Unless You're the Mongols

We may be more ready to laugh when in a group, but that does not prevent each of us from laughing while alone. Although I may find some things funny, I am not terribly prone to large outbursts of laughter, so it came as a surprise that a series of Youtube videos that were able to provide me knowledge and laughter and equal measures. The CrashCourse series Crash Course in World History manages to provide me with the pertinent facts of world history in easy-to-digest 10-12 minute videos. Directed by Stan , hosted by John Green, and animated by Thought Bubble, each video contains a number of time-honored humor traditions.

Each video follows a certain format which happen to contain a fair number of running gags. “Me From the Past” makes repeated interruptions, and is summarily talked down by “Me From the Present.” Somewhere in the video “My High School Ex-Girlfriend can usually be found (as a Thought Bubble character). The “Open Letter” segment with its overly ornate chair allows John his thirty seconds to rant about some item of history, and the “Secret Compartment” segment with its faux fireplace provides an applicable (or not so applicable) tie-in item to the episode. Finally, there is the running gag, “Except for the Mongols,” which features the one civilization that broke a fair number of the polite civilization norms.

Although we rarely hear him speak, Stan, the show's producer, makes his influence known throughout the series, supposedly ruining John Green's fun, such as aspiring to being a professor of the Dark Arts, as opposed to the (rather similar) Liberal Arts. Once in a while, an appendage of a crew member may be seen; oftentimes they are appropriately labeled as well.

The entire series abounds with pop-culture references. Episode 22 (covering the Renaissance) begins with an exposition centered around the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A Thought Bubble character bearing a striking resemblance to Harry Potter makes repeated appearances throughout the videos. John points out the similarities between Ivan the Terrible's secret police force and the Nazgul.

Although I already like learning about history, the production team's witty presentation make each video full of quirks and good times, providing a method that makes learning history enjoyable.