Topic: Trespass is the new shit pranking

[Artemis]

Full disclaimer: I turned 40 last September. It's now fair argument (as if it ever wasn't) that I have no idea what the little shits of the world are 'into' and I care even less.

But I'm curious about micro trends and bubble phenomena, so it was intriguing to me to discover the concept of 'overnight challenges', 'in and out challenges' and other HILARIOUS happenings. My attention has recently been drawn to Ally Law and Ryan Taylor. Two seemingly 20-somethings who have amassed hundreds of thousands of followers, who watch them 'do their best at life' with hilarious consequences. These boil down to sneaking about, doing flips and what have you, climbing things, riding bikes and operating drones.

It's certainly better than Sam Pepper being a shit cunt, but it's still a bit baffling to me how these people, and I suppose in a wider sense others on YouTube who do little other than look into the camera, gurn, and blurt out 'BANTS' and 'LADS' occasionally can be reeling in serious cash.

Is anyone else aware of this little side pocket of humanity, casually making a shitload of money?

[imitationleather]

I don't know how YouTube monetisation works, but I am guessing the videos earn more money if they're over ten minutes long as that seems to be the standard minimum length for these things. The content of these channels is pretty similar to what used to be on Jackass back in the day, except spread a lot more thinly. A segment that would be a minute or so on Jackass is several times that and hugely padded out with pleas for subscribers and other shite. It's pretty innocent though and if I was a teenager I'd probably quite like them. They're really, definitely, aimed at children though, not grown men like us. After that guy cemented his head into a microwave I watched quite a few of them and found them varying levels of entertaining, but the really obvious fakery (there's a really annoying guy who does videos where he posts himself to places and crosses the English Channel in a zorb and stuff like that. Anyone who thinks his stuff is real, no matter how old they are, is an idiot) and barely concealed product placement in them that is just completely not noticed by the people in the comments did make me feel like a thirtysomething sat watching CBBC by himself, which wasn't pleasant, and I quickly knocked viewing them on the head.

So yeah, I think they're mainly fine. There's yer Sam Peppers and Logan Pauls who I would not be upset to hear they'd died, but on the whole these are people who would be presenting kids' TV except they earn far, far more and get more fame doing stuff on YouTube.

[Natnar]

There's also the likes of Omar Gosh https://www.youtube.com/user/OmarGoshTV who is positively ancient for a Youtuber (late 30's i think) who does a bit of everything, 3 Am challenges, pranks, ghosthunting, dumpster diving etc. He seems pretty good at selling himself (and his mates) as a brand.

[mothman]

The youth of today, eh? No telling what they'll get into.

[bgmnts]

I am getting a right boring tit in my old age (mid 20s). Any kind of prank or set up or whatnot just leaves me incredibly pissed off that the pranker. I want them to be hoist by their own hollow cuntiness.

[BritishHobo]

I've been obsessed with Ally Law for months, although less so recently. It was more for the climbing videos he did - scaling high buildings or cranes, or climbing up the Pepsi Max Max at Blackpool. I fuckin love videos like that, people filming from the top of high shit. Then he moved more into the overnight challenges, and they've fascinated me too, because I've loved seeing inside places you usually wouldn't get to see. More recently it's become re-fascinsting again because everybody knows who he is now, police and security guards are fully aware of him, he's facing shitloads of court cases. It's been kind of like watching a story unfolds.

Some of his fans are fucking thick though. You go into the comments of any of his videos and there's countless idiots spreading their great knowledge of the law, convinced that somehow there's always a loophole to slip through that can magically make the lads breaking into private buildings be in the right, and the guys trying to stop them in the wrong. Endemol recently tried to settle with him and Ryan Taylor outside of court by offering to drop charges or something if they could retain all the footage of the pair breaking into the Big Brother house, and loads of his fans have convinced themselves that's blackmail and that now he could beat them in court because they've done that.

I'm still watching em though. Same reason I love urban explorers. It's stuff I'm never gonna get to see - fair fucks to them for exploring like that. A lot of people said the Pepsi Max stunt was stupid and they're idiots, and maybe they're right, but I doubt Ally Law in later years will ever regret that he had that awesome experience.

[newbridge]

Never heard of these guys. They're obviously idiots, but I'm actually finding these videos quite fascinating. There's a sort of voyeuristic thrill in not only seeing these places that are normally off limits, but in watching some moron do something I would be mortified to do in real life.

[Replies From View]

As Bob Mortimer would say (louder and louder):

"I DO BEG YOUR PARDON
BUT WE ARE IN YOUR GARDEN."

[Artemis]

I've been obsessed with Ally Law for months, although less so recently. It was more for the climbing videos he did - scaling high buildings or cranes, or climbing up the Pepsi Max Max at Blackpool.

Those are the best ones, I agree. My palms were actually sweating watching the Thorpe Park climb.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I should probably watch these, always love urbex photography and that.

[Better Midlands]

Those are the best ones, I agree. My palms were actually sweating watching the Thorpe Park climb.

This one in London is breathtakingly high, I know the Go-pro distorts the image but it looks terrifying.

https://youtu.be/BAMzFFgMPQs

[newbridge]

This one in London is breathtakingly high, I know the Go-pro distorts the image but it looks terrifying.

https://youtu.be/BAMzFFgMPQs

Fucking hell, loses his shoes midway. This is a mad lad.

[paruses]

Anyone seen the clip of the lads in Eastern Europe riding BMXs around the top of an industrial chimney? Will try and dig out a link - I've gone lightheaded just thinking about it.

EDIT - Ah - much worse than I remember. My arms have gone numb watching it. Massive respect to them - they are well skilled unlike the twats who just do tombstoning into 2' of water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFUcxnvAeMc&t=94s

[hamfist]

I also got sucked into Ally Law and Ryan Taylor's vids. I just find it fascinating, though recently I think both of them have become quite stuffed by their own notoriety and the trouble they have got into. I just love how brazen they are and how stupid what they're doing is, and also how impotent and helpless the security staff and police they encounter often are.

But Ryan's vid on the Humber Bridge, and Ally doing the same on the Severn Crossing - fackin' hell. Proper shits me up the thought of just walking up those bridges.

[Artemis]

Ryan's taken an interesting turn, abandoning the climbs and the bike stuff and now just running around shops being a dick then reminding staff who've just been made redundant that they shouldn't care because they'll be out of a job soon anyway.

This recent video has backfired massively for him, judging by the comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAV2V1Bqr8g

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Didn't a guy last year just fall off somewhere and die?

Loved it £10 donation

[Shay Chaise]

Anything goes these days. Life through the lens of any media is really confusing. What's good? Why are people not able to identify what's shit? It's all reduced to a laugh and passing the time. Nihilism is the MO.

[Bobtoo]

Didn't a guy last year just fall off somewhere and die?

It happens quite a lot in Russia.

[newbridge]

Ryan's taken an interesting turn, abandoning the climbs and the bike stuff and now just running around shops being a dick then reminding staff who've just been made redundant that they shouldn't care because they'll be out of a job soon anyway.

This recent video has backfired massively for him, judging by the comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAV2V1Bqr8g

Ryan Taylor has always struck me as a dick, whereas Ally Law is more of a likable scofflaw who doesn't really harass anyone other than running from security.

Anything goes these days. Life through the lens of any media is really confusing. What's good? Why are people not able to identify what's shit? It's all reduced to a laugh and passing the time. Nihilism is the MO.

This may sound hyperbolic since at the end of the day these are videos of near-teenagers being idiots, but I find this new genre of videos (the climbing/overnight ones, not the being-rude-to-staff ones) to be some of the most innovative entertainment on YouTube. Can't see this kind of thing anywhere else.

[notjosh]

I'm a big fan of any kind of urban exploration/trespassing/parkour videos. It's the sort of stuff that if someone made a black and white documentary about it with a French man saying things like "the essential thing is to etch movements in the sky, movements so still they leave no trace" everyone would lose their shit over how inspiring it was. But because it's a bunch of kids doing it without pretension everyone acts like they're just attention-seeking knobheads. Well maybe the world needs attention-seeking knobheads. I'd rather kids were out riding BMXs over suspension bridges than sat at home playing Call of Duty shouting 'fag' at each other. We've discovered most of the world now - maybe breaking into shit that people already own and climbing to the top is the final frontier.

[BritishHobo]

Pretty embarrassing new upload on his channel today of Ally and mates throwing a massive tantrum outside a police station due to having all their shit confiscated. Joined by that dickhead from Trollstation who looks about forty but for some reason keeps hanging out with these kids and just being an absolute shithead to the put-upon workers who have to deal with their braying bollocks in the middle of the night.

The fanbase in the comments have this bizarre non- moral-code where they endlessly defend Ally sneaking into all these places and fucking with the stuff in there, but the moment there's any repercussions they're all armchair lawyers chatting about how corrupt the country is and the police should be sued for dealing with them. I think I said this above, but at new year Ally snuck into an under-construction tower building to watch the fireworks, and his fans lap it up, but the moment someone who's actually in charge shut him down because the owners were having a private event, suddenly everyone was on a moral fuckin crusade hyping each other up that the guy in charge must have snuck in and be having an illegal party and ought to be fired.

That's how I felt about the newest video - if you're going to this kind of stuff, sneak into places you're not supposed to, and upload all the footage, then you've gotta pull up your big boy pants when you get nailed for it.

[newbridge]

Pretty embarrassing new upload on his channel today of Ally and mates throwing a massive tantrum outside a police station due to having all their shit confiscated. Joined by that dickhead from Trollstation who looks about forty but for some reason keeps hanging out with these kids and just being an absolute shithead to the put-upon workers who have to deal with their braying bollocks in the middle of the night.

The fanbase in the comments have this bizarre non- moral-code where they endlessly defend Ally sneaking into all these places and fucking with the stuff in there, but the moment there's any repercussions they're all armchair lawyers chatting about how corrupt the country is and the police should be sued for dealing with them. I think I said this above, but at new year Ally snuck into an under-construction tower building to watch the fireworks, and his fans lap it up, but the moment someone who's actually in charge shut him down because the owners were having a private event, suddenly everyone was on a moral fuckin crusade hyping each other up that the guy in charge must have snuck in and be having an illegal party and ought to be fired.

That's how I felt about the newest video - if you're going to this kind of stuff, sneak into places you're not supposed to, and upload all the footage, then you've gotta pull up your big boy pants when you get nailed for it.

I didn't find it embarrassing at all (not sure who the older guy is, I don't doubt that he's a dunce in line with Ryan Taylor etc.). Seems like the police are genuinely acting out of line and harassing Ally because they are impotent and can't legally do anything to him given the weird civil trespass laws in the UK. What's embarrassing was the flustered police man coming out and threatening to fight a bunch of kids.

It is crazy that he can do all of these videos and not face any real repercussions, but that's what the law is. What's the legal basis for seizing all of his stuff? The police should be taken to court.

[BritishHobo]

I guess I found it hard to figure out what had gone on. He said he got arrested just for being in a van, but then later on he says they were at the TV studio he's banned from, to sneak into the EastEnders set. I find it hard to follow all the detail of the legal stuff. Is it the fact that he filmed inside Big Brother that's really ramped up the problems for him?

[newbridge]

I guess I found it hard to figure out what had gone on. He said he got arrested just for being in a van, but then later on he says they were at the TV studio he's banned from, to sneak into the EastEnders set. I find it hard to follow all the detail of the legal stuff. Is it the fact that he filmed inside Big Brother that's really ramped up the problems for him?

My understanding (could be wrong) is that his friends snuck into the EastEnders set, but that he deliberately sat it out in order to not risk violating his court order after the Big Brother stuff, and that when the police came to the scene they arrested him anyways on suspicion of "conspiracy" to commit burglary (which already seems vindictive, but ok at least something they were maybe within their authority to do) and then impounded all of his expensive personal effects knowing that the bureaucracy will keep it all from being released for months (which seems totally out of line).

He said it was the same officers who got him after Big Brother, when he royally pissed them off by going free, and so now they are just using their power to fuck with him due to a personal grudge.

I totally understand why property owners and the police hate him, but the law is what it is, and police throwing around their unaccountable authority to harass someone is wrong.

[kidsick5000]

My understanding (could be wrong) is that his friends snuck into the EastEnders set, but that he deliberately sat it out in order to not risk violating his court order after the Big Brother stuff, and that when the police came to the scene they arrested him anyways on suspicion of "conspiracy" to commit burglary (which already seems vindictive, but ok at least something they were maybe within their authority to do) and then impounded all of his expensive personal effects knowing that the bureaucracy will keep it all from being released for months (which seems totally out of line).

Not that out of line. For him to go along anyway, on what is essentially a entertainment show he will get money for, sounds like he was hoping for a confrontation.
Because he is now an entertainment entity, he need's to constantly produce content to keep his income up. And if the episodes where he gets confronted by the law do better than the disused factory tours and tops of bridges, then of course he's going to get caught. But that makes it harder for everyone who makes these videos.
Basically, if he's a dick to security/police, and he gets to monetise that, then it won't take much for authorities to get upset and decide to up the penalties for trespass and relax what amount of force can be used against trespassers.
It's annoying because some of the non-confrontational videos are astounding, but they can't be made without knowing there will be consequences.

And when it comes to something like a BBC set, of course the consequences are more. It's a high profile target. They have to deal with enthusiastic fans, stalkers or the possibility some nut wants to make a public statement there.


Also working against him is that, especially now, established social media is in a rush to be seen to be "doing something" in a number of matters relating to self-regulation. To the extent that one news discussion show on Thursday, one that I subscribe and have alerts for, was hidden from my feed just because it had a gun in the thumbnail.

[newbridge]

Not that out of line. For him to go along anyway, on what is essentially a entertainment show he will get money for, sounds like he was hoping for a confrontation.
Because he is now an entertainment entity, he need's to constantly produce content to keep his income up. And if the episodes where he gets confronted by the law do better than the disused factory tours and tops of bridges, then of course he's going to get caught. But that makes it harder for everyone who makes these videos.
Basically, if he's a dick to security/police, and he gets to monetise that, then it won't take much for authorities to get upset and decide to up the penalties for trespass and relax what amount of force can be used against trespassers.
It's annoying because some of the non-confrontational videos are astounding, but they can't be made without knowing there will be consequences.

And when it comes to something like a BBC set, of course the consequences are more. It's a high profile target. They have to deal with enthusiastic fans, stalkers or the possibility some nut wants to make a public statement there.


Also working against him is that, especially now, established social media is in a rush to be seen to be "doing something" in a number of matters relating to self-regulation. To the extent that one news discussion show on Thursday, one that I subscribe and have alerts for, was hidden from my feed just because it had a gun in the thumbnail.

Baseless speculation to suggest that he went there hoping for a "confrontation," since his friends were the ones who were going into the studio while he was sleeping in a nearby van and not even prepared to film the police arriving. It's fairly clear from the videos that there is a whole community/gang of kids that do these things for fun, many of whom are making no money off of it.

I'm not really sure what your overall point is, it's not out of line for police officers to violate the law to fuck with a private citizen they dislike? Ally Law himself is never really a dick to security/police other than, in some videos, running away from them. And he seems very smart about knowing what the law is (including the weird civil trespass laws in the UK). "Of course the consequences are greater"? Well, no, they shouldn't be, because the law is the law. The police officers involved here have a personal animosity toward him and are abusing their authority, on behalf of the government, to harass him. I can't really see why/how anyone would defend that. Perhaps he should expect the police to violate his rights because police are frequently unaccountable assholes? Sure, maybe, but so what. He's not whining in this newest video, just accurately pointing out that the police are being shit.

And in case it sounds like I'm canonizing Ally Law, I'm certainly not. I find his videos very enjoyable to watch, but he is often an unintentional dick in the sense that I'm sure he's gotten lazy security guards fired or scapegoated because of his videos, and in that sense they are not totally victimless. But when it comes to "YouTube kid who makes police angry by knowing the limits of the law vs. police officers abusing their authority to harass people," I know which side I'm on.

[marquis_de_sad]

(there's a really annoying guy who does videos where he posts himself to places and crosses the English Channel in a zorb and stuff like that. Anyone who thinks his stuff is real, no matter how old they are, is an idiot)

I guess these are old hat now, but this video goes into how formulaic they are.

[Nobody Soup]

I'm not really sure what your overall point is, it's not out of line for police officers to violate the law to fuck with a private citizen they dislike? Ally Law himself is never really a dick to security/police other than, in some videos, running away from them. And he seems very smart about knowing what the law is (including the weird civil trespass laws in the UK). "Of course the consequences are greater"? Well, no, they shouldn't be, because the law is the law. The police officers involved here have a personal animosity toward him and are abusing their authority, on behalf of the government, to harass him. I can't really see why/how anyone would defend that. Perhaps he should expect the police to violate his rights because police are frequently unaccountable assholes? Sure, maybe, but so what. He's not whining in this newest video, just accurately pointing out that the police are being shit.

this is so true, I take photos quite a lot, and the number of times I've had security guards and police claim I'm breaking the law because they don't really like a person hanging about with a camera is absurd. (I know the law because after the 2nd time I got threatened with being arrested for taking pictures of a statue in a government building's car park I decided to bone up).

I don't know if it's they don't actually know the law, and just feel they should be able to tell people to stop acting in a way that annoys them, or they are purposefully trying to abuse authority but frankly, I'm with the youtubers here.

I also do some urban exploring myself anyway so I can hardly not be.

[BritishHobo]

It does make you wish he'd stop doing it with some of the absolute bell-ends he does, like that bloke who was in the latest video and who seems to basically just want an excuse to be a massive cunt to tired minimum-wage workers.

[newbridge]

It does make you wish he'd stop doing it with some of the absolute bell-ends he does, like that bloke who was in the latest video and who seems to basically just want an excuse to be a massive cunt to tired minimum-wage workers.

Yeah, that probably is about getting hits/making money though, since moron Ryan Taylor is sadly more popular and famous on YouTube.