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Frame from That Mitchell and Webb Look - Gift Shop Sketch I'm looking for a gift for my aunt Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed

That Mitchell and Webb Look - Gift Shop Sketch I'm looking for a gift for my aunt

Jack Govier
Comedy
YouTube
Cited on HN 4 times, 2015–2023, never outright recommended score 0
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

Invoked as a joke when discussing ad creep, second screens and overbearing commercial or online experiences.

A That Mitchell and Webb Look sketch in which a customer tries to buy a gift for his aunt in a shop that keeps pushing him toward extras.

4 jokes · Comedy

4 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@nitwit005 Dec 2019 Makes a joke
on HN thread 88% of Americans use a second screen while watching TV
Aside from being about a quarter commercials, TV shows often feature quite a bit of filler/padding content. It'd be odd if people didn't pick up on some of it and play with their phone when they have the option. I always think to this Mitchell and Webb gift shop sketch that parodies the worst of this: [this video]
@andersrs Oct 2023 Makes a joke
on HN thread AI offers improved civility for polarizing online conversations
[I know you feel that this technique is helpful and you want to save the world. That's double plus good of you.] [For me, I think that] all the padding makes the conversation diluted, watered down and boring. It's similar to 'The Gift Shop Sketch' [1]. [I feel] this is very disrespectful of my time. [In my opinion] it would be great to use another model to strip all the feely words, condense the meaning and generally un-fuckify all the AI waffle. [What are your thoughts about that?] [1] [this video]

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

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