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Comedy Scams Swindles Schemes Web Series

Story Time: Burning the hotel down with an iron—Scams, Swindles, and Schemes

Burning the hotel down with an iron?! This scam will either lead to a heft insurance payout of jail time. Oh yeah, why are business management books and ISP monopolies a thing?

We’re having a smoother ride than most cyclists in the Tour de France! It’s our fifth episode, and we celebrate by complaining about how our internet providers are scamming us and taking a closer look at business management “theories” that are basically common sense to any employee who’s worked a non-executive job for more than a week. We also look at some horrifying uses of a hotel room coffee pot. Tweet us your thoughts, comment on the video—and tell us how many different passwords you use for all your different accounts.

https://youtu.be/HDIUuynBRJ8

“Treat your employees like people! That’ll be $30.”

Devin’s boss bought a book, read the whole thing, and liked it so much he bought a ton more to give away to employees! If Devin had been forced to pay for it, this might have been a pyramid scheme. The whole industry of “business management books” follows the same pattern of telling people in charge to treat those below them like human beings while making no systemic changes to anything and using painful metaphors. Are bosses scamming their employees? Are these writers scamming bosses? Both?

Forward this clip to 10 friends to jump start your business management career.

Question: Share the title of your NYT Bestseller business advice book. Wrong answers only.

Your internet is brought to you by…a monopoly!

The Five Families carved up New York City to prevent gang wars, and it looks like AT&T, RCN, and Comcast have done the same thing with Chicago (and probably everywhere else). Devin relates his own experiences trying to navigate moving from territory to territory to try and get more bandwidth, only to have any idea of more than one option thwarted at every turn. No wonder customer service sucks! They have no need to treat the customer right, since we can’t go anywhere else. Tell us your ISP horror stories below!

Share this clip to get 000% off your next Internet bill. (That’s not a typo. This deal is that good!)

Question: Name something that should be a monopoly but isn’t. Healthcare! But only if it’s accessible to all.

Deadly lifehacks sponsored by Tastemade

We take a look at another YouTuber, one who tries to convince us poor people can go on luxury vacations by saving money on food with disgusting “travel hacks” like cooking in a hotel coffee pot and using an iron as a skillet. It’s gross, it’s funny, but it’s also playing into a bigger scam about how people with no budget are somehow gonna magically be able to take fancy vacations if they “want it badly enough.” Minimum wage barely covers living expenses! No one should cook ramen in a coffee pot!

Share this clip to liven up your group chats.

Question: Tag us in your favorite (read: most useless) lifehack videos.

By Onicia Muller

Award-winning Caribbean comedian, Onicia Muller’s weekly humour column, Just Being Funny is chicken soup for the naive sceptic’s soul. You can hire her to write anything from blogs and newsletters to (bathroom poetry) funny greeting cards. Join her newsletter for funny stories and stand-up comedy. www.OniciaMuller.com