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Trollstation (previously named TrollStationUK) is a
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel consisting of, as well as collaborating with, numerous British pranksters who perform pranks and social experiments, more recently focusing on the latter. 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. Some of the group's stunts have led to criminal convictions. The channel suddenly attracted particularly high publicity after a coordinated series of
pitch invasion A pitch invasion (also known as field storming, rushing the field or rushing the court) occurs when a person or a crowd of people spectating a sporting event run onto the competition area, usually to celebrate or protest an incident, or somet ...
s during a
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
game between
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
and
Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, lin ...
on 27 November 2014. In March 2016, Trollstation cameraman 'Digi Dan' was jailed for nine months after being convicted of staging a bomb hoax and mock robberies in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. In May 2016, four other members of Trollstation were jailed for between 16 and 20 weeks after staging a 'terrifying' fake art heist which caused a stampede at the
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...
. Five members of "Trollstation" - some with tights on their heads - burst into the central London art gallery playing a loud alarm and pretended to steal paintings. The gallery's visitors fled in apparent panic and one woman passed out, while others were trampled on in the rush before the group moved on to nearby
Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...
where they carried out a fake robbery and kidnapping, a court was told. In 2019, they also led police on a high speed chase on the River Thames. As of January 2024, Trollstation has over 1.4 million subscribers on YouTube with 463 million views. On 28 August 2018, they took a break from uploading videos but returned on 17 November 2019.


Notable pranks

Pranks include a
rap battle Battle rap (also known as rap battling)Edwards, Paul, 2009, p. 25. is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults, wordplay and disses originating in the African-American community. Battle rap is of ...
between two police officers, a child dropping a wallet in front of strangers to see if it is returned, and a blind man dropping his wallet. An extremely long
selfie stick A selfie stick is used to take photographs or video by positioning a digital camera device, typically a smartphone, beyond the normal range of the arm. This allows for shots to be taken at angles and distances that would not have been possible wi ...
was another. Other pranks included 'abusing a transvestite', impersonating traffic wardens and giving tickets to police officers, invading the ring at a
WWE SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs Live television, live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Netwo ...
match, a woman approaching men in public asking for sex and pointing a toy gun at police officers. The video involving Daniel Jarvis handing out parking fines to police, confusing the officers involved, featured on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
's ''
Rude Tube ''Rude Tube'' is a British television programme broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister channel E4. Most of the programme's episodes have been presented by British comedian Alex Zane, who launched the show's pilot episode in February 2008. Comedi ...
''. A temporary '
nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
' was set up on a
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
train, with a bouncer, music and promoter. Some members of the public appeared confused and laughed at the situation, whereas others looked disgusted. In another covertly filmed prank, Trollstation created a
strip club A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...
on the tube. Trollstation set out to observe how people reacted to seeing
breastfeeding Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or milk may be extracted with a Breast pump, pump and then fed to the infant. The World Health Orga ...
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 popular on multiple social media sites, including YouTube and
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
. Most expressed disgust towards James Slattery, especially from non-regular viewers unaware that he was acting in a social experiment. In 2019, the group also led police on a high speed chase on the River Thames. They got away and avoided a fine and arrest. In 2015, Jarvis dressed up as a London Palace guard and appeared to assault random tourists ( who were actually members of the group ). On 27 August 2016, Trollstation uploaded a video titled 'UK
Burkini A burkini (or burqini; portmanteau of burqa and bikini, though qualifying as neither of these garments) is a style of swimsuit for women. The suit covers the whole body except the face, the hands, and the feet, while being light enough for swimm ...
Ban Social Experiment'. The video involved 2 of the Trollstation members, Amina Maz (pretending to be a Muslim woman, dressed in a
burkini A burkini (or burqini; portmanteau of burqa and bikini, though qualifying as neither of these garments) is a style of swimsuit for women. The suit covers the whole body except the face, the hands, and the feet, while being light enough for swimm ...
) and Endrit Ferizoli aka Light (pretending to be a Police Officer) on Southend on sea beach. The video gained national attention due to the ongoing debate in France over the banning of the 'burkini' on French beaches. The video was covered online by prominent English newspapers such as the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'' and ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' They were also featured on
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
and Light and Maz were interviewed by
Kay Burley Kay Elizabeth Burley (; born 17 December 1960) is an English broadcaster. She was a presenter on Sky News and hosted the breakfast slot on the channel. She has also worked for BBC Local Radio, Tyne Tees Television, and TV-am. On 5 February ...
on
Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...
.


Non-UK pranks

The team dropped a wallet 45 times during a visit to
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, and it was returned every time. Another prank involved acting drunk in public places, while carrying a bottle of beer.


Pitch invasion controversy

On 27 November 2014, during a UEFA Europa League match between
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
and
Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, lin ...
, three men encroached the pitch consecutively as part of a publicity stunt, later uploaded to YouTube 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 Kyle Naughton (born 17 November 1988) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a right back for club Swansea City A.F.C., Swansea City. Naughton was a product of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United's academy ...
. Thompson remained on the pitch unchallenged for approximately five minutes before stewards restrained him. 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 Roberto Soldado Rillo (; born 27 May 1985) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker. After emerging through Real Madrid's youth system, he went on to appear in only 27 official matches for the first team (four goals ...
actually pulling off the prankster's shirt. On 1 December 2014, Thompson, Garcia and Jarvis were charged with pitch invasion. The court 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.


Art Gallery Heist and subsequent arrests

On 5 July 2015, Gomes Garcia, Daniel Jarvis and Ebenezer Mensah staged a prank which involved pretending to steal paintings from the
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...
and
Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
Gallery. They were adjudged to have caused panic and distress among the visiting public, and the court compared the prank to a 'terrorist incident'. The incident has led all three men, as well as Dan Vahn Lee (DigiDan) and Endrit Ferizolli to serve jail terms ranging from 12 to 20 weeks. Jarvis, Ferizolli and Mensah were released in July 2016, Garcia was initially threatened with deportation to his native Portugal but was allowed to remain in the UK after an appeal to the
Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...
.


References


External links

* (current) * (old channel)
Trollstation's
subreddit on
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*{{IMDb title , id=3395766 YouTube channels Reality web series Prank YouTubers Hidden camera television series