by Heidi Kertzloff, Web Critic

I just finished viewing all of the short films at Channel101.com and I really don't see what the big deal is. Most of them seem to be run-of-the-mill internet tripe. Some of them have their moments but overall, this site is certainly not deserving of the press I've been reading. I can't pick up a magazine or newspaper without hearing about Channel 101, and yet, nothing here is better than Jib Jab.

Your Magic Touched Me didn't touch me at all. Someone explain why this is funny. Is it because he's Asian and he smiles and does magic tricks? I'm not trying to be snarky, I really want to know what's funny. I think I'm missing something, like whatever drugs the people that made it are taking.

I don't even understand what's happening in Yacht Rock. When I read about it in Entertainment Weekly I was excited because it sounded like it involved new lyrics to classic songs, like Jib Jab. I spent the entire time scratching my head. I saw that it was on episode 8, so I watched episode 1 to give it a chance. I did figure out that the story is about Michael McDonald, which I suppose would make my mother very excited. I'm not watching episode 2. As our court-appointed President once said: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me, you can't get fooled again."

Is Lunatic funny because he's crazy? How many more comedy films about crazy people do I have to watch? I see the director also made Hope House and Pusher. Do his actors just take turns playing crazy people? Is that the new humor formula, violence = comedy? Someone email me an explanation and I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong, but until that happens, this is not a satisfying comedy.

I couldn't even finish watching Playboy Adventures. Okay, I get it, you like money and you dress like Fantasy Island's Mr. Roarke. Classroom was also unwatchable, but I suppose that is why these things are at the bottom of a chart topped by a man doing bad magic tricks in the street.

Speaking of those charts, I did a little experiment. I clicked on Yacht Rock seventy five times to see if it would move up a spot and it didn't. The number of downloads changed but the number of votes didn't. Apparently, my vote here counts about as much as it does in Washington. Which is not at all.

Which brings me to Pretty President, which I thought had its moments, so I wasn't surprised to see it had been "cancelled." I appreciated some of the political humor served up by this film, and any universe in which the President is someone other than the real one is a pleasant vacation. Jib Jab, however, combines humor with a politically balanced (if slightly left wing) point of view, so the score is still Channel 101: 0, Jib Jab: a thousand.

I also enjoyed Roots of Justice, SOME of Laser Fart, Sockbaby, Hi-Jacked and Superhero Theater.