Duke UNC: Holderness Duke Commandments Hamilton Parody Video
Ahead of Saturday’s historic Final Four game between Duke and UNC, Penn Holderness offers fellow North Carolina fans some timeless advice.
“Apologize to your children and your wife. It’s the most important game of your entire life,” Holderness says in a new music parody video uploaded Friday. “So say you’re sorry for your impending obtuseness. You will be preoccupied, distracted and totally useless.
If the melody sounds catchy and gets stuck in your head, there’s a reason for it. Holderness sets the video, titled “10 Duke Commandments / He Won’t Be Back,” to the tune of two very catchy songs from the hugely popular musical, “Hamilton.”
But instead of offering advice on how to conduct a 19th-century political duel, Holderness offers 10 tips for UNC fans to get through the tensest night of their lives.
The mash-up parody resonates with fans of Penn Holderness and his wife, Kim Holderness, the Raleigh couple who won $1 million on “The Amazing Race” last month. The couple have been known for their viral videos since achieving national fame with “XMAS Jammies” in 2013.
The “10 Duke Commandments” video has over 509,000 views on Facebook while it tops 30,000 views on YouTube.
“10 Duke Commandments” is a parody of “Ten Duel Commandments”, sung by Lin-Manuel Miranda and other original “Hamilton” cast members. The “He Won’t Be Back” segment is a parody of “You’ll Be Back”, created by Jonathan Groff in the original cast.
Among the commandments, Holderness advises keeping a pillow handy (“you’ll need something to strangle if a call doesn’t go your way, like when they start falling apart like Shane Battier”) and letting go. a note to your next of kin (“tell them if you win, they may not hear from you until April 10”).
Further down the list of commandments, Holderness suggests warning your kids that “you love them but be careful – you’ll get mad and you’ll probably swear” and pray that Duke striker Paolo Banchero will “finally play poor”.
A tribute to Coach K that only a UNC fan could make
Halfway through the video, Holderness cuts to a UNC fan’s tribute to former Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“He’s been here 41 years, now he’s leaving,” Holderness sings of Coach K. “And he’ll cry, either tears of sadness or joy when he says goodbye.”
“But I’m so bad,” Holderness continues. “He seems like a family man and his players love him. But he drives me so crazy that I shout these obscenities on the screen. But all that will change soon, because he won’t be coming back.
Holderness complains about the way referees govern Krzyzewski and Duke on every call, and makes a final request: “Can this game against UNC be the last one please?”
Kim Holderness enters and removes her husband’s microphone. As a neutral family observer, she says, “I just want everyone to have fun. I think it’s ridiculous how mean they are to each other.
Her husband, laughing, says, “But we’re friends otherwise, just for these two hours, and listen, they’ve never met in the Final Four before.” Do you realize how anxious I am right now? »
“I know,” Kim Holderness replies, before turning to the camera to shake her head “no.”
Winners of “The Amazing Race”
The Holdernesses, both alumni of local TV news markets in Florida, New York, Colorado and here in Raleigh, quit their jobs in 2013 to start a full-time business documenting their marriage and family through music videos, vlogs, sketches and parodies like the Duke-UNC video they released on Friday.
Popular videos have helped them garner a substantial number of subscribers online; their YouTube channel has over 761,000 subscribers and “XMAS Jammies” remains their most popular video and has been viewed over 18.5 million times.
They gained new fans in “The Amazing Race” Season 33, in which teams of two travel the world completing challenges.
In December, the Holderness announced on social media that they had taken part in the new season, which began airing in January.
Recording for the global adventure reality show began before the pandemic hit, but was put on hiatus for nearly two years. Filming wrapped up last year.
The Holdernesses have advanced through each stage of the show to make it to the season finale, which airs March 2. They crossed the finish line before two other teams.