Funniest Wins
By Melissa Camacho,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Comedy competition features laughs and mature themes.
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Funniest Wins
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What's the Story?
Created by Marlon Wayans, FUNNIEST WINS is a competition series designed to find America's next big comedy superstar. Ten contestants, ranging from comics with 10 years of traditional stand-up experience to up-and-coming YouTube and Vine comedy performers, face off in a series of challenges designed to test them on different aspects of the craft of comedy. Their performances are judged by Wayans and fellow mentors such as Orlando Jones, David Alan Grier, and a few of the Wayans siblings. Elimination challenges send the least funny person home. The comic demonstrating that he or she can be successful in traditional venues and in the social media world wins $100,000 and his or her own show on Wayans' digital channel, WhattheFunny.com.
Is It Any Good?
From performing stand-up on the top of a moving double-decker bus throughout Los Angeles to coming up with good concepts for digital shorts (videos of short comedy skits), Funniest Wins gives folks a fun chance to see the kind of work and training that goes into being funny. It also highlights how the profession has changed from requiring comedians to spend years working on their craft and trying to be discovered to having no experience or training and starring in viral videos to become an instant comedy hit.
There are lots of laughs, as well as awkward moments, especially when contestants fail to elicit chuckles from their audiences. But folks interested in comedy will find the advice and critiques offered by seasoned professionals helpful, especially when it comes to dealing with the challenges that come from going to and from traditional platforms to digital performances. You may not find everything here funny, but there are some interesting things to be learned.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the art of comedy. What kind of training does a comedian need to get audiences to laugh? Are people who are funny on stage or on videos just as funny in their day-to-day lives?
How has digital media transformed comedy? What kinds of things do comedians have to do differently when creating a video vs. going on stage to perform stand-up?
Should people who make funny online videos be considered comedians if they have no training or no experience giving live performances? Why?
TV Details
- Premiere date: June 20, 2014
- Cast: Marlon Wayans
- Network: TBS
- Genre: Comedy
- TV rating: TV-14
- Last updated: February 26, 2022
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