Laughing Stock – 10 funny clips to break in case of emergency

People like to say that laughter is the best medicine. Well, I don’t know about the “best” part, but it certainly is a special type of medicine. Because not only is it free, but it is also contagious. And that is nothing short of a miracle in my book.

Other than sneezing, laughing is the only thing that other people can do that will make me laugh almost instantly. I think part of the reason I find both actions funny is the involuntary aspect they share, but while I might be alone on the sneezing thing, when it comes to laughter – I am definitely NOT the only one. I mean, otherwise bloopers wouldn’t have been a thing, right?

Since we could all use a good laugh these days, I thought I would share my favorite type of funny clips from YouTube. They all have one thing in common which is people trying to contain their laugh but fail miserably, and that makes it even funnier of course.

I watch one or more of these clips whenever I am down and need a little pick-me-up through a good laugh. I couldn’t tell how many times I have watched them – only that is a lot and probably way more than I should have. Some of them are quite long, so procrastination danger ahead! You have been warned.

Craig Ferguson Laugh Attacks Compilation

My top go-to-clips for laughs in recent years are various Craig Ferguson compilations. I discovered Craig Ferguson pretty late, after his show went off the air, but thanks to the magic of YouTube and the amazing Jay Leno Fly, I caught up with everything I missed and now I am one of those people who believe he was hands-down the greatest talk show host of all time. (Yes, even better than Conan)

The Jayleno Fly channel is the dream archive for any Craig Ferguson’s fan out there, so if you are one and somehow missed it, I highly recommend you check it out. I don’t know who this person is, but he is clearly very meticulous and puts together these amazing compilations. One of the best kinds of compilations on that channel is the Craig Ferguson Laugh Attacks, and here is the first one that came out:

If you liked this one, be sure also to watch the second and third laugh attack compilations. Two more compilations from the Jay Leno Fly I highly recommend are Hearty Moments and Adult Talk. Come to think of it, maybe I need to dedicate an entire post to Craig Ferguson, Like I did with Norm MacDonald. Anyway – I will put it on the list.

SNL – Disney World

Next on my list is this Saturday Night Live classic in which everything went wrong in the most perfect way possible. It is the first Debbie Downer that aired on May 1st, 2004. Note how the very thing that sends Rachel Dratch of the rails and cause this beautiful train-wreak of a sketch is a line about a train explosion in North Korea.

To me the funniest parts are the delivery of “I can’t have children” (see what I did there?) and when Horatio Sanz (on the right) uses the Micky Mouse waffles to wipe off his tears. By the way, according to one of the comments on YouTube Amy Poehler once described this sketch as “a mild cure for depression”, and I totally agree.

SNL cast breaking character is not a rare occurrence and it is always hilarious. The most recent one that went viral is Beavis and Butt-Head in a Talk Show Audience, which guest-stars Ryan Gosling. Speaking of Ryan Gosling, he was also the guest in another infamous cast breaking incident – Close Encounters – which is currently one of the most viral SNL clips ever. I got to say that personally, I don’t find Close Encounters that funny. Instead, I recommend the Californians Breaking Character Compilation.

Bill Burr sends Conan over the edge

Bill Burr on Conan is always a great recipe for laughs. Over the years Bill has delivered many exquisite rants, but the one that takes the cake for me is Bill Burr Doesn’t Buy Oprah’s Holier-Than-Thou Lance Armstrong Interview. It’s only a two-minute clip, but Bill is a master, and the amount of jokes and truth-bombs he delivers in it is just unreal.

Apart from the fact that everything he says there is absolutely right and on point, what puts the cherry on top for me in this particular clip, is how just when Conan seems to have managed to collect himself successfully after the initial joke about Oprah, Bill comes the actual punchline that breaks him completely.

WLIIA – Arctic Tern over Cuba

Whose Line Is It Anyway is not just another funny TV show for me. First of all, I grew up watching this show and a big part of my sense of humor (as well as my English) was shaped by this program. But more importantly, as someone who really admires comedy and is a big fan of comedians, the level of appreciation I have for these guys and what they did on that show cannot be described in words, because fantastic doesn’t even begin to cover it.

All of the regular cast of Whose Line were pretty amazing, but I think many people will agree that Collin Mockery had an extra spark of comedic brilliance, and that this spark mostly manifested itself when he collaborated with Ryan Stiles, because the chemistry between these two was simply of the charts.

There were many epic moments on Whose Line Is It Anyway, but those who stuck with me even decades later are the times when Collin managed to break Brian. Most of the instances of that happening were during the game Greatest Hits, when they were both pretending to co-host an infomercial of thematic albums. One of my top 5 clips for a good laugh is a compilation of these moments:

Another strong contestant from Whose Line is a clip I like to call the Stroke Hoedown in which they were asked to sing about saying the wrong name in bed. But thanks to a slight hesitation and fumble from Drew, followed by Ryan picking up on it and blowing it out of proportion, the whole situation quickly spiraled into Chaos. If you are wondering about Colin’s “meow” at the end this clip might explain it.

Between Two Ferns – Bloopers

I don’t really know the show Between Two Ferns. To be perfectly honest, for a long time I thought it wasn’t even a real show, and genuinely believed it was just a passion one-time project of a well-connected person. Over time I saw more and more clips, and even though I found some of them quite amusing, the fake cringe at the core of it didn’t really do it for me.

However, the bloopers of that show are the exact opposite – they present some of the most natural and sincere moments of laughter that can be found on the Internet. Enjoy!

There are two moments in this clip that helped push it into the top five. The first one is Jon Hamm completely deflating after the Don Draper’s Suit joke on 4:15, and the second one is the hacky sack pun on 2:28. There are other great moments of course, but these two really work for me.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus trying not to laugh

I am one of those annoying elitist boomers who think Seinfeld is the best sitcom ever created. But as funny as that show was, its bloopers are even funnier. There are bloopers compilation of every season of Seinfeld, and much like the show itself the early seasons aren’t that funny, but it gets better and better with each season, with the peak somewhere around season six, seven or eight.

The Seinfeld bloopers compilation I like the most is that of season 8. The main reason for that is Julia Louis-Dreyfus because her inability to contain her laugh is just too adorable. There are so many funny moments in the clip below, but my favorite one starts at 21:46 with the altercation between Elain and George’s dad portrayed by Frank Stiller.

Another part starring Elain’s laugh is Suzie’s funeral which starts at 6:47 but has more segments later on. I must say it really looks like they had so much fun making this show. Also, it is very interesting to see that Michael Richards was the serious one and the most professional out of the four of them.

Natalie Portman Plays Mad Lib with Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon is an okay late night talk show host at best (still way better than Jimmy Kimmel), but there is no question he plays the best games with his guests. The most entertaining games are probably Box of Lies and Charades, but when it comes to making me laugh the most – the clear winner is Mad Lib Theater.

The reason is consistent with all the other clips in this post – that’s the game the people usually break down and start laughing uncontrollably. My favorite Mad Lib game was the one with Natalie Portman.

If you don’t like games, two more awesome Jimmy Fallon clips are the one where he and Bradley Cooper laugh so hard they get through the interview about the Elephant Man, and the one he finds out Nicole Kidman had a crush on him, and he totally blew it.

Norm Macdonald highjacks Courtney Thorn-Smith interview on Conan

If you asked Conan O’Brien who was his favorite guest of all time, I am pretty sure the answer would be either Bill Burr or Norm MacDonald. The following clip probably needs no introduction as it is one of the most epic talk show interviews ever, and I’d need four hands just to count the number of times I watched it alone.

In case you were wondering, both Courtney Thorn Smith and Carrottop have very fond memories of this interview. Courney Thorn Smith said she had a great time and didn’t really mind Norm taking over, as she wasn’t really excited about this movie. There was also a clip of Carrot Top talking about him and the fact he passed away, in which he said how he loved that interview and how Norm was one of the greats, but sadly I can’t find it now.

Kevin Hart and The Rock trade insults

Regardless of what you think of Kevin Hart and the Rock separately, there’s no question that together they make one of the best comedic duos in recent years. I would go as far as to say that their chemistry even reminds me of Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan – another great duo of opposites but from the nineties and early 2000s.

One of the funniest Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson clips is their Kindergarten Insults segment on BBC Radio 1.

If you liked that one, you might also want to check out this Roles Reversed clip from LADbible TV in which they make impressions of one another. The Rock doing an impression of Kevin Hart doing an impression of The Rock is something you definitely don’t want to miss. And, if you like impressions, here another excellent clip of people doing celebrity impressions to their faces.

Yeah Mad – Boy George come on Eileen

Last, but definitely not least, is this clip from YeahMad. YeahMad is a fairly new channel on YouTube from the land down under. It started about a year ago with a basic yet very popular format – comedians sitting across from each other telling dad jokes and they are not allowed to laugh. YeahMad did add one little rule, which states that when you laugh you have to drink a shot.

The channel was pretty much an overnight success, and the first clips went viral almost immediately. Over time some of the original cast left and the channel also started experimenting with other games and formats, though the best type of content they created was and still is the dad jokes battles. In the short time the channel has existed it has produced many epic moments. My favorite clip is this one:

The part I go back to the most (and so do many other people according to the Most Replayed indicator) is the Boy George joke which starts at 4:15, and my second favorite part is the woman with one leg on 11:18 and the whole interaction that follows that. If you are just finding out about the YeahMad channel, then first – I am honored to be the one that introduced you to them, and second – I highly recommend you catch up and watch all their clips in a chronological order. It is way funnier when you know the characters and how the dynamic between them evolved over time.