You know what time it is forum, it's time for the Comment Question of the day. So I want you to describe Equals Three here. Leave your interesting or creative responses in the comments section below.Equals Three (=3) is a YouTube series hosted by Ray William Johnson, who reviews viral videos he finds or are sent to him. Three videos are shown and a question submitted via video is posed for the commenters to respond to in the comments section. New videos are posted every Tuesday and Friday. Currently the most subscribed channel on YouTube.He also releases songs and videos under the account name Your Favorite Martian (project has been retired at the moment but all videos can still be viewed).It has a Spin-Off in Spanish: Igual a tres, hosted by Pedro Flores.Not to be confused with :3.
This series provides examples of:
Acting for Two: A second character known only as the Troll shows up sometimes...trolling.
In fall 2012, he took a break from the show to record a Your Favorite Martian album, and many different guests hosts appeared. One of them was freakin' Kevin Smith. Another was the RZA.
"I'm Ray William Johnson, and I approve this message!"
"Fake and gay!"
"Falso y maricon!"
In recent episodes, he maims the Google+ logo.
Continuity Nod: Ray sometimes references videos that he reviewed in past episodes.
In the episode "YOUTUBE FAMOUS! - Ray William Johnson - Equals Three =3", he reviews a video called "Michel & Sven - Der Trampolintrick - Teil 5 / The trick with a trampoline". He points out that the kids in the video are the same kids that were in the video called "Michel & Sven - Der Tischdeckentrick - Teil 4 / The Table Cloth Magic Trick (Original)" that he reviewed in the episode "THUG GUMBY".
In the episode "REDNECK DAD", he reviews a video of Corgi puppies running. He says that he reviewed a video exactly like it a couple of years ago. He reviewed said very similar video in the episode "Epic Boyfriend FAIL".
Running Gag: Several: Your Mom, Ray's non-existent social/sexual life or lame jokes, PedoBear, the Troll or any number of viral video-derived audacities, including something about 2 angry camels in a tiny car.
Russian virals seem to be the most fun and unsafe-looking of late.
Gabriel Iglesias himself admitted he can't host an episode without a Russian video.
He's also taken to assaulting Google+ when he says where you can leave your comments.
Self-Deprecation: A part of his style which comes into play quite a lot.
Sound Effect Bleep / This Trope is [BLEEP]: He tends not to curse in the videos, but does so in his personal vlog (BreakingNYC). He justified it in a vlog by saying he wants to keep the series kid-friendly.
This video, "Indian Action" has an uncensored f-bomb, perhaps a first for Ray?
He leaves uncensored Fluorine bombs in "Thug Gumby" and "Broken Goat", as well as the word itself appearing on screen in "Jesus Dance".
Stay in the Kitchen: Some of the jokes he makes are blatantly sexist. He always apologizes though.
This Loser Is You: A character labelled "You" occasionally appears. "You" say a lot of very stupid things.
Art Evolution: The video for Whip Yo Kids and the videos onward have much better animation and art than the previous music videos.
Ascended Extra: Benatar went from being the band's silent guitarist to getting as much singing time as Puff himself, singing more than Puff in Friend Zone, Complicated, Jupiter, Somebody That I Used to Know, and Bartender Song. According to Ray himself, Axel is expected to be singing at some point as well.
Band Toon: Your Favorite Martian: The Series is now being run on YouTube. The series is a parody of more traditional band toons, only with a lot more sexual jokes and NSFW language.
Bigger Is Better: My Balls is a song where Puff brags that his balls can win back his ex-girlfriend (the person he's singing to)
Blinding Bangs: The entire backup.note Although fanart depicts Benatar as having Peek-A-Bangs. Even DeeJay with his Funny Afro. Although we see his eyes starting in Transphobic Techno.
Call Back: Tig Ol' Bitties makes a reference to My Balls. "Like my balls—real big!"
And in Whip Yo Kids, a call back even further, to the very first song his earlier band, Fatty Spins, put on youtube note This song was used in Ray's old show, Capitol Hill Gangsta, as well as for much of the early =3 episodes titled "Doin' Your Mom".:
Continuity Nod: In Grandma Got a Facebook, all of the people that Puff's Grandma friends are from Club Villain and The Stereotypes Song.
Also Mr. Douchebag, who also shows up in Friend Zone and Just A Friend.
In Robot Bar Fight, the Terminator does a dance we first saw on Mr. Douchebag.
In the remix for the Mike Posner song She Looks Like Sex, among the ugly woman in the place is Oprah and a fat trucker from Epileptic Techno and the Wet-Dog-headed girl from Dookie Fresh.
Cover Version: Of one of the ending themes to Equals Three, Stalkin' Your Mom. They will also only be doing covers until their album comes out in January. So far, they've done:
Dan Browned: Scottish people are not really stereotyped for humping sheep.
Darker and Edgier: Puff lets out his inner Eminem during the verses of "Alien," which is itself about bullying and isolation. Now, compare that to a song like "Booty Store..."
"Text Me Back" is a pretty dark song, but just listen to it without watching the video to see how much darker it becomes.
A Day in the Limelight: "Transphobic Techno" is one for DeeJay- no one else in the band makes an appearance.
Deconstruction: Transphobic Techno seems to offer a suggestion to why club music repeats the same words over and over again.
Demoted to Extra: DeeJay went from being the second singer behind Puff and actually having his own song to mixing beats while Benatar took his place.
Hurricane of Puns: Bottles of Beer has named 29 different beer brands in the lyrics.
Hypocritical Humor: In Fight to Win, both Puff and guest rapper DeStorm claim that fighting games like Mortal Kombat don't make them violent. They then proceed to kick each other's asses over the last nacho.
Mood Dissonance: For no obvious reason, the girl in Tig Ol' Bitties smiles after she gets yelled at by Puff (who is referred to as Your Favorite Martian in the song); she was faking sadness.
Mood Whiplash: "Alien" is not a comedic song at all, it's an anti-bullying song.
Friend Zone and Complicated are pretty straight love songs with very little comedy.
Take Over the World is less comedic, more reminding you that there are greater opportunities out there for you.
Hell, all but four songs since Friend Zone have been serious (not counting covers).
Mushroom Samba: Orphan Tears is a song describing the effect of the titluar drug on Puff, DeeJay, and special guest Wax. Needless to say, it's extremely trippy.
The sole annotation in The Stereotypes Song says "Yes, the Scottish are known for humping sheep. Google it before you start arguing with me about it. :)"
Referring to The Unofficial Smithers Love Song: "Yes, that familiar progression you're hearing is Pachelbel's Canon in E. It's commonly used as a wedding song. Get it? :)"
Something Completely Different: Compared to a lot of their other work, Alien is a lot less funny and a lot more serious.
Same goes for Friend Zone and Complicated. Friend Zone has the occasional sight gag and one or two amusing lines, but Complicated has neither - both are songs about unrequited love.
Same also goes for Take Over the World. Like Friend Zone, it has one or two sight gags and amusing lines, but it's mainly about being stuck a job you hate and dreaming about chasing your own goals.
And a lot of the major world countries in The Stereotypes Song, though he was just joking.
Troll: A real world example. Ray takes time off from his other projects to work on recording a YFM album only to disband the group a month before the release.
Yandere: Text Me Back is possibly one of the most prominent example of this trope ever.
Puff: "I had a dream that I killed you. I'm not certain what it means. I didn't say that I would do it. I said it was a dream. Anger is the lone emotion flowing through my veins. Knowing you, I may spend the night going through some pain. Call me insane, call me obsessed, the fact remains, I'll rage unless you text me back"
Your Favorite Martian: The Series Provides Examples of:
Only Sane Man: Benatar (He's a down-to-earth kind of guy and is the only one without any weird quirks.)
The Smart Guy: DeeJay (He's sort of like the "brains" of the band.)
The Pervert: Axel (Come on, guys. He was turned on by G.I.A., for pete's sake!)
The Butt Monkey: Puff (He does all the crazy stuff and he's like the most iconic guy from the band.)
Joisey: The setting of Episode 1 Brock's hometown.
Loony Fan: Wilton, from episode #5 of YFMTS. (Wilton is the guy from Nerd Rage)
Mean Character, Nice Actor: Brock might be portrayed as a jerk in the music videos, but in the web series, he's friends with the band. He's also their security guard according to Puff.
Opposite-Sex Clone: DeeJay and DeeJane (YFMTS Episode #9). To describe DeeJane, she's DeeJay as a girl.
Shout Out: Being a show based off of Ray's band, it's gonna have these:
Brock, who is the title character in "Mr. Douchebag", appears in "Douchebagged."
Slutty McButtsex appears in the episodes "Die for Rock and Roll" and "G.I.A/G.P.S"
Tig, the girl from "Tig Ol' Bitties", appears with her niece Tara in "Bad Seed".
She later appears in Puff's OBE in "ISO Tank" while he's trying to come up with a song about her. The end result? None other than "Tig Ol' Bitties"
Wilton, the nerd from "Nerd Rage", appears in "#1 Fan"
Spoiled Brat: Tara from episode #4 of YFMTS. Enough said.
You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry: YFMTS Episode #8 "ROAD RAGE" lampshades that Puff has major anger issues. A couple of "Yo Grandma" jokes, a shrinkage of his hoodie and a simple squirrel dance gets him flared up. I don't blame him over having to DRESS UP as a squirrel, though.
"I'm Ray William Johnson, and I approve this trope!"
(=3) is a YouTube series hosted by Ray William Johnson, who reviews viral videos he finds or are sent to him. Three videos are shown and a question submitted via video is posed for the commenters to respond to in the comments section. New videos are posted every Tuesday and Friday. Currently the most subscribed channel
3 reviews