You know how it is. You look up one video online, and next thing you know, you've been overwhelmed by related content and fallen headlong into an impromptu three-hour YouTube sesh. We've all done it. No shame in that. Happily for me, the initial video I'm looking for, rarely leads towards more sinister fare. Nope, the MRAs and the anti-vaxxers have yet to insert themselves in my feed. It's all musical theatre and Taskmaster bants for me.
Take last Saturday, for instance. I'd settled down for an evening of Masked Singer and Prosecco. That's the dream right there. But as is often the case, I began to reminisce about series 2's Viking. Remember him? He did an acoustic version of Aha's Take On Me. It was beautiful, no one guessed him over the weeks, then it was finally revealed to be Aha's lead singer, Morten Harket. Cracking telly. So, as was always going to happen with the inner glow of sparkly booze, I waited until the show had finished before revisiting the Viking's performance. And then I watched some more vids, and then some more, and then some more. If I were someone troubled by horrific sidebar content, I'd have been well radicalised. As it was, I had a lovely evening. Here, for the first long Ramble of the year, are some of the randomly brilliant You Tube vids that made my Saturday night. Dip in and out, watch chronologically, or let them inspire your own searches. Just steer clear of the bad stuff, yeah?
1. Let's start with the one that kicked it all off. The Viking, from last year's Masked Singer, with Take on Me. Forget the silly costume and revel in the mellowness. And if you want it sans Viking helmet, the acoustic version in normal clothes, is here.
2. You liked that? OK, then, let's have some more music. Everybody's Talking About Jamie is a perfectly decent musical with a sweet message. The songs are a bit more-pop-than-musical-theatre for my taste, but it's good fun. Except, there's one song that absolutely steals the show. Forget teenage shoplifting, this is better than the most audacious of diamond heists. It's in Act Two, sung by Jamie's Mum, and called He's My Boy. Listen, marvel, and imagine that, live in the room. It's beyond.
3. OK, let's lighten things up a bit. For the next one, you first need to watch this short ad. It's for vitamins in China. Just watch it quickly, and then come back. Done that? Excellent. Now for the parody. Phil Wang did this, and it never fails to make me laugh. Lots.
4. More comedy from ages ago. This went viral on Twitter and can be technically categorised as Cute Kid Does Something Funny. But it's way better than that. Cute kids do funny things all the time and I scroll straight past. My insta's riddled with that shit. This is next level.
5. Sometimes, when I have a few extra minutes, I look this up. There's something pure and brilliant about Victoria Coren Mitchell in this clip. I can't play poker, I've no idea about the technical details, but her unfiltered stream of consciousness as she tries to work out her final opponent's hand, is brilliant. Plus, she wins! Hashtag spoiler alert.
6. If you need a sparkly palate cleanser from all that gritty gambling, here's my next offering. I rewatch this Strictly pro dance at least once a month. It was the moment I fell in love with Johannes, a year after he'd joined the line up. Plus, the mashup of Fame and Rapture is everything. Enjoy.
7. And finally... this is from just over a year ago. In November 2021 Stephen Sondheim died. He was 91 and that's how things go, but he'd been working in theatre for decades. Almost seventy years. His influence on musical theatre was immense. So when a bunch of musicians and actors got together in Times Square, one week after he died, their tribute was always going to be moving. It's peak Broadway, peak theatrics, and peak emosh. I love it hard.
Surely by now, I've whetted your appetites. Either by sharing quality content, or by prompting you to go down your own rabbit hole. Don't forget, my fizz-fuelled Saturday night involved loads more than seven vids. But these are your starter for ten. They're to remind you that once you've filtered out the angry voices and people trying to persuade you black is white, the Internet continues to be chock-full of laughs, cries, and feels. Look them up!
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