--- title: Holderness Family Christmas Video description: The Holderness Family Christmas Jammies video parodies the song i by Kendrick Lamar canonical: https://time.com/4152052/holderness-new-christmas-jammies-video/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-16T20:59:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:56.449Z og:title: Watch a Family in Elf PJs Ambush New Yorkers og:description: And you thought your family was embarrassing... og:url: https://time.com/4152052/holderness-new-christmas-jammies-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch a Family in Elf PJs Ambush New Yorkers twitter:description: And you thought your family was embarrassing... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch a Family in Elf PJs Ambush New Yorkers > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3b9ba361-302c-4a85-88d1-56650ba8cf56&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 5 Elements of A Viral Video [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Elements of A Viral Video](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vgQtqA8c.m3u8) (1:31)  _Published 2015-06-22. 5 Elements of A Viral Video_  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Dec 16, 2015 8:59 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Dec 16, 2015 8:59 PM UTC The family that has become famous on the Internet for dancing in pajamas has released a new video for the holidays. And, of course, they are dancing in pajamas. In an approximately three-minute parody of Kendrick Lamar’s “i” called “Elfed,” former TV journalists Penn Holderness and his wife Kim, along with their eight-year-old daughter Lola and 5-year-old son Penn Charles, dress up like elves and dance for people a block away from Radio City Music Hall. The Raleigh, North Carolina, family [first went viral](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/17/man-raps-about-his-vasectomy-in-viral-christmas-card-video/) two years ago with “Christmas Jammies,” a music video in which former news anchor Penn Holderness rapped about getting a vasectomy in red-and-green-striped pajamas. The antics were so goofy that they inspired a [_Saturday Night Live_ sketch](http://www.vulture.com/2014/12/saturday-night-live-recap-amy-adams-one-direction.html#). ## Transcript [ NOISE ] What makes a video go viral? Here's our guess. Mishka, I love you. [ NOISE ] Number one, cute animals. [ LAUGH ] Charlie, Charlie bit me. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] [ MUSIC ] [ UNKNOWN ], we're going to Disneyland. Oh, my god. Number two, cute kids. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] Number 3, remixes. [ MUSIC ] Whoa, oh my God, oh my God. [ LAUGH ] Oh my God. Whoo. Number four, spontaneity. Look at all those Number five. Cute kids and cute animals. Put this all together and it will certainly end up on your Facebook feed. 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