German learns about American Tall Tales 

Is Bo Jackson America’s greatest folk hero?

I’m irrationally mad at no mention of Paul Bunyan carving the Grand Canyon or eating 80 stacks of flapjacks.

I’m gonna question every American Folklore description of height so hard from now on 😂

Oh my God...and this applies even to the famous tales of real people too. George Washington and the cherry tree? Famously tall. Abe Lincon walking six miles to return a three cent overcharge to a customer? Famously tall. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE

A stereotypical German being dissatisfied that there’s "not enough drama" 😂😂 And that it’s all "boring" 😂😂😂

What about Johnny Appleseed, who spread apple seeds everywhere he wandered. Which is why there are apple trees in America.

When I was a child I actually thought that they were called Tall Tales because the people in them were tall. Seemed pretty straightforward.

Technically, Pecos Bill, Davy Crockett, and John Henry were still human sized. Paul Bunyan was a giant. You gotta tell their stories, though, like Paul Bunyan dragging his axe behind him and making the Grand Canyon or Pecos Bill lassoing a twister.

Paul Bunyon is way more interesting than what Calvin described Paul Bunyon was literally a giant and he was so big shaped the landmass and natural beauty of the continental U.S. One story Paul and Babe made the Grand Canyon just by roughhousing. and his footprints were so deep they made a bunch lakes and that tip iceberg

Does it count as folk lore if they're like, actual people? Crocket and Bowie and such were real people

Maybe a little too focused on Paul Bunyan being tall and not enough on him being THE GREATEST LUMBERJACK WHO EVER LIVED. Dude could fell spruce trees in a single swipe of his axe. He could hitch a chain to his ox Babe and pull a river straight. Why is Minnesota called "The Land of 10,000 Lakes"? Paul Bunyan, that's why. There's other American legends too, like Mose the Fireman (who, yes, was of above average height and build), who could work an early hand-pumped fire engine all by himself, who invented the firepole to save his lady love from a burning building, and who once saved all of New York City from going up in flames and inventing the New York Subway at the same time. Some of our legends are even real, like Casey Jones, America's greatest train driver, a man who could always get his trains in on time (take that, Deutsche Bahn) and who could perform impossible feats like saving a girl from being run over by his train by scooping her off the track into his arms. That said, he's probably best known for how he died; sacrificing himself by staying at the brakes to save his passengers when his train crashed.

Missed a chance to say Bunyon's axe was so tall it cut the Grand Canyon. Or maybe I'm thinking of a different story. Does anyone know the story of the painter who flies around on the sun to paint the sky?

I think I finally understand american basketball

But Paul Bunyan literally plowed a river straight, and what about his adventure catching the whirling whimpus? He was not just tall... Great sketch as always guys. Thanks for mentioning both John Henry and Davy Crockett

I mean, there was Pecos Bill who lassoed a tornado to keep it from destroying a town, that's a pretty cool one.

You guys are some of my favorite creators :) I Love watching you explain things to each other, endless entertainment! More please

Paul Bunyan has some legendary feats, he dug the Great Lakes, built the Rocky Mountains, even fought in the revolutionary war and baseball batted the cannonballs back at the Hessians. Of course I only learned that from Mel-o-toons, so take that with a whole bucket of salt

I remember trying to convince my Japanese teacher that Johnny Appleseed was a real person. 🤣

Paul Bunyan not just tall but wide

“Why, Some folk say he were tall ‘nuff to stuff the storm clouds away in his hat”

Mal wieder muss man neue Geschichten nachforschen! Margarette Steiff all over again. Keep it up!

Do Johnny Appleseed.

tall people folklore is one way to describe it

Fun "fact", Paul Bunyan created the Puget Sound, which is home to the Seahawks of Seattle.

My dad told stories of Paul Bunyan vs the Whirling Wimpus, a one hoofed monster that would spin around like the Tasmanian Devil and clobber people into a jelly that he’d lick up. I believe he was defeated by attaching a drill to his hoof, sending him straight to the center of the Earth.

In the end: the desperation was palpable! I love you guys!

Paul Bunyan was a lumberjack who's livelihood was destroyed by the advances of technology, who proved that no matter how good or well built a person is, you can't defeat innovation and we'll all be destroyed by monsters of our own making. Your crushing demise is inevitable. How would a German not love that story?

Paul Bunyan created Lake Supiereor and The Mississippi River in his stories.

Rip van winkle isn’t tall, he’s just sleepy!

Theres also a dog i. American folklore called clifford whos tall and red

Was für ein klasse Channel,,ich brech zusammen ,," Ei brek togeser " laughing ,,😂mit Grüssen aus dem Norden und have a good and funny 2024🎉

Don't down about your height calvin, you'll become sub terrainian if you get any lower. And watch out you dropped this 👑 you should pick it up, no point in habs helping you considering the fact that you're closer to the ground by default. P.s. if you thought these jabs were a low blow then they'd be just like calvin cause the only jabs he can throw in a fight are low blows to the legs Cause he's tiny

this is seriously hilarious. I love your guys videos so much!

More love for Paul Bunyan's supporting characters! I like Johnny Inkslinger, Bunyan's accountant (seriously, that's a thing). And did I miss something or did even Babe the Blue Ox not get a shoutout?

I'm totally enjoying your long form content!!❤❤ thank you

I love your full-length sketches, keep sloggin!

On the line between legend and truth (being a young country, we have a lot of those) is Molly Pitcher. In the Revolutionary War, during the battle of Monmouth, a woman was tirelessly running buckets of water from the spring to the men on the cannons, to prevent them from succumbing to heat exhaustion. In between runs to and from the spring she helped wounded men away from the field and even carried an old man on her back when he was knocked unconscious. As she was bringing water to the cannon that her husband was working at, she found him on the ground injured and unable to continue. There were no more gunners to come forward and take his place, so the precious cannon would have to be taken out of service. Seeing this, Molly delegated her water duties to someone else, took up her husband’s ramrod and took his place. There she stayed, working with diligence, speed, and accuracy for the rest of the day. Only then did she tend to her husband’s wounds, now that they were all safe. After that, any woman on the battlefield was sometimes called “Molly Pitcher” as a term of honor.

This got personal.

Calvin trying to convince us that he's above average height

"Die Ammis lieben Arbeit" und das Gesicht dazu. Made my Day🤣❤

Paul bunyon single handedly chopped down all the trees across the country. But he represents the real guys who really did the chopping which was pretty epic

I imagine he would like Pecos Bill, Germans love cowboys.

Ok but Paul faced deadly winters and by dragging his axe on the ground behind him he made the Grand Canyon

There's also the folklore of Hiawatha and Minnehaha, set in Pictured Rocks, based on 'The song of Hiawatha'. Many parts of upper Michigan and great lakes area have their names origin from this tale.

This one took its time to get to the point where it's really funny, but in the end it was totally worth the wait for the final punchline. 🤣

That outro sticker is great ❤

Maybe you could do something like "German learns about American cryptids and/or monsters"? I'd like to see the German's reaction to bigfoot or the Wendigo, or Mothman.

I think Habs is tall enough to be an American hero!

Calvin doing the West Side sign like bro, West Side of what? The Rhine?💀

Man musste ich lachen 😂 Danke

I’m sad you didn’t talk about Paul Bunyan cutting down a whole forest and whose wrestling with his ox created the Rockies. Never heard of this sailor guy.

A couple of wholesome dudes of a rather diminutive stature.

When I was a kid, I had a book of American folk heros. Every one of them was as tall as Paul Bunyan, except for Pecos Bill! 🤣

Batman does count. He's definitely the modern American version mythology/folk tales.

Was für ein lustiger Channel,,,ich brech zusammen vor lachen, " Ei brek togäser", so funny ,,,mit Grüssen aus dem Norden,,all the best for 2024🎉

Americans do have the folk legend of the Headless Horseman, who was notably not very tall due to missing a head.

Mhhh Das Ende wirklich subtil. Toll.

Should've told him about how Paul Bunyan carved the grand canyon by dragging his axe behind him. Or, you could have mentioned Pecos Bill.

don't forget that jesse james was somehow in every town across the midwest and south too. and that in half of those towns he buried treasure somewhere.

We have weak tall tales and terrifying cryptids

I really liked books about Paul Bunyan actually what with him making the Lakes of minnesota with his footprints, dragging a plow to make a river, or whatever else

Well Paul Bunyan is a Kaiju and you can’t change my mind 😏

As a German living in the US for like 20 years now, I have to, albeit somewhat regrettably, admit that I'd give my left hand (yeah, giving the right one seems excessive) to have a buddy, in the US, like this German dude has 😢 you guys are awesome! (Oh, and, being 6'5" myself, the little jab at American's obsession with height is fucking hilarious 😂)

i was going to say you missed Ichabob Crain, but then i rembered hes usally dipicted as tall and lanky.

See we make stories about things we lack. may it be slaying a glorious beast, or just being tall.

Are you guys still on writer strike 😂 That was just a bad joke I thought about but I really liked this video , your acting is getting better and better 💪

Now we need one about an american finding out about old shatterhand

My grandma used to say that precious perfumes are being put in small bottles. (Although she wasn’t that small herself) Quality over quantity!

Honestly that response to the John Henry tale is absolutely perfect 🤣😂 honestly ngl that story is severely depressing and very sad whenever you think about it :(

No mention of Pecos Bill? He was a cowboy, and cowboys were generally short and lightweight so they could ride fast.

Paul bunyon actually does do stuff he creates amarican landmarks like the Grand Canyon

I was today years old when I discovered these 2 were german commentators on wwe!!! Watching backlash 2017 right now and couldnt believe my eyes 😂😂

Biggoot/Sasquatch is also very much folklore, but in a different sense.

Holy crap, my worldview was just shattered. It's all just tall people.

Paul Bunyan was basically a Kaiju.

Toll! 👍

Oya you don catch me😅 2:58

Paul Bunyan's story is much deeper than that. He was brought by five storks to his mother, she had to feed him seven cauldrons of wheat every day just to stop his stomach from growling, otherwise it would shake the house, he dug the great lakes to make a water hole for his ox and at the end of his life, he took a pilgrimage to Northern Alaska, where his axe shines in the sky at night.

Smothers Brothers have a few versions of the Ballad of John Henry. And who can forget Big Ben Covington? His height was not mentioned.

He skipped Pecos bill, the short southern cowboy guy who wrangled tornadoes to cross the country and had a colorful animal

Don't forget that Davy Crockett was actually a real person.

There is a story about Davy Crockett as a boy where his mom watered him like a plant everyday until he blocked out the sun. They then had to shrink him down. Even Davy isn’t immune to our tall telling. Lol

Whatever, we got Westerns and Big Foot... who is also really really TALL!

Cries in short guy 😭

Kinda surprised the German wasn't on board for this whole skit. It seems like a lot of American Folklore would fit nicely into the dark and strange themes of German folklore. Hmm... maybe there is some connection? Anyone want to chime in with some Pennsylvanian folklore? Perhaps something from the Appalachian mountains?

Clifford is in this pantheon.

Johhny Appleseed!

Can’t believe you forgot about Johnny Appleseed

I'm beginning to suspect ther was some etymologogical mishap along the line involving the connotations of the word 'tall'. Is it at all possible the word didn't exclusively refer to physical height and is maybe even related to german 'toll' or sth?

Lets go! Siegfried who beat a dragon, become almost invincible, have golds that can last him generations, kill giants vs Paul Bunyan. A really tall giant who likes to cut trees and canyon!

I remember Saturday Night Live before the Bush Dukakis election, showing progressive heights of American presidents, with Dukakis being smaller, and Bush at the end, taller: "vote George Bush, he's taller!"

John Henry was actually very short but extremely muscular according to folk songs.

I am also irrationally irritated that you did not mention that Paul Bunyan created the Grand Canyon dragging his axe behind him

Awww no Johnny Appleseed

Totally forgetting Johnny Applebee's XD

And there's Pecos Bill, who was a cowboy... Who was really tall.

I like how every other comment is sticking up for Paul Bunyan or alerting them to real people.

There’s also the tale of Israel Putnam, a commander during the American revolution. He was known to have killed the last wolf in Connecticut, escape native Americans who intended to burn him alive and was the sole survivor of a shipwreck in the battle of havana (where he also discovered smoking, and is believed to have brought smoking to the colonies) he was later made a commander of the continental army and led the battle of bunker hill. His career started to decline from there, as he suffered two other major defeats and suffered a stroke which ended his military career. Despite this, he’s become a popular folk hero in Connecticut to this day.

Theres a lot of good American stories that people just forgot about over the centuries. I.E. Jonny appleseed.

Ah but have you heard the folklore about the dragonslayer pirate? That’s the folklore I grew up on.