This article may require copy-editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (October 2009)

The Laughing Baby
Background information
Birth name	William Nilsson
Born	Sweden
Internet activity
Web alias(es)	spacelord72
Period active	1 November 2006–present
Host service(s)	YouTube
Genre(s)	Comedy · "Adorableness"
Meme	Video
Signature phrase	Laughing, following interjections such as "bing", "bloup" and "dong"

The laughing baby is an internet neologism given to a Youtube viral video of a laughing baby, which has expanded into a worldwide, internet phenomenon, with over 90 million views.^[1][2] Uploaded by a Swedish man under the pseudonym of spacelord72,^[3] and later re-uploaded and popularized by another user known as BlackOleg,^[4] the laughing baby is one of the few internet memes that have entered popular culture.^[5]

Contents 1 The video 1.1 Comments 2 Impact 3 Video shown to Queen Elizabeth II 4 References

[edit] The video

The laughing baby video which was shot by a Swedish father in his kitchen in 2006,^[6] with a running time of 1:40, involves a fixed camera situated on William Nilsson,^[7] a blond-haired, blue eyed baby, who laughs after brief interjections from a voice in the background (supposedly the father).^[1] The video opens with the Swedish text: "kan man ha roligare" which translates as "Can you have any more fun?"^[8]

[edit] Comments

The clip has become notorious for its disparate variety of comments, from amused watchers ("cute, cute, cute") to concerned hypochondriacs ("This baby sounds like it has asthma.")^[6] These comments were the focus of a Slate article by Michael Agger, who remarked that uploading the video was like "dipping a bunny into acid," further adding that the "Laughing Baby has become an internet monument, and posting a remark is like tagging your name on the Statue of Liberty."^[5]

[edit] Impact

The baby subsequently became an instant worldwide celebrity, becoming the 10th most viewed Youtube video of all time.^[1][2] Its success is attributed to "cuteness" and "adorable nature".^[5][9] The video appeared on the front pages of Web portals such as msn.com and has been the theme of several ringtones, further increasing its familiarity and popularity. The baby was lionized in the South Park episode: "Canada on Strike", where he appeared alongside other Youtube celebrities.^[10]

[edit] Video shown to Queen Elizabeth II

The Laughing Baby video was shown to Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh during a 16 October 2008 visit to Google headquarters in Victoria, London. The Queen stated of the baby "...lovely little thing isn't it" and that it was "Amazing [that] a child would laugh like that."^[11][12]

[edit] References