Greek Grandpa Troll / Markos leronymakis

About

Greek Grandpa Troll is a viral video from Greece featuring an interview where an elderly man walks up and interrupts by making animal noises into the microphone. The clip has been the subject of parodies and remixes. (See also: Paul Yarrow and I Hate Iceland)

Origin

On May 25th, 2011 YouTuber “pekaga” uploaded a video titled “ΑΓΑΝΑΚΤΙΣΜΕΝΟΙ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΣ ΜΑΡΚΟΣ”, “Citizens angered Markos” in English, featuring an old man from the city of Rethymnon, Crete that interrupted an interview discussing the Greek uprisings of late May and early June of 2011.

English Translation:

Interviewee: There are millions of reasons, not just one (he is mad at the Greek government’s policy).
Markos: (creeping from behind) Meow!
Interviewee: Thanassis (Greek name, he is refering to the average Greek civilian) is not waking up neither is he going to wake up.
Markos: Arf! Arf! Meow! Meow!
Interviewee: The Greeks are sleeping with their shoes on.
Markos: Oink! Oink! Oink! (quieter as leaving) --shame on us.
Interviewee: They are masochists! The more they vote, they more they get tortured.

Spread

On May 29th it was posted to the Greek trolling forum, tro-mpa-ktiko.^[1] On May 31st, YouTuber GrabbbDotCom reuploaded the video, and has over 1 million more views than the original as of June 2011. On May 31st it was posted to The Daily What.^[2] On June 2nd, Ray William Johnson featured the video in an episode of “=3”. Facebook groups have been created including “Ιερωνυμάκης Μάρκος” (Ieronimakis Markos)^[3] and Gandalf on acid.^[4]

Troll’s Identity Revealed

The troll has been identified as Markos leronymakis; infamous in Rethymnon for his real life trolling.^[5] He is the founder and president of the political party Μ.Α.Π.Α., which gathered 51 votes during the Greek legislative election of 2007. After that, Markos decided to change the party’s name to Doctoral Social Opposition Revolution (Διδακτορική Επανάσταση Κοινωνικής Αντίστασης – Δ.Ε.Κ.Α.), and started gaining fame for his interventions during riots throughout Greece.

Derivatives

More can be found in the video gallery below.

External Links

^[1] Trompaktiko – Meme / 5/29/2011

^[2] The Daily What – News Raider of the Day / 5/31/2011

^[3] Facebook – Ιερωνυμάκης Μάρκος

^[4] Facebook – Gandalf on acid

^[5] Rethemnos – Μάρκος Ιερωνυμάκης, ο πλέον γνωστός Ρεθεμνιώτης παγκοσμίως!