Austin Hall’s hands have been viewed more than 14,040,442 times. But really, who’s counting? YouTube, the website where Hall’s video Daft Hands—Harder, Better, Faster Stronger got over 3,000,000 hits in its first couple months of play. The video, which showcases Hall’s extreme dexterity, is a self-choreographed hand jive performed to the Daft Punk song referenced in the title. Like the best pop culture phenomena, the Carleton College sophomore stumbled into the limelight quite by accident. He opted to make the three-minute forty-second film last spring instead of studying for a final history exam. Needless to say, he failed the exam, but got an A+ in YouTube notoriety: The video won a spot on Time magazine’s “Top 10 Viral Videos” list and a nomination for “Favorite User-Generated Video” at the 2007 People’s Choice Awards, and Hall himself performed on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Daft Hands even made history in less than a year on the net, ranking fifteenth on someone’s YouTube list of favorite music videos of all time! In a world where Heidi Klum’s legs are insured for a million dollars a pop, we suspect it’s time Hall considered a similar policy; he should at least take better care of his cuticles. Before heading to New York to rub elbows with other YouTube celebrities at the website’s national convention, Hall made a list of YouTube videos whose makers would leave him starstruck—this month, at least.
1. “Japanese Toilet Training for Kids” (with English subtitles)
In a hilarious jingle about bodily functions, a tiger sings about overcoming toilet training to become the infamous PANTSMAN! No, I don’t know what that means, either.
2. “Amateur” by Lasse Gjertsen
This guy can’t play either the piano or drums, but using the magic of editing, he manages to make a pretty rockin’ song.
3. “Weird Japanese Video”
Another Japanese treat, this exercise video teaches women how to handle a mugger.
4. “Just 2 Guyz”
Two kids, one party, and a killer original tune, all about having fun when you have no other friends.
5. “El Cumbanchero”
An eight- and ten-year-old play a surprisingly great rendition of “El Cumbanchero” in their living room. They duet on guitar and mandolin much better than my younger siblings ever could (not that they ever could).
6. “Daxflame BEAT” by Daxflame
Daxflame is famous as a video diarist (check out “BerniceJuachTalk”), but he’s really a musician at heart.
7. “Stairway to Heaven” by The Beatnix
This Beatles cover band plays “Stairway to Heaven” as the Beatles—the early Beatles—would have written it. It’s pretty catchy, and they made an effort to make the video look forty-some years old.
8. “Thriller” (original upload)
A group of 1,500 Filipino inmates performs the dance to the Michael Jackson hit. They are surprisingly well-choreographed despite being a big army of prisoners.
9. “Internet People!” by The Meth Minute 39
This is a montage about internet fads. I would’ve ranked it higher, but I’m mad they forgot to include me.
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