Remember “BBC Dad,” the college professor whose TV interview about South Korea was interrupted when his children came into the room? There’s no way any viral video could be better than that, right?
Wrong, Say hello to Tadhg and Derry Fleming. The Irish father and son have become an internet sensation in the last day because of their comic inability to get a bat out of their kitchen.
The clip has gone viral in the last day, with over 1.3 million views on Facebook. It’s also been retweeted over 100,000 times.
But what exactly makes this video so funny, and primed for virality? Let’s count the ways.
First there’s the oft-repeated phrase “Catch him, Derry.” After watching this video more times than I care to admit, those three words are burrowed in my brain. And it seems I’m not alone—the hashtag #catchhimderry even briefly trended on Twitter yesterday.
Then there’s Derry’s childlike wonder at the fact that a bat got into his house in the first place—when the video starts he keeps repeating “There’s a bat, look at the bat.” This initial surprise makes his failure to actually catch the bat even funnier—he just keeps swapping out bigger towels until he succeeds.
That doesn’t stop Tadhg from cheering his dad on, however. Arguably the funniest part of the clip is his encouragement of Derry with platitudes like “You’re doing great” and “nearly got him that time” (when Derry was nowhere close to getting him). And in classic Irish fashion, every time Derry misses, Tadhg yells “Fuck it.”
As the video goes on, Tadhg gets even more motivated, telling Derry the bat’s “making a mockery out of you, boy.” He also compares the animal to Conor McGregor because “he’s got no legs left.”
We can’t forget the people cheering Derry on from the sidelines, starting with his wife Maureen. She lurks behind the doorway throughout the whole video, ignoring her son’s pleas to “get out.” She may not want to help, but she can’t look away from the spectacle. And Tadhg’s close-up on his mother is probably the clip’s scariest moment.
And then there’s the family dog. Scared by all the bat action, in the middle of the video he lifts his leg and urinates on the floor. It wouldn’t be noticeable if not for Tadhg yelling “The dog’s pissing!”
By the end of the two-minute clip, Derry has caught the bat and released him outdoors. And (despite Tadhg’s protests) the dog is sent out there with it, as punishment for his peeing.
Well, the pup can take comfort in the fact that he just starred in the funniest viral video ever made. Take a bow, Tadhg and Derry—BBC Dad’s got nothing on you guys.
