‘It’s funnier every time I watch it’: Hazardous housekeeping turns hoovering into a hair-raising disaster

You know how sometimes things go so wrong that they end up being right? Well, let me rephrase that. You know how sometimes things go so wrong that they end up being so hilarious you can’t help but watch, even if you have a sneaking suspicion it’s staged. That’s what we’re dealing with in one particularly zany TikTok home cleaning video.

It all starts with a woman in a red sweater doing what anyone does regularly: stand on the edge of the couch and vacuum the ceiling. Honestly, who among us has not done this very thing? Who has not stood on the precipice while someone randomly yells at you, causing you to carefully fall off said couch?

What about how when you’re getting up, they (wearing white) step closer to you purportedly to help, but end up with a carefully placed vacuum cleaner spout to the head? Then, as you feign trying to remove said spout, you hurl yourself (but carefully) off the couch as if you fell of your own volition? Who hasn’t been there?

Finally, as you lay on the floor in spasms of prepared laughter, your friend finally removes herself from the vacuum. How does this keep happening? So weird! The video in question is from an account called valleyhomebeef, which mostly has random farm videos and then this 2.3 million viewed monster.

Is it staged? Is water made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom? The question we should all be asking is, why is it still so entertaining despite being staged? What is it about someone taking a vacuum to the face that even with the knowledge it’s not real, it’s still so fun to watch?

I’m not here to answer those philosophical meanderings. I’m here to present you with a video that’s gone very viral despite its artifice clearly presented. Is it ironic? Is it meta? Is it just that we have low standards for entertainment?

It’s not like people don’t know. The first comment alone, with 1267 likes as of this writing, is “The dive into the couch makes this all looked staged.” I guess that does still leave some doubt. How about the next comment, “Staged, but still funny.”

Look. Movies are staged, and they still make us laugh and cry and call our moms. Why can’t this little piece of magic do the same? Are these women just great actors? That’s for you to decide. Regardless, this will still probably make you laugh. Isn’t that all that really matters?