TwoSet lose plot in monster rebrand
NewsOnce upon a time there were two comedic Chinese-Australian violinists called TwoSet. They made people laugh.
Then they got bored and packed it in.
Now they’re back with an expensive rebrand that employs half the continent’s creative population.
Not great. Not amusing. See what you think.
Video Credits:
Director: Sabrina Norte
Producer: Julia Ditz , Sebastian Kübl – Mad Bucket Prod.
DOP: Felix Foltas
1st AD: Lea Williwald
SteadyCam: Gernot Grondinger
1st AC: Mikhail Evstratov
2nd AC: Daniel Russeger
2nd AC: Andreas Lechner
2nd AC: Lukas Feix
Gaffer: Oskar Ott
Electrician: Ladislav Hudi
Electrician: Christopher Ramos
Best Boy: Maximilian Lang
Hair & Make-up Lead: Katarina Klima
Hair & Make-up Team: Arin, Nina Willenpart, Ayleen Wurmbauer, Renata Darybegi, Helena Jonke, Isabel Krones, Patricia Lehner, Lisa Hofbauer, Metta Somfai, Natalia Berger
Styling: Katharina Kappert
Styling Assistant: Nicola Ségur-Cabanac
Set Design: Georg Hampe
Set Design: Nora Anna Hoffmann
Set Design Assistant: Martin Unterweger
Set Design Assistant: Daniel Opocensky
On Set Photographer & PA: Fabian Moser
PA: Marie-Terese Steiner
PA: Kateryna Movchan
Cutter: Sabrina Norte
3D & VFX: Rainer Maly
VFX: Michael End
3D & VFX: Ina
Color Grading: Dominik Hofer
Choreographer & Dancer: Jeric
Dancer: Isabella, Juliana, Nursen, Asa
Scientist 1 & Dark Figure: Christoph Prater
Scientist 2: Barbara Deissenberger
Scientist 3: Janine Plamberger
Dark Figure: Felix Erlach
Dark Figure: Siegfried Williger
Dark Figure: Luca Vin
Dark Figure: Irina Khoschgovar
Dark Figure: Daniela Reich
Dark Figure: Milad Zarey
Dark Figure: Nicola Ségur-Cabanac
Oh no…….that’s just…..embarassing…..
Cultural appropriation throughout to the max—costuming as an old white German man rapping? Also dressing in drag and then moments later using “bit*h”
The real TwoSet shows its true self. As expected, the truth finds a way.
It doesn’t rise to the level of bad.
I want that 4 minutes back!
Yeah. I watched all of it too. It was kind of like a car wreck you can’t look away from. Just…wow.
Incredibly disappointing. Evidently, the Times has a story explaining what happened, but I no longer subscribe.
Not every “real” TwoSet video was funny, but most at least had moments of mirth, and many of them were funny indeed. The production values on this one look and feel expensive and professional beyond the limits of the “old/real” TwoSet videos, but to what end? Where are the laughs, or at least, where is the music?
Sad.
It makes the unavailability of their erstwhile videos that much more painful.
Oh dear. I thought it’s inevitable that a few commenters won’t like it but it really is terrible. Having said that, they were never really talented, simply engaging. Where now, and can they continue to increase engagement with classical music somehow?
They are not Chinese. They were born in Taiwan. They are Taiwanese Australian.
I wish I didn’t know about this.
It is not a rebrand! Please don’t spread misinformation! In the NY Times interview they admitted of ending the journey. And now they will release 6 videos (one of them is this) as a goodbye gesture
Brett Yang was born in Taipei and Eddy Chen in Kaohsiung, which makes them Taiwanese-Australian (not Chinese-Australian).
It’s not a rebrand, and they’re Taiwanese Australian, not Chinese.
That aside, I can’t muster any sympathy for this mess considering the numerous other issues they’ve swept under the rug, including the employee abuse allegations from last year and them dodging asks about where the donation money from their Ukraine livestream actually went.
What on earth are these two doing – and who put them up to it? I cannot believe they came up with the idea on their own and then persuaded that phalanx of others to join with them. The ‘old’ Two Set at least had charm and were amusing. They also conveyed their enthusiasms for classical music to vast numbers around the world. This vdo is just horrible with seemingly no rhyme or reason behind it!
Embarrassing flop.
I loved it. I’m pretty sure the dyspeptic hideous human beings that dominate the comments on this site are not the target audience.
Their target audience hates it too, unfortunately.
Yep. Who knew joyless people in the classical world loved a pile on just as much as the lowest subreddit?
Hmm… As someone who very subjectively didn’t care for the video, and has concomitantly been branded with other naysayers as a “dyspeptic hideous human being,” I’m wondering if those guidelines set forth by Norman last February (“No abuse”, “No personal attacks”) are being poked here…
Let’s see: Victor Borge, Anna Russell, Gerard Hoffnung, Peter Schickele, Danny Kaye, Dudley Moore, etc. I am afraid that sophisticated humor in the classical music world no longer exists.
All part of the tiktokification of culture, I’m afraid.
You may be right, but I still treasure the memory of watching Hilary Hahn hula-hooping while playing the violin. There were thousands of twoset videos, varying from serious to goofy. I am quite elderly; I too remember laughing aloud listening to Anna Russell, but I also laughed aloud at some of twoset’s most quirky videos. They were educational and entertaining, in the best sense. This particular one, which is not a new venture but a sort of farewell, is a parody of music videos, and will be better understood by people who watch a lot of them (not me).
Say what you will; Hip Hop rules the world.
If you think this is Hip Hop, you need to get out more. Total nonsense.
This is truly excruciating. Who exactly thought this was a good idea? Do we have five more coming of this quality?
Is there a manager or advisors someplace to guide these guys somehow?
What a waste. Not funny, not relevant to TwoSet, and it must’ve cost a fortune.
I used to think these guys were clever in their own way, but this is a huge miss. And mess.
Not the best selection of what is a larger project:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/arts/music/twoset-violin-farewell.html
Not my taste but not a single Bach video either.
Just because you play an instrument well, produce humorous videos portraying what it’s like being a student playing that instrument in a university setting, & have a huge following on YouTube, does not make you a successful comedian. All of us who actually have experienced most of the above humorous situations in our education could certainly relate and that’s why their following was so big. Their in-person performances were extremely funny and entertaining too. But this mishmash isn’t funny or done well.
I enjoyed it, but was put off by the bad syncing of the sound to the video. For the cost of it, they should have had a better result in this area. Shame they didn’t do it in Australia