Extremely Funny and Extremely Online: Viking

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before you ask no i ‘m not a furry because technically sharks do not have fur

A post shared by viking (@notviking) on Nov 18, 2018 at 2:07pm PST

me: you wanna hang out later?

her: sorry i don ‘t talk to guys who are under 6 ‘

me: please mom i miss you

‘ viking! (@NOTVIKING) April 12, 2018

Two factors in particular that have attributed to his success in online comedy are his ability to successfully rework existing joke formats, such as dialogue based formats that read almost like the script of a 10 second comedy sketch. This results in hilarious and fresh takes on joke setups that a wide online audience is already familiar with, meaning that he ‘s both innovative and original while also consistently topical and relevant – which is no easy task.

someone: posts a “dont say it ‘ meme

don ‘t say it
don ‘t say it
don ‘t say it
don ‘t say it

this meme is bad because rather than pointing out a common relatable phrase in which you can communicate shared experience you ‘re just telling everyone that you have poor self-control

‘ viking! (@NOTVIKING) November 15, 2018

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A second (of many, but articles can only be so long) major factor that Viking has mastered is creating content with running themes that are uniquely his. Often his jokes will call back to or reference the same subject matter, and being able to accumulate a series of material that connects and is distinctively yours is paramount to having a successful comedy repertoire in any medium. Basically, Viking has cracked the code for how to effectively build a recognizable voice and personal brand. Here, it might be better if I show you:

honey i shrunk my penis: the saga continues

Originality in comedy is alive and well, folks.

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I just want to come back to how nonchalant Viking is about his impact on the Joke Twitter world – because although he ‘s a major player in the digital comedy scene, this hasn ‘t crossed over into his professional life or career and remains nothing really beyond a fun hobby for him, so we ‘re all lucky as shit that he continues to produce the amount of hilarious content that he does.

And to end off, since this is a series about digital comedy, I wanted to get his thoughts on the subject much like I did when talking to Sarah Schauer.

FOD: Do you think digital/online comedy (vine, joke twitter, etc) should be seen as a more valid form of comedy than it currently is?

Viking: I have mixed feelings. I think there is genuine comedic content that has come out of twitter and vine and that it ‘s a valid platform for comedians and artists. However, I think people are very quick to say “I went viral on twitter a few times, I ‘m a legitimate comedian. ‘ I think it ‘s definitely a jumping off point for a lot of people and should be seen as more valid in terms of giving legitimately funny people a place to showcase their talents. Then, once they ‘ve done that, they can move on and thrive in other forms of comedy (that actually pay money).

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Thanks for reading – and if you haven ‘t checked his Twitter out already, what are you still doing here???