Ylvis () are a Norwegian comedy duo consisting of brothers Vegard and Bård Ylvisåker. They debuted as professional variety artists in 2000 and have since appeared in several countries in variety shows, comedy concerts, television shows, radio shows and music videos. They hosted the Norwegian talk show (Tonight with Ylvis) (2011–2016). Their song and music video "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)", written and filmed for the talk show, went viral on YouTube in September 2013. The video has over 1.1 billion views . They released an album called Ylvis: Volume I, a compilation of ten older singles. In 2018, the brothers released a series titled Stories from Norway, in which they collected headlining stories from Norway and presented them as short musical documentaries to address satire, fun and comedy.
Early life and debut
Vegard Urheim (b. 19 May 1979 in Trondheim) and Bård Urheim Ylvisåker (b. 21 March 1982 in Bergen) were born to parents (Hans Terje Ylvisåker and Helga Urheim) from the Sogn district of Western Norway, the older two of three brothers. The youngest brother is Bjarte Urheim. Their early childhood years were spent in Angola and Mozambique, where their father was an engineer during the civil wars there. After a few years in Africa, the family moved back to Bergen, where the brothers received a musical upbringing and were trained in classical instruments. Vegard played the viola and Bård the violin. However, both quit during their youth, Vegard instead focusing on guitar, voice, piano, double bass and comedy, and Bård on guitar, voice, comedy and acrobatics such as aerial silk.
While attending high school at Fana gymnas, they were heavily involved in school and variety shows as well as the school choir. During a performance, they were spotted by impresario Peter Brandt, who orchestrated their debut as professional variety artists at Ole Bull Teater in Bergen in 2000. Their debut show was called "" ("Ylvis: A Cabaret") and was followed in 2003 by "" ("Ylvis: A Concert").
2006–2009
In 2006, the brothers debuted as hosts on national broadcasting with the radio show O-fag (, theoretical subject, named after a subject previously taught in Norwegian primary schools, a combination of science and social studies) on NRK Radio.
In January 2007, they appeared onstage at Ole Bull Theater with a new variety show, Ylvis III. They toured with the show for almost three years, the last show being played in Odda in western Norway in December 2009. The show was also recorded and published on DVD. Also in 2007, they debuted as hosts on national television with the show (Norway's Most Wonderful), a version of the Swedish show (100 Highs). This was released on DVD as well as broadcast on Swedish TV.
In 2008 they released a second series of the radio show O-fag and also a new TV show based on their stage show on TVNorge, a game show concept inspired by the "Brain Wall", a feature in the Japanese game show on Fuji TV.
This was followed up by another game show, (Who can beat Ylvis?) in 2009, based on the German show (Beat Raab). Members of the public were invited to try to beat the brothers at various tasks, with a reward of up to one million Norwegian kroner.
2009–present
In 2010, they hosted (The Nordic’s Most Wonderful), a pan-Nordic version of the show. In 2011 they reprised their variety stage show with "Ylvis 4", premiering at the Ole Bull Theater with the entire run sold out before opening night. That year, the brothers also launched a comedy talkshow (Tonight with Ylvis) on TVNorge, with Calle Hellevang-Larsen from comedy trio as a sidekick.
Upon being renewed for a second season, the brothers created a production company, Concorde TV, in order to retain rights and creative control of their work. The second series was broadcast in 2012, with David Batra replacing Hellevang-Larsen in the role of sidekick. In the Fall of 2013, Hellevang-Larsen returned for the third series of . Despite technical difficulties during the broadcast, the first episode took the top ratings spot.
A number of comedy and parody music videos, either originally featured on or used to promote the show, have been released onto YouTube and other streaming media. "The Fox" and "Stonehenge" have also been released as singles. "The Fox", produced by StarGate and M4SONIC, which was released on 3 September 2013 to promote the upcoming third series of , went viral on YouTube and received 31 million views in its first two weeks. It was the most watched video on YouTube worldwide in 2013, and , the video has over 1.1billion views.