What joke is this

There are these couple of jokes people like on the internet that are all alike in a weirdly narrow but elusive way. The prototype as I understand it is the string of "Chuck Norris" jokes; these are just sentences about the outrageous and superhuman things Chuck Norris can do. A more recent incarnation of that same thing is the "www.barackobamaismybicycle" thing which is just sentences about the saintly and thoughtful things Barack Obama does for people. And then in the middle there was this video, which I never really understood, which I think is the same thing.


Somehow I think this is the same joke as the "ninjas" website from long ago. "Fun facts about ninjas" or whatever, and the guy just listed all these ways in which ninjas were "totally fucking sweet" etc.

Part of what people find amusing I guess is the enthusiasm of the declarations. And their absurdity/clicheness maybe? Alternately clicheness and absurdity, and part of the joke is in the bumpy transition from one to the other. Also it has something to do with the historical figures -- these are guys about whom it is funny to be excited /"really pumped" about. What does it take to become one of those guys? What kind of reputation is that?