Will Bartolo and Rae Colquhoun-Fairweather: the 10 funniest things we have ever seen (on the internet)

We are Rae and Will AKA raeandwill, a clown duo who specialise in mime – so asking us to write about the 10 funniest things we’ve seen on the internet is technically considered a hate crime. But if the endless scroll of other people plugging their clown shows has taught us anything, it’s that we have to maintain our digital facade or risk being unbooked and unblessed. And if there’s one thing the world desperately needs more of, it’s clown shows. (We aren’t joking.) So here we are.

Will thinks the internet is a demonic, vacuous hole that is slowly stripping him of his humanity 🙁 And Rae is convinced that the internet has made her stronger, hotter, funnier, and in no way damaged her brain 🙂

While these might look like differing takes on the internet, they’re really just ways of coping with the fact that we live in a world of never-ending loops of AI foods eating themselves. Some of us try to pull away, some of us dive in headfirst but in the end we’re all just scrolling through the chaos together and, diva, that’s where the magic happens. Creatively, the internet is our third collaborator. Before anything becomes a multi-award-winning show (we have to show off; see: fear of being unbooked and unblessed), our ideas usually start online. We spend months hoarding vibes: collecting images, videos and random clips that feel connected to the seed of our project.

Here are the 10 funniest things that feel connected to the seed of our funny bone.

Will

1. Flutterbye fairy toy flies into fire

This is one of my all time favourites. Childhood innocence interrupted by the most dramatic piece of classical music. The perfect accompaniment for Flutterbye Fairy as she does the unspeakable. RIP.

2. Lano and Woodley – Fly

In the long lineage of comedic duos, I bloody love Lano and Woodley. I think the care and detail they put into the silliest and simplest of moments, like Woodley’s Oscar-deserving embodiment of a fly, is deeply inspiring. I could nerd out about their technique for hours, and I won’t bore you here, but I do owe them some form of thanks. And you reading this, sure, it is not a 10-second reel, but stick with it.

3. Julio Torres’s masterclass on hand acting

Any time someone shows me a new piece of media from the icon and aspirational twunk Julio Torres, I insist that they see the hand acting masterclass from their Instagram in 2020. It includes classic scenarios and how-tos such as “BRING … ME … THE GIRL!”, “Offering her the potion but warning her that everything has a price”, and, of course, “Basic scenarios for Advanced Hand Acting; Handrail, ascending and descending”.

An essential watch for any budding young actor who wants to become a silent clown in the future. There are at least three separate posts of lessons in there. Happy scrolling.

4. Jennifer Lopez’s past five years, specifically her inauguration performance

During Covid, in the dying days of President Trump’s first term, we had a glimmer of hope – Jennifer Lopez’s performance at Joe Biden’s inauguration. While JLo’s self-funded film This Is Me … Now: A Love Story and its accompanying documentary (an incredible double feature) both deserve to be on this list, it’s this moment that takes the cake for me. Specifically, her decision to mash up America the Beautiful and This Land Is Your Land with her 1999 party anthem Let’s Get Loud.

The attempt to shift this song from the dancefloor into the political sphere is so beautifully unhinged. Combined with her performance, , it makes me scream, it makes me laugh, it makes me cry. I will speak about it for decades and perhaps write a dissertation on it.

5. The pet performers who get paid to act like animals

“We may not receive the applause because we are doing it for an audience who can’t clap.” Performance for domestic animals is a vital and dignified art form and nothing you can woof will convince me otherwise.

Rae

1. I Will Always Love You

Oh my god. If this isn’t the most potent look into who I was as a child, I don’t know what is. The ambition. The frustration. The inability to regulate. As someone who is famously a bad singer, I just so deeply relate. Bless this girl and wherever she is now. Thank you for your service, queen.

2. Trisha Paytas’s entire body of work

Trisha Paytas was probably the first person I truly laughed at online. It was impossible to pick just one video but this is one of the first I remember. Fifteen years later, she’s still producing some of the world’s best, most richest content. It’s delusion wrapped in confidence wrapped in talent wrapped in more talent, dipped in even more talent. Get her on Broadway YESTERDAY.

3. Ads for the mobile game Project Makeover

These ads might not be a hit with everyone but as someone who loves being online I can’t look away. They pop up at least three times a day and every time I want to help her sooooooo much. She’s covered in mud, she needs a shower, NOT MORE MUD! The situations she finds herself in are truly the essence of clowning. I haven’t downloaded the game (yet) but I feel personally responsible for her wellbeing every time. LET HER WIN!!!

4. Dianne Laurance’s @dumpedwifesrevenge Instagram page

Dianne Laurance was dumped by her husband after 26 years of marriage … for someone younger. How does she get revenge? “BE FABULOUS AND LOOK FABULOUS,” and document it all on Instagram, of course. I have a soft spot for insane women whose star quality just needs to shine. And her laugh kills me every time.

5. Kermit is revealed to be the Snail on The Masked Singer

I’m convinced that The Masked Singer exists in the Hunger Games universe: every clip feels like peeking into the Capitol from District 12. This reveal is my favourite. It’s the hands for me – the way they pop out, the way the crowd loses it for a puppet. Imagine the Kermit puppeteer, trapped inside a giant snail costume, singing. I don’t consider myself a Masked Singer stan but if every contestant was actually a Muppet … I might be converted.

• Rae Colquhoun-Fairweather and Will Bartolo AKA raeandwill are a performance duo based in Sydney. You can catch Will in Where to Hide a Star in Sydney at ACO on the pier from 1 to 11 October and see raeandwill’s multi-award winning show Masterpiece at Melbourne Fringe at the Meat Market from 14 to 18 October