme even Alex Jones won’t listen to his theories: “He calls them ‘gayer than the frogs’ and ‘get away from me, dude, you smell like sweaty leather.’â€
“Every Mom Spreading the Family Gossip,†by Zachariah Porter
In the style of John Roberts comes a treasure trove of middle-aged Italian American moms from the tristate area. And, probably, every mom, really. The level of joke specificity is unreal and relentless in every video. Dive in.
“Friend Wants to Be Good at Watching Movies,†by Simple Town
These days, you’ve got your Criterion Channel, and your Mubi, and your Letterboxd, and it seems like everyone and their mother is so cinema-literate they make Eric Rohmer look like Eric Clapton. But what about the guy who doesn’t really know what it means when a “shot†“is good� That guy is the Everyman protagonist of Simple Town’s great new sketch. If your inarticulate movie interjections have ever forced a “policy of quiet†upon your friend group, check it out.
“I Learned 3D Graphics to Make a Sexy Kirby,†by Rekha Shankar
Writer-director-star Rekha Shankar joins in with some of her old CollegeHumor pals (Raphael Chestang and Katie Marovitch) in this laugh-out-loud throwback to digital comedy of yore, a time when things neither Tik’d nor Tok’d and a run time of more than three minutes wasn’t anathema. Man, we’re old.
“Mario World on Mushrooms,†by Gareth Reynolds
Between the WGA, SAG, and UAW labor strikes (and more still we probably aren’t as tapped into as comedy columnists), it seems we’re at a sociocultural inflection point. Comedian Gareth Reynolds appreciates the ever-tightening constraints imposed by capitalism, and so he heads into the belly of the beast that is Super Mario World at Universal Studios. And yes, like any political activist worth his salt, he’s high out of his fucking mind on mushrooms.
“The Singles Retreat,†by Jo Firestone
Reteaming with the eclectic elderly cast of her special Good Timing, Jo Firestone’s charming and low-key short finds a group of seniors attending an upstate singles retreat to mingle with other senior singles. The attitude of bashful teenager-ness is so winning that you could truly watch this cast hang out by the pool for the rest of your life. When one woman (Alix Elias) recognizes her ex-boyfriend among the attendees, things really get interesting.
“Strict Parents for No Reason When You Have Company,†by Jalen Hinton
Parents communicating quiet rage over open drinks in bedrooms may be a more important American cultural touchstone than the Liberty Bell. Beaten in magnitude only by complaints of shoes in the hallway.
“Why Girls and Guys Shouldn’t Date,†by Mary Beth Barone
Sometimes humans are able to reflect so effectively that we discover universal truths about existence that previously eluded generations. A true life hack, if you will, that will forever alter the dynamic of self-understanding. Comedian Mary Beth Barone achieves this rare feat, destroying hetero relationships everywhere in the process. Probably for good reason.
“Your Boss, Who is NOT a Praying Mantis,†by Joseph Lymous
There are extremely committed sketch-character costumes, and then there is Joseph Lymous’s praying mantis costume, which invents a whole new tier of commitment for other sketch-character performances to aspire to. In this sketch, a boss invites a male employee into her office to put to rest some of the rumors that have been flying around the office. “I know you won’t gossip,†says the not-mantis boss, “but people talk, saying things like, ‘Why are her eyes looking in two different directions?’†Just watch out if your boss starts rubbing her hands together like she’s planning on eating someone.
Like what you saw? Want to be on this monthly roundup? Show us your stuff!Â
Luke Kelly-Clyne is a co-head of HartBeat Independent and a watcher of many web videos. Send him yours at @LKellyClyne.
Graham Techler has contributed writing to The New Yorker and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Send him your videos at @gr8h8m_t3chl3r.
More From This Series
- The Best Comedy Shorts of October 2024
- The Best Comedy Shorts of August 2024
- The Best Comedy Shorts of July 2024