Longtime New York City comedy dating gurus Dave and Ethan just proved there’s a way to make a respectful pickup video on YouTube.
In “Tinder App In Real Life,” the duo put real-life guys in a life-size Tinder window and let girls, and the occasional guy, choose if they want a green “go ahead” or red “nope!”
The guys were allowed to “change their photo” by changing outfits, say random facts about themselves, and talk about shared interests. It’s surprisingly funny and occasionally adorable.
It’s all positive and fun, some phone numbers are exchange, and most importantly, there’s no disrespect shown to the girls. Rather the show’s hosts are the ones being made to look silly—an important and classic distinction in quality comedy.
The pick-up community on YouTube seems to by and large, not understand this. In the past few months, channels like Simple Pickup have been the subject of outrage after releasing videos that show them touching women without their consent, and in one instance, frightening a woman so much she asks two male passersby for help. Some videos have been taken down, others remain. Most recently, the three men behind Simply Pickup motorboated women in the name of charity. (The funds were returned by the Susan G. Komen Foundation.)
Those videos often leave a bad taste in the mouth of the viewer, but “Tinder App In Real Life” shows a sweet, good-natured pick-up artist video is possible, and it raises the standard of “comedy” for all other such channels.
Screengrab via YouTube