Woke up this morning and this video had a million more hits than it did yesterday, so I had to find out more. Just a few days ago, a gent from Brisbane named Ray Liehm posted this:
Liehm was a bystander at Australia's Supanova Pop Culture Expo, and the brilliant costume above delighted YouTube viewers and used car salesmen alike, to the tune of three million plus at press time.
So what's the story behind it? Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tubeman, as he's officially known, is actually one half of a couple; together with his blue companion, they are the official mascots of the Gold Coast Roller Derby League, a bunch of bad-ass broads with names like Nikki Nitro who "hit hard, skate harder, turn left & do it again" at tracks in the Queensland area.
The costume was conceived of by Zoe King, who goes by the NSFW handle of "Titty Griffinwhore," and designed by an anonymous colleague known only as "Sushi Slammer." I'd hoped to discover more about the duo, but although they've created a Facebook page for WWIAFT following his sudden popularity, information there is currently limited to the costume. Tons of people want to buy or make one, but presumably not being ID majors, don't know where to start:
Q. Can you tell me how to make the costume?
A. At this moment in time we won't be releasing the design for the costume. However there are plans currently in the works to possibly produce more of these costumes and we will let you know if & when they are available.
Q. Where can I get one? A. The costume itself is handmade and not in production yet. If we do start to produce them we will let you know as soon as it's available.
The funniest part of the page has got to be this:
Q. How hard is it to pull off the "Arm-Flailing" look? A. We actually have a few people asking if there are fans or some sort of device inside the actual outfit. The Answer is no; the outfit is fabric only with no special bells or whistles. The flailing effect isn't too hard to pull off if you're energetic & can move your body. The person in the video clip suit [actor Dennis Pereira] had a ton of energy & took the time to research the actions & movements of the suit's non-cosplay counterpart.
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