The great British prank is a dying art form. Gone are the days when you couldn’t move for hoax interviews or wind-up phone calls or fake anti-drug campaigns or gigantic pretend mobiles. It’s not just due to a national vibe shift: a Channel 4 executive recently claimed that new Ofcom rules mean programmes that deliberately fool people are effectively banned. Honestly, it’s fundamentally humane treatment of the general public gone mad!
The fact TV comedy is no longer relying on the humiliation of unsuspecting passersby (or, for that matter, wilfully naive politicians and celebrities) is a blessing for those of us who simply can’t handle the stench of secondhand embarrassment. Yet whatever your levels of prank-aversion, you may still find something to enjoy in the work of Oobah Butler. The self-styled “professional chancer” found fame in 2017, when he tricked Tripadvisor into crowning his nonexistent restaurant The Shed at Dulwich (a literal shed at the bottom of his south London garden) the top dining destination in London by gaming his ratings. Butler tends to fool institutions (or algorithms) rather than individuals, which means his pranking style is practically victimless and strangely feelgood. It also means he is allowed to do it on TV.
