Image credits: Jose Covaco / Twitter.
‘The sheer suddenness of the move, the unexpected nature of the move, the unpredictability of the move,’ Arnab Goswami said on-air after the Chinese apps ban. This was when comedian José Covaco stepped in with hilarious mashup.
- News18.com
- Last Updated: July 1, 2020, 12:31 PM IST
After the Indian government on Monday banned 59 apps with Chinese links, including hugely popular TikTok and UC Browser, saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country, TV anchor and Republic chief Arnab Goswami called the move “sudden, unexpected, and unpredictable.”
“The sheer suddenness of the move, the unexpected nature of the move, the unpredictability of the move. They don’t know what hit them. Now the Chinese will know,” Goswami said on air.
Goswami’s spirited approval on national television seemed to catch the eye of Indian comedian José Covaco, who has carved a niche for himself in the hilarious world of mashup videos.
In his works, Covaco takes new and old footage, often from videos that are already viral on Twitter, and mashes them together to create hilarious video spoofs. And Goswami’s viral video seemed too good for Covaco to pass up, who stepped in and decided to have a “phone call” with the animated anchor. But with a characteristic twist.
Also Read: TikTok Among 59 Chinese Apps Banned. What is in Store for Your Existing Accounts?
The comedian combined videos of two news pieces — one of Goswami congratulating the Chinese apps ban and the other of Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu and aam janta recently complaining about the exorbitant electricity bills in Maharashtra on Twitter.
The end result? A masterclass in hilarity.
Titled “Discussing High Electricity Bills with Arnab..” the slapstick mashup has raked in over 13K retweets and been viewed 600K times.
Also Read: YouTuber CarryMinati Had ‘Prophesied’ The Ban of TikTok and Indians are Freaking Out
This, however, isn’t the first time Covaco has had a “heart to heart” with a journalist.
Earlier in March, as the country moved into the first lockdown phase, the comedian “interacted” with veteran journalist Shekhar Gupta over an unintentionally funny bit where Gupta explained, “what is tomorrow”.
This bit was from a video titled “Why 1.36 billion Indians won’t simply wait to be infected or killed by coronavirus” uploaded by The Print on their YouTube channel.
Covaco edited the ‘tomorrow’ clip and turned it into a spoof of what all Indians and sundry faced while placing online orders, especially for groceries, during the lockdown.
Also Read: ‘Inflated’ Electricity Bills in Maharashtra Spark a Meme Fest after Taapsee Pannu’s Tweet Goes Viral
In the video, Covaco called a helpline and asked about the expected time of arrival for the groceries he ordered online, only to be met with Shekhar Gupta’s vague ‘tomorrow’ replies.
Gupta took the humour in his stride and went on to share the clip that garnered over a million views on Twitter.
Ok guys, that was a true ‘senior’ moment and all of you say thank-you to me I gave you such a laugh in grim times. Of all of the dozens of memes I’ve seen though, this is my top of the pops (no pun intended)… https://t.co/oAn5rExHnM
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) March 30, 2020