What I Watched Last Night: Drunk History

Oh, I could have watched something classy. Or thought-provoking. I had good intentions of perusing the neglected portions of my Netflix queue, but in the end, my husband went down the Vimeo-rabbit-hole, and I watched.

Drunk History! Created by Derek Waters, is basically people he knows drinking stupid amounts of booze, then sitting down in front of a camera to discuss a historical event or person, which is then inter-spliced with recreated footage that is intentionally silly. Perhaps you saw the “Drunk History Christmas Special,” featuring Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes late last year. Maybe you’ve seen them all, and I’m once again late to the party, but here are the highlights:

Drunk History Volume 1: “Hamilton and Burr” with Michael Cera as Alexander Hamilton, who wears Vans sneakers. Michael Gagliardi drank a bottle of Scotch before narrating this tale:

Fuckin’ Aaron Burr isn’t on the money. You know who is? Alexander Hamilton. He’s on the ten.

Drunk History Vol.6: “Tesla and Edison” with John C. Reilly as Tesla. “Duncan Trussel drank a six-pack of beer”¦ then a half a bottle of absinthe”¦”

Edison was like, “Fuck this. Alternating current is bad. Alternating current will cause massive deaths,” and he, like, started this campaign to prove that alternating current was, like, the worst current you could use, and what he did is he began to, like, publicly electrocute animals. Edison was an asshole.

Or maybe you’d enjoy some Ben Franklin shenanigans, with Vol.2, “Franklin and his Son,” and Vol 2.5, “Franklin’s Exploits.” Jack Black plays Franklin, and Jayma Mays appears in 2.5. Or perhaps you want some Douglass and Lincoln action?

My favorite though, of the ones we watched, is Vol. 4: “William Henry Harrison.” Let’s watch together:

Drunk History Vol. 4: “William Henry Harrison” from Jeremy Konner on Vimeo.

My, what a touching tribute.