Benedict Cumberbatch at the London premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Photo via Joe Seer/Shutterstock
This week in viral videos we have been watching hilarious beauty blogger parodies, a Fox News anchor losing his mind, entertaining airline safety procedures and Benedict Cumberbatch making the theatre a better place.
Earlier this week, a video of an Australian eagle knocking a drone from the sky accrued millions of views on YouTube, but what else has been shooting up the viral carts?
Hey you guys, it’s every beauty vlogger ever
When Facebook user Labhaoise Ní Bhutléir spent 24 hours watching “bloggers, vloggers and everything in between”, she was quite amused with “how they take themselves so seriously”. Paying it forward, she’s now amusing us with her compilation of Snapchat parody clips and her overuse of the standard vlogger greeting, “Hey you guuuuyyyyyys.”
Video via DailyEdge.ie/YouTube, originally uploaded to Facebook on 9 August 2015
Fox News anchor is done reporting on the Kardashians
Fox 35 News Orlando anchor John Brown takes newscasting seriously and simply cannot report on the minutiae of the Kardashians’ family life anymore. As the ‘news’ about Kylie Jenner naming her pet rabbit comes up, he’s had enough. Not satisfied with simply leaving the visible set, Brown continues to rant off-air as his co-anchors struggle to keep the show on track. He just wants to have a good Friday. Don’t we all?
Video via News Funnies/YouTube, uploaded on 10 August 2015
Air New Zealand’s All Blacks ‘Men In Black’ safety video
Air New Zealand are no strangers to creating attention-grabbing safety videos and last year earned kudos for ‘The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made’. This latest effort starring some All Blacks rugby superstars and demonic legends from rival squads falls a bit flat, though. Maybe it’s the dodgy rapping that ruins it for me, but who am I to sniff at more than 1m views?
Video via Air New Zealand/YouTube, uploaded on 12 August 2015
WestJet flight attendant makes safety procedures worth watching
This safety demonstration, on the other hand, is one I can totally get behind. A passenger on a WestJet flight posted this video on Facebook, shooting this WestJet flight attendant to viral fame with millions of views of his comical take on a mundane task. And he didn’t need any pricey sets or guest appearances, Air New Zealand.
Video via HiliBorn/YouTube, originally uploaded to Facebook on 2 August 2015
Fisherman snags a drone
Apparently, YouTube user Tice Ledbetter is not happy that a fisherman he was filming managed to snag his drone mid-flight, but even he can’t fail to be impressed by the skill in casting that line. Nailed it.
Video via Tice Ledbetter/YouTube, uploaded on 7 August 2015
Tianjin explosion
News of two massive explosions in Tianjin, China has dominated headlines this week and much of the footage has come from onlookers’ smartphones. This video from WeiboVideo has been viewed more than 5.3m times and shows a fire blazing from the first explosion, followed by the second explosion and, seconds later, the impact hitting those behind the camera. It’s a scary first-hand look at a tragic situation that has left at least 56 people dead and hundreds injured.
Video via WeiboVideo/YouTube, uploaded on 12 August 2015
Typhoon Soudelor lifts an aeroplane from the ground
As well as footage from Tianjin, citizen journalists have been sharing clips of Typhoon Soudelor ripping through the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. This video – reportedly from Taiwan – shows the awesome power of the typhoon lifting a 747 from the ground.
Video via Abby/YouTube, uploaded on 10 August 2015
Martin Hansen’s beautiful back-heel goal
It’s more than 1m YouTube views and a round of applause for ADO Den Haag goalkeeper Martin Hansen this week for a spectacular injury-time goal against PSV Eindhoven in the opening game of the Dutch Eredivisie league. Hansen’s nifty little backheel spared his team a painful loss making it a 2-2 tie, but I’m sure Hansen left the pitch feeling like a winner.
Video via Football PZ/YouTube, uploaded on 11 August 2015
Bad Blood spoof to end the UK tampon tax
UK comedians Cariad Lloyd and Jenny Bede have called on the powerful guns of Taylor Swift (and some friends) for their campaign against the tampon tax, a 5pc levy the British government imposes on sanitary products because they are deemed ‘non-essential’. Tampon tax, Bad Blood, anger – it all comes together so well.
Video via Cariad Lloyd/YouTube, uploaded on 5 August 2015
Benedict Cumberbatch asks fans to put phones and cameras away
Beloved Benedict Cumberbatch is currently starring as Hamlet in the Barbican in London, and he treated fans outside the theatre to a brief appearance and a small request. Cumberbatch explained how distracting it can be for actors to see the lights of cameras and smartphones in the audience capturing them as they tread the boards, and asks the audience to keep their devices in their pockets for the performance. Hear, hear, Mr Sherlock.
Video via kari100/YouTube, uploaded on 8 August 2015
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Benedict Cumberbatch image by Joe Seer via Shutterstock
