The Perfect PokéRap | Unraveled LIVE at PAX East 2019 

Want to listen to the STUDIO VERSION of The Perfect PokéRap? That’s right here, pal: bit.ly/perfectpokerap-song

Watching this again, i just think we need to take some time to appreciate BDG for managing to call out Big Pharma as part of the PokeRap

Brian creates the impossible paradox by being an anxious-looking dude with incredible, overpowering confidence.

4 years later, and this is still the most skillful working of a crowd I've ever seen. This wasn't a panel; this was performance art of the highest caliber. Ironically, a true gesamkunstwerk.

I'm a recovering addict and didn't expect such a great decriminalisation argument from a Pokémon rap

Professor Oak: "Did you do it?" Brian: "Yes" Professor Oak: "What did it cost?" Brian: "Terry"

was NOT expecting a call out on big pharma for the opioid epidemic in the middle of a Pokémon rap

Goddamn, I clicked on this thinking I'd get a longer PokéRap. I wasn't prepared for a half-hour emotional rollercoaster full of love and loss, success and failure, happiness and sadness, anger and fear, and hating that little psychopath-in-training who demanded a goddamn sacrifice of your first and only child for just one of an infinite number of fire-breathing dogs.

"porygon, porygon z. porygon 2 ribombee" the world was forever changed after that banger of a line.

bdg is the best possible outcome of a high school theatre kid

This video is like having a stage magician patiently explain to you over the course of twenty minutes how he's going to accomplish a magic trick, and then he does the trick, and it blows your goddamned mind anyway.

the difference in brain's theatre kid energy to patrick's kid stuck at the grocery store while his mom is talking to her friend energy is more raidating then the beauty of terry

I can't be the only person who would gladly watch the 4.5 hour long gesamkunstwerk this dude originally planned

“Did you do it?” “Yes” “What did it cost?” “Terry”

Terry: “Did you do it?” BDG: “Yes” Terry: “What did it cost?” BDG: “Everything”

The reveal that BDG was a theatre kid and did Accapella is the least shocking plot twist we've witnessed

You know something that makes this even more perfect? It's unintentionally future-proofed! During the part where people shout a collective 400 names, you could insert every new Pokémon that wasn't out at the time!

What BDG says: "Let's organize the pokemon by type and quality" What BDG actually means: "Let's organize them by how much they sound like euphemisms for marijuana"

BDG occupies this perfect intersection between musical theater talent, creative writing major, and video game nerd that makes him the most powerful man on this earth.

I think my favourite part of rewatching this video is watching Pat aggressively gesturing at the crowd to GIVE Brian his standing ovation at 32:41

For anyone confused: the rough definition of “gesamkunstwerk” is “total art.” When all the art forms come together to create something superior to all art. For example, Wagner’s operas.

Hes like a standup comedian for nerds who dont want to do this much research

*Local man processes the childhood loss of a Pokémon in front of a live audience for thirty-three minutes*

the fact that kevin punt did not stand up from the audience at the end of the song in a moment of emotional turmoil and return terry after a long speech talking about how he regretted trading away his arcanine is a travesty and would have been the perfect ending to this perfect pokerap.

This entire live performance is Brian's magnum opus. One of the most talented, skilled, and charismatic individuals on this platform.

he’s like if john mulaney was an anime character

All I can think of is that post I saw on Tumblr that simply said "The Polygon twink has grown too powerful"

I still can't get over Pat and BDG looking here like they're the same oc created on two character creators

This man has a +5 in Charisma and expertise in performance. Every last one of these Unraveled episodes is amazing.

Hiring BDG was the best thing Polygon ever did

Let's just take a second to appreciate Pat. He danced in this despite having stage fright.

the best part is for all we know Kevin Punt could’ve been in this audience, and he also could’ve been not real at all. Kevin Punt is forever a mystery in Unraveled lore

"porygon, porygon-z, porygon-2 ribombee" has lived in my head rent fucking free for four years now and counting

Griffin McElroy walked so that Brian David Gilbert could Fly

To anyone reading this that is not sure if they should watch the full 30 min: DO IT. The buildup is so great and you will miss a ton of humor and jokes before the rap begins. The rap also makes more sense if you watch the 20 min before it.

brian: i'm already sweaty because i had the bright idea to hide under a table for 20 minutes. someone in the audience: WORTH IT, THOUGH!

The reason Brian has different hair in every video is to prove that he wasn’t killed after this event

Seeing how he acts when he’s got an audience makes me believe that the only difference between BDG and John Mulaney is circumstance.

STOP COMMENTING! ...it's basically audience participation.

This must have been exhilarating and terrifying. No wall of editing to hide behind, but still projecting the same infectious manic energy, I can't even imagine how much prep time went into this, and even then, even when you rehearse something enough times that you can say it in your sleep, the second you're in front of an audience, the jitters still get you. Well done you beautiful bastard.

I've only recently encountered BDG, but I'm completely enamored, and at the moment both he and Danny Sexbang are at the top of my list for "most impossibly convincing swagger in a single human being."

God: It's time to go. Terry: Was I a good Tangela? God: No... I'm told you were the best. ~R.I.P.~ Terry the Tangela (1999-2019) Your memory lives on, in us all.

I love how Pat is just purely emotionless while dream balleting.

So BDG didn't just *leave* Polygon: he was killed by Matt for not producing a verbal pronouncement of the name Dialga during the rap, and hat to make a Pact to be resurrected which explains the style of his own channel after he left.

10:23 I'm reasonably certain BDG's fanbase would gladly sit through a 16-minute-long Pokerap.

brian went through an entire character arc just within this single video

The more I watch this the more I realize the genius behind Brian writing three entire broadway songs, a lecture, a dance, and performing it all from memory without stumbling in front of a crowd.

the dream ballet is actually real footage of my adhd and depression braincells interacting in my head

05:58 Part 1: The Shortcomings of the Original PokéRap 06:44 Shortcoming 1: A Mid-2000's Suburban Mother's Conception of Rap 08:02 Shortcoming 2: Grocery List 09:11 Shortcoming 3: Not a Gesamtkunstwerk 09:39 Part 2: The Development of a Better PokéRap 10:53 Making it Listenable 13:12 Ordering the Pokémon 14:14 Make it a Gesamtkunstwerk 24:12 Part 3: Performance

Damn, "It's not that we should catch them all, but that we should love the ones we catch" hit me harder than I expected

Brian I think you've made an e3 presentation - Musical number - Business gamer fashion - Blazer - Gamer shirt - Human performers - Lots of numbers - Groundbreaking, Never been done before, Seems impossible, but we're did it. - What? Hell yeah! What? - Recounts (many) childhood memories - Gets a little choked up. - Technical Gaffes - Human Gaffes - Planned Gaffes - Big finish

This is a history tedtalk, songwriting lesson, and a broadway performance all in one.

The first time I heard this perfect pokerap I listened to it without any context. So the terry part at the end seemed so random and also really funny. But now, I got emotional every time listening to this

"A slant rhyme so terrible even Emily Dickinson would vomit" This is the smallest niche of English majors who enjoy Pokemon, Emily Dickinson, and BDG, and I am so glad to be apart of it

Brian goes through the entirety of the Hero's Journey throughout this performance. 1. The Ordinary World - Brian has heard the original Pokerap 2. Call to Adventure - Brian gets idea to create the perfect Pokerap/song 3. Refusal of the Call - There's 812 pokemon, it's impossible to say or the enforcers will thrash Brian 4. Meeting the Mentor - Richard Wagner and his understanding of the gesamtkunstwerk 5. Crossing the Threshold - Brian begins the writing of the perfect Pokerap/song 6. Tests/Trials - Brian struggles to fit all pokemon in anything less than 4 hours 7. Approach the Innermost Cave - Brian can't figure out how to make this song manageable, even after cutting all of the acts 8. Ordeal - Brian gets PTSD from Kevin Punt taking Terry away 9. Seizing the Sword - Brian accepts audience participation 10. The Road Back - Brian struggles with the performance (as indicated by the few times he had to take a breath) 11. Resurrection - Brian's performance has immortalized Terry the Tangela and destroyed Kevin Punt for good 12. Return - It's over, Brian has become more accepting of audience participation, and has come to terms with Terry's unfortunate kidnapping. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

Despite the absolute absurdity of the ending, every time I watch it I get a little choked up

The leaping toe-touch at 32:50. My god.

"There will be no audience participation" *runs into audience for high fives 45 seconds later*

Pat’s roll after the dream ballet is godlike and nobody’s talking about it

The contract explicitly states there must be a verbal pronouncement of all 812 Pokemon, for the dream ballet, I don't care how good it was, I saw that number go up, and I didn't hear any names being said. You didn't fulfill your contract, Mat, get him. 2:28 30:54

this song literally makes me cry every time. idk if brian and pat and them know what they achieved here but it's amazing every time i go back to it i literally end up watching it 4-5 times

idk if it makes sense but Pat joining in the dream ballet has the energy of an emo guy supporting his possibly insane theater kid brother in his craziness and i absolutely love it with my entire being

“Putting Arceus next to Bidoof is like putting Jesus next to Garfield” Never in my life have I been so offended by something I 100% agree with

This is my comfort video, I’ve watched it at least 8 times now over the years. No, not in the background, it always has my full attention.

I love the intensity of "skrrrrrrelp!"

Bruh when the audience said “adyghakrbsbnshawayu” I felt that

Brian is going places. You can tell he lives to perform. ESPECIALLY about information nobody really needed or wanted.

Was pleasantly surprised to find an analysis of this masterpiece presented as theatre homework.

I can't even guess at the amount of time, effort, preperation, and energy that must have gone into this performance. I wish I had been there to see it live. He really did give us a gesamptkunstwerk.

the level of meta involved in explaining the concept of a gesamtkunstwerk, attempting to create a gesamtkunstwerk, feigning the failure of a creating gesamtkunstwerk, while the entire time creating an actual gesamtkunstwerk is legitimately brilliant.

In the captions it lists 30:56 as *INTERPRETIVE DANCE* and 31:08 as *INTERPRETIVE DANCE WITH A FRIEND* and that put a lil smile on my face

This remains one of the most impressive performances I've ever seen. The intellect, humor, charisma, and raw talent required to pull this off is astounding. Brian takes us through art history, music theory and composition, spreadsheets, standup comedy, and choreography, while capturing the nostalgia of our collective experiences of love and loss with all the pocket monsters we've known along the way.

I WANTED to go to this panel. Twitter said that it was half full, so we waited 5 minutes to finish our food, but when we got there, IT WAS FULL. IN 5 MINUTES. GOOD LORD.

I wish my hair looked that good after hiding under a table for 20 minutes.

Hiring Brian David Gilbert is the best move Polygon has ever made.

30:21 To whomever was wearing those pikachu ears... thank you for making this adorable shot framing Brian XD

This is pure genius. The utter representation of gesamtkunstwerk.

This is absolutely meant as a compliment, Brian David Gilbert has all the energy, stage presence and charisma to be an excellent cult leader.

the mcelroys walked so BDG could run

This man is a crossbreed between a teacher and a rockstar and I need more of this energy in my life

"A Gesamtkunstwerk is a work of art that makes use of all or many art forms or strives to do so. The term is a German loanword accepted in English as a term in aesthetics." Thanks Wikipedes, now I do know what a gesumtkunstwerk is.

Was not expecting to hear my name 50 times when I clicked on this, thanks BDG

My life can be divided into "before BDG threw down that SKRRRELP" and after

I remember watching this in school during computer class desperately trying to from my teacher. This will always be a classic for me, makes me laugh all the time.

He's so Winter King coded here with the shaved beard, long hair, blue suit and glasses

brian at the tailors: I need a suit you can do a full split in

thinking about how brian and patrick really had to choreograph and rehearse the dream ballet... i hope they did it on company time. just like, in a conference room. ...beautiful.

"it's not to catch em all, it's to love the ones you catch" that broke me

"Local man murders Kevin Punt live on stage before doing numbered jojo poses"

The way he completely controls the room gives me performance anxiety

After all these years, still one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed. BDG has the best combination of brains + creativity and natural charisma and humor. Still miss him from Polygon.

okay so my friend just sent me this. I was a bit intimidated by the length of the video, but he promised me it'd be worth it. THIS MAN. BRIAN DAVID GILBERT. He's literally the weeb version of Bo Burnham. I. Love. Him. I love this video. I haven't even watched 10 minutes of it yet. So.... yeah, good job dude. You aced those Jojo poses, by the way

Audience: AHDHSKAHDHDKSKHSKAA Random Lady: DUCKLETT

One day, months before this panel, the polygon boss walked into the normal recording studio to see Brian and Pat doing some bomb ass dancing, and I can’t unthink that.

What makes this better is the fact that pat looks like an older more tired brian

We mere mortals cannot comprehend Brian's sheer performative energy

the 2.5k dislikes are from kevin punt and his jail friends

he went from soundcloud rapper to tryhard teacher to theater kid in a few minutes

I love how at 28:49 he gets really angry and slowly calms down

all of Unraveled is perfect, but this particular video never fails to brighten my mood beyond belief. BDG is remarkably talented, and seeing him memorize that entire presentation, song, and dance routine is, quite frankly, amazing. whenever I need to smile, I come back to this video