GOWANUS: Who watches the watchmen?

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Danielle Furfaro

Brooklyn Daily

Watching cats ride Roombas or goats sing Taylor Swift songs isn’t time wasted.

A monthly competition pits people who spend too much time on the internet (don’t we all) in a March Madness-style tournament to see who can find the weirdest videos on YouTube.

“We had one person show a video of a crab molting,” said Julie Kim who co-owns the event space Littlefield. “Everyone sat there not knowing what was going on for almost a minute and then they all gasped when a crab came out of another crab.”

Competitors sign up at the door and usually come armed with whatever clips they’ve found in idle moments at work or late nights when they should have been sleeping. The first two rounds have16 individuals or teams fighting for applause, each competitor showcasing their stuff in a series of one-minute-long YouTube videos. But in the third round the host of the event — who’ll be comedian Eliot Glazer this month — will reveal a theme, and in the fourth round the audience gets to pick the focus.

Last month, they chose the dance trend known as “twerking.”

The videos do not necessarily have to be funny. They might get a rise from the audience because they are shocking or profound, but the more under-the-radar, the better.

“You should try to pick videos that are more obscure,” said Firestone. “If you get an ad before the video, the audience will boo you.”

And just like any good competition, time is of the essence.

“Generally, shorter is better, with some kind of twist,” said Ray Colleti, who made it to the final round last month with her selections of Hennessey Youngman’s Curators, Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma, and a Tracy Morgan video. “If you have those two covered and there’s a puppy or an awesome beat, you’ve got a good entry.”

YouTube Wars at Littlefield [622 Degraw St. between Fourth and Third Avenues, in Gowanus, (718) 855–3388, www.littlefieldnyc.com]. Aug. 13, 7:30 pm, $5.

Comment on this story.