He got a “double shot” from the bar.
A Brazilian salesman’s carelessness resulted in his father-in-law getting hit not once but twice by a falling bar, in a scene straight out of “Three Stooges.” Footage of the real life slapstick moment has proven a major hit online.
“People told me they watched the video over 20 times because it was so funny,” culprit André Luiz told Jam Press of his failed bar exam, which occurred Monday in RR Motopeças workshop in Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro.
In the hilarious footage, Luiz can be seen resting a metal bar against the half-open shutter of their workshop before walking away. All the while, his mechanic co-worker and father-in-law Luiz Carlos Niegesk, 64, is observed sitting in a chair while looking at his phone.
However, when neither man is looking, the bar topples forward striking the unsuspecting machinist in the foot. His in-law grabs his foot in pain while Luiz runs over to see check on him.
The pained old-timer then takes off his shoe and sock so he can examine his foot for injuries. Meanwhile, his oblivious son-in-law picks up the bar and proceeds to prop it back up in seemingly the exact same place, before walking away yet again as another co-worker enters the shop.
Low and behold, the beam falls again in the exact same manner, this time clocking Niegesk in the back of the head while he’s reaching for his shoe. The timing is so perfect one would think it was a choreographed slapstick routine.
The Charlie Chaplin-esque clip concludes with the new co-worker grabbing the bar and checking on the dazed mechanic.
Luiz has since blamed the double whammy on the metal shutter, which he claimed is “warped so you have to place the bar in exactly the right place otherwise it won’t stay put.”
“Both times, I thought it was okay,” he declared. “It was done unintentionally, with no malice.”
Thankfully, Niegesk has since seen the funny side of receiving the short end of the stick. “At first, we were a bit scared. We wanted to know if he was okay, but then it just turned to laughter,” said Luiz, who shared the video in a family chat group.
Someone from the group then posted it publicly, where it “grew and grew” until they were “famous,” said Luiz.
“I still don’t know who posted it first, but on Twitter alone it has over 6 million views, not including other social networks,” exclaimed the awestruck salesman.
The comedic clip also garnered numerous reactions from bemused viewers with one joking, “get out he wants to kill you.”
“With a friend like this it’s better to have 10 enemies,” quipped another.
“Employee of the Month Award already has a winner lol,” said one gawker.
Some even asked Luiz how his father-in-law was faring, to which he jokingly replied, “He died.”
“He is doing well now. It’s all right,” clarified the auto monger, before adding “He joked I did it because I want to inherit his old [Volkswagen] Santana and BRL 25,000 (£3,980) debt.”