Esports News UK editor Dominic Sacco looks at Ice Poseidon’s recent stream where he was thrown out of a wedding, and questions the viability of IRL streaming in the UK outdoors.
Popular streamer Ice Poseidon (aka Paul Denino) was kicked out of a random wedding in London on the weekend after briefly attending without an invite.
The US streamer, who has made a name for himself with his IRL (in real life) streams, was not welcome at the wedding.
Ice was with some followers when they walked into the wedding reception unannounced and went straight over to the food table, before helping themselves to some snacks.
Ice then proceeds to ask a nearby crowd of people, while munching on a pie with his hood up: “Where’s the bride at?”
Someone then asks if they’re wedding guests and that’s when things get a little frosty.
Another lady says to Ice, “excuse me, you’re not wedding guests – go,” before pointing to the exit.
Ice Poseidon then says “we are wedding guests,” only for another man to respond: “No you’re not, cos I’m the groom. So go, now.”
Ice apologises and wishes the guests a good day. Then as he’s leaving, he adds, “we’re staying at the hotel,” before getting pushed in the back by the rather angry-sounding groom.
Another of Ice’s entourage says to the groom “that was not necessary”, to which the groom responds “yes, it is”.
After leaving, Ice says to those with him: “We’re in the wrong, it’s fine. We shouldn’t have walked in.”
You can see the moment below:
In a separate longer VoD, one wedding guest says to Ice and his followers afterwards that they were in the wrong, to which Ice responds that he’s American so it must be a cultural difference, and that people are more laid back at parties in the US.
It’s worth noting that Ice has annoyed other people in the US and elsewhere with some of his IRL streams in the past. And on this occasion the wedding guests may have been angered more by the unwelcome entrance rather than being recorded, but it still raises the question: Is the UK ready for IRL streaming yet? And why aren’t there many decent IRL outdoor streams here?
‘The UK isn’t ready for IRL streaming – yet’
Comment by Dom Sacco
This incident shows that the UK has a long way to go before IRL outdoor streaming hits the big time, if it does at all.
IRL streaming doesn’t seem that popular here and there aren’t many well-known streamers in this space.
I asked why on Twitter, and a couple of good responses summed up the two main reasons why this seems to be the case:
Probably because of how nobody gives a shit here and doesn’t put up with it, so it’s a lot less entertaining
— Simon Best (@TheHiddenGFX) October 12, 2018
UK internet just isn’t cut out for holding a stable streaming connection on your phone outdoors, even in London.. this is why there is a lack of UK IRL streamers
— Ryan (@MushDemPeas) October 12, 2018
People here also seem less comfortable in general about the idea of being filmed without permission.
UK streamer Ali “Gross Gore” Larsen did try some IRL streaming earlier in the year, but it fizzled out after some drama with his family. Some of those streams drew thousands of viewers – more than his usual League of Legends gameplay – so it shows there may be some kind of demand for it. But I’d argue the UK just isn’t ready for it yet.
Ice Poseidon crashing the random wedding reminds me of Google Glass and when its prototypes first launched. Cafes and bars started banning people who wore Google Glass as it made other customers at best mildly uneasy, or at worst angry. There were reports of Glass wearers getting punched or physically assaulted because others did not want to be filmed.
Ice Poseidon is a marmite kind of streamer, many love him, others don’t like the idea of IRL outdoor streaming. But his success shows there is strong potential for this kind of content in the future. It might just take a while for us to get there.
As Marty McFly said to a dance hall full of 1950s teenagers, after rocking it with some heavy metal: “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet…
“But your kids are gonna love it.”
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
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