Wisecrack
Wisecrack (accessed: July 5, 2018) is a Los Angeles-based collective of academics, comedians and artists – they create YouTube shows where famous books, films, philosophical works and concepts are commented in an amusing way, with the use of narrative means that are untypical for “higher” knowledge, such as old computer games’ visual manner or hip-hop discourse. The main target of Wisecrack’s content are young adults and people interested in popular culture. The collective’s members often underline that their films are enthusiastically used by teachers and admired by students. This relates especially to Wisecrack’s oldest and most popular series – Thug Notes – where classical literary pieces are interpreted by a character called Sparky Sweets PhD. Played by the African American comedian Greg Edwards, Sparky uses non-academic language, largely inspired by African American Vernacular English, hip-hop culture, colloquial phrases and obscenities.
Sparky speaks to the audience from a study room with elegant armchairs, a vintage lamp and shelves full of books. In contrast, his typical outfit consists of a hoodie/T-shirts, sneakers, and a golden chain. Occasionally, he adds some props relating to the literary piece under discussion (e.g. a golden wreath while speaking of Julius Caesar, and a T-shirt with the word MOM framed in heart while speaking of Oedipus). His words are illustrated with animations presenting the main characters of the discussed books.
Source:
Twitter profile (accessed: July 5, 2018).
Prepared by Joanna Kłos, University of Warsaw, joanna.klos@student.uw.edu.pl
Records in database:
- TED-Ed Lessons Worth Sharing, Series The Big Questions: What Aristotle and Joshua Bell Can Teach Us about Persuasion / Plato's Allegory of the Cave / Plato's Best (and Worst) Ideas /The Philosophy of Stoicism /
- Thug Notes (series): Homer’s Odyssey / Dante’s Inferno / Oedipus The King / Julius Caesar by Shakespeare
