Tumblr: The Musical

2012-07-27 · song · Hank · 3:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: Projects, Personal life) · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: song or performance, guest or collab, self promotion

Hank performs a comic song, made with the YouTube musical channel AVbyte, about getting lost scrolling Tumblr, then explains the collaboration, lists his tour, LeakyCon and Mars-landing plans, and advises viewers not to spend their whole lives on Tumblr.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Intro: Hank wanted to make an epic video but has no time

• ★ Hank says he wanted to make a complicated, epic video but has no time, and not because he is busy; the song that follows blames Tumblr. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Tumblr

00:00:07 — The song 'Tumblr: The Musical': dopamine scrolling, cats, memes, fandoms, GIFs and reblogs

• ★★ In the song Hank portrays Tumblr as a compulsive, dopamine-chasing scroll that keeps him glued to his screen, full of cats, memes, fandoms and GIFs. (playful) — 00:00:07 · Tumblr
• ★ The song ends with the claim that everyone can agree Tumblr is the place for him. (playful) — 00:01:36 · Tumblr

00:02:23 — Story behind the song: AVbyte's weekly musicals, co-writing, 74 emails

• ★★ Hank found the YouTube channel AVbyte, which makes a new musical every week, after someone linked him their Instagram musical; he emailed them proposing a Tumblr musical starring him. — 00:02:23 · Instagram, Tumblr
• ★★ Hank and AVbyte wrote the lyrics together, AVbyte did the music and they made the video together; a long process with 74 emails exchanged. — 00:02:40

00:02:50 — Hank's next weeks: brief tour with Harry and the Potters, Missoula, LeakyCon, the Mars Science Laboratory landing and his SciShow video

• ★★ Hank is going on a brief tour with Harry and the Potters; Oregon and Washington dates are in the description. — 00:02:52
• ★ After the tour Hank will have a couple of days back in Missoula and then go to LeakyCon. — 00:02:58 · Missoula, Montana
• ★★ The run-up to the Mars Science Laboratory landing is intense for Hank; his video about it goes live on SciShow this weekend and he is scared and excited. — 00:03:01 · SciShow

00:03:17 — Thanks to John for talking about Hank's buffness

• ★★ Hank thanks John for talking about his buffness; now everyone wants to see him shirtless, which he says would be very unimpressive. (playful) — 00:03:17 · John Green

00:03:28 — The song is coming to iTunes; Hank will tweet it and post it on his Tumblr

• ★★ The song is not on iTunes yet but will be shortly; Hank will tweet it and put it on his Tumblr. — 00:03:29 · Tumblr

00:03:34 — Tumblr is weird but fun; don't spend your whole life there; sign-off and outtake

• ★★ Hank calls Tumblr a weird but very fun place and urges viewers not to spend their whole lives there but to go do other, even outside, things. (playful) — 00:03:34 · Tumblr

In the description and comments

• ★★ The credits: Molly Gallagher plays Hipster Ariel and Elizabeth Oldak the Fangirl, beside Hank and the Nazareths; Elizabeth Oldak made the Ariel costume and puppet; Antonius Nazareth wrote the lyrics with Hank and the music; Vijay Nazareth and Michael Aranda shot and edited. — video description

Humor (dominant)

• Scrolling Tumblr, the singer finds the President has joined and reacts like a hipster — 00:00:38

  “I can't believe Obama's tumbling. Ugh, lame. It's so mainstream.”

• The song settles the GIF pronunciation debate and the cast immediately argues back — 00:01:07

  “You know that it's pronounced like jif. No. Yep. No way. Yes.”

• After John praised his buffness, everybody now wants to see Hank with his shirt off — 00:03:24

  “which would be a tremendously unimpressive experience for everyone”

• Hank urges viewers to leave Tumblr and go do outside things — 00:03:43

  “with your computer though”

Threads in this video

• update · Hank's quick three-day tour with Harry and the Potters and Potter Puppet Pals: Portland, Olympia, Seattle (2012) — Hank repeats that he is going on a brief tour with Harry and the Potters, with Oregon and Washington dates in the description. (00:02:52)
• update · Hank's quiet exercise regimen makes him fit and 'kind of buff' (2012) — Hank thanks John for talking about his buffness; now everybody wants to see him shirtless, which he says would be unimpressive. (00:03:17) → refers to The Treadmill Desk! Fitness for Nerds
• progress update · Hank: put songs in his next four vlogbrothers videos (2012) — Hank's video is a song ('Tumblr: The Musical'), the first of the songs he said he would attempt to put in his next four videos; the promise itself is not mentioned. (00:03:28)
• launched · Hank and AVbyte's song 'Tumblr: The Musical': video and iTunes release (2012) — Hank releases 'Tumblr: The Musical' as a video; it is not on iTunes yet but will be shortly, and he will tweet it and post it on his Tumblr. (00:03:29)
• restate · Is the internet, including social media, good for people? — Hank: Tumblr is a weird but very fun place, but try not to spend your whole life there; go do other, outside things. (00:03:38)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• Hank: put songs in his next four vlogbrothers videos (2012) — open (updates through 2012, not reported done); last: progress update, 2012-07-27
• Hank's quick three-day tour with Harry and the Potters and Potter Puppet Pals: Portland, Olympia, Seattle (2012) — told 2×, last update 2012

Mentioned

Central: AVbyte · Tumblr: The Musical

Also: People: Barack Obama · Benedict Cumberbatch · Emma Stone

Projects: SciShow

Works: AVbyte's Instagram musical · Doctor Who · My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Organizations: Instagram · Tumblr

Groups: Harry and the Potters · One Direction

Concepts: internet addiction disorder

Places: Missoula, Montana · Oregon · Washington

Events: LeakyCon · Mars Science Laboratory

Characters: Spider-Man

Products: iTunes · Missing e

Memes: GIF pronunciation · Keep Calm and Carry On

Only in the description or credits: Antonius Nazareth · Elizabeth Oldak · Michael Aranda · Molly Gallagher · Vijay Nazareth

Replies to

• answers · The Treadmill Desk! Fitness for Nerds — “John thanks for talking about my buffness”

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