H3h3 Productions

Wow, Ethan, great moves! Keep it up. Proud of you.

h3h3 Productions is a comedy channel on YouTube that first appeared in 2011. Run mainly by Jewish couple Ethan and Hila Klein, it typically features reactions and commentary on various videos as well as personal hijinks. These usually involve pranks, viral videos, anything by DJ Khaled and whatever catches the couple's attention or is submitted to them by fans.

It's notable for its rather impromptu, irreverent if not surreal comedy and the loads and loads of memes that result from them. These are in addition to Ethan's unscripted eccentricities and the couple's antics on (and off)-camera.

A secondary channel originally set up by Hila can be found here, which also contains snippets of her and Ethan's everyday life.

h3h3 Productions provides examples of the following tropes:

• A Date with Rosie Palms: In the review for How Many Times, Ethan, in reaction to DJ Khaled's "beautiful" fupa, asks Hila for some privacy... and some tissues... and some moisturizer. Cut to Ethan's door, as he loudly masturbates to the fupa.
• Arch Enemy: As of late, the channel's become one for SoFloAntonio.
• Ascended Meme: Vape Nation.
• Audience Participation: Increasingly, Ethan and Hila have taken to being more personal with their own fanbase and often ask for suggestions on what stuff to cover.
• Badass Israeli: Hailing from Israel, Hila served in the IDF through conscription. Though she states that she was mainly doing desk jobs, her military training still surfaces occasionally.
• Bait and Switch Comment/Getting Crap Past the Radar: Lampshaded and Parodied in Ethan Joins a 90s Boy Band. The song "Get Down" by B4-4, reviewed in the video, has the line "I'm gonna make you come tonight.. over to my house." Ethan parodies it by extending the pause between the lines to make it extremely awkward to Hila.
  • Discussed when Ethan is talking with music producer (and guest) Schmoyoho for boy band song ideas:

Ethan: So this is important, too: a lot of sexual innuendo. "I wanna make you come... over to my house." Right? So it's like... It's like "Yes, I wanna fuck you, but since dad's also listening to this song, I just wanna have you over dinner."

• Parodied again in Ethan and Schmoyoho's finished song: "I'm gonna make you jizz... cuzzi with me tonight."

• Beware the Nice Ones: Hila, who's usually the cameraman, comes across as demure and shy at times. But every now and then, her past in the IDF becomes evident, which can come across as jarring.
  • Even the otherwise amiable and friendly Ethan can be scathing if there's any need to.
• Berserk Button:
  • Videos by pranksters like SoFloAntonio come across as this for Ethan.
  • This extends as well to scam-artists, clickbait and generally sleazy, unethical schlock.
  • Tai Lopez. It's enough to infuriate Ethan into ranting about how sleazy Lopez's shtick really is.
  • Ethan's also shown a hatred for Adam Sandler movies and more recently, the Fine Brothers. In part because they give Jewish people a bad name, among other reasons.
• Bestiality is Depraved: In Maregasm, Ethan is shocked at the fact that the couple in the video is "sexually active with animals":

Ethan: "He's like a Mormon. Except instead of two wives, he has a wife and a FUCKING HORSE, dude!"

• Big Applesauce: New York featured a bit more on the channel (in addition to a few cameos from their friend JonTron) following the couple's move there.
  • One of the Dangers of Social Media videos also features a disgruntled father speaking in a very blatant New Yorker accent.

Are ya crazy?! Are ya outta your moind?!

• Black Comedy: The home can lean towards this at times, especially given Ethan and Hila's tendency of Crossing the Line Twice.
• Blatant Lies: Certain pranksters, particularly SoFloAntonio come across as this for many reasons. One of the most blatant being how they tend to steal other people's work/footage/etc. and slap their faces or branding on them, with little to no acknowledgement of any sort.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer: Both Ethan and Hila show themselves to be rather well-informed, educated and articulate. They're also rather eccentric, with Ethan in particular not really giving a damn with how he dresses himself. Neither of them are an act.
  • Further highlighted by Ethan's mom, who's still confounded by her son's personality.
• Call Back:
  • In The Return of Patrice Wilson, Ethan notices Patrice wearing numerous bracelets and jokes that "this guy's doing some kissing pranks for sure." Footage of Chris from PrankInvasion is then shown.
  • In The Water Project, Ethan presents Diamond Water, seen in a previous h3h3 episode, and mentions the name Persian Pop Priestess.
  • In The Return of Sean, Ethan sees bracelets for sale and, very impressed with the variety, tries to haggle with the clerk.
• The Cameo: JonTron has made a few cameo appearances in h3h3's more recent videos. It's also mutual, given how Ethan has appeared in Jon's work recently. Even appearing dressed-up as the Kool-Aid Man, demanding that Jon punch him in the liver.
  • Former First Lady Michelle Obama makes an appearance in the channel's intro sequence, which is actually taken from a Vine recording addressed to a kid also named Ethan.
  • Over time, others have also popped up in Ethan and Hila's videos, including PewDiePie of all people.
• Catch Phrase:
  • "We've got goofs, gaffs and we've got laughs."
  • "It was a romp, a riot and a laugh." (with variations)
• Chekov's Gun: Discussed in his review of Jack and Jill, when Adam Sandler's character meets the Mexican sleeping janitor, and Ethan expects him to be a character, not a one-off "joke." After all, "if you hang a gun, you gotta use it."
• Conspiracy Theories: Parodied in Jews Did 9/11 PROVEN, a revisit of an earlier video, where Ethan looked at a YouTube channel blaming Jews for various tragedies.
• Cringe Comedy: "My Epic Collab With Pewdiepie!!" is basically designed to make viewers feel uncomfortable... at least until Ethan's last suggestion, which is implied to be his revenge against PewDiePie.
• Culture Clash: Occasionally pops up, especially if a video involves Ethan explaining some American custom or tradition to the Israeli-born Hila.
• Determinator: The channel itself has faced more than its share of threats and lawsuits over time. Ethan and Hila however, keep pushing through.
• Discredited Trope: In Two Handed Great Sword, Ethan considers the Master Swordsman this:

Ethan: I have to ask, dude: Are you aware of what year it is? People don't walk around in swords anymore, dude! People don't use swords in fights anymore, it's not- (beat) (to Hila) Do you think he knows that? I'm not sure if he knows that.

• In his reaction to KILLING BEST FRIEND PRANK, Ethan considers prank videos to be dead.
• More downplayed, but Ethan's "fupa" may be headed this way given his efforts to start losing weight.

• Dramatic Reading: Ethan read other contestants' profiles in WE WON A TRIP TO MEET DJ KHALED (apparently).
• Early Installment Weirdness: The first videos on the channel look decidedly basic and featured more conventional attempts at comedy from Ethan.
• Epic Fail: Some of the stuff h3h3 covers tend to stop short of whatever they're aiming for and land into this instead.
• Fan Disservice: Any time Ethan goes around in his underwear or showing parts of his body. And naturally, Played for Laughs.
• Forced Meme: Occasionally, though it tends to not necessarily be on Ethan or Hila's part but rather from the stuff they cover. Which more often than not, work.
• Fountain of Memes: Many of the videos reacted and commented on in the channel, which have a tendency to speak for themselves - for good or ill. This is sometimes lampshaded by Ethan, with an occasional "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer.
• Gay Bravado: Parodied in How to pick up girls, when Ethan pretends to act like a pick up artist who has no emotions with women, but really likes "his bros" ("Why aren't we fucking dudes by the way?", "I wanna fuck dudes!")
  • Discussed in Reading the Good Looking Loser's Comments, when a commenter on Chris' forum completely misses the point of the joke.
• Granola Girl/New Age Retro Hippie:
  • The Power of Diamond Water video in a nutshell.
  • How Ethan and Hila interpret the videos of Rain Florence, who does come across as a throwback to 1960s-70s counterculture.
• Growing the Beard: The videos have generally improved in both quality and content over time.
• Happily Married: Ethan and Hila, who show this even in their personal videos.
• Hair Flip: Ethan and Hila were bewildered when ETHAN BRADBERRY flipped his hair when using the smoke machine inside a house.
• Insult Backfire: When SoFloAntonio tried to "expose" the channel as being a fraud, all it really did was show his grossly superficial "research" and put the spotlight even more on SoFlo's sketchy practices. All while giving h3h3 the Streisand Effect.
• Internet Counterattack: The channel was among those who called out Youtubers ProSyndicate and TmarTn for their shady gambling antics.
• Jewish and Nerdy: Ethan in a nutshell.
• Jewish Complaining: Both Ethan and Hila have a tendency to do this. While it's stated a few times that Hila's dad is still fond of complaining about Ethan.
• Jewish Mother: Subverted with Ethan's mom, who is Jewish.
• Karma Houdini: What Ethan guesses to be the rationale behind many prank videos, given some of the more questionable things that certain pranksters (hypocritically) get away with.

Ethan: "It's just a prank, dude!"

• Keet: Ethan tends to show this at times. Which isn't really an act, if his and Hila's trip to Disneyland is any indication.
• Large Ham: At times, Ethan can really be hammy in his delivery.
• Let's Play: Ethan and Hile played Emily Wants to Play, a Horror Video Game Their reactions to jumpscares are cut with SoFlo Facebook intros.
  • They also played Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. They didn't enjoy playing it.
  • They've also played a fangame in which they finally defeat SoFloAntonio.
• Manipulative Editing: Certain videos that the channel covers can come across as this. Ethan in particular is fond of mocking the manipulative use of music to make even sleazy exploitation look like uplifting, feel-good filler.
• Memetic Molester: Ethan acts this way for laughs ("rape dungeon") and to prove the point that the people he reacts to are extremely creepy.
• Minor Injury Overreaction: Discussed and parodied in The Hand Model:

Ellen Sirot: For me, an injury really would mean—a paper cut or a broken nail or a little bruise, something mundane to you—would be a disaster for me.
Ethan: A disaster. 'A paper cut?' What a fuckin' disaster! "OOOHHH! A paper cut again?! Call my manager, Chris, I can't use the fucking phone, dude! I can't do anything! Chris, call my manager, tell him to- to cancel all my appointments for the next year." (loud cough)

• Mood Dissonance: Jews Did 9/11 PROVEN, during one video Ethan is watching, a "high-energy" Trance track plays with footage of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center.
• Narcissist/Small Name, Big Ego: Parodied in The Hand Model:

Ethan: I've never seen someone stroking themselves in admiration. 'I am literally the perfect human being.'

• No Sense of Humor: Some of Ethan's observations on prank videos involve either how the ones making said pranks have no idea on how to make one, or how they're blurring the line between what's real and what's just a joke.
• Noodle Incident: Sometimes, off-camera events are brought up in passing that may or may not be true.
• "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer: Some of the videos covered by Ethan and Hila sometimes require them to insist that yes, those exist. One example being the Become a Living Meme God video, which has Ethan pointing out incredulously how there are still (self-professed) druids in the 21st Century.
  • When Ethan brings up an infamous porn video VitalyzdTv was involved in that went viral, he points out that yes, it exists on the internet.
  • As it turns out, the beanie skit at the end of the True Art Is Incomprehensible video is very real.
  • Ethan's general reaction upon looking up "h3h3" and "fupa" on Tumblr amounts to this.
• Oh Crap: A general reaction, given what sorts of videos are covered.
• Oh, Wait!: In the review for How Many Times:

Ethan: "This is real hip-hop, guys. This is about the streets, this is about the struggle, this is about bringing the African-American community up, guys. ...Wait, no, it's not about any of that, it's about- it's about trying to have sex with prostitutes who wouldn't even have sex with you!

• Old Shame: Ethan increasingly seems to treat the whole #MemeGate/"Youtube Civil War" drama affair as this.
• One of Us: The couple are rather nerdy, to say the least.
• OOC Is Serious Business: Given how quirky Ethan and Hila tend to be, it's not a good sign when the work or video they're riffing on is really pissing them off.
  • In a recent video made in the wake of the fiasco surrounding the Fine Bros. (of Kids React To fame), Ethan's dead serious for a good portion of it and visibly upset.
  • Both Hila and Ethan are visibly uncomfortable for a good portion of their The Thrust of an Indian God video, partly due to the sleazy dry humping in the rural Indian dance number footage they're watching coming across as borderline rape. In the same video, they're also dumbfounded by the seizure-inducing K-Pop live concert footage.
  • The now infamous #MemeGate, aka "Youtube Civil War" drama is also this for everyone involved. And that's about all one could say neutrally about it.
  • Ethan's rather deep look into the gambling scene in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, just for how seriously he's taking the matter as well as how sleazy and far-reaching said sleaziness the whole affair is.
• Poe's Law: Discussed for laughs by Ethan in his reaction to KILLING BEST FRIEND PRANK

"And that's why Sam Pepper is a genius: he blurs the distinction between parody and real prank."
[...]
"Who is actually being pranked? Is it me? Is it you?"

• Political Correctness Gone Mad: Mercilessly mocked and criticized whenever it comes up.
• Reality Subtext: The cameos with JonTron in part stem from Hila Klein being a producer and propmaster for his videos.
• The Reason You Suck Speech: Even with the sort of stuff covered in the channel, it takes quite a bit to really get Ethan and Hila riled up. So far, the most notable ones who've reached that "threshold" include:
  • Tai Lopez, for being so utterly fake, condescending to his supposed audience and exploiting others' gullibility under the guise of being some sort of self-help guru.
  • SoFloAntonio, for not just spamming YouTube with clickbait videos, many of which being stolen content from others. But more recently, for also exploiting Facebook to benefit himself while closing down and even threatening channels that criticize him.
  • The Fine Brothers, for the fiasco involving their Kids React To lineup and the very notion of reaction videos. And for their hypocrisy, lack of creativity and corporate opportunism, despite all their pretensions.
  • ProSyndicate and TmarTn, for tarnishing gaming and YouTube with their gambling antics and unethical practices, all while deceiving their audiences.
• Refuge in Audacity: The channel tends to rely on this. Though at least some if also has to do with the couple's natural mannerisms.
• Retraux: The intro sequence to the channel's videos wouldn't look out of place in a 1980s VHS special.
• Running Gag: They do exist, but Ethan prefers to keep the jokes fresh, rather than repeat a gag all the time.
  • Mentioning Jeff Dunham.
  • Quoting DJ Khaled's memetic words ("Another One", "Say My Name", "Egg whites", "WOOO!", etc.).
  • Ethan rocking out to overly epic music in some videos.
  • The "rape dungeon."
  • Homosexual insults (sucking dicks).
  • Using sexual and medical infections as insults (HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis).
  • "YEEAAHH!"
  • Ethan treating Hila like garbage (it's just pretend).
  • In How to Traumatize Your Child PRANK:
    • "I'M ETHAN BRADBERRY!"
    • Commenting about Ethan Bradberry's soulless eyes.
    • Ethan coining a new word for 'idiot'. "They're a bunch of Bradberries."
    • "It's just a social experiment" (while sirens play and a logo pops up) and "It's just a felony experiment."
    • The "MoeAndET" logo appearing with chimes in the background to contrast with the horrible actions that are shown.
• Sanity Slippage: Subverted at the end of "Ethan Joins a 90s Boy Band": Ethan seemingly goes insane while finally realizing how ungodly stupid his dream of creating a B4-4-style boy band is.
• Scare'Em Straight: Parodied and mocked mercilessly. The Dangers of Social Media videos in particular not only show how ludicrously stupid such programmes are in practice, but also show Ethan speechless at the sheer insanity of it all.
• Self-Deprecation: Ethan and Hila tend to poke fun at themselves and their heritage. Eventually, this has extended to making jokes about their old videos.
• Serious Business: Parodied in the GTA V news report reaction, when Ethan gets trash-talked online:

Hila: You can mute them, you know.
Ethan: Maybe I can just find a quiet place on the beach and meditate and let it go. (wincing) Really, Hila? Really? Is that your suggestion?
Ethan: I was made fun of on the Internet and you want me to let it go?!

• Hila seems to treat video games as this.

• Shout-Out: rekt together is a tribute to What's Up Fatlip.
  • In When Texting turns to Sexting, A News Report, Ethan doesn't recognise any of the alleged sexting acronyms (RUH, PIR, GNOC), but says he does know GMTPB, which stands for "Gimme the pussy please, boss." That's one of Filthy Frank's Catch Phrases.
    • Lampshaded by TVFilthyFrank in a comment.

gibe de pusi pls b0ss. meme gonzales is proud.

• In The Water Project, Ethan and Hila read from the Diamond Water packaging and recognise the reference to Rihanna's "Diamond" ("Live healthy. Shine bright.")
• The logo used for the channel is also a nod to Adult Swim.

• The Show Must Go On: In The Thrust of an Indian God, both Ethan and Hila are stunned by how far K-Pop's willing to go to keep a concert going, even if it meant having a dancer having a seizure on stage for much longer than there's any need to be.
• Sincerity Mode: Both Ethan and Hila were legitimately surprised by the support given to them by other Youtubers in the wake of a recent attempt to shut down their channel.
  • Ethan in the Deception, Lies, and CSGO video seems legitimately stunned by the sleaziness of the affair as well as concerned regarding the unfair implications against gamers and the industry alike.
• Slice of Life: Sort of the case with the alternate Ethan and Hila channel, which includes snippets of their personal lives. Though even at their more candid moments, they're shown to be rather quirky.
• Speaking, Like, Totally Teen: The host in the How to Clean Your Gamer Gear video tries so hard to be Totally Radical in what amounts to a glorified infomercial aimed at gamers, peddling canned air that it's cringeworthy to watch in action.
  • When the Cringe is Too Strong -- BORN MOBILE, from Qualcomm's keynote at CES 2013, has much worse teen speak, such as "How do you do, fellow kids?", "OMG!" and "FUEGO!" Ethan and Hila couldn't believe their eyes the entire time.
• Streisand Effect: Attempts to shut down or slander the channel have done little more than bring more attention to Ethan and Hila.
• Take That: To Jeff Dunham in the video which introduced the grotesque Jeff Dunnie Fuck Doll.

Ethan: (listening to his doll) What was that? (slams puppet into the sofa, slapping and punching it in the face) SHUT UP, JEFF DUNHAM!

• Detailed in this FAQ video.

• His "Jeff Dunham is so edgy" song, while making the puppet masturbate and blowjob itself, among other things.
• In OUR THOUGHTS ON SAM PEPPER, Ethan recites the Drama Alert intro, and compares KEEMSTAR to a stroke victim.
• At the end of Deception, Lies, and CSGO, Ethan does this to ProSyndicate by promoting Baby Gambles.net.

• Take That, Audience!: More affectionate than anything else, though. As sometimes, Ethan and Hila would poke fun at some of the weirder comments they receive.
• Tempting Fate: Sometimes, Ethan and Hila would mention how things couldn't possibly get any worse or weirder.
  • Ethan seems to be invoking this as he delves into Tumblr.
• Think of the Children: Generally lampooned and satirized. Averted but justified, however in Deception, Lies, and CSGO, due to how ProSyndicate and TmarTn are exploiting their generally young fanbase with their sleazy gambling antics.
• Title Drop: In A country for sociopaths by sociopaths, an Author Tract about how expensive health insurance is in New York:

Ethan: So the solution to everyone's problems, guys: get it together, this is America! Do you know what you need to do? Be rich! At any cost! This is a country for sociopaths by sociopaths, and if you have a moral compas, get out! Go to fucking Canada, you bitch! [...]

• This Is Gonna Suck: Ethan gives this impression every time he's about to look at a DJ Khaled or Patrice Wilson-produced video.
• Trademark Favorite Food: For Ethan, Pepsi Max. From the vlog Post office adventure:

Ethan: They'd better start paying me, dude. I've been slinging this shit for years, man.

• Subverted in BFF Test. It's now Diet Cherry Cola, although Pepsi Max does appear in more recent videos.

• True Art Is Incomprehensible: Parodied and lampooned in this video on modern art and how it tends to treat audiences like idiots.
• Verbal Tic:
  • On-camera, Ethan tended to make a peculiar sound that not quite a cough, yet not quite a laugh either.
    • It later became a Discredited Meme, as discussed in Oprah Winfrey Gives Away TEN DUNNIES.
  • "Dude." Ethan even says it to his mom.
• Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Ethan's take on the infamous Law and Order SVU episode Intimidation Game brings up how ludicrously unfair and detached from reality said episode is.
• Viewers are Morons: Not h3h3 itself, but the more than a few videos and individuals covered on the channel do have a recurring tendency of treating viewers as idiots, as if competing to be as patronising or condescending as possible.
  • Defied in the channel itself. Ethan is very vocal about not treating his audience like "fucking idiots" or "little babies" when it comes to links.
  • In Deception, Lies, and CSGO, Ethan calls out ProSyndicate and TmarTn for effectively treating their audiences as this with their gambling shenanigans.
• What Happened To The Mouse: Sean, a friend of the couple who's also helped run h3h3, hasn't really been seen as of late. It's explained that he stayed behind in Israel while Ethan and Hila returned to America. And then, he came back in a recent video from Ethan and Hila's trip to Israel.
• What the Hell Hero: In Deception, Lies, and CSGO, Ethan outright calls out Valve Corporation for allowing sleazy gambling practices to go virtually unchecked. In the same video he also calls out Youtubers ProSyndicate and TmarTn for not only actively promoting said sleazy practices but even running a gambling site without disclosure.
• The Wiki Rule: The H3h3 Wiki on Wikia.
• Worthy Opponent: Ethan and Hila tend to also recommend some of the people they react to. Not necessarily because they agree with them but rather out of good faith.
  • This can sometimes have hilarious consequences, like the host of How to Clean Your Gamer Gear playfully owning up to the lunacy of it years after it was made thanks to the h3h3 video.
  • Ethan and Hila not only got to meet DJ Khaled in person but even managed to get along.
• YouTube Poop: The "exe" videos and the many effects on the reaction videos border on this.

---

Remember guys, you are HEALTHY and BEAUTIFUL, no matter how FAT and UGLY you are!