Overview

Jay Swingler's Failed Microwave Cement Stunt refers to YouTube user Jay Swingler of the TGFbro channel cementing his head in a microwave, causing a need for the local fire department to come and free him. News of the story quickly went viral after TGFbro uploaded their video of the events on YouTube.

Background

Precursor Stunts

Prior to the failed stunt, the TGFbro channel had received notoriety for numerous stunt videos similar to those of the former television show Jackass. In the weeks prior to the microwave stunt, the channel had uploaded several videos featuring the channel's host being encased in binding substances such as cement, gelatin, and expanding foam (seen below). The channel had reached over 3 million subscribers as of December 8th, 2017.

West Midlands Fire Department Tweet

On December 7th, 2017, the West Midlands Fire Department^[1] Twitter account posted screenshots of their extraction of Swingler from a microwave which was filled with Polyfilla (shown below). The tweet linked to a corresponding story about the event, in which the department detailed the extraction.^[2] Swingler had prepared by placing a plastic bag over his head and placing a "breathing tube" from his mouth to the bottom of the microwave. During filming, the Polyfilla hardened and expanded, restricting air flow from the tube and causing increasing pressure on Swingler's head. The fire department said, “It took us nearly an hour to free him. All of the group involved were very apologetic, but this was clearly a call-out which might have prevented us from helping someone else in genuine, accidental need.”

Developments

Later that day, the TGFboy YouTube channel posted the video of the event which gained over 1.5 million views within the first 24 hours. (shown below). The video was promptly age restricted and thus demonetized after going viral.

Numerous media outlets began covering the event on December 8th, including Vice,^[3] Business Insider,^[7] International Business Times,^[8] BBC,^[9] Independent,^[4] News Corp,^[10] The Daily Mail,^[11] Washington Post,^[12] USA Today^[13] and the Huffington Post.^[5] After request for interviews by the media, West Midlands Fire Department uploaded an official response about incident in a video featuring station commander Simon Woodward.^[6] Following this, Jay Swingler also uploaded a response to the TGFbro YouTube channel (seen below).

Search Interest

External References