Bringing something to the point of absurdity is a classic humorous technique that allows you to achieve really outstanding results. For example, the cult British comedy troupe Monty Python gained much of its popularity thanks to grotesque videos that look incredibly funny, even today, half a century after their first publication.
But there are always situations when this method does not work at all. Or it works on absolutely everyone except for the target person to whom the video was actually addressed. Well, modern medicine has learned to more or less effectively treat almost all diseases, except for the pathological lack of a sense of humor.
For example, as happened in this story, which is described in a post in the Malicious Compliance Reddit community. As of today, the original post has garnered over 12.7K upvotes and over 850 diverse comments, and the video the Original Poster links to is actually pretty funny.
More info: Reddit
The Original Poster and her husband used to be comedians and the wife tried to find a new job
Image credits: ACouleOfN3erds
So, the Original Poster, called Casey, and her husband Adam, used to be standuppers, but about eight years ago Casey had a nervous breakdown, after which she began to gradually recover. Adam supported his wife in every possible way and worked three jobs to provide their family with everything they needed, so at some point, the couple decided that she needed to dip her toe back into daily life.
Image credits: u/itchyspiderbutthole
One of the jobs Casey was interested in was the position of a sales assistant in a small clothing store
Casey started looking for a less stressful job. One of the vacancies that the woman liked was the position of a sales assistant in a small cozy clothing store. But in fact, apparently, the store owner perceived her business as a huge international corporation...
Image credits: u/itchyspiderbutthole
After Casey sent her CV and wrote an essay, the shop owner asked her to make a video resume as well
After Casey submitted her CV, she was asked to write an essay about why she wanted to work at that store. The applicant was a little surprised, but she wrote one and sent it anyway, although she considered such a requirement a bit strange. However, the strangest thing was yet to come.
The next task from the employer was to record a video resume to show that she and she alone deserved to take this position. "To make minimum wage. At a small clothing store," Casey notes ironically.
Image credits: u/itchyspiderbutthole
Now the woman was in the mood for a joke - so she and her husband took their old camera, chromakey and lighting and recorded a completely grotesque and incredibly funny video where Casey lists her "incredible skills" that should definitely help her in the process of working as a salesperson: for example, impeccable sense of style, hangers, and the fact that she doesn't steal at work.
Image credits: u/itchyspiderbutthole
Casey and her husband Adam made a grotesque, ridiculous video just to have some fun
"It was a team effort. When I first received her request for a video resume, I got really down as it had been the third job I applied for in the area that had crazy hoops to jump through," says Casey, with whom Bored Panda got in touch for an interview. "Adam told me 'Just forget it, she’s clearly going to be awful to work with.' That's when I decided, hell, why not do the video as a means of venting out my frustration with all these ridiculous expectations from retail gigs?"
Video credits: ACoupleOfN3rds
"Including set up, filming, and editing, the total amount of time was probably 6 hours. Set up one hour, filming one hour, and editing for 4. There was no script, we improvised and it was actually one of our favorite videos to make because it was so completely off the cuff", explains Casey.
Image credits: u/itchyspiderbutthole
The shop owner, however, took it seriously and wrote a whole letter explaining why the video didn't present Casey "in a professional light"
However, the prospective employer did not appreciate the humor of the video - she wrote in all seriousness that she could not hire Casey, because in that video, she did not present herself in a professional light.
"I think she thought I was trying to be funny to win her over, which is why she sent me a condescending rejection letter," Casey says. So she wrote back that she had just made a funny video because initially, it was not clear whether the store owner was joking or not.
Image credits: u/itchyspiderbutthole
The employer invited her for an interview, but this time Casey herself refused, suggesting that this job was definitely not for her, and at the same time thanking her for the reason for creating a rather viral video. We must say that the video became very popular in the community where they lived, so the store owner even briefly closed it to avoid numerous jokes from people in the town.
Image credits: u/itchyspiderbutthole
Now, eight years later, Casey admits that she couldn't find a job so they decided to start their own business
"Every job I got after that was extremely stressful and I essentially had to just force myself to find calm in spite of toxic workplaces," Casey tells us what happened to her family next. "In the end, the only way I could have a healthy business life was starting my own. Now I run trivia shows in Buffalo, before that I ran shows in the Bay Area. I’m very fortunate to have a partner that made it possible for me to do that!"
Image credits: ACouleOfN3erds
"My husband and I were stand up comics when we met. Most of our creative stuff is just developed by us goofing around together! But my husband is also an amazing puppeteer and artist. He built all the puppets for Animaltrash and is currently working on his first graphic novel," tells Casey. "Adam actually used to teach joke structure and developed his own comedy theory! There’s an episode about it on our podcast "A Couple of N3rds: Come Play With Us".
Most of the people in the comments totally admired Casey and Adam's comical masterpiece
The people in the comments, by the way, were completely in awe of the couple's creativity, and they definitely liked the video. Many commenters wrote that if they were the owner of the store, they would definitely hire Casey. Overall, according to most people, the spouses did a great job.
Also, people in the comments believe that Casey and her husband's wonderful sense of humor must have helped her in her recovery process, and that really came true.
"Our big focus right now is getting our comedy trivia shows back up and running! Our business had to shut down due to COVID which was devastating, but now we are starting over again in Buffalo and we’re so excited to be here and grateful to have the opportunity to do what we love again!" notes Casey.
We are sure that you also enjoyed the video made by Casey and Adam, so please write your opinion in the comments. And if you too have experienced a similar situation when applying for a job, be sure to tell your own story and we hope it will be half as entertaining as this one.