Londoners Magazine

YouTube, for the most part, involves amateur filmmakers uploading 20-second clips of their dog farting or their friend falling off a skateboard and landing on his face. Chris Lo chooses six YouTube clips taking place in or inspired by the capital.

Some are silly, some are great. Some are silly and great. They were gathered with the utmost of rigorousness and care (read: I spent an afternoon laughing at idiots).

1) Posh kids get in everyone’s way on the Tube

Watch aghast as a group of graduates decide to spend an afternoon hosting an impromptu dinner party on the London underground. A whimsical expression of community spirit, or irritating art school nonsense? You decide.

I’m just glad they didn’t pull this stunt during rush hour. If they had, this video might be entitled “film students get messily disembowelled by rabid commuters”.

Helpful tip: You can tell they’re posh because the cast have names like Nathaniel Farington and Jon Angelo Molinari.

2) Anonymous protest vs. Scientology

This is footage from a protest by a group called Anonymous against the “church” of Scientology, during which many protestors thought they would look really cool by wearing the mask from V For Vendetta.

If you can stomach the irksome techno that someone has laid on top of it, this is a great watch. It includes interviews with protestors as well as Scientology enthusiasts (I know “enthusiasts” is a poor description, but I’m resisting the urge to call them cultists, and this was the only other word I could think of).

It also features some footage of the London Met being the good guys at the end. Good for you, Constable!

3) C215 makes London prettier

Have you seen one of these intricate stencils around and wondered where it came from? Well wonder no more. According to this YouTube user, they were spray painted around London at the end of March by Parisian street artist C215. He certainly gives Banksy a run for his money. More prolific too, by the looks of it.

4) Ghost in the London Dungeon

This is apparently genuine CCTV footage of a ghostly apparition in the London Dungeon. It’s pretty shocking, so don’t watch this if you’re with child or prone to freaking out and falling off your chair. I’m sorry for showing you this, I really am. You’ll understand when you watch it.

5) Brave idiot skis down Angel escalator

At Londoners, we don’t condone this kind of behaviour. It’s dangerous, reckless, and probably illegal. However, we do condone watching clips of this kind of behaviour on YouTube, and wincing sympathetically (read: laughing hysterically) if something goes wrong. Thankfully, this stunt goes off without a hitch. Londoners salutes you, brave moron!

Disclaimer: The clip claims that Angel’s escalator is the longest in Europe. In fact, according to the mighty brain of Wikipedia, it is only the longest escalator in Western Europe. The longest in Europe is on the Stockholm Metro at Vastra Skogen. Bet you’re glad we cleared that up.

6) Russell Brand tries to save Spitalfields Market

He might have alienated the Al Murray crowd with his preening public persona and inexplicable hairstyle, but underneath it all, Russell Brand is very good, isn’t he?

Here we see him in the heavily-sideburned early days, protesting the scaling back of Spitalfields Market to accommodate the new corporate offices of London law firm Allen Overy (otherwise known to scowling lefties as The Man).

He’s spreading a lovely message, but that’s not the main reason to watch. The main reason to watch is to see Brand prancing into the Allen Overy head offices dressed as the Elephant Man, inviting the firm to the grand opening of “Spitalbucks McMarket”. It’s a fine example of direct action silliness.

The kind of silliness that might end up saving the world with a fart joke.

Got some amusing capital clips? Contact us.