Einstein vs Hawking

The internet can produce some extremely amusing content, and Youtube is the nexus of much of this content. Anyone with a cellphone, webcam, or video recorder and some basic editing skills can put up pretty much anything online to amuse others. From opinions to commentary to reviews, you could spend months on end finding stuff that’s amusing.

A lot of it, though, is quite vapid and easy to ignore after a first viewing. But, for those who are patient and/or persistent, some nuggets of well thought-out amusement can be found. One of my personal favorites is Epic Rap Battles of History, a verbal 1-on-1 duel against people (fictional or real) who have something familiar between them; on occassion, you can have 3 or more in a single battle. This familiarity can be serious and tanginble (Einstein vs Hawking, who are both physicists and among the smartest men of their era) or tenuous at best (Mr. T vs Mr. Rogers, whose only similarity is their prefix). Some of the match-ups are absurd to be sure, but don’t let that fool you. The two men behind this idea are not rookies.

Nice Peter, who does the production and editing, and Epic Lloyd provides the lyrics and dialogue. Their production values and costumes are top notch. They bring in others on occassion to fit up as one of the dueling characters when it’s most appropriate (Cleopatra vs Marilyn Monroe).The lyrics can be quite expletive and offensive, but are layered with puns and double entedres that really make you appreciate the depth of their writing; they use each matchup’s biography of works, achievements, and personal history to generate the verbal back-and-forth. The best part of the matchups is they ask viewers who they want to see next, and thousands of people will offer who should match up next. A lot of the matchups have been, for lack of a better term, “dream matches” that pit people who seem to be obvious matches; Thomas Edison vs Nikolai Tesla andDumbledore vs Gandalf. Then there are more abstract but quite brilliant duels, like Dr. Seuss vs William Shakespeare, which show that the producers really put some effort into choose the right match ups for both content and relevance.

Ghandi versus MLK

Of the 33 showdowns so far, their most intellectually amazing one so far is Martin Luther King, Jr. vs Mahatma Ghandi. The reason being that, for all the other battles, each side raps in a manner of physical threats, verbal putdowns, and dragging in other family members as the situation calls for. However, with King and Ghandi, each side does their best to not impose direct threats or insults to each other, emphasing passive resistance that both men were famous for during their life.  The end result is nothing short of brilliance. Here’s a few lines that MLK responds to Ghandi with:

Like the ‘H’ in your name, you ought to remain silent.
Flatten your style like bread.
Naan violence.

Not all of them are winners, either due to a poor match-up or just came off too forced. This is understandable, and shows that they are taking risks in some of their attempts. Their most ambitious one to date, though, is Raputin vs Stalin. As the battle progress, though, you are in for a treat of having three more leaders of pre- and post-Soviet Russia join the fray: Lenin, Gorbachev, and Putin. Who said learning and entertainment don’t work?