April Cools' Club

April 2, 2022 6:07 AM

The idea is pretty simple: on April Fools' Day (also known as “April 1st”), a participant produces genuine content that's very different from their normal produced content. It could be a different format, a different topic, a different style, anything. The constraints are:

1. It is something they normally wouldn't do.
2. It is totally genuine: no irony to it.
3. It is up to their usual standards of quality.

posted by kmt (4 comments total)

New Strong Bad email is all three!
posted by straight at 10:15 AM on April 2, 2022 [3 favorites]

This reminds me of the Watch It Played youtube channel a couple years ago. Normally they make rules explanation videos for modern hobby board games. On April 1, they released a how-to-play video for Monopoly. As the creator explained in the comments:

[…] In part, that's why I released this on April 1st. I wanted to create a proper tutorial for Monopoly, a game that is quite frequently played wrong, but I also needed to give some of my core audience an excuse not to fill the comments with "this game is trash, why would you ever cover it?". For that portion of my audience, they now have an excuse: "ah, it's an April Fools joke!" - for everyone else, and for folks like you, you hopefully get to enjoy a well presented tutorial about a classic game that introduced many of us to the hobby we now enjoy.

I hoped to have a little fun with my core audience who wouldn't expect a video like this (for reasons I appreciate), but I also wanted to do a legit tutorial for a classic game.

posted by Lirp at 10:42 AM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

Machine Shop Beginner Series Episode 1 | Making Espresso: "Today we're starting a new series on basic machine shop skills for beginners, and we're going to start all the way back at the beginning: making espresso. Without it, the work doesn't get done, or it doesn't get done safely."
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 11:04 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

The YouTube channel Chinese Cooking Demystified has done these for the last couple years. This year, they did a recipe for Chinese “New Orleans” chicken wings, and last year they made Taco Bell jianbing. Great channel, and even the goofy videos offer a cool look into China’s modern food culture.
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:47 AM on April 3, 2022 [3 favorites]