Million Dollar Extreme Presents World Peace (Adult Swim live action)

[Retinend]

This is Sam Hyde and co's first show, 3 10-minute shows in out of 6. Sam Hyde is best known for this viral video making fun of the TED talks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yFhR1fKWG0

I'm surprised CaB hasn't picked up on this yet since it's definitely a comedy show self-consciously alienating to the average comedy fan; a bit like Awesome Show or PFFR, but more stylized than either and almost completely cryptic.

I could tease out some serious themes from the first two episodes, somewhat subversive in nature (anti-"progressive"), but it would be dull to discuss, since the show is all style over comedy substance. The performances themselves are funny, but it's plastered over with so much cryptic shit that it comes off more like performance art than satire. What did you think?

[Petey Pate]

There was a bit of discussion about this in the Adult Swim Off Cuts thread.

http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,53476.0.html

I've not watched the show yet myself.

[ajsmith]

Yeah the bottom half of page 1 of the Off Cuts thread is pure World Peace chat. Dig in!

[Prongs]

I was about to make a thread on this myself, MDE seem a bit quickly-dismissed and under represented on here. I'd argue that they are funnier/more intelligent/worth discussing than someone like Richard Herring ever has been or ever will be and he seems to get shit loads of 'thread real estate' on here, so it seems a bit off (not really picking on him specifically, just banal british comedians generally)

Here's some more of their/Sam's other stuff just so people aren't just judging them solely on that TED talk video:

IDEAS MAN/Tissue Box - Maybe the closest thing to what they're trying to do with World Peace (Personally I think these are superior to the [AS] show though)
lee mee alon/Do not sexualize me/Sam hassling his mother - funny videos
'Sitcom Humor Robots'
IMG 0612 - Sam discussing his hatred of advertising "creatives" and the culture that surrounds it
Williamsburg Street Fashion - Street interviews with hipsters in Wburg, I think these might be their most well known videos after the TED thing

[Master Cylinder]

Yeah, they have a bit of following on Reddit/4chan who go on about their "message" and "highly controversial truths" but all I can gleam from their show is "Boy, women aren't that good are they?" - which is like a shitty hack comedian from the '90s. I don't find it that edgy or subversive no matter how much their fans say it is, I find them rather dull and boring once you peel back their "offensiveness" and "shock".

[Petey Pate]

Watched the first two episodes of this end and didn't think they were funny at all.  Unlike PFFR or Awesome Show I couldn't even tell what was supposed to be funny.

Other than the bullying segment in episode 1 (clearly inverting anti-bullying initiatives in schools), I struggled to understand what satirical points they were trying to make, if any.  Presumably I just don't 'get it'.  Not that it has to be earnest satire but if it's not funny either than that's also a problem.

Aside from their fanbase on Reddit and 4chan I also came across a blogger who commends them for going against the 'anti-white propaganda' disseminated by Jewish comedians.  You can find it yourself if you're interested, I'm not giving him web traffic.

[Petey Pate]

IDEAS MAN

Did laugh once during that. 

Spoiler alert

"Sociology and psychology, the two hardest sciences there is."

[close]

More stylistically interesting than the Adult Swim show though.  If it wasn't being presented as a comedy I might think of it a bit differently.

[spamwangler]

Just gave a few episodes of the adult swim show a go, and a couple of the links to their previous work, not getting into this stuff yet, feels a little bit like theyre rebelling against tim and eric by being slightly less goofy and more unpleasant, - some nice trippy editing that takes the slightly naff cynical improv reddit buzzword/edgy race/sexism comedy off into other more interesting places, - i think i feel like its not trippy enough to be memorable, not funny enough to make me laugh.

the editing style remided me in some places of ryan trecartin's films:

https://vimeo.com/81315760

https://vimeo.com/81315760

which really give me a sense of the internet leaking into the world in a much less cynical way.

im aware that thats a bit of an unfair comparison, as trecartin probably dosent have to worry about making something for a tv network.

so yea, basically its tim and eric divided by ryan trecartin plus reddit's fedora subforum

[Blumf]

Had a dig through some of there stuff after the [as] off cuts thread. Quiet enjoyed their Twat album.

There's something to what they're doing, but I'm not 100% on it and a lot of it reminds me of Morty Jr. from that Rick & Morty episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXJVsycjDkg

"My life has been a lie! God is dead! The government's lame! Thanksgiving is about killing Indians! Jesus wasn't born on Christmas! They moved the date, it was a pagan holiday!"

[spamwangler]

yea theres something of a fratboy reads henry miller for the first time vibe to it for sure.

especially after watching alan resnik's stuff with AS, particularly the Unedited Footage of a Bear and This House Has People in it, which i felt were much more shocking and upsetting and inventive, but also smarter and more subtle

fairplay to adultswim for grabbing randoms off the internet and making them make content though.

[Master Cylinder]

Here's some of Sam Hyde's "stand up"/ performance art piece (whatever you wanna call it) videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l1awGRnSHw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdNAhlqnxA0

And ugh, I don't know, I found them pretty terrible. MDE / their fanbase seems based in a very immature sense of contrarian "rebellion" "Oh look at us, being progressive is in, let's go against the grain and TRIGGER SOME SJWS HAHAALOL".

[Retinend]

Here's some of Sam Hyde's "stand up"/ performance art piece (whatever you wanna call it) videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l1awGRnSHw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdNAhlqnxA0

And ugh, I don't know, I found them pretty terrible. MDE / their fanbase seems based in a very immature sense of contrarian "rebellion" "Oh look at us, being progressive is in, let's go against the grain and TRIGGER SOME SJWS HAHAALOL".

On the other hand, their style has hardly changed since they began and that was before people came up with the term "social justice warrior". Also, they make fun of right wing targets too: I can´t be bothered finding it but they did one parodying the mythologizing of Ruby Ridge and that one just above is making fun of "back to the gold standard" libertarians.

And by the way, it ought be said that it's of course not inherently contrarian or immature just to disagree with "progressive" identity politics.

[Retinend]

Other than the bullying segment in episode 1 (clearly inverting anti-bullying initiatives in schools), I struggled to understand what satirical points they were trying to make, if any.  Presumably I just don't 'get it'.  Not that it has to be earnest satire but if it's not funny either than that's also a problem.

Po faced answer: the first episode is saying something about what girls want in a guy (strong, decisive, an alpha male - PUA type insights). The second episode is saying something about women hitting "the wall" at 30 yet with ever-escalating expectations (another PUA insight). The third episode is about... er... bad boyfriends, hipster gourmets and loser teachers. I'm not sure they knew with that one.

But... no I don't think it's earnest. Is "earnest" even a good thing? I see it like PFFR. They'd do whole episodes of shows where e.g. you think there's some analogy being constructed between squatting and the pro-life stance, but ends with the 2001 universe baby mock-profoundly saying "it's my squatter's right to life." So is it pro-choice and anti-squatter? Or pro-squatter therefore pro-life? It's just laughing at you. Same with this show - no they're not really saying that girls find prissy gay guys attractive; there they're taking "negging" to its logical conclusion. So is it anti PUA or artistically interpreting their talking points? It's just laughing at them and you if you try to over analyse it.

And as I said... I don't find much of it funny in the slightest, so it seems kind of pointless to analyse it for political content. ...but hey I'm doing it anyway...

[spamwangler]

yea i don't think its satire that they're going for, looks more like they're trying to do something surreal and strange, and the political and social stuff is just leaking through.

not that satire is necessarily an ideal goal, not sure if satire has any power these days

there's a kind of nihilism with this show, like they know that satire and surrealism are redundant forms of expression, but there going to do them anyway, because fuck you

[ajsmith]

Nah, if you read the stuff on the mde reddit linked to in that offcuts thread it's clear Sam Hyde at least is genuine about having a broadly alt right message behind the work.

https://www.reddit.com/r/milliondollarextreme/comments/3luw09/is_mde_becoming_more_right_leaning_from_a/cva0nd2

https://www.reddit.com/r/milliondollarextreme/comments/3l8zov/essential_sam_post_on_comedy_and_underlying/

I think they're interesting as the inevitable reaction against the broad liberal consensus in alt comedy: an actual 2017 Paradigm shift. However I don't find much of it funny so far and a lot of it (like The Wall segment) is based on observations that only really hit home if you've grown up in an mra echo chamber. (or only don't hit home if you're a brainwashed libtard aaaaah)

[Petey Pate]

Regardless of whether it's earnestly satirical or political, it's just not funny.  Alluding to PUA lingo isn't funny in and of itself in the same way making a ludicrous association between squatting and abortion is.  There's a lot more substance to that episode of Xavier: Renegade Angel than just playing with that concept though, it's very dense comedy even though there's ultimately no serious message being made.  If anything, the overarching point of the series is ridiculing those who seek profundity where there is none.

What they're doing is certainly interesting but I haven't found much of it entertaining so far.  Agree that the subversiveness seems very try-hard.

[spamwangler]

ah i stand corrected about his intentions: bit of an Andrew Lawrence style born again right winger frothing at the mouth in his writing there.

as a reaction to a liberal consenses its a pretty weak attack - i wonder were about to see the rise of right wing comedy - will they get good at this? what will that be like?

[Retinend]

Nah, if you read the stuff on the mde reddit linked to in that offcuts thread it's clear Sam Hyde at least is genuine about having a broadly alt right message behind the work.

https://www.reddit.com/r/milliondollarextreme/comments/3luw09/is_mde_becoming_more_right_leaning_from_a/cva0nd2

https://www.reddit.com/r/milliondollarextreme/comments/3l8zov/essential_sam_post_on_comedy_and_underlying/

To quibble, he doesn't say that his comedy mission is to transmit this message: that it's "behind" his work, in your words. As he says and as I just said, he started making comedy before taking his political stance. His strong words here don't seem to be reflected in his actual output so far (putting my neck on the line here - I've only seen bits here and there.)

I hope this show does go all out and put some of these "death of the west" ideas into a sketch format, because right now it's just what the left want ("I knew it he's an islamophobe!") and just what the far right wants ("finally our breakthrough!"). He's just tickling all our balls at the moment with the faintly un-PC gender politics stuff.

[Petey Pate]

Had a dig through some of there stuff after the [as] off cuts thread. Quiet enjoyed their Twat album.

This is actually quite good.  Somewhat reminiscent of Blue Jam.  Hard to not feel a certain misogynistic bent to some of the tracks though.

To quibble, he doesn't say that his comedy mission is to transmit this message: that it's "behind" his work, in your words. As he says and as I just said, he started making comedy before taking his political stance. His strong words here don't seem to be reflected in his actual output so far (putting my neck on the line here - I've only seen bits here and there.)

There's this stand up Sam Hyde did where he dresses up in Muslim garb which corresponds with the views he expresses on Reddit.  Unless it's all super ironic, of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyE78eyFRa8

[Retinend]

There's this stand up Sam Hyde did where he dresses up in Muslim garb which corresponds with the views he expresses on Reddit.  Unless it's all super ironic, of course.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyE78eyFRa8

This is what he should be doing more of imo. It's honest and transparent, and pretty funny.

Well, good example... Not that one example breaks a trend, though. And I'm not interested in whitewashing him btw. My casual impression, formed over the years, is that their output is only peripherally political, with the occasional video like the above coming out.

Let's take a sample: since I've recently checked MDE out, YouTube randomly recommends me these 5 popular videos of theirs, perhaps representative of the whole oeuvre:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgT4sjRiLAY
"lee mee alon.mp4" (pretty funny... not political, just a silly accent) pre2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-qAREXVUXk
"gamer dude" (made me laugh... pretty harsh on video gamers) pre 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCjC9BjPgoc
"bernie sanders pozzin'" ("pozzing" is an alt-right meme... I couldn't stand to watch much of this one I'm afraid I hate stuff recorded with shitty phone mics) post 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHHJMrP2YG0
"Boston Ross" (couldn't stand more than 2 minutes just drivel sorry) post 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdNAhlqnxA0
"Sam Hyde stand-up [mike brown]" overtly "political" (but correct about Mike Brown) post 2014

Okay if this sample of exactly 3 post 2014 videos is representative then about 66% of their new stuff is alt-right political. Mixed in with pre 2014 stuff it becomes 40%. This is higher than I expected, admittedly.

[Howj Begg]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/the-alt-right-has-its-own-comedy-tv-show-on-a-time-warner-ne?utm_term=.buPAZJRJa#.ex4GP4E4g

That Sam Hyde does TED thing is seriously one of the worst things I've ever seen. Thought that in the thread created for it 3 years ago or whenever it was.

[Bored of Canada]

These do nothing for me. They don't make me think or laugh or smile or uncomfortable, or just feel any emotional response. They're kind of nothing.

In the off cuts thread there was a link to the original post referring to them from someone I assumed to be involved with the work and I was critical but trying to be positive out of encouraging them to keep at it but it still remains pretty nothing.

[Master Cylinder]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/the-alt-right-has-its-own-comedy-tv-show-on-a-time-warner-ne?utm_term=.buPAZJRJa#.ex4GP4E4g

I'm sure the MDE fanbase on reddit has gotten hard over this,

[Chriddof]

This TEDx talk is a far better takedown of TED than what Sam Hyde managed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo5cKRmJaf0

It's not actually comedy (though there are a few jokes anyway), but directly points out what is wrong with the whole thing.

[ajsmith]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/the-alt-right-has-its-own-comedy-tv-show-on-a-time-warner-ne?utm_term=.buPAZJRJa#.ex4GP4E4g

Hyde uploads his end of his questionings from the mainstream media to his own channel. Here's his end of the Buzzfeed interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn6DzL0APvs

Interesting power tussle, as each party tries to get the measure of the other, Sam's aggressive trolling/brutal truth stylings largely winning out by the end.

The Buzzfeed guy got a bit further than this chap though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qrYz7Ul3Z8

[Howj Begg]

Watching about half of that yt buzzfed vid, he's a lame disingenuous clown, denying everything he's ever said/tweeted/posted. Might even prefer the honesty of Andrew Lawrence to Hyde's slimy twisting.

[Mowagg]

wow, Just reading through their reddit page, someone actually 'went there' after that $2000 'challenge'.


_{could just be a load of shite though looking at that handwriting}

Some wicked totally straight up white supremecy banter in the bottom half of this thread too

sorry if i'm just repeating stuff you've all seen, but wtf is going on with their fanbase?

[Petey Pate]

Seemed like he was trying to do a Tim Heidecker style interview where he plays an aloof arrogant character.  Difference with Heidecker is that he's unafraid to make himself look ridiculous and the joke is usually about mocking the persona he plays rather than just trolling the interviewer.  Hyde genuinely comes across as smug rather than faux-smug, and crucially, is far less funny.

Some lovely antisemitism in the comments section too.

[Blumf]

The Needle Drop had a long interview with Hyde:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfNj2E4RpDQ

I think the trick with that Buzzfeed interview is that he is deliberately showing no respect for the mainstream news sources. In comparison, TND gets a much easier ride, once it settles down there's some interesting points made (e.g. the emptiness of anti-Trump comedy)

That's the whole problem with him; he's hitting on some interesting, valid even, ideas but, he doesn't really have the talent to nail them or, at the very least, not the courage to step up from the basic trolling level he's at now.

[Mowagg]

Seemed like he was trying to do a Tim Heidecker style interview where he plays an aloof arrogant character.  Difference with Heidecker is that he's unafraid to make himself look ridiculous and the joke is usually about mocking the persona he plays rather than just trolling the interviewer.  Hyde genuinely comes across as smug rather than faux-smug, and crucially, is far less funny.

He's absolutely not playing a character in that interview, he knew exactly what angle buzzfeed was going to take and was just laying into the bloke, all that stuff about journalism was totally sincere. I think Sam Hyde is more of an "East-coast comedian" than maybe people are thinking, and the constant comparisons to T&E are a bit of a red herring.