subject: How Funny Or Die Is Changing Comedy Online [print this page] In 2005, the video website Youtube took the internet world by storm, allowing for users everywhere to be able to upload home movies, amusing skits, or anything on tape that they had created. Soon after numerous websites popped up all over the place to try and emulate the success, but nothing matched. However, soon people started using youtube to upload pirated scenes from movies and TV shows. It is from this that Gary Sanchez Productions, which is headed by comedian Will Ferrell and his friend, writer/director Adam McKay, that Funny or Die was born. Funny or Die is essentially Youtube for celebrities, and centers in on nothing but comedy. On Funny or Die, celebrities such as Judd Appatow, Ben Stiller, John C. Reilly, John Mayer, and numerous others have contributed hilarious videos in the form of parody music videos, comedic sketches, and numerous other types.
Perhaps their best known video is the highly controversial skit The Landlord. The Landlord is a skit that features Will Ferrell in a heated, profanity laden argument with his landlord over his rent. Ferrell then expresses fear of his landlord's alcoholism. While this would normally just be a regular skit, the hilarity, as well as controversy, comes from the fact that the landlord is played by Adam McKay's then two year old daughter Pearl. Many parent groups were up in arms over the video, while over 60 million viewers online found it absolutely hilarious. McKay later stated that it was not really a problem due to the fact that his daughter never used the words outside of the video and retained no real memory of using them.
The website has also been a playground for celebrities such as Weird Al Yankovic, John Mayer, John C. Reilly, and Christopher Lloyd, where they upload their own comedic videos, showing that they have talent beyond big budget Hollywood, as their videos receive millions of hits. However, a problem arose when people began taking videos from Funny or Die and uploading them on Youtube on their own. In order to combat this, instead of simply repeatedly having the videos taken now, Funny or Die launched their own Youtube channel to prevent people from having a need to copy the videos.
Funny or Die is obviously a website that is going to be sticking around for some time to come due to the millions of hits it gets on a daily basis, and due to the good rapport it has among celebrities.
by: Cid Snow
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