Keegan-Michael Key reads a letter from the Smithsonian to a man donating 'artefacts' from his garden
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Legend has it that in 1994, a letter was sent by the Smithsonian Institute to a man who regularly and very kindly donated artefacts discovered in his back garden.
Actor, comedian and producer Keegan-Michael Key joined us to read this rather special letter at London's Royal Albert Hall in October 2021.
I worked in an archaeology lab in graduate school. One day an old man called insisting that we send someone over to his house because he had a live dinosaur trapped in his back yard. Archaeologists typically don’t work with dinosaurs (that’s paleontology), but he was so frantic, we decided to check it out. We got in the old suburban and headed over. Turns out it was an armadillo. At the time, it was highly unusual for armadillos to be in this particular part of the state.
love this. just how old was he?
@@jessebarlow1277 it doesn't matter the age, if you have never seen an Armadillo, you will freak out, I still remember my cousin screaming all over my backyard because she has seen a really big rat, of couse it wa just a possum.
i saw an armadillo and i didn't freak out because i know what an armadillo is.@@22espec
@@22espec Yeah, I saw an armadillo once down in mexico, and it's like seeing a squirrel crossed with a tank, or perhaps a VERY fast turtle.
that is actually really cute
I applaud the Smithsonian. I worked in a Museum for twenty years and I was one of the few who took time to meet the walk-ins, identify their object, then tell then why it wasn't what they hoped it was. It was best if I showed them an example from our collection and let them see for themselves why their item was different. But I always encouraged their curiosity and enthusiasm. I was never dismissive because that will sour a person's view of science immediately. Privately, I was dismayed at how many people were hoping their item was worth money.
Also work in a museum and completely agree. 'Contributers' in my experience range from the folks who earnestly bring you their heirlooms (and you always feel soo bad letting them down, because 95 percent of it is junk) and then you have de a-holes who just plunk a shoebox of trash at reception and walk away, like they just dumped their pet at the roadside.
"Privately, I was dismayed at how many people were hoping their item was worth money."
I remember as a child finding a Roman Coin. Which is not a big Deal here in Germany to be honest.
But i was so proud (and still am) that the Coin is now in a Museum and on that Little Paper still stands "donated by". Personally i think thats worth more.
"I was dismayed at how many people were hoping their item was worth money"
What is wrong with hoping it was worth money? Money is something everyone needs correct?
Are you saying it's morally wrong to have acquired an object that may have monetary worth and hoping to profit from it?
@@donmiller2908 I think its more an issue of perspective. Those who work at or with musuems often don't do it for the money - that's only there to support them. They're largely there because they're passionate about their work and want to share it actively with others.
From that view, it's bothersome that one of the first thoughts someone has of a discovery is "I'm rich!". It's not that it's wrong to want compensation for the discovery, it just collides heavily with those who do it solely out of love and curiousity.
@@Revan2662 - Thanks for commenting, I can understand now why someone may be dismayed at the thought of other people constantly asking for cash. I'd still like to hear her explanation though.
The staff at the Smithsonian are a truly wonderful bunch of people. My father donated a box of fossils that he had collected in Oregon, to the Smithsonian. The staff gave him a tour through their fossil archives then they took my parents out on a dinner cruise to thank him. As a lifelong amateur fossil hunter, that was possibly the highlight of his paleontological career.
♥️✌️
That’s so sweet 🥹
@@Larian7
I forgot to add that the Smithsonian carried two of dad’s self published fossil hunting books, also donated. I don’t know how many copies he sent them over the years, but it was in the hundreds. Dad has had a lifelong mission to raise interest in paleontology and to encourage people to search the fossil beds all over Oregon, our home state.
Last time I talked to him he had fossil exhibits in the Central Point OR and Jacksonville OR museums, and a hands-on display at Science Works, a science activity center for kids, in Ashland Oregon.
❤️✌️
Aww❤❤
I love this. I want to see an inventory of his "contributions".
It's fiction. SMH Really? You thought that was an actual letter responding to an actual paleontologist?
@@DiffEQ No, they would like to hear more of the story. Unclench thine buttocks, good man, and roll with it. :)
@@DiffEQ someone could still want to see a full inventory... I know I'm curious😁 whether it's all make belief, or not, it's a very intriguing look into life by this amazing comedian 👀👍🏼
@@DiffEQ I assumed this was a real letter to a prankster or well-meaning jokester who submitted little hilarious contributions to the Smothsonian as a laugh. So, the request for an inventory made sense to me too.
@@DiffEQ consider it a creative art project. Obviously this was made up, but the original writer has a great sense of humor, and a joke display could still be educational. I don't think MOST Americans realize carbon dating doesn't work well either recent samples, and I'm sure more letters would be as equally hilarious...
I have a friend who wrote them a serious-sounding letter inquiring as to whether they had "Dillinger's pecker in a jar," because he was trying to decide whether to take his family to visit the Smithsonian or the Grand Canyon for their summer vacation. He stated that would be the deciding factor. They wrote a letter explaining that, although they did not have any of Dillinger's body parts in jars, they still thought they were a superior destination to the Grand Canyon, and went on to explain why.
🤣🤣🤣
I want to see the response 😂
The word "pecker" is sadly underused these days.
My uncle-in-law has over an acre of land, in an area near a known Roman settlement. He kept finding random stuff while gardening (or dug up by his dogs) be it coins, bits of pottery and various odds and ends; he figured they were all likely trash, but took them to the local museum just in case. Now he has a whole cabinet dedicated to him in the museum. Never took any money
This is, absolutely, the best spoof letter ever written. I cherish my mimeographed, then copied and distributed so many times, copy of this. I have no idea where it originated, but it's been making the rounds for decades now. It's a Smithsonian urban legend, as the museum, department, and purported staffers do not actually exist. But we are magnets for this kind of love, and the letter is proof that as Smithsonian employees, we love it, too.
Wait so they put such a letter on this show… without even consulting the smithsonian? Wow, these guys definitely do their homework.
I've been following this letter across the internet forever. I've read it a million times and i laugh until I cry every single time. I have to say, though, that I hate this reading of it. The humor is in the letter, the actor didn't need to do the nodding and facial expressions to get the point across.
@@cocoaddams4502 I wonder if this sort of delivery is encouraged by the organizers. I only discovered this Letters Live channel yesterday and listened to an actor read a very funny letter. It was Benedict Cumberbatch, no less! I was surprised that he used a similarly dramatic delivery. And with a name like his, there is already an extra layer of humor.
@@dennischiapello7243 The Michigan Beaver Dam(n) Letter is,IMO, more enjoyable when read in a less theatrical manner than on this channel.
@@RobertJarecki It so happens I just listened to that one yesterday, and I agree with you there. The emphasis on every "dam" wore itself out quickly.
The letter was actually written as a humor piece, and isn't real, but I freakin' love it. And I think there needs to be a movie about rampaging prehistoric clam monsters with teeth.
Sabre-toothed bi-valves patrolling the plains
Selecting our gene pool while chewing on brains.
Nature is perilous: danger's at hand!
The ravenous man-eating Pliocene clam.
Oysters and scallops---all pelecypod
Bow in submission to Mighty Quahog.
Nature's in balance, there's danger to man:
The ravenous man-eating Pliocene clam.
The larval soft body! That ligament scar!
The unique pteroid bivalve a wonder to all.
When the new pelecypod did struggle to land,
It was the end of the man-eating Pliocene clam.
-2006 poetic tribute , written by Ruth Ellis Haworth
I agree, it needs to be a movie!
clams have teeth
@@brucecarter8296 Clams have legs!
@@brucecarter8296 clams have feelings.
Agreed!
I want to work with someone who would write this sort of letter.
Yes!
Always treat a fellow scientist with respect...🤓
I also want to work with the kind of person who is creative enough to provide this kind of entertainment to the Smithsonian. "Making strangers' days just a little bit weirder" is a delightful hobby
@@Altinget
"Fellow scientist" is an awfully big stretch here... Lol
You're welcome to work with me. Can you drive a Kenworth?
As a museum worker, I can confirm almost every museum in the world has at least one story like this.
I hope so - it would make the day of those that receive it!
It might be fake but ever museum has a large file of similar letters.
What's yours? Please, please tell us!
As a librarian, I share in your suffering. Just a few weeks back I watched one of my co-workers spend over 20 minutes patiently explaining to an elderly gentleman that his USB stick supposedly containing the lyrics to 2000 hymns, personally collected by him, is not something we can add to our collection.
how did you get jobs in all museums in the world?
Imagine that the person who submitted the “specimen” was a child. Imagine the joy it would bring them to receive such a letter in response, feeling that their “discovery” had been taken seriously. Imagine the impact such a small act of kindness would have on a young mind, encouraging curiosity, analysis, skepticism, as opposed to the defeat that comes with a rude denial or dismissal, or no response at all. I have no idea if this is the case… but I’m going to pretend that it is.
Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbes.
I've been to the Museum of Natural History and I personally would find it _hilariously awesome_ if they had a small corner display area for the best of the best bizarre submissions. Imagine if you were a first time visitor and after perusing the amazing sights of the museum, you rounded the corner and found ancient Astrelopithecus Spiff-arino heads and prehistoric Frisbees.🤣
Aaaand that is how P.T. Barnum became a rich man. 🤣🤣🤣
@@RICDirector 🤣🤣
Ladies and gentlemen, *_The Greatest Show On Earth®!!_*
Duude excellent idea. I bet that would up visitor numbers
@@alexia3552 I think it would be really cool. I mean, as it is, the place is just breathtaking. After being blown away by so much input of things you might have heard about but never expected to see, especially in person, I think it would be a huge comic relief to see things people _tried_ to pass off as real. Ultimately, like you say, it might become a "Oh! Don't forget to look for the cray-cray part of the exhibits!" kind of thing. 🤣
I think we need this and other opportunities to confront and mock ignorance.
I once had a job where I was the main public point of contact for a small organisation. During my time there, I got a few emails I thought were probably pranks, but wasn't 100% certain weren't written by someone truly deluded. I was expected to reply politely to every email, so had to create these carefully-worded responses that took their wacky email at face-value so I didn't come across as mocking them if they were serious. That's what I thought of watching this.
A challenging job, Chris! Props to you for acting with integrity and respect. (And I'm fairly sure that some of submissions to the Dept of Main Roads would been seen in a similar light!)
Similar experience working as a content/social media manager. I couldn't just not respond to someone who was either faking or had a disability. I don't think anyone actually required me to do so, but it felt wrong to assume it wasn't legit, so I always took them seriously and took time to respond. I got the sense that some of them were just lonely and wanted someone to talk to.
@@maxleveladventures You're a thoroughly decent human being, Max. Keep it up!
I hate formal business polite talk. Just tell people to stop being stupid, straight up.
@@TacosAreWizard - Sometimes the writer is sincere but deluded. If you rudely tell them they are stupid there is a chance they'll never submit another finding as you'd have squashed their desire to discover. I can't think of any situation in which rudeness should be the preferred response. A little empathy goes a long way.
Key did an almost perfect job of staying in the incredible humour and outrageousness of this letter’s subjects, without belittling, patronizing, condescending to the author!
No mean feat!!
The letter was excellently written by the Smithsonian author, as far as the deeply tongue-in-cheekiness "critique" of the contributor goes, read properly and with nuanced understanding by the exacting Key.
Every thing about this was belittling, patronizing, and condescending to the author, but okay.
@@retroboomer3197 So are you saying Key was belittling the Smithsonian, the authors of the letter, or that Smithsonian was condescending to the doll head contributor?
@@retroboomer3197 i was thinking the same thing
I know about another outrageous claim but no one is calling out museums for this.
Dinosaur bones are not real bones, they are created for the exposition, and on top of that the full skeleton is imagined out of just a few pieces like a jaw, a few teeth and a few vertebrae. Basically 90% of the skeleton is made up, but they are presented as undoubtedly real and factual things. And if you try to see the supposed real bones the museum will never let you do it, or will just tell you that they are not there but somewhere else.
I call bs on this.
As an archaeologist, I am constantly besieged by "artifacts" from neighbors, friends, relatives, people in stores, complete strangers. I applaud the Smithsonian for their sweet letter, and the lessons therein. The challenge is real. There is a fine line between compassion and sarcasm.
did those around you ever bring you something of value? I myself once found a fossilized clam on a rock while hiking in the alps. but I've kept it as keepsake (and I couldn't exactly pinpoint where I found it anymore).
This letter has been doing the rounds on the internet for at least a decade. Its a known fake, but the idea of someone digging up junk from their backyard and constantly sending it to the Smithsonian Institute alongside outlandish theories is hilarious.
it reminds me of the Calvin and Hobbes comic where Calvin digs up garbage and thinks it's dinosaur bones😂😂
Was it ever passed as real? I would've assumed from this video that it was a script but haven't seen anything else from this series.
My guess this actually happens with spectacular frequency! It is funny, hoax or not
SOUNDS TO ME LIKE A COMEDY ROUTINE. MAXXAUS.
@@tallspicy Its gotta be happening so often. There is zero chance anybody working there has enough time on their hands to go through them all looking for the fun insane ones, let alone pen semi-serious responses before either throwing the package out or slapping a return label on it.
The fact that Harvey "Fought tenaciously" for him and wants to fly him to D.C. was the icing on the cake. And I need a picture of that special shelf in the director's office 😂
"fought tenaciously" just hurt me. I love every move this man makes.
This man is hilarious. I remember when he was Obama's "anger translator" during the White House Correspondents Association dinner. Such timing and delivery! Just amazing.
He and Mr. Peele are possibly the most underrated comedy team in the US.
@@acchaladka Underrated is THE most overused word on UA-cam comments.
@@Drnaynay's comment is underrated.
"hilarious" if you're twelve years old.
@@DiffEQ I guess some people just can't make it through the day without randomly shitting on someone else.
His delivery is spot on, from his tones to his facial expressions and body language. Well done!
I ran across this letter when the internet was in it's infancy. It made me laugh so hard that I saved it in an email folder. Decades later, whenever I'm feeling down, I read it. I get about halfway through before I'm laughing so hard that tears are streaming down my face. I'm glad that it gets a new lease on life all these years later!! 😂😂👍🏿
Yes, I think it was one of the ones routinely forwarded around IBM in the mid-80s, along with the one about mouse balls.
@@nunja_business this particular one was written in '94, but it's definitely in the spirit of those early chains
‘Yours in Science’, what a great salutation. I’m keeping it.
I can't believe that the contributor so blatantly disregarded the obvious conclusion that this two million years old Malibu Barbie proves that Time travel works!!!
When I saw that Keegan would be reading, I KNEW this would be gold. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 I wasn't wrong!
I know the letter is a hoax and not the first time I've read/heard this letter but Keegan sells it so well I needed to hear it again. He sold it SO well, in fact, that I feel like someone should approach Key to do a movie/series based on either:
a) the curator of antiquities,
b) the dude digging up things in his back yard or
c) the ravenous man eating clams roaming the pliocene.
And y'know. I have absolute faith he'd do amazing at all three of those roles. Hell, just have him play all three roles in the same film!
I can tell the person who wrote the responses back to this contributor really enjoyed writing it.
This stuff is why I’m so proud to have them as our national museum system.
This is wonderful! As a museum professional myself, I have every confidence that there will one day be an exhibition of this "citizen scientist's" collection and correspondence.
Keenan is a national comedic treasure. I'm so glad he was invited to participate in this event!
ahhhhh I remember my first exposure to this letter. 1999, it was a "viral" (for the time) email running around at that time. The email was sourced from someone at MIT as I recall (no idea if it was a legit address) which made it instantly suspicious. My coworker forwarded it to me and I struggled to read it at my desk without howling - by the end I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard!
Mr Key certainly did it justice - I'm crying!!!
This letter was clearly inspired by the short story "A Preliminary Investigation of an Early Man Site in the Delaware River Valley" by Timothy O'Leary and Charles Ward found in the anthropological science fiction anthology "Apeman Spaceman" (Doubleday, 1968).
YES
I knew it eerily familiar in a roundabout way!!
This letter and it's reading are both masterpieces of non-malignant sarcasm
I already knew this letter well, and I occasionally re-read it when I need to be cheered up. I've even read it aloud to myself and, I might add, done so very well. However, I'm pleased to say that this performance is even better! Thank you, I needed this!
Key is such a good actor that it’s easy to imagine him telling this to the man himself.
I read this letter online almost 25 years ago - hysterical! 🤣
So elegantly read! Love anything this man does!
Brilliantly read. Well done sir!
“Clams do not have teeth” had me dying! I’m pretty sure my coworkers now think I have some sort of epilepsy as my body spasmed with silent laughter.
I suggest you communicate that dosorder to them as expiditiously as possible, then!
I love these letter readings...🤣🤣
Keep them coming! ❤❤
Wow. This showed up again. I remember reading this, I believe, in the mid 80s. Still a hoot, though.
This guy is brilliant, he has a wonderful sense of humor. The staff at the Smithsonian must eagerly await his next submission as it would add a great distraction from their daily grind.
Well done sir, you are spreading nothing but good vibes via your actions, I love this little story, I fully expect you to be flown to the Smithsonian to present all your discoveries.
NO!!! I have got to see this shelf. And the wrench.
I love this video so much! Whenever I'm feeling gloomy, I watch this and feel uplifted by the kind humor of this busy scientist. OK, I mostly just giggle at the mental image of the shelf of contributions and their speculative conversations. But the wit displayed in this letter gets me every time.
I like everyone involved in every part of this. They all committed to the bit.
Beautiful read and written ....love it
some of the most respectful and personable shade ever thrown.
Key's comedic sensibility breaks me in half. Hard to comment on this video through the tears in my eyes here.
You know this guy makes their week with his new findings!
I would love a video recording of him visiting the office, meeting his fans in the staff, and expounding for hours on his revolutionary theories!
This would be so sweet if the "man who regularly and very kindly donated artefacts discovered in his back garden" was actually a hyperactive paleontology obsessed kid.
My thought exactly.
Carniverous roaming clams paints a wonderful premordial earth
Now I really want to see the original letter from the prankster (or deluded archaeologist) who sent that Barbie's head, along with all his other 'precious' findings 😁😂
Oh! This wonderful letter should definitely be read in Senior English in High School.! Don't you think so, too?
The cranial capacity line did me in 🤣
I love this bloke, so talented. He was the highlight of the film 'Why Him'.
This is f-ing Brilliant!! 😂🤣
I want to see his collection and read the write-up of each item.
I can only imagine the fun that was had on both sides of these conversations.
Not real, but a well-written and funny piece of writing just the same! I like all the presuppositions it makes as a return letter.
I think Keegan should narrate books, I love how he talks
Amazing - they should open up a collection under his name to encourage his enthusiasm haha or even brought him in for a tour
One of the best readings yet!!
I was still in museum school, I think, when this first came around. It was hilarious...and sometimes not too far off what museums actually get.
Man, Key has such a great voice for narration...
Love this letter; the description says it's that "Legend has it..." Were these letters supposedly not sent to the man?
No, it's a made up story. I've checked typing Harvey Rowe and Smithsonian on a seach engine.
@@paolagrando5079 I see. Thank you!
clams have teeth
Book to check out : "Letters From a Nut" by Ted Nancy Not only did he write hilarious letters, he got equally hilarious responses. What fun when the recipients of such are willing to play along so spectacularly.
I am not sure, but The Henry Root letters might be predating them.
"He" was writing to Maggie Thatcher, etc and if hegot a rey, would continue to write, each time adding some new extremist comment, until they realised it was a spoof or they were replying to a total nutter.
Often, he would include a £5 donation, so that they would reply to acknowledge the donation, and then they would find themselves caught up in the madness of Henry Root.
I love how much he loved reading this. You can tell this was so far up his alley he was trying not to giggle, but he is a professional ! well done on all sides !
Since plastics are typically made from petroleum, Carbon dating probably would have shown that the Hominid Skull was in fact extremely ancient.
So true. In fact, the carbon is too old to be dated instead of too recent as the letter says. Well spotted!
They have a bet!! Also imagine the excitement around the office every time he sends something to them
Absolutely brilliant!!! What a kind yet funny man the writer was.
That was the most brilliant letter. Witty and humorous.
I can't help thinking this was an awesome longterm troll of the Lazlo Toth variety.
I very much appreciated the salutary lesson in courteous sarcasm, positively delicious!
So it did happen that Calvin finally grew up and started submitting his backyard finds. Doesn't bode well as to the ulimate fate of that thin voice of reason, Hobbes, however. Probably resting his tired stuffing in a backwater zoological exhibit of the Zorgg empire.
This is One of the best in Letters..So polyite and the eggore to resaeve next autumn to the Museum..The Ironi so sweet..Hope understand my fält in the text..Bless You för tidning this Lovely Channel..Greetings from Sweden..Happy Holidays fortwarth.. You see,just Smile and be You😊🙃😌
Delivery: Exquisite.
Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.
If they said 10mm socket I would have believed the story buy no one loses a 9
I take issue with the word "effortlessly", this person is clearly putting in some Effort!
This is wonderful. Some person out there is just having fun sending in silly jokes to them, and they're eating it up. That's great.
that look of confusion after reading "prior work in the field" as he processed the fact that this guy has done this before, and they are familiar with his work was absolutely golden.
I mean the man got what he wanted. He's on display at the Smithsonian
If the museum displayed this with both letters... Science would be better served
This the guy who discovered electrical infetterence
The humor of this writer is just incredible. It isn't even sarcastic, haha.
You get the best responses when you troll the Smithsonian. 😂
He deserves a display case in the museum dedicated to his contributions.
I’ve had that dog-eared in a book for 15 Years! It’s one of my favorites pieces of writing EVER! And I’ve read it aloud to a group a few times. My take is more of a bureaucrat/scientist; totally straight-faced, dry. The words & ideas are funny enough, they don’t need to be ‘gilded’ with broad voice inflections or clownish facial expressions . . . in my opinion! (And I LOVE Keegan-Michael, FYI.) I can hear Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson reading this letter. He’d be PERFECT! How about Dr. Mayim Bialek, Ph.D. as ‘Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler, Ph.D.?’
"The words & ideas are funny enough, they don’t need to be ‘gilded’ with broad voice inflections or clownish facial expressions." Yes! Precisely!
Rowan Atkinson would crush this haha
@@ksb2112 Agreed: the style of the presenter does not match the tone of the letter. Something far more deadpan (IMO) would work better (for me). But as a performer, I know that each comedian has their own touch, own style, own inflections. One has to hand over the script and trust the performer to produce a unique interpretation.
This is why we have auditions - so producers and directors can narrow-band their desired outcome.
What book?
@@EastSider48215
One in the series of “Bathroom Readers.”
the amount of confidence.....
So the entire department considers this guy their pet crazy.
Who say scientists aren't fun?
Eell, it would be, but this is a joke letter reply.
Sadly
I'd love to hang out with these kind of folk. Finding and participating in the fun along the walk of life is such a gift ;)
Who wouldn't love to respond to submitted specimens as a job.
This is positively lovely
We can all agree that. Barbie dolls are not human however there seems to be some who mistakenly believe that they are an accurate representation of the human female form..
Our very confused writer must have been one of them.!!!
Well, to be fair, all he has is a head...
I knew with confidence, upon seeing Mr. Key's name, that this would be outstanding, as it was.
This is very funny. Fun fact: clams *do* have teeth. They’re structures on the shell by the hinge
Yeah, there are many mistakes in the letter. But It's funny nonetheless.
I wish this channel took the time to make subtitles available.
Bless Harvey Roe for his patience in writing his reply to a giant in the field of backyard anthropology and archeology.
This letter might have been made up, but I had a friend who'd come up with all sorts of things he thought they were groundbreaking discoveries and he'd get offended if I pointed out they were common objects like an old spoon or a discarded bone.
Read like Kelsey Grammer. Beautiful.
The story is not true (Google Harvey Rowe Smithsonian), which is sad because now I don't know which other letters read on this channel were fake.
I always assumed they were all real.
This is actually, it seems, a very well crafted example of satire.
Yes, ditto! I was suddenly going through the roster of all the videos I've seen on this channel and calling them into question.
This is as far as I know the only fake letter, hence the description's "Legend has it.." pretense.
@@krashd the one about the cossacks and the Tsar is also fake - who knows how many more??
"Yours in science"!!! That has to make him feel good.
This letter was written at least 40 years ago. I read it in some collection of funny letters. Personally I think it's cute and very nice and respectful. I imagine the staff at the institution, first laughing it off, then, when the "specimens" accumulate, getting interested and amused. "What will they think of next?" I wonder if the person sending the things was an adult with a well developed sense of humour, or a child.