“Potato” seems innocuous, but you’d be surprised what pops up on YouTube, from an aggressively sappy music video by a Thai rock band to some Danish guy peeling potatoes with a supersonic toilet brush attached to a drill. Searching “Las Vegas,” things get more colorful. Among Electric Daisy Carnival montages, a classic episode of Cops, train-whistle pranking and a 13-and-a-half-minute takeoff from McCarran, there are videos that make you wish you could get back those minutes of your life, and others peeking into weirdly awesome niche universes. A random sampling:
Are You a Hooker? and Disorderly Conduct 6: “Twerk Edition”
Posted by EpicFiveTV — With almost 300,000 subscribers and more than 20 million collective views since creating a YouTube channel in March 2013, this troupe is dedicated to: “Pranks, social experiments, trolling, craziness & more for a good laugh.” That means everything from “Fart Spray Cologne Prank” to “Yelling at Inanimate Objects.”
Thoughts — “Are You a Hooker?” is painful to watch, as pranksters approach women in various casinos on the Las Vegas Strip and secretly tape their reactions to being asked “How much?” and told they look “hookerlicious.” It goes on for almost six minutes. Many of the women try to laugh it off, and many of them say, “That’s not a compliment” (though one says the exact opposite). A couple threaten physical violence, i.e., “Y’all better walk away right now before you get punched in the face” and “You know how much it costs for me to cut off your dick?” Of course, the kicker is that one of the women appears to actually be a hooker, quoting a price of $500 an hour.
“Disorderly Conduct” does have its entertaining moments: A guy in a sandwich shop suddenly screams “Hey!” at the mustard on his table, slowly rising and walking out while bystanders stare. Another pretends to win $200,000 in a sports book, and his excessive celebration gets the crowd riled to the point of high-fiving and applauding his fake plan to quit his job in the morning. There are several attempts to “Miley Cyrus” people on the street, making them unsuspecting Robin Thickes to a prankster’s gyrating backside. It’s kind of amazing that these guys don’t get their asses kicked, though maybe that’s on the cutting room floor …
Las Vegas Daily Recap – Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Posted by Barbershop Harmony Society — The umbrella organization for barbershop singing in America was in Las Vegas last week for its annual convention/competition, and organizers posted daily highlights.
Thoughts — July 2 featured quartets dancing, Silly-Stringing each other and tearing off suits to reveal crazy costumes, as well as a group called Lunch Break. That foursome turned “Old MacDonald” into a new animal (literally), ending the song with one singer’s dead-on vocalization of a sad clown horn, after this lyric:
Old MacDonald had a deformed farm, e-i-e-i-o / and on this farm he had a multiple personality-disordered goat, e-i-e-i-o / With a maa maa here and a quack quack there, here a woof there a meow everywhere a ba-gock!
Posted by Patrick Reiser — “Fitness, natural bodybuilding, health food and lifestyle.” These are the voyages of a very enthusiastic German tourist, who boldly went where millions have gone before: Las Vegas.
Thoughts — Why watch his videos of skydiving or pool partying when you can sit in on his dinner at Mandalay Bay’s Mix? Unless you speak German, you won’t understand the commentary about fancy lobster and fancy cake, but you can marvel at the sculpted bro hair and shirts unbuttoned to there of Patrick and his bronies (like bro-cronies, not dudes who are into My Little Pony, though you never know). The video ends with a “kiss kiss, bang bang” message for ProBro’s nearly 50,000 subscribers. Not bad for a guy with frosted tips that belong on Saved by the Bell.
Jabbawockeez at Las Vegas Santa Run 2013
Posted by Official Jabbawockeez YouTube — The Strip-headlining Vegas dance crew often invites fans “Behind the Mask,” whether it’s filming a music video with Tyga or performing for charity on Fremont Street.
Thoughts — Partnering with Coca Cola and RED, Jabbawockeez set out to raise awareness and money to end the transmission of HIV from mothers to children. How? With slick moves and a ginormous polar bear. The Fremont Street crowd wasn’t great at learning the special choreography, but the bear threw down.
Posted by tank9 — Tank and Mary wish watchers a Happy New Year, and warn them of both the “amazing atmosphere” and long lines at the Paris, which can be seen in the background of their Las Vegas dancextravaganza.
Thoughts — Against cute electronic beeps, radio static, scary demon voices and a driving synth melody (courtesy of “Crash of a Star” by Wynardtage, remixed by Ginger Snap5), Tank and Mary do their thing. On the moving walkway, in front of Caesars Palace and the Bellagio, by the MGM lions. Industrial dance looks kind of like directing traffic to a beat. And while Mary is good at it, Tank has the edge. His moves are crisper, and he never cracks a smile. Though the scene-stealer has got to be the passed-out Garfield at 2:33.
Las Vegas: Motorcycle encounters vol. 11
Posted by TheVegasBiker — This local rider of a 2009 Kawasaki Er-6n offers a helmet-cam series about: “Riding around Las Vegas talking to myself and sharing the more interesting moments.” Two installments so far are titled “I’m a Dick.” He incorporates sound bytes (Borat, Office Space, Super Mario Bros.) and a static cartoon peanut gallery, including a T-Rex that says things like: “What was that? Gangsta Santa Claus?” TheVegasBiker “assaults” pedestrians with a squirt gun. He laughs at a skateboarder bouncing off a Mercedes. You get the idea.
Thoughts — Volume 11 starts at a crosswalk, where a reedy man in a pink T-shirt and long red shorts gapes at the filmmaker (enter Gangsta Santa Claus commentary). He swerves past a “poor lady” and replays her shriek over and over in slow motion. Then he drag races (read: shames) “silly Mustangs.” Also, he shoots water at a drunk guy’s crotch. Big claps for the cutout of disgusted Captain Picard, and for engaging with your subscribers in the comment feed. But as some of your victims have voiced, that better not be piss in your squirt gun …
