Xanthe Dobbie: The 10 funniest things I’ve ever seen (on the internet)

USAClose friend and collaborator Harriet Gillies often calls me the Invisible Hand of the Internet – a title I proudly carry. However, this is a bit of a mistake. Even though I’m an active observer and online reviewer, strangely enough, I’m an outsider. I take a no-touch approach, like a non-intervention documentary filmmaker, watching the little creatures on the Internet troll each other in their natural habitat so I can rush home and create My little gay collage of them. Of course, from my high observational ability, I see a lot of things.

Trying to narrow this list down to 10 points seems like a near-impossible task. So I structured this precious collection by root class. Welcome to Xanthe Dobbie’s scroll of doom in three stages: gay sun, tech moon, peerless rise.

Homosexual Sun

1. Jodie Foster: gay silence

This 1979 interview with Jodie Foster (lez icon) is the source text for the really subtle gay silent meme. The pregnancy pause follows the question “Do you have a stable boyfriend?” and “What kind of people do you like?” The camera pans forward to capture the quirky 17-year-old Foster clearly, a smirk appearing on her face. If you are gay, you definitely know this style. Her silence speaks volumes.

2. Jordan Firstman’s impression of the words they and they

A hundred years ago, in 2020, gay writer and comedian Jordan Firstman announced an impressive series on Instagram and TikTok, providing the world with much-needed relief from the dark hellscape that we worked hard. As a surname/surname, this feels particularly resonant. The most compelling pronoun, “they,” was declared word of the year by Merriam-Webster in 2019.

3. The cast of Ultimatum tries to order pizza

This is just an inside joke – but basically everything on the internet is like that. If you, like me, are absolutely mesmerized by The Ultimatum: Queer Love – Netflix’s most recent foray into LGBTQ+ reality TV – then you’ll love the accuracy of this TikTok. Queer Ultimatum was HUGE and I took advantage of every second of it. In a short one-minute video, @lilly27sings and a bunch of gay doppelgangers recap the entire series in a nutshell. Very impressive.

technology moon

4. We’re not ready for what’s to come

Since the recent advent of ChatGPT and Midjourney, there has been growing concern that the singularity is approaching. Are we losing control of our technology? Will it soon topple us and take our jobs? Capitalism has truly taken hold of the West.

Fortunately, the soothing soothing effects of memes can put us at ease. This fills me with nostalgia. I remember watching this pipeline screensaver for hours on end on the thick screens of my elementary classes.

5. Carol’s Christmas carol for Carol, a woman named Carol

While the robots may eventually get us out, we’re certainly not there yet. This bot-generated holiday movie is everything. Describing Carol as a “woman with all bangs” gives me life.

6. Two chatbots talking to each other

It speaks for itself. It’s two chatbots talking to each other. Too much gas light. Enjoy!

soaring

7. Taylor Swift dives down the stage

Oh, do you have tickets to see Taylor Swift? Good for you (offensive). As one of the millions who missed out, I give you this consolation prize. God, she really knows how to make a scene. There’s something very unsettling about the diving technique here. Where is she going!? What’s down there!? I hope I never know.

8. Car conspiracy theory

There is a beautiful corner on the Internet dedicated to Disney-Pixar conspiracies and this is one that I personally love. In a 2017 paper, Jason Torchinsky theorized that the Cars universe is actually set in our own reality tens of thousands of years in the future. Raising some of the fascinating and complex views surrounding “genetic engineering” and “gearheads,” Torchinsky suggests that Pixar’s cars are not simply sentient vehicles but ones that have children. people trapped inside them. See diagram for details.

9. Disease Detective Patti Harrison

Harrison is one of my all time favorite comedians. She’s the perfect balance between hot, funny and laid-back, which is really all I look for in a life partner. Sleuth only has one episode and that’s all it takes. I’m a big fan of interrupting ads: “Computers! They need us more than we need them.” Genius.

10. Heidi Klum as the worm

I love Heidi Klum. I think she is one of the greatest performers of the contemporary era. If you’ve somehow missed out on this delightfully embarrassing worm costume from Halloween 2022, now’s your time. In this video, we see Klum writhing on the floor as the interviewer bends down to see her monstrous face. It’s perfect. Fortunately, the worm doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and I heartily encourage you to dig deeper into Klum’s archives. In her own words, “the bird soon caught the worm.” Go! Fly!

• Xanthe Dobbie is the co-creator of Queer PowerPoint, the show coming up in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Taiwan. Follow them on Instagram for upcoming exhibitions and performances.