upworthy
Joy

Nate Bargatze plays a deadpan angel in Christmas-themed nativity scene sketch

"How can I feel entertained, saddened and find this to be funny at the same time?" one viewer commented.

nate bargatze, nate bargatze christmas special
CBS/Youtube

Heavenly good comedy.

Comedian Nate Bargatze has tickled Saturday Night Live audiences not once, but twice with his hilariously deadpan portrayals of George Washington as he inadvertently pokes fun at America’s little quirks—like our headscratcher of a measuring system and “doing our own thing with the English language.”

As part of his Nashville Christmas special for CBS, Bargatze channeled this same dry wit as he recreated a Christmas staple—the nativity scene. Playing Gabriel the angel—complete with a platinum blonde curl wig and massive feathered wings—Bargatze explained modern-day Christmas traditions to confused but reverent Joseph and Mary, played by SNL cast members Ashley Padilla and Mikey Day (who wrote the scene, as well as SNL’s George Washington sketches).

Bargatze pokes fun at everything from Christmas trees aka “big pine trees” decorated with "garbage that your kids made at school” for who knows why, to the incredibly unbalanced ratio of “boring” Jesus songs to songs “about snow and snow-related activities,” to the real star of all Christmas celebrations not being Jesus at all…but Santa. According to Gabriel’s summation, Christmas is really “90/10” in favor of Santa. Honestly, where's the lie?

But the funniest bit arguably comes at the end when Joseph proclaims that "Christmas day will forever be celebrated by all the faithful Jewish people," which draws immediate laughter from the audience. Skirting the issue, Gabriel simply replies, "I'm gonna take off. Merry Christmas, y'all."

Watch:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Yep, hitting the nail on the head in so many delightful ways, right? And while it's easy to see how a sketch like this could easily become controversial in the blink of an eye, Bargatze has managed to do what few modern-day comedians can accomplish—create comedy that's funny without offending anyone. His material is famously unpolitical, doesn't use curse words, and doesn't hide behind a mask of surliness that's customary of many of his contemporaries. It's an approach the clearly works, given his pretty fast rise to fame, and apparently makes potentially sensitive subjects—like religion—easier to tackle.

Down in the comments, people had nothing but praise.

“How can I feel entertained, saddened and find this to be funny as well, all at the same time?”

“Funniest things I’ve seen in years. I’m usually a ‘quiet appreciator’ of comedy but this makes me laugh out loud.”

“A Nate Bargatze Nativity Scene is the funniest Christmas GIFT this year! Love you dude!!”

"These are the most unique and fresh comedy skits [I've seen] in a long time."

“Ahhhhh…this just made my whole year!! (As I sit here looking at a pine tree adorned with used popsicle sticks, tabs from soda cans tied together with yarn, little brown paint handprints that… if you reaaallyyy use your imagination … look like Rudolf, and a few ‘unbroken’ glass balls held together with hot glue.) “

Fingers crossed that we have an Easter Bunny skit in our future, with Bargatze playing the title character.

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Subaru
Subaru
Joy

5 things that made us smile this week

People supporting thousands of local charities? Yes, please.

True


Good news—you know we love it. And we know you love it, too. Which is why we’ve searched the internet high and low for things guaranteed to brighten up your work week, such as:

This former cheerleader busting a movie

You're only as old as you feel—at least, that’s what Michigan woman Ilagene Doehring seems to think. Now 97, Doerhing was reminiscing about her time as a high school cheerleader 80 years ago at Merrill High School—a squad she helped create after noticing her school didn’t have one of their own. Caretakers at her nursing home reached out on social media to see if someone had an old uniform Doehring could wear one last time—and the current cheer coach at Merrill High School, Jena Glazer, went above and beyond. Glazier and the entire cheer team showed up to her assisted living facility to deliver the uniform and perform a cheer with the current team.

This company's way to support hometown charities

The annual Subaru Share the Love® Event is a chance to help local communities in a big way. Subaru and its retailers will donate at least $300 to local charities for every new Subaru purchased or leased through January 2nd, 2025—and by the end of 2024 (their 17th year of hosting this event), they’ll have donated nearly $320 million to charities across the nation. We love seeing local communities getting the support they deserve!

This mom’s “magic answer” to her kid’s Tooth Fairy and Santa questions

Most parents dread the moment when their kids start asking about mythical creatures like the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus—but it turns out you can preserve the magic of childhood while also being honest with your kids. TikTok creator KC Davis, who is also a licensed therapist, showed this perfectly when she shared about the time her 4-year-old asked if the tooth fairy was real. She asked them “Do you want the magic answer, or the grownup answer?” Utter perfection. (Her daughter chose the magic answer, by the way.)

This guy who drove 11 hours to be with his grandma

@jodiegarner12 @TheModernGolfer drove 11.5 hours to surprise his queen as it was her late husband’s birthday today. Never forgotten and will always look after his grandmother ❤️🌹#loyalty #family @Rosalie Gessey ♬ These Memories - Hollow Coves

Holidays can be painful when you’re dealing with the loss of a loved one. Which is why on the anniversary of his late grandfather’s birthday, professional golfer Jordie Garner drove eleven hours to spend time with his grandmother so she wouldn’t have to be alone. This adorable video shows Jordie showing up to surprise his grandmother, with flowers and a present in hand. Now that’s true love.

This mom's sweet "I love you" surprise

@goodnewscorrespondent

Daughter is surprised when her mom, who is non-verbal with Alzheimers, replies I LOVE YOU! ❤️ As a daughter of a mom with ALZ, this had me in tears. 😭💞 Cherish these moments. @momolarks800

♬ original sound - Good News Correspondent

Tiktok user @momolarks80 caught an unexpected (and heartwarming) message when she filmed herself and her mother saying hello. Living with Alzheimer’s and mostly nonverbal, her mother surprised her with a rare “I love you”—to which the daughter responds by planting a kiss on her cheek. Talk about wholesome.

For more reasons to smile, check out all the ways Subaru is sharing the love this holiday season, here.

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Education

The one sign that someone is highly intelligent, according to literary genius Leo Tolstoy

He was a master of understanding the human condition.

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File:L.N.Tolstoy Prokudin-Gorsky.jpg - Wikipedia

Leo Tolstoy was a Russian novelist known for epic works such as"War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina.” His life experiences—from witnessing war to spiritual quests—profoundly influenced his writings and gave him profound insights into the human soul. His understanding of emotions, motivations and moral dilemmas has made his work stand the test of time, and it still resonates with people today.

Juan de Medeiros, a TikTokker who shares his thoughts on philosophy, recently shared how Tolstoy knew if someone was highly intelligent, and his observation says something extraordinary about humanity.

“The more intelligent a person is, the more he discovers kindness in others,” Tolstoy once wrote. “For nothing enriches the world more than kindness. It makes mysterious things clear, difficult things easy, and dull things cheerful.”

@julianphilosophy

Intelligent people are kind #intelligent #intelligence #kindness #smart #tolstoy #men #women

De Medeiros boiled down Tolstoy’s thoughts into a simple statement: “Intelligent people are unafraid to be kind.” He then took things a step further by noting that Tolstoy believed in the power of emotional intelligence. "To have emotional intelligence is to see the good in other people, that is what Tolstoy meant, that to be intelligent is to be kind," he added.

It seems that, according to de Medeiros, Tolstoy understood that intelligent people are kind and perceptive of the kindness in others. The intelligent person is conscious of the kindness within themselves and in the world around them.

Through the words of Tolstoy, de Medeiros makes a point that is often overlooked when people talk about intelligence. Truly smart people are as in touch with their hearts as they are with their minds.


This article originally appeared last year.

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Family

Wife says husband's last name is so awful she can't give it to her kids. Is she right?

"I totally get we can’t shield kids from everything, and I understand the whole family ties thing, but c’mon."

via Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels

A wife pleads with her husband to change their child's name.

Today, schools are much more concerned with protecting children from bullying than in the past but parents still have to be aware that kids will be kids, and having a child with a funny name is bound to cause them trouble.

A mother is concerned about her future children having her husband's unfortunate last name of “Butt,” so she turned to Reddit and asked the namenerds forum to help her convince him to let their future kids ditch the surname in favor of something less likely to be ridiculed.

"My husband’s last name is Butt. Can someone please help me illuminate to him why this last name is less than ideal,” she asked the forum. “I totally get we can’t shield kids from everything and I understand the whole family ties thing, but c'mon. Am I being unreasonable by suggesting our future kid either take my name, a hybrid, or a new one altogether?"

The posters on the forum overwhelmingly supported her.

"I can see hubby being a bit of a stickler because he wants to keep the family name, but I find it a bit baffling that he doesn’t get why it would be a concern,” user Babelight wrote. “If you have to club him over the head with it, indicate that for children/young persons hearing the name, they would equate it to someone’s last name being ‘Pooh,’ ‘Vaginah’ or ‘Peenis/Peniss.’”

Other posters noted that her opinion is just as valid as her husband’s when naming their child.

"You are absolutely not being unreasonable. Your husband's last name is objectively pretty awful, and of course, you don't want your child to have it. Also, even if it wasn't that bad, you would be still entitled to at least suggest that your child takes your last name since you are also going to be their parent,” SwordfishBrilliant40 wrote. “Also, he needs to think about his child, let's be honest, their life is going to be a lot easier with a ‘normal’/not bad’ last name."

Having a last name like Butt opens a child up to being bullied, which can lead to feelings of rejection, exclusion, isolation, diminished self-esteem and long-term mental health struggles, including depression and anxiety.

"I knew a kid named Zack Butt. Teased relentlessly. At every age," Kwam26 confirmed.

boy wearing blue button-up denim jacket sitting beside green fence

Bullying can cause lifelong damage.

Photo by Norbert Kundrak on Unsplash

There is also the practical problem of living in a digital world where algorithms often filter out names deemed offensive. This issue is known as the “Scunthorpe problem.” Back in the late ‘90s, people from the town of Scunthorpe in the UK couldn’t sign up on AOL because a filter blocked out the name due to the offensive term that sits in the middle of it.

The husband is proud of his family heritage and, possibly, of having learned to live with a name that would make most people chuckle. But it’s also understandable that his wife has a real problem bringing a child up in this world with a name that will make them the butt of jokes throughout their lives. With bullying objectively worse now than it was in the not-too-distant past thanks to social media, it makes sense for the mother to be as concerned as she is. Letting harsh words roll off one's back was easier without the Internet.

One wonders why this wasn’t discussed before the couple got married.


This article originally appeared two years ago.

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parenting
Humor

A guy created pictures of every president as a 'cool guy with a mullet' and they deliver

All 46 got a Dog the Bounty Hunter makeover.

via Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Commons and Wikimedia Commons

Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Joe Biden and Barack Obama all having a laugh.

Like it or not, we’ve recently entered the age of artificial intelligence, and although that may be scary for some, one guy in Florida thinks it’s a great way to make people laugh. Cam Harless, the host of The Mad Ones podcast, used AI to create portraits of every U.S. president looking “cool” with a mullet hairstyle, and the results are hilarious.

The mullet is a notorious hairdo known as the "business in the front, party in the back" look. It's believed that the term "mullet" was coined by the rap-punk-funk group Beastie Boys in 1994.

While cool is in the eye of the beholder, Harless seems to believe it means looking like a cross between Dog the Bounty Hunter and Kenny Powers from “Eastbound and Down.”

Harless made the photos using Midjourney, an app that creates images from textual descriptions. "I love making AI art," Harless told Newsweek. "Often I think of a prompt, create the image and choose the one that makes me laugh the most to present on Twitter and have people try and guess my prompt."

"The idea of Biden with a mullet made me laugh, so I tried to make one with him and Trump together and that led to the whole list of presidents,” he continued.

Harless made AI photos of all 46 presidents with mullets and shared them on Twitter, and the response has been tremendous. His first photo of Joe Biden with a mullet has nearly 75,000 likes and counting.

Here’s our list of the 14 best presidents with mullets. Check out Harless' thread here if you want to see all 46.

Joe Biden with an incredible blonde mane and a tailored suit. This guy takes no malarkey.

Donald Trump looking like a guy who has 35 different pairs of stonewashed jeans in his closet at Mar-a-Lago.

Barack Obama looking like he played an informant on "Starsky and Hutch" in 1976.

George H.W. Bush looking like he plays bass in Elvis's backing band at the International Hotel in Vegas in '73.

Gerald Ford looking like the last guy on Earth that you want to owe money.

"C'mon down and get a great deal at Dick Nixon's Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram, right off the I-95 in Daytona Beach."

"Who you calling Teddy? That's Theodore Roosevelt to you."

Grover Cleveland is giving off some serious steampunk vibes here.

Pray you never key Chester A. Arthur's Trans Am. If you know what's best for you.

Honest Abe? More like Honest Babe. Am I right?

Franklin Pierce looking like your favorite New Romantic singer from 1982. Eat your heart out, Adam Ant.

"Daniel Day Lewis stole my look in 'Last of the Mohicans.'" — John Tyler

Many have tried the tri-level mullet but few pulled it off as beautifully as James Madison.

Washington's mullet was like a white, fluffy cloud of freedom.

Find more cool, mulletted U.S. presidents here.


This article originally appeared two years ago.

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Family

Swim instructor calms a teary toddler with his 'mermaid mantra' and now the adults are crying

Hearing a little girl say, "I'm big, I'm brave, I'm boobooball," shoots straight to the heart. There's no controlling it.

Photo by Raj Rana on Unsplash

Confidence is key.

Learning to swim can be a very scary experience for kids. They’re being asked to quite literally dive into the unknown, after all, and the pool is not without its inherent dangers. It’s perfectly understandable that the fear can be overwhelming.

Luckily, the “mermaid mantra” can help.

Tyler Reed, owner of Triton Aquatic Training in Tampa, Florida, recently went viral after teaching the "mermaid mantra" to a young student who was clearly having a hard time.

It goes like this: “I’m big. I’m brave. I’m beautiful.”

In a video shared on Triton's TikTok, Reed encourages the little girl to repeat the mantra and, through sobs, we hear the most adorable little voice in the whole world repeat, “I’m beeg. I’m bave. I’m boobooball.”

Seriously, that boobooball is pure and utter sweetness.

Watch:
@tritonaquatictraining Yes… swim lessons can sometimes be scary but when we say our motivational mermaid mantras out loud, we can do anything! 🧜‍♀️🫶 #M#Motivation #m#mobileswimlessonss#swimlessonsp#privateswimlessonss#swiminstructors#southtampat#tampaswimlessonstampasmallbusiness #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner #survivalswimlessons #survivalswim #fyp #cuteaf #childpsychology #parenting #childeducation #children ♬ original sound - Triton Aquatic Training

Reed’s video quickly went viral, with folks quick to commend the little one on her bravery.

"It's so scary as a little person to learn these kinds of things but I'm sure she's doing great," one person wrote.

Others were instantly emotional. "I'm boobooful is literally where I lost it. Someone get me the tissue," wrote another.

Clearly Reed’s approach works, because in a subsequent video he and the same student are back in the water, with her swimming and loving every minute of it. Now she recites the mermaid mantra as a song of victory!

Boobooball is still just as cute though.

@tritonaquatictraining MERMAID UPDATE! Look at this big girl swimming and loving it after just a few weeks! Crazy to think that just a few weeks ago we were in tears and scared! But we kept practicing our motivational mermaid mantra of “I’m Big, I’m Brave, I’m Beautiful!” and look how far we’ve come! I am one proud swim instructor! Thank you all so much for the love & support! 🥰🧜‍♀️🔱🧜‍♂️ #swimlessons #privateswimlessons #learntoswim #swimminglessons #survivalswim #survivalswimlessons #childcare #childpsychology #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner #cutevideo #proudteacher #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #foryoupage #fypシ #viral #trending #fypシ゚viral #fypage ♬ original sound - Triton Aquatic Training

For Reed, the mantra is about instilling power and autonomy back into his students.

"I think a lot of people look at 2-year-olds and babies as children that are incapable of being able to swim or save themselves and I'm trying to kind of erase that psyche from them, that they can they really can do this,” he told Good Morning America.

Not teaching kids to trust themselves, he added, leads to an over-reliance on swim floaties, which develop a “false sense of their ability to swim.” That’s why he believes engaging in swim lessons at an early age is so important.

This kind of wisdom is pretty universal when it comes to raising confident kids. Teaching young ones how to empower themselves through a variety of situations, rather than constantly trying to shield them from discomfort, develops skills that can last a lifetime. But this can still be done in a loving, gentle way, as Reed so beautifully demonstrated. Sometimes it's simply allowing kids to experiment and make mistakes. Other times, it might be affirmations that connect kids to their inner sea creatures.

Reed said it best: “When we say our motivational mermaid mantras out loud, we can do anything!”


This article originally appeared two years ago.

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Culture

Pamela Anderson surprises fans with her high-brow film taste

"I don’t think people kind of expect me to be such a…cinephile"

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Pamela Anderson 1994 | The post Pamela Anderson 1994 appeare… | Flickr

It’s a good time to be Pamela Anderson. The former Baywatch star recently earned a Golden Globe nomination—the first of a 35-year career—for her starring role in the Gia Coppola drama The Last Showgirl. And now she’s boosted her hipster street cred by visiting the Criterion Closet, showcasing some of her favorite films—and surprising a number of fans with her "cinephile" taste.

A little background for the uninitiated: The Criterion Collection is a home-video distribution company whose tasteful box sets and restorations have become synonymous with the high-brow. With interview web series Criterion Closet Picks, they invite famous actors and filmmakers into, yes, an actual closet filled floor to ceiling with their own releases. The guests pick titles off the shelves, diving into their influences.

Anderson was thrilled to be there—so much that she decided to throw out her curated list and simply "go crazy."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

"I’m here in the Criterion Closet, which is a dream come true," she told the camera, before picking out films that would impress any college cinema professor. These include a handful of French staples: the 1969 psychological thriller La Piscine, directed by Jacques Deray; the 1960 drama La Vérité, helmed by Henri-Georges Clouzot and starring Brigitte Bardot; and Jean Luc-Godard’s 1960 crime-drama Breathless.

The latter even inspired a fashion choice. "[The] reason I cut my hair into a pixie cut was Jean Seberg," she said, name-checking one of the film’s stars. "Thought it would grow out in a few months. It took me a good couple years to get my hair back after I decided to do that." Also of note on her list: David Lynch’s surreal 1986 neo-noir mystery Blue Velvet and David Lean’s 1955 romantic comedy Summertime, which she noted she’d "love to remake."

The interview gave Anderson the chance to outline the depth of her movie knowledge. "I’m so thrilled to be here and so happy to be invited here because I don’t think people kind of expect me to be such a…cinephile," she said. "Can I say that? I don’t know if I’m that, but I’m definitely a movie lover." (She is definitely allowed to say that.)

Anderson joins a prestigious Criterion interview club that includes Kevin Smith, Francis Ford Coppola, Janelle Monáe, Bill Hader, Barry Jenkins, Ari Aster, Charlie Day, Willem Dafoe, and even musicians like St. Vincent and Ben Gibbard. You could spend a whole day exploring the Closet wing of their site—and if you do, make sure you check out Anderson’s full list.

The fan response to Anderson’s interview was fascinating. "Pamela Anderson…in large glasses…talking about Hepburn and Schneider….i need a fainting couch," one user wrote. "Pamela Anderson turning out to be a massive cinephile who drops the Koker Trilogy in her @Criterion Closet video just made my entire year," added another. Perhaps the most direct: "Pamela Anderson knows more about cinema than you ever will."

In a December interview with Variety, Anderson talked about how starring in The Last Showgirl helped refine her chops—and fulfill a personal "dream."

"I was always very curious about the craft of acting, but I didn’t have to apply myself when I was running around in a bathing suit on Baywatch," she said. "I was curious about it—I would be sitting on the floor of Samuel French, reading Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill plays. I didn’t know how to get from there to there, but I just had this dream. I always kept it a secret that I could be more than I was doing."

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