Trollstation

Trollstation (previously named TrollStationUK) is a YouTube channel consisting of, as well as collaborating with, numerous British pranksters who base themselves on creating content which is, "intentionally provocative and controversial with the aim to offend and harass the general public in the name of comedic satire". The pranks carried out by members of Trollstation are filmed covertly, often without the permission of those involved, however they are revealed to be pranks soon after.

The channel attracted particularly high publicity after a coordinated series of pitch invasions during a UEFA Europa League game on Thursday 27 November 2014.^[1] As of January 2016, they have over 640,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Members

• Gomes Garcia^[2] or Helder Gomes, 22 from Stockwell, Lambeth^[3]
• Nathan Brown^[2] or Nathaniel Thompson, 23 from Harringay^[3]
• Daniel "Jarvo" Jarvis,^[2][4] 27 from Gravesend, Kent.^[3][5][6]
• Stines Crimes,^[2] 17 from London.^[3]
• Amina Maz,^[2] 23 from London.^[3]
• James Slattery

Notable pranks

Pranks include a rap battle between two police officers,^[7] a child dropping a wallet in front of strangers to see if it is returned,^[8][9] and a blind man dropping his wallet.^[10] An extremely long selfie stick.^[11][12] Other included 'abusing a transvestite',^[13] impersonating traffic wardens and giving tickets to police officers,^[14][15] invading the ring at a WWE SmackDown match,^[16][17] a woman approaching men in public asking for sex^[18] and pointing a toy gun at police officers.^[19] The video involving Daniel Jarvis handing out parking fines to police, confusing the officers involved, featured on Channel 4's Rude Tube.^[20]

GTA V Prank

In honour of the release of the video game Grand Theft Auto V, Troll Station uploaded a video of Gomes Garcia attempting to steal people's cars - a common theme in Rockstar franchise.^[21]

'Call of Duty Ghosts Prank'

Again, in honour of a video game's release, Trollstation uploaded a video of Gomes Garcia going round a council estate and firing blanks out of a paintball gun with the intention of frightening the victim. The first person Garcia 'shot' was initially perplexed but laughed about it afterwards.

However the people whom Garcia shot blanks at after this ran away before they could reveal it was prank, prompting them and residents to call the police. An armed squad was asked to investigate the situation, so Garcia waited two hours before resuming.

The video provoked the police to take retrospective action, ordered the take-down of the video and subsequent abandonment of the YouTube channel. TrollStationYT was then created.

Tube Night Club

A temporary 'night club' was set up on a London underground train, with a bouncer, music and promoter. Some members of the public appeared confused and laughed at the situation, whereas others looked disgusted.^{[22][23][24][25]} In another covertly filmed prank, Troll Station created a strip club on the tube.^[26]

'Make way for the Queen's guards' Prank

Troll Station once again caused controversy when one member, Daniel Jarvis, dressed up to impersonate a queen's guard. He and fellow prankster Nathan Thompson consequently conducted pranks in central London in front of many tourists. One particular incident saw Jarvis pretend to punch Thompson in front of tourists after he 'teased him', all occurring in direct view of the public. The video has accumulated over 4 million views, making it their second most viewed upload.

Breastfeeding on the tube

Troll Station set out to observe how people reacted to seeing breastfeeding on a tube train. This was carried out by the 'victim' Amina Maz and the 'verbal abuser' James Slattery. Maz feigned to breastfeed an obscured baby, and Slattery acted as if he was extremely uncomfortable with these actions. Passengers opposite them on the carriage initially said nothing, smiling at the drama of the situation. There were sniggers from passengers when Slattery demanded that Maz move to a different carriage, with one man intervening, telling him he was "acting aggressively". When Slattery drew the others into the conversation about breastfeeding on the tube, about six people unanimously agreed that Maz had the right to breastfeed in public, and should not be harassed or victimised for doing so. The video became viral on multiple social media sites, including YouTube and Facebook. Most expressed disgust towards James Slattery, unaware he was acting in a social experiment. ^[27]

Non-UK pranks

The team dropped a wallet 45 times during a visit to Dubai, and it was returned every time.^{[28][29][30][31]} Another prank involved acting drunk in public places, an illegal act in the state.^[32][33][34]

Pitch invasion controversy

The White Hart Lane stadium pitch that was invaded during a match.

On Thursday 27 November 2014 during a UEFA Europa League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Partizan Belgradein, three men encroached the pitch consecutively as part of a publicity stunt, later uploaded and named 'Pitch Invasion Prank'. The first man, Nathan Thompson, remained on the field for five minutes, even taking a photograph with Tottenham player Kyle Naughton. Thompson remained on the pitch unchallenged for approximately five minutes before stewards restrained him.^[3]

Play was resumed by the referee before a second man entered the field of play - Gomes Garcia. Garcia 'lasted' a considerably less amount of time, being captured by stewards more quickly, with Tottenham striker Roberto Soldado actually pulling off the prankster's shirt.^[35]

By the time a third man, Troll Station prankster Dan Jarvis, had entered the fray, the referee decided to suspend the game for ten minutes on safety grounds. All three men were wearing 'BassBudds' T-shirts, seemingly endorsing this earphone manufacturer.^[36]

Aftermath

UEFA opened disciplinary hearings against Tottenham as a result of the pitch invasions. The three men themselves were arrested and placed in custody directly after the incidents.

The earphone manufacturer 'BassBuds' issued a statement on their website and social-media platform Twitter "condemning" Troll Station's "irresponsible actions". Tottenham Hotspur have temporarily suspended their affiliation with the company. .^[37]

On 1 December 2014, Thompson, Garcia and Jarvis were charged with pitch invasion and will appear at Highbury Corner Magistrate's Court on 18 December.^[38]

The court later heard that the trio were handing out 'Bass Buds' products outside the stadium as part of a promotional stunt when they allegedly made a "spur-of-the-moment" decision to encroach the pitch. Tottenham Hotspur themselves were fined just under £12,000 for the incident and all three men were obligated to pay £155 each, as well as facing a ban on attending football games until 2018, an outcome which they could appeal after two years.^[39]

References

External links

• Trollstation's channel on YouTube (current)
• Trollstation's channel on YouTube (old channel)
• Trollstation's subreddit on Reddit
• Trollstation at the Internet Movie Database