Ylvis Biography

Ylvis is a comedy duo from Bergen, consisting of brothers Bard Ylvisaker and Vegard Ylvisaker. They grew up in Africa where their father was an engineer during the civil wars. Upon their return to Norwegia, the two brothers were enrolled to study classical instruments but they quickly quit.

Instead, Brad focused on vocals, comedy, and acrobatics such as aerial silk. Vegard, meanwhile, traded double bass with guitar while learning vocals and comedy. Together, they polished their skills by taking part in various school variety shows and choir until they were spotted by impresario Peter Brandt.

Peter helped them launch their career as professional variety artists at Ole Bull Teater in Bergen in 2000. They then expanded their career to radio by hosting NPR's "O-fag" ("O Studies") before going to the small screen with such shows as "Norges herligste" ("Norway's Most Wonderful") among many others.

It wasn't until their gig on "I kveld med Ylvis" ("Tonight with Ylvis") that they gained widespread fame all the way through the United States. "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)", one of the duo's singles on the show, went viral on YouTube collecting more than 170 million views.

"This song is made for a TV show and is supposed to entertain a few Norwegians for three minutes - and that's all. It was done just a few days ago and we recently had a screening in our office. About 10 people watched - nobody laughed," Brad said of their hugely-popular song.

On heels of "The Fox" success, they performed on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show marking their first ever show Stateside. They also made a surprise appearance at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas and made a live performance on Jimmy Fallon's late night show.