You might have seen it on Facebook, SoundCloud, or YouTube back when audio remixes were spreading like wildfire online. But honestly, this one is worth dusting off your headphones for a couple of minutes.
A few years ago, a certain Ronny had fun parodying the legendary television game show Question for a champion by cobbled together totally absurd questions from snippets of broadcasts.
The premise was simple: use Julien Lepers' unmistakable voice, cut up questions, reassemble them in a completely improbable order, and then let the contestants answer completely off-topic. Except that in this joyful chaos, everything seems almost normal for half a second. And that's precisely where it's funny.
A question for a champion, but under the influence of acid
In these videos, Ronny recreates nonsensical, fake questions with the unwavering seriousness of a real TV studio. We hear Julien Lepers uttering sentences that begin like genuine general knowledge questions, before completely going off the rails.
The result is something that lies somewhere between Question for a champion, the Kamoulox by Kad and Olivier, and a baccalaureate oral exam passed after three sleepless nights.
Here's an example, just for fun:
In April 2010, what do you call the members of the Christian church, father of the punk movement, who have spots resembling the skin of a viper made of a mixture of cooked vegetables, preparing the political emancipation of the countries of Black Africa?
— A bicycle? No.
— Alice in Wonderland?
— Alice in Wonderland, okay!
There you go. Everything is there.
The question makes no sense, nor do the answers, and yet the whole thing maintains the very serious mechanics of a television game show. The brain tries to follow, then gracefully gives up after four seconds.
Julien Lepers, the ideal raw material
I have to say that Julien lepers was a perfect subject for this kind of subversion. His diction, his energy, his machine-gun delivery, his theatrical interjections… everything lent itself perfectly to the absurd montage.
For years, Question for a Champion was inseparable from his style. The suspense over a six-letter word. The "yes, yes, yes!". The slightly dramatic tone when a contestant hesitates on an answer that is nevertheless worth three points and an illustrated Larousse dictionary.
Ronny ultimately just pushed this mechanism to the point of complete absurdity. He maintained the show's rhythm, but replaced logic with a kind of silly poetry.
And naturally, it works.
A little piece of the web, the kind we don't see enough of anymore.
This diversion belongs to a a rather blessed period for the French-speaking web : the one where an audio montage could become a cult classic without a communication plan, without an optimized vertical format, without a fluorescent yellow thumbnail with a screaming head.
Someone would make something funny, put it online, and the internet would do the rest.
The first mixes were published on SoundCloud, then some circulated elsewhere, notably on YouTube. Traces of these parodies can still be found under the name Ronny Véranda, proof that good silliness sometimes ages better than some very serious concepts.
And that's good.
Because this kind of hijacking reminds us of something important: the internet doesn't always need to be useful, profitable, productive, or "engaging." Sometimes, all it takes is a Julien Lepers voice, three questions chopped up like a meat grinder, and a contestant answering "Alice in Wonderland" to create a little masterpiece of absurdity.
Listen with your brain on autopilot
If you like nonsensical humor, well-crafted montages, and great television moments put through a blender, this parody of Question pour un champion is definitely worth checking out.
It's not very clever. It's not very useful. It's probably not approved by the French Academy of TV quizzes.
But it's fresh, silly, well-made, and you listen to it with a big, silly smile.
And frankly, on the internet, that's already a lot.
