The Best Viral Videos of 2018 (So Far)

Nothing quite tickles the soul like a good viral video. The "End of the Worlds" and the "Leave Britney Alones" of the web reign supreme, the ones you can rewatch endlessly and still find something about them that either continues to bewilder or floor you. Below, enjoy, in no particular order, some of our faves from 2018 -- a list we'll update throughout the year.

The caption really says it all: "LMFAO when your brother orders a bong and your mom's wants to see him open it." The fun begins immediately, as this Stratego-lovin' kid peeks warily at the camera and says, "I have no idea what this is." His best guess? "It looks just like a big metal, like, plastic, like, vase," or, like "a vase for, like, a bunch of, like, things." Damn. Poor kid definitely just wanted his Xbox controller and not this freaking flower sheath designed by aliens. Thanks a lot, Microsoft!
Best part: That super-convincing "What the frick?"

Finally, one of the first vids we all fell in love with got a sequel. "Making fun of these very, very real threats to our survival, that are on the one hand not to be taken lightly at all -- really that was the instigation to finally make another video associated with the end of the world," creator Jason Windsor told Select All. "Because, yeah man, shit's fucked right now, and it's only going to be getting worse."
Best part: It exists.

After watching the Pats-Jags AFC title bout, Jigar Desai had plans to leave his brother's place in South Philly and cheer on the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Unfortunately, he ran into a problem. More specifically, a pole. Video of the collision, captured from multiple angles, showed Desai running alongside a subway car, hyping up fellow Eagles fans on their way to the game. "We were waiting for a train coming on the platform across from it. And I just saw Eagles fans, and it got me all excited," he explained to Deadspin. "At the end of it, when I was running toward the train I just wanted to give a final 'Go Birds!' to the folks that were there. And that’s when the pole made a great tackle." Indeed. Desai: 0; Pole: 1.
Best part: This amazing side-by-side.

Animals do a lot of internet-worthy things. (Just ask our sister site.) But it's tough to beat a dog breaking into a yard to ride a one-eyed wonder pony off into the moonlight. Especially when it's a corgi doing so, effortlessly, while pettily smizing at the camera as if to say, "I pooped in your living room and ate all your Cheez-Its, but I'm still cute. Too-da-loo, bitches."
Best part: That. Glance.

There were several highlights at this year's Super Bowl, but one of our favorites came at the very end, when comedian-slash-Philly superfan Kevin Hart tried to get onto the Eagles' celebration stage. He was Mutombo'd.
Best part: His face.

You reach a certain age, and you forget how old you actually are. We get it. But this incredulous reaction, coming from a 98-year-old man who thought he was 79, is perfect.
Best part: "Your ASS" -- Tina Belcher would be proud of his delivery, and is no doubt off somewhere whispering "is grass."

Move over, Tongan flag-bearer. The breakout viral star of the 2018 Winter Olympics was this kid. When broadcasters opted for a live shot of the crowds in South Korea, he did his best pose, shot down a high five, and opted for a truly unique souvenir: a taste of an NBC camera? 
Best part: His perseverance.

At a Trail Blazers-Hornets game, two attendees had the opportunity to play tic-tac-toe. Instead, they reinvented the rules in real time, to the great distress of the announcer and everyone else in the stands. Oh, Grace! (To be fair, tic-tac-toe sucks.)
Best part: Whatever game they thought they were playing.

The title of the video, uploaded to Imgur earlier this year, says it all. A little girl who was supposed to be feeding birds apparently got second thoughts when her first customer arrived. Instead of giving up the crumb of bread, she internally screamed "MINE," did her best choke hold, and snatched the food back. The gulls from Finding Nemo could never! 
Best part: Those jaw-dropping reflexes.

"When you see a note, don't just guess at the note." That was the advice given to the Liberty University Wind Symphony during a recent rehearsal. The students ran with it, but instead of nailing their Bach chorale, as instructed, they pranked their band director with this impressive arrangement of the Mii Channel theme. (You know, this old thing.) Bravo!
Best part: The director hastily checking the sheet music and then his good-sport endorsement at the end.

What you are about to watch is an accidental masterpiece, one that firmly and easily cements this kid in YouTube’s Baby Hall of Fame. We've probably all been this poor soul at one point in our lives -- trying something we know we shouldn’t and learning the hard way. The big difference is not many people have natural comedic timing that’s this damn good.
Best part: "Wa-shaw-bee."

When 12-year-old Mason Ramsey, aka Lil Hank (yes, as in Williams), gave an impromptu concert in the middle of a Walmart at the end of March, he probably didn’t realize he was going to become one of 2018's biggest viral sensations. But he did, for that was his destiny. Not long after posting up at the now-famous Spill Clean-Up Station J8 and yodeling through "Lovesick Blues," the budding musician was getting remixed and... performing at Coachella? Sure. We anticipate his 8 Mile-style Netflix original biopic real soon.
Best part: I mean, the yodels.

If you aren't familiar with Pat McAfee's dad, let us introduce you. He's a ruthless competitor. He's a fearless innovator. He's... the Rodney Mullen of Big Jenga.
Best part: That follow-through.

I'll let the OP explain what's going on here: "My best friend and I have daughters the same age. We introduced them via FaceTime 4 years ago. They’ve talked daily and became best friends. They live 7+ hours away and our schedules never lined up to have them meet in person until this moment. Neither of our daughters knew this was happening." I'm not crying. You're crying!
Best part: THEIR HUG.

Another sad entry in the internet's cruelest anthology, Mascots Watch Their Piñata Selves Get Destroyed. This one stars a pair of Peppa Pigs -- that porcine cartoon character your baby cousin is obsessed with -- and the bullies from Step Brothers. As you'll see, Larger Peppa fails to protect Smaller Peppa, the former forced to watch the brutality ensue from a safe distance. It appears the whole "Don't talk to me or my son ever again" bluff doesn't always work. Not when candy's on the line.
Best part: Larger Peppa's impression of the screaming emoji.

During a May 2016 game between the Mets and the Dodgers, New York's Noah Syndergaard hurled a 99-mph fastball that narrowly missed Chase Utley's backside. The home plate umpire immediately tossed the pitcher, prompting the Mets' manager, Terry Collins, to fling heat of his own. (For context: Many thought the errant pitch was retaliation for an incident that happened a year earlier, in the 2015 playoffs, when Utley broke Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada's leg during a dirty slide; the umps weren't going to let the rivalry yield more injuries.) Though Collins' outburst occurred two years ago, the audio wasn't discovered until this year -- largely because it wasn't supposed to be made public. Understandably so. It's a mostly... profane... video clip (where was Mr. Met when Collins needed him most?), but, as sportswriters have noted, it offers rare insight into what's said during these intense, normally muted exchanges.
Best part: "Our ass is in the jackpot now!" A beautifully nonsensical exclamation that deserves to be introduced into every American's lexicon.

To what lengths would you go to get a soda? This Edmonton woman might say, "So many!!!" She showed her determination at a Spruce Grove Reddi Mart where, after the man she was with failed to buy a soft drink with a stolen credit card, she tried to evade police capture by climbing into the convenience store's ceiling. Little did she know she was begging for the kind of karma usually reserved for Wile E. Coyote.
Best part: You can also watch it set to Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance."

A cute salve in what has become another overall insane year, the internet's latest video "challenge" has humans disappearing into thin air before the eyes of their pets. (The illusion of it, at least.) To make your dog say, "What the fluff," you'll need a blanket, a couple nearby doorways, and a pinch of good timing. Hugs encouraged afterward.
Best part:The fails.

Yes, another baseball video -- though this one's a little more heartwarming than the last. Near the end of a recent Minnesota high school game, pitcher Ty Koehn struck out his longtime friend Jack Kocon to earn a trip to the state championship. Instead of celebrating the win, however, Koehn immediately ran over to Kocon, hugged him, and offered words of encouragement. "You had a great season," he reportedly told his friend. "And I told him I loved him and he's my brother and our friendship will always last longer than this silly game and its silly outcome." 
Best part: Are those... jorts I spy in the distance?

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