Viral videos of the week: a dancing Dublin taxi driver and how (not) to deal with a bear

14 Jul 2013

Still from 'What to Do If You Spot a Bear (Providence RI Local News)' by TheAisleSeatcom2013 on YouTube

We take a look at some of the most-viewed and most-shared videos on the web. This week features a taxi driver getting down to ‘Get Lucky’, some comical advice on what to do if you encounter a bear, Spider-Man’s impressive skills on the basketball court, a Kickstarter parody, Tom Thum’s beatboxing brilliance and wine-bottle opening for thrillseekers.

About 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, 500 years of video watched on Facebook every day, and more than 700 YouTube videos shared on Twitter each minute, ensuring there is always video trending on the web.

With so much video available for viewing, we take a look at some of the viral videos that have caught our eye this week. (Apart from the Grand Theft Auto V gameplay trailer, that is.)

Class Dublin taxi driver

Nothing like a spot of good weather to bring out Dublin’s best side and this recent video of a taxi driver getting into the groove in a packed-out city centre convergence of pubs could be one of the greatest promotional tools for the fair city. The lightfooted lady who entices the man out of his car for a dance has been identified as Andrea Pappin, Ireland’s EU presidency spokesperson, while the dancing driver is Wayne Karney, a sometime actor who has worked with Colin Farrell and Daniel Day-Lewis and who has previously impressed passengers, such as Bebo founders Xochi and Michael Birch with his talents.

 

Uploaded: 5 July 2013

What to do if you spot a bear

This reporter for NBC 10, a local news service for Providence, Rhode Island in the US, goes into dramatisation mode to inform viewers on what to do if they spot a bear in the woods, and how to deal with an attack. Sound advice, indeed, as the bear is more likely to point and laugh than attack you if you mimic this woman’s actions.

 

Uploaded: 10 July 2013

Spider-Man plays basketball

In this video, Spider-Man takes on all comers in a game of one-on-one basketball and proves once and for all that Spidey’s got game. Unfortunately, it’s not Peter Parker in the famous skintight suit but one Grayson ‘The Professor’ Boucher, an accomplished streetball player who made a name for himself on the AND1 Mixtape Tour.

 

Uploaded: 9 July 2013

Beatbox brilliance

Tom Thum took to the stage at TEDxSydney with nothing but a microphone but, when you hear the sounds emanating from his person, you will find that hard to believe. His straight-up beatboxing skills in the brief introduction are enough to impress, but if you stick it out to the end of his talk you’ll be treated to a tour of world music and the full-on sound of a jiving jazz band with additional help of some Kaoss Pads.

 

Uploaded: 8 July 2013

Thingstarter: Tiny Diapers for the Tip of Your Penis

Crowdfunding has become so common now that it’s fodder for parody videos such as this one from comedy network Above Average. The Thingstarter series features fake products that we’re quite happy will never see the light of day, like these miniature nappies to help gents keep their trousers clean after a visit to the bathroom.

 

Uploaded: 10 July 2013

Most dangerous ways to open a bottle of wine

Don’t you hate it when you’ve sat down to dinner with a bottle of Aldi’s finest only to discover it’s not a screw-top and there isn’t a corkscrew in the house? We’ve all heard of the old uncorking-with-a-shoe trick, but that technique is for wimps. Jake Westerfeld from Cameron Hughes Wine has far more exciting solutions (ones that you really shouldn’t try at home, though, in fairness).

 

Uploaded: 3 July 2013

Stay informed – get daily updates on the latest happenings in technology directly to your inbox.

Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

editorial@siliconrepublic.com