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Best jokes of 2021

All 48 jokes rated strength 3 (the top of the 1–3 scale) in 2021 videos, in upload order: the setup (paraphrase), then the punchline as said, the kind of joke and who tells it.

Kinds this year: Absurd 25, Self-deprecation 9, Wordplay 3, Satire 3, Callback 2, Running bit 4, Visual gag 1, Comic / parody song 1.

← Humor overview · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014 · 2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025 · 2026

2021-01

  • Hank reads the 2012 prediction of superior fish beings. → “I don't know what they do, but they are there. They exist.” — Absurd, Hank — In 1990 I Made a Bunch of Predictions About 2020...Here they Are (2021-01-01, 00:03:13)
  • The superior fish beings' long silence bodes well. → “it means they have the ability to stay calm and shut up, two talents humanity has shown a limited capacity for.” — Satire, John — SUPERIOR FISH BEINGS (2021-01-05, 00:01:27)
  • John signs off by welcoming the fish beings, riffing on a famous meme line. → “I for one welcome our new superior fish being overlords.” — Running bit, John — SUPERIOR FISH BEINGS (2021-01-05, 00:03:53)
  • John blames 2020's mess not on politics or the virus but on starting the year with the Cats movie. → “the only way we're getting out of it is with another Cats movie.” — Absurd, John — My 2021 Vision Board (2021-01-12, 00:00:00)
  • John lectures Indiana's non-migrating Canada geese that their frozen pond is just a rock. → “fly south and give me a few hours without your incessant honking” — Absurd, John — My 2021 Vision Board (2021-01-12, 00:02:16)
  • Overwhelmed by the oil globs on his glasses, Hank reflects on the human body. → “Oh my God, we are factories.” — Absurd, Hank — I Didn't Clean My Glasses for a Week and then I Put them Under a Microscope (2021-01-22, 00:02:35)

2021-02

  • Hank says viewers think the picture behind him is Perseverance's first image of Mars → “Close! The beans didn't stop!” — Callback, Hank — Bean Meme Review (2021-02-19, 00:00:24)
  • A meme captions Hank eating beans with a world-destroyer line → “Chugger of beans, destroyer of worlds. That's me. God, those were hot beans.” — Wordplay, Hank — Bean Meme Review (2021-02-19, 00:06:55)

2021-03

  • After praising Hank's change, John insists the corndog romance endures → “Hank plus corndogs remains a great love story, as prominently noted in my 2021 vision board.” — Callback, John — Hank Rebranded Without Any of Us Noticing (2021-03-09, 00:03:24)
  • Viewers watched him become a performer, if they've seen all the vlogbrothers videos → “And let's be honest you haven't I have” — Absurd, Hank — A Crisis of Branding (2021-03-12, 00:02:04)
  • Outtake after the sign-off: no one ever tells Hank he is a bit much → “I think if I met me, I'd be like, that guy's a bit much.” — Self-deprecation, Hank — A Crisis of Branding (2021-03-12, 00:03:51)
  • John explains he can't swear off bulk signing because he would lose occasion to use his paper jogger. → “the LectroJog really is the greatest piece of machinery ever created in all of human history.” — Running bit, John — I did it! (2021-03-30, 00:01:56)

2021-04

  • After listing authors whose signatures are worth thousands, Hank gives John his distinction. → “You have the least valuable signature of any author in the world.” — Satire, Hank — John's World Record (2021-04-02, 00:00:58)
  • Since only the unsigned TFIOS first editions are rare, John's signature on one makes it... → “Less valuable. It has negative value.” — Absurd, Hank — John's World Record (2021-04-02, 00:01:27)
  • Puzzled by Craig's oddly supportive text, John checks the chain while uploading the video. → “my watch had texted Craig a transcript of my positive self-talk.” — Self-deprecation, John — My Truly Mortifying Self-Talk (2021-04-13, 00:02:29)
  • The transcript the watch sent ends with John rehearsing his greeting for the video. → “Good morning, Hank. It's Tuesday. I hate this thing.” — Self-deprecation, John — My Truly Mortifying Self-Talk (2021-04-13, 00:02:59)

2021-05

  • A store clerk who already knew John was John Green really wanted to know how he knew Vince Vaughn. → “So the strangest thing I've ever been recognized for is being Vince Vaughn's best friend.” — Self-deprecation, John — I am a small boat. It's Question Tuesday. (2021-05-11, 00:01:05)
  • Hank sings the Beatles' silly original placeholder lyrics for Yesterday. → “It's like they wrote the Weird Al version of their own song first.” — Comic / parody song, Hank — The 19 Best Facts (2021-05-21, 00:00:58)

2021-06

2021-07

  • The Anthropocene Reviewed's average rating beats John's other books and also Shakespeare's tragedy → “higher average rating than Macbeth, which, you know, possibly indicates some problems with the five-star scale.” — Absurd, John — Reviewing Reviews of My Reviews (2021-07-20, 00:00:58)
  • A two-star review mixes John up with his brother, saying Hank Green knows science but not people → “Unfortunately, I have to give that review two stars because on several levels it unjustly maligns my brother.” — Running bit, John — Reviewing Reviews of My Reviews (2021-07-20, 00:01:27)
  • A COVID nurse writes that the book helped her through the pandemic → “Which, Melissa, the idea is that I make you cry, okay? Not the other way around.” — Absurd, John — Reviewing Reviews of My Reviews (2021-07-20, 00:02:59)
  • Hank plays the earliest sound recording, recently turned back into audio → “I do not like that.” — Absurd, Hank — The Last 25 Questions I Asked Google (2021-07-23, 00:02:51)

2021-08

2021-09

  • A moth with Hamlet's troubles visits a podiatrist, who asks why he came to him instead of a psychiatrist. → “oh, the light was on.” — Absurd, John — My Two Favorite Jokes (2021-09-07, 00:00:58)
  • A farmer explains Bessie the pig's heroics but none of them cost her the leg. → “oh, you know, a pig that special, you don't eat all at once.” — Absurd, John — My Two Favorite Jokes (2021-09-07, 00:02:30)

2021-10

2021-11

  • Hank pitches a revolutionary new product that goes between your foot and your shoe. → “It's like a kind of foot sleeve.” — Absurd, Hank — We Have Invented Something Marvelous (2021-11-05, 00:00:00)
  • John counts the money he'd have at a million dollars for each of Hank's 7,000 million-dollar ideas. → “I would have like $7 billion, or nearly 3% of Jeff Bezos' wealth.” — Absurd, John — Hank Green's Million Dollar Ideas (2021-11-09, 00:00:29)
  • Having argued the preference is irrational, Hank admits he will not change → “And I will never say gif. I will never say gif. I just won't.” — Self-deprecation, Hank — How do We Get Anything Done At All? (2021-11-19, 00:02:21)
  • Asked what he most dislikes about John, Hank gives the answer people give in job interviews → “I think he just cares too much. He works too passionately.” — Satire, John — Vlogbrothers REUNITED AT LAST (2021-11-30, 00:00:43)
  • Hank's sales idea for remaindered copies of The Anthropocene Reviewed → “sign $2 bills and call it a $2 discount.” — Absurd, John — Vlogbrothers REUNITED AT LAST (2021-11-30, 00:02:26)

2021-12

  • Mishearing 'to moon' as mooning, they replay Neil Armstrong's first words on the Moon → “We did it, Buzz! We're mooning!” — Absurd, John — John and Hank at the Cemetery (2021-12-03, 00:00:58)
  • Inside the somber neoclassical Bane mausoleum is a surprising sight shown in Hank's footage → “Just add the whimsy.” — Visual gag, Hank — John and Hank at the Cemetery (2021-12-03, 00:03:26)
  • Hank's tweet says his research shows there is no abominable snowman → “I think he's totally bominable.” — Wordplay, John — Reading Hank's Decade-Old Tweets (2021-12-07, 00:03:10)