There’s no place on earth quite like Scotland.
The Scots are famously friendly, but you certainly would not mess with them. They can somehow manage to be incredibly warm and yet slightly threatening all at the same time. Basically, don’t be a dickhead and you’ll be alright.
Cutting people down to size is something of a national sport. Rarely, if ever, is there a real fear or undue respect for anyone in a position of power or authority – even if they’re seemingly pretty dangerous…
Scotland. pic.twitter.com/hKiSoV1Oft
— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) March 29, 2016
This penchant for p*sstakery was perfectly apparent on Wednesday night, when David Coburn MEP, the leader of UKIP Scotland, went on Periscope on behalf of his right-wing political party.
Coburn was miffed at not being invited to the Scottish Leaders’ Debate on STV, and so set up a live broadcast on the video streaming app, by way of an alternative channel of communication to his electorate.
Coburn wasn't invited to tonight's leader debate so he's going to do a Periscope marathon. Tremendous news. pic.twitter.com/ocxI4gihh9
— Jamie Ross (@JamieRoss7) March 29, 2016
That’s all well and good, but there were a few technical difficulties to start with. Microphone issues meant that not everyone tuning in could hear what Coburn had to say.
After a new few false starts, everything seemed to be in order. Except, in the meantime, mischievous viewers had decided to hatch a quite brilliant plan to rip the almighty p*ss.
One of the great virtues of Periscope is that it allows those watching to post live comments that the broadcaster can view on their screen. It makes the whole thing brilliantly interactive.
What the evil geniuses (genii?) logged on to the chat decided to do was simply and brilliantly pretend they still couldn’t hear a word that the UKIP politician was saying – despite the fact he was loud and very clear.
It doesn’t sound like much, but it was truly sensational. To have so many remote individuals working in unison for the common goal of mocking an authority figure was priceless.
Here’s six minutes of what transpired. Everyone is in on the joke apart from poor Coburn, who totally falls for the plethora of messages telling him that he can’t be heard.
Scotland, we applaud you…
Pranking UKIP’s David Coburn during a Periscope broadcast by telling him his mic’s not on. Highlight of the week.https://t.co/jHoYFBEU9I
— Jonathan Hopkins (@jonnohopkins) March 29, 2016
