Ylvis Talk About Why ‘Success Is Not Funny At All’

Spin has a cool interview with Norwegian comedians and brothers Bard and Vegard Ylvisaker, who created the viral video “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” under their stage name Ylvis. While they’ve gotten themselves a chart hit in the US and an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, the duo are more concerned with how their success in America isn’t providing material for their still-running Norwegian talk show, I kveld med Ylvis (Tonight with Ylvis).

Bard: We have stupid lives right now.Must be good material for your show though, right?Bard: Not as much as we’d hope. From a comedy perspective, it’s not funny. Success is not funny at all.Vegard: In our show last season, we went to Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia and tried to become pop stars there. The idea was that we’d never become pop stars in the U.S. or England, so we chose another country where it would be easier. We did all kinds of stupid things: performed at weddings. The whole humor is that we didn’t succeed and had lots of obstacles. The obstacles generated the comedy. Then suddenly we’re on this trip to America, the place people want to go, and there’s no obstacles. Every doorway is open … and there’s no comedy.Bard: It’s disgusting.Vegard: It’s cocky and disgusting.

If you’ve missed the Ylvis sensation, you can check out the video below, which is currently nearing 125 million YouTube hits.

Ylvis Talk About Why ‘Success Is Not Funny At All’