-Grant Reed

In this stand up comedy sketch, Rob Paravonian draws a connection between many famous songs from a variety of artists and genres. While on the surface it is quite a hilarious he makes, it seems to have a deeper meaning than that. Despite being funny, he seems to be questioning the originality of many famous musical artists whom we praise very highly. Musical artists such as The Beatles, Aerosmith, Blues Traveler, Avril Lavigne, Vitamin C, Coven, Deep Purple, Matchbox Twenty, Twisted Sister, U2, Natalie Imbruglia, Bob Marley, and even the theme song from Laverne and Shirley all appear to be linked back to the same origins. While we would never call these artists thieves just because their music sounds similar, it makes one wonder whether it is even possible to create a completely unique piece of artwork in any medium. This same question was raised in Banksy’s  Exit Through The Gift Shop. Banksy’s documentary was an attempt to show that while the general public saw Mr. Brainwash’s work as unique, hip art, there was really no originality in it all. Just as Rob Paravonian shows that some of our favorite musical artists, while not intending to diss them, may not quite be the musical geniuses we believed them to be.