Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Music / Ylvis

Go To

1[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_ncn25vbotf1tpdcaeo1_1280_3368.jpg]]
2->''Dog goes "woof",\
3Cat goes "meow",\
4Bird goes "tweet" and mouse goes "squeek",\
5Cow goes "moo",\
6Frog goes "croak",\
7And the elephant goes "toot",\
8Ducks say "quack",\
9And fish go "blub",\
10And the seal goes "ow ow ow",\
11But there's one sound,\
12That no one knows,\
13What does the fox say?''
14-->"The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)"
15
16A Norwegian music/comedy duo, consisting of brothers Bård and Vegard Ylvisåker. Internationally, they are most famous for their hit single "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)" which went viral on Platform/YouTube after being created for the talk show they host in Norway.
17
18This show, ''I kveld med Ylvis'' (''Tonight with Ylvis'') is currently in its fourth season on the Norwegian channel [=TVNorge=]. In addition to the Ylvis brothers, the show also features comedians Magnus Devold and Calle Hellevang-Larsen. (In the second season, Calle was temporarily replaced by Swedish comedian David Batra due to conflicting obligations to his other comedy group, Raske Menn.) As well as songs and guest interviews, the show includes sketches and pranks like:
19* Radio Taxi: Bård and Vegard improvise personalized songs to scare unsuspecting taxi passengers.
20* Kan dettes brukes som vannskis? (Can these be used as water skis?): ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin
21* Hyss i Småland (Pranks in Småland): they dress up as 19th century farmers and play pranks.
22* Dagens Spørsmål (Today's Question) and Tid for Hobby (Time for Hobbies): these how-to style segments are filmed in a room that's on the [[{{Slapstick}} back of a truck driving in circles.]]
23* Trapped in IKEA: false walls and actors are used to make people lose their way in IKEA
24* The Intelevator: Bård and Vegard pretend to be an voice-activated elevator.
25* Big in Kirgisistan: for which they attempted to become pop stars in Kyrgyzstan.
26
27Besides ''I kveld med Ylvis,'' the Ylvisåker brothers have also hosted the program ''Norges herligeste'' (''Norway's Most Wonderful''), in which they visited unusual people around Norway. They also had a radio show called ''O-fag'' (in Norwegian, ''fag'' means "school subject") and did several live shows before they made it onto TV.
28
29Ylvis has recorded several other songs in English besides "The Fox," including their ode to the American bay state "Massachusetts," the 80s rock ballad parody "Stonehenge," the romantic "Someone Like Me," and the hip-hop parody "Pressure." Additionally, many of their sketches and segments have been subtitled in English and posted on [=TVNorge's=] [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfNe3nGQENtO8DIqhGtAiOEB1KY6fG0Sz YouTube channel.]]
30
31----
32!!Tropes present in their work:
33
34* ADayInTheLimelight: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbyzgeee2mg "Stonehenge"]] is sung by Vegard alone.
35* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In the two choruses in ''The Fox'', various ridiculous sounds are proposed for what sound foxes make. However, the last proposed sound before the coda is the most reasonable for an animal with the build of a fox: a howl. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in the coda, where a fox appears and makes ridiculous vocalizations.
36* AwardBaitSong: Parodied in "Someone Like Me", which alternates between a Disney-style romance ballad and a dubstep breakdown.
37* BigLittleBrother: Vegard is the older one but also the shorter one.
38* BirdsOfAFeather: The singers of "Someone Like Me" bond over their mutual love of dubstep.
39* BroadcastLive: ''I kveld med Ylvis,'' starting in the fourth season.
40* ButHeSoundsHandsome: Vegard once gave an interview while impersonating Josh Groban. He baited the interviewer into bringing up Ylvis and then mentioned how hilarious they were.
41* ButtMonkey: Magnus plays this role on ''I kveld med Ylvis.''
42* ChildhoodFriend: The Ylvis brothers knew Calle from when they were all young and living in Bergen.
43* CloudCuckooLander: Calle plays this up, acting as the "crazy one" who can react with explosive emotions to mundane questions or expose himself in front of celebrities with a completely straight face, as needed.
44* ClusterFBomb:
45** Calle once made a "travel segment" in which we went to New York and asked locals for tips, all while swearing profusely. Because, as he claims, in order to sound like a real American you've got to swear.
46** Among their English songs is a little ditty known as "You're Fucked", where the F-word is sung in almost every line.
47* CoolButStupid: Of "The Fox", one of the brothers said, "even though people find it interesting, it's still a stupid fox song, and when people start to get over this, it gets even worse, because it is so stupid."
48* {{Defictionalisation}}: Done preemptively for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEXcVvxmV3s "Trucker's Hitch"]].
49* FlairBartending: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbTaoUvNPF0 This]] episode of Tid For Hobby.
50* GratuitousEnglish: They sometimes lapse into English for effect on their show. And of course many of their songs are in English, though this is not necessarily gratuitous however, as most Norwegians understand and speak English quite well.
51* GospelChoirsAreJustBetter: In the music video to "Massachusetts"
52* GratuitousRussian: Despite neither brother speaking Russian, they recorded a whole song in Russian with the help of some Kyrgyz producers as part of their mission to get big in Kyrgyzstan.
53* {{Improv}}: Bård and Vegard are able to improvise songs together, and use this ability on their show to ambush people in taxis or on the street with personalized songs.
54* LargeHam: Calle.
55* LegacyCharacter: The name of Mr. Toot is used by whoever has the toot.
56* MessyHair: Calle. Dear lord.
57* MovingBuildings: The show ''I kveld med Ylvis'' [[labelnote:translation]]''Tonight with Ylvis''[[/labelnote]] had two segments ''Dagens Spørsmål'' [[labelnote:translation]]''Today's Question''[[/labelnote]] and ''Tid for Hobby'' [[labelnote:translation]]''Time for Hobbies''[[/labelnote]] apparently set in one of these [[note]]they're actually inside the back of a moving truck disguised as a building interior, as shown at the end of one of the episodes[[/note]]. They show [[MundaneMadeAwesome mundane tasks being preformed]] (such as setting up a tent and hammock, or replacing a light in a chandelier) whilst [[{{Slapstick}} constantly losing balance and being tossed about]] as the room they're in swerves and shifts about, and not acknowledging the inexplicable motion at any point. HilarityEnsues.
58* MetalScream: "Jan Egeland" contains a truly epic one, type 4: "He's a macho muscle-pumping crying god!"
59* MundaneMadeAwesome: Many of their songs run on this - Massachusetts, Trucker's Hitch, Jan Egeland...
60* NakedPeopleAreFunny: They have a segment called "Calle Bader" (Calle Bathes) in which all the humor is derived from Calle washing, completely naked, in some public area like a fountain or aquarium.
61* PainfulRhyme: PlayedForLaughs in "Stonehenge":
62---> How did they raise the stones so high\
63Completely without [[AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle THE]] technolo-gye\
64We have to-dye?
65* PaperThinDisguise: Vegard looks very similar to Josh Groban, so when Josh Groban came to Oslo, Vegard attempted to impersonate him and check into a hotel, make it through an interview, and enter Oslo Spektrum without anyone realizing who he really was. He nearly succeeded, too, only getting caught just as he was about to enter Groban's backstage room -- even though his disguise was essentially just [[WigDressAccent wearing a hat and speaking English.]]
66* PrecisionFStrike: "Who the fuck builds a Stonehenge?!?"
67* RiddleForTheAges: What does the fox say? What is the meaning of Stonehenge? The questions remain unanswered in the songs.
68* RunningGag: Vegard's supposed Turkish ancestry, Calle being kicked out of the studio while guests visit, Magnus's status as the resident ButtMonkey.
69* SeriousBusiness: The eponymous monument keeps the protagonist of "Stonehenge" up all night and distracts him during sex, among other things.
70* SiblingTeam: Bård and Vegard.
71* SiblingYinYang: They play this up a bit, with Vegard as the nicer, dorkier brother and Bård as the cooler and more strong-willed one. Their appearances also contrast, since Bård's got straight blonde hair and blue eyes while Vegard has curly black hair and brown eyes.
72* SillyAnimalSound: "The Fox" is largely about coming up with silly suggestions for what the fox sounds like.
73* SongParody: The song "Jeg Heter Finn" (My Name Is Finn) is a parody of the Ting Ting's "That's Not My Name."
74* SpringtimeForHitler: They had done a favour for production team Stargate, and in return asked that Stargate produce "The Fox" to promote the new season of Ylvis' TV talk show ''I kveld med YLVIS''. The song very quickly caught on and ended up being immensely successful on the charts instead of staying the joke Ylvis had originally created.
75* SwitchToEnglish: Frequently, thanks to the high level of English proficiency in Norway and especially since the success of "The Fox" gained them international fans. They've had English-speaking guests on the show before and used English to communicate while they were in Kyrgyzstan and Tanzania.
76* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: For some reason, both brothers can keep their eyes open without blinking for a really long time, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l3yhEZX93s which placed them first and second]] on a task in ''Kongen befaler'', the Norwegian edition of ''Series/{{Taskmaster}}''. Note, that's ''keep'' open, not ''hold'' open. Vegard stopped after 37 minutes due to having something better to do, while Bård kept going for ''2 hours and 47 minutes'', also of his own accord.[[note]]Maria Stavang, also from Bergen, has the same skill, but gave up earlier. Must be something in the water.[[/note]]
77* TwoMenOneDress: Literally the title of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOKBsJ1h52s these]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBh4I1BqwfM sketches.]] They take it a step further with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbZquVm8EYk two men in one survival suit.]]
78* TheUnfavourite: There are actually ''three'' Ylvisåker brothers -- Bård and Vegard have a younger brother, Bjarte. The fact that he's excluded from his brothers' comedy team is parodied in the song I Will Never Be A Star, which he unexpectedly [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome sang in front of a massive crowd in Oslo Spektrum]] at the opening of Ylvis's concert tour.
79* TheUnpronounceable: The name Ylvis gets mispronounced a lot by foreigners, understandably so since English doesn't have the sound that Y makes in Norwegian. (The closest approximation is ILL-vis.)
80* VocalTagTeam: Bård and Vegard in several songs. Sometimes Calle joins in as well (e.g. in Massachusetts.)
81* VomitIndiscretionShot: Both Bård and Vegard when they get incredibly drunk and make dinner in a parody of a Norwegian cooking show.

Top