Space invasive comedy and Iraq’s ‘Angel of Death’

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Who is the man Iraqi’s are calling the Angel of Death? With several Facebook pages dedicated to photos of him, videos of the man in action, and memes hailing the new hero, Trending investigates the social media campaign behind Abu Azrael. Has this bearded, bulked up character really just emerged from the rubble of Tikrit just as Iraqi’s need a saviour? Or is he part of an organised campaign that is joining the online propaganda war alongside ISIS? We speak to the journalist in Baghdad who has met him and a US based researcher in Shia militias and jihadism who explains Abu Azrael’s backstory. Also, we look at the growing trend of ‘space invasive comedy’ among YouTube users and comedians who use members of the public as part of their act. We speak to internet prankster Vitaly Zdorovetskiy who has over eight million subscribers to his YouTube channel about why he thinks his comedy works, and to Giandomenico Iannetti, professor of Neuroscience who explains how our internal signals respond to being a target of pranks and why we find it so uncomfortable to have our space invaded. (Photo: Facebook photo posted by Abu Azrael. Credit: Abu Azrael)