Gheefunny - Dad and Son Funny Videos
- 6 years ago
hen Eric Lawton is playing himself in his comedy videos, he’s not trying to be the picture-perfect father. His image looks nothing like the dads in Norman Rockwell paintings, nor the corny, confidant types often seen in television for teens. And while he may be writing jokes about black families, he most certainly is not doing The Cosby Show.
Lawton, who stars alongside his son, Shawn, wants to portray a father who can slip up.
Some critics say he’s doing just that: He is, after all, writing one-minute sketches where he and his 7-year-old trade jabs laced (sometimes) with sexual innuendo. But fans of the pair appreciate the blend of subversive African American comedy traditions with father and son’s satiric ability to capture the challenges of everyday parenting, economic realities especially — talents that have earned the pair 660,000 Facebook followers and an Instagram following of 188,000 under the moniker GheeFunny.
Take a recent sketch posted in January, where Shawn asks for a dog. Lawton: “Hell, no. … You just started wiping your own a– two months ago.”
Unlike his on-screen persona, the real-life director at a local youth development program is laid back, with a calm tone of voice. As he was preparing to hit the “share” button on a more recent clip, he shook his head and laughed.
“This video is probably going to get some bad feedback,” Lawton said of the video in which he takes Shawn to the doctor because of persistent itchiness — he guessed that was from chasing around girls four grades ahead of him. From other videos, too, Lawton has received backlash from viewers who don’t like that his character uses foul language, or that he shuts his son down by insulting him.
“Who cares? Not me. You need negative,” said Lawton, 30, of Strawberry Mansion. “Without turmoil, who are you?”
Negativity aside, his goals are positively ambitious: He wants Shawn to be able to make the leap from digi-shorts novice to professional actor. Lawton sees it as showing his son something other than playing ball. They’re already working on leveling up: Next month, they’ll debut The GheeFunny Show — Ghee is Lawton’s nickname — a web series of 25-minute episodes with professional camerawork instead of iPhone grabs. Lawton said he is in negotiations with Facebook and YouTube over which platform will host the first season.
But it all just started as a funny guy from a funny family who figured he’d try sharing his wisecracks on social media. And then when Shawn was 6, the child asked a question all parents know is ripe for comedy: Where do babies come from?
In that moment, he understood their conversation was unfolding in a funny way, so he asked his son to raise the question on camera.
Experts and fans now marvel at Shawn’s comedy chops at so young an age. “He’ll tell me something, or I’ll just make something up,” Shawn explained nonchalantly. “I’ll say this or I’ll say that.”
His father estimates about 70 percent of their dialogue is off the cuff. How does Shawn
Lawton, who stars alongside his son, Shawn, wants to portray a father who can slip up.
Some critics say he’s doing just that: He is, after all, writing one-minute sketches where he and his 7-year-old trade jabs laced (sometimes) with sexual innuendo. But fans of the pair appreciate the blend of subversive African American comedy traditions with father and son’s satiric ability to capture the challenges of everyday parenting, economic realities especially — talents that have earned the pair 660,000 Facebook followers and an Instagram following of 188,000 under the moniker GheeFunny.
Take a recent sketch posted in January, where Shawn asks for a dog. Lawton: “Hell, no. … You just started wiping your own a– two months ago.”
Unlike his on-screen persona, the real-life director at a local youth development program is laid back, with a calm tone of voice. As he was preparing to hit the “share” button on a more recent clip, he shook his head and laughed.
“This video is probably going to get some bad feedback,” Lawton said of the video in which he takes Shawn to the doctor because of persistent itchiness — he guessed that was from chasing around girls four grades ahead of him. From other videos, too, Lawton has received backlash from viewers who don’t like that his character uses foul language, or that he shuts his son down by insulting him.
“Who cares? Not me. You need negative,” said Lawton, 30, of Strawberry Mansion. “Without turmoil, who are you?”
Negativity aside, his goals are positively ambitious: He wants Shawn to be able to make the leap from digi-shorts novice to professional actor. Lawton sees it as showing his son something other than playing ball. They’re already working on leveling up: Next month, they’ll debut The GheeFunny Show — Ghee is Lawton’s nickname — a web series of 25-minute episodes with professional camerawork instead of iPhone grabs. Lawton said he is in negotiations with Facebook and YouTube over which platform will host the first season.
But it all just started as a funny guy from a funny family who figured he’d try sharing his wisecracks on social media. And then when Shawn was 6, the child asked a question all parents know is ripe for comedy: Where do babies come from?
In that moment, he understood their conversation was unfolding in a funny way, so he asked his son to raise the question on camera.
Experts and fans now marvel at Shawn’s comedy chops at so young an age. “He’ll tell me something, or I’ll just make something up,” Shawn explained nonchalantly. “I’ll say this or I’ll say that.”
His father estimates about 70 percent of their dialogue is off the cuff. How does Shawn