Olivia De Zilva 

Olivia De Zilva: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)

The Australian author shares what makes her laugh online, including a lot of Wendy Williams, Who? Weekly and Ice Cube’s 2025 take on War of the Worlds
  
  

Olivia De Zilva, Australian author
‘Some people would say that mentioning celebrities and reality TV in your work makes it lowbrow, but I disagree’ … Australian author Olivia De Zilva. Photograph: Ben Matera

As a perpetually lonely child in the planned suburbs of Adelaide, I grew up on the internet. The first memory I have of accessing YouTube was waiting three days for my dial-up internet to load Vanessa Hudgen’s music video for Come Back to Me. It cost my parents a lot of money, but I couldn’t resist the pull of funny cat videos, Sims 2 music videos and early era TMZ. Before I learned how to read novels, I read trash magazines back to front. I didn’t know what a verb was but I could detail a blind item from back to front.

As a child, I was diagnosed with selective mutism and the only way I could communicate was through re-enacting celebrity drama I saw on the internet or television. I probably needed a therapist, but in the end it all kind of worked out?

As a writer, celebrity drama and gossip is what gave me a voice, and my somewhat real, somewhat fictional novel, Plastic Budgie, is a love letter to all of the popular culture that made me laugh, warped my brain and annoyed the people around me. Some people would say that mentioning celebrities and reality TV in your work makes it lowbrow, but I disagree. I think it provides a unique intertextuality that can draw a reader into a familiar and engaging world.

1. “Wait, what was that? OK … James –”

When the Wendy Williams Show YouTube channel was taken down, it was worse than the burning of the Library of Alexandria. This clip, according to Wikipedia, has been used in more than 100,000 TikTok videos because of how iconic it is. I would say that this moment is the closest Wendy’s ever come to dropping her Truman Show act. The genuine fear in her eyes when she spots the zombie in the crowd, her calling for the omnipotent “James” – this was the first moment where we saw Wendy really out of character. In these eight seconds, you see so many emotions: fear, anxiety, stress, shame, confusion. Ask me the Lord’s Prayer and I couldn’t recite a single word. Ask me to recite this video and I’d go straight to heaven.

2. War of the Worlds (2025)

I actually related a lot to this movie, because I also find that using Microsoft Teams can lead to world devastation and destruction. In his 1938 radio adaptation of War of the Worlds, Orson Welles used radio and the news to frighten people into thinking there was an alien invasion.

In this iteration, Ice Cube uses Teams to invoke an immediate trauma response in all white-collar workers around the globe – and not just because of the aliens. Honestly, I love how this movie’s whole budget was basically used on Getty Images and stock footage, which could only be recouped from egregious amounts of product placement from Amazon. It was basically a long gif with random things happening and I’m not complaining.

3. Who? Weekly

A them = Academy Award winner George Clooney. A who = Bindi Irwin’s influencer cousin. Who? Weekly got me through Covid, copious amounts of depression and hours of looking at spreadsheets. Ranking and discussing D-list celebrities is actually an art form. Who? Weekly has kept me informed on so many world issues, such as Katy Perry’s failed space shuttle mission, who Ana de Armas is dating and what Rita Ora is up to. The fringes of Hollywood are far more entertaining than the bright lights.

4. Club Chalamet

Club Chalamet has been an integral part of Stan X for years now. Her subtweets about Timmy’s squeezes, the ride-or-die mentality when watching the Wonka movie and continuing to tweet about his Oscar campaign after her house burned down is really something to marvel at. I have never put this much effort into anything – not even my own career – so to see Club have this level of devotion and loyalty to someone she doesn’t know is really quite something.

5. Natalie Portman updates

God truly gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers. I love how @natalieportmanupdates continued to post through all of the pain – truly an icon. I wish I could end every email with, “I feel like shit #natalieportman”.

6. Kourtney and Kim Take Miami season 3

People laud shows like Succession and the Sopranos for their complex takes on family dynamics and patriarchy. When I say Kourtney and Kim Take Miami season 3 has the same implications, I get scoffed at. I have a strong feeling that this is where television writers go to get their Emmy-winning material. I love the absurdity (Kim taking her cat to the club), the twists and turns (Scott becoming an alligator farmer) and Kim’s face when Kourtney loses her temper at Jonathan Cheban, AKA The Food God, for speaking on family business. The Kardashians are so subdued now and I really do miss this era of messiness and unadulterated drama. If I could relive anything, it would be to watch Kourtney and Kim Take Miami season 3 for the first time again.

7. “Not even to dinner with the Kushners.”

Project Runway has blessed the world with some of the nastiest reads on television. “Not even to dinner with the Kushners?” should be put in the Oxford Dictionary as one of the most famous phrases of all time. The drag! The snark! The head tilt! The gasping! When I first heard this phrase, I knew straight away that it would be in my head until I die.

8. Stefani Germanotta You Will Never Be Famous

The now-deleted “Stefani Germanotta You Will Never Be Famous” Facebook group is a metaphor for never giving up on your dreams. Although people were hating on Stefani (AKA Lady Gaga) like it was a professional sport, she still rose above it and became a triple threat in singing, dancing and acting. Is anyone in that Facebook group now a Tony away from becoming an Egot? I don’t think so.

9. Wendy Williams: ‘The Killer’ compilation

I’ve included Wendy twice on this list because I honestly miss her so much. I love how she talked about “The Killer” – a catch-all term she frequently used – as if she meant one guy. How did he come to be? Why is Wendy so afraid? What does she know that we don’t? The Killer even has a listing on Villains Wiki, as a “mysterious entity” whose sole purpose is to haunt Wendy Williams.

10. Melody stealing the spotlight from Nicole

I hate how the Pussycat Dolls were always positioned as “Nicole and the girls.” There were so many talents in that group, especially Melody who the internet claimed was locked in a cupboard at the AMAs so Nicole could sing the hook of Buttons instead of her. I love how Melody (allegedly) broke free, entered from the wings and took centre stage. The shady camera man was working overtime here. But again, this is why you don’t ever give up on your dreams.

 

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