Angelos Epithemiou | Size Does Matter | Oxford Union

Angelos Epithemiou argues that size does matter at the Oxford Union.
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Normally we would write a synopsis for these videos giving you the cliff notes of what has been said. However doing so would give away the punch lines so click play, sit back and enjoy the video!
Filmed on Tuesday 14th May 2013
ABOUT ANGELOS EPITHEMIOU:
Daniel Renton Skinner (born 1973) is an English actor and comedy writer, working in stage, film and television. Renton is a member of the British five-man sketch troupe Dutch Elm Conservatoire. The group were nominated for the Perrier award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2005. He is probably most recognized for his character Angelos Epithemiou.
ABOUT THE OXFORD UNION SOCIETY:
The Union is the world's most prestigious debating society, with an unparalleled reputation for bringing international guests and speakers to Oxford. It has been established for 189 years, aiming to promote debate and discussion not just in Oxford University, but across the globe.
Rights managed by Oxford Media Associates www.oxfordmediaassociates.com/
Filmed by Oxford Media Solutions www.oxfordmediasolutions.co.uk

[@dazzag]

Speaks volumes when a person playing a ridiculous character is the most normal person in the room.

[@shmookins]

How do you mean the most normal?

[@damiencrowe714]

Because he’s acting like a twat but they are actual twats.

[@dazzag]

@@damiencrowe714 spot on!

[@dazzag]

@@shmookins Just look at them. Loopy toffs. They'll be ruining our country in a few years time

[@WeMuckAround]

@@dazzag Bit salty

[@Wonmanbanned]

I have never seen so many Ruperts in one place.

[@wishfix]

House of commons ? House of lords ? 🤣😂

[@TheBeanFlicker]

Rupert’s 😂😂😂😂

[@mwc1988]

And Tobys.

[@ChainsawGutsFuck]

It's crazy that _every_ student in that room looks exactly like the sort of person that would be at Oxford; they're all a bit... odd.

[@matthewstone1362]

Room full of Johnson, sunaks and stahmers.

[@britturk123]

A genius that speaks from the plastic bag of truth.

[@aidy6000]

The fact that lad was getting called Ferghal Sharkey and is actually from Northern Ireland really adds another dimension to the humor, fuck me cant write that.

[@vantheman1238]

Some cracking gags went over their heads

[@libertarian_ramblings]

I love the plastic bag. Genius prop.

[@jamesrichardson7619]

"aaaanooootheeeer plastic bag"

[@active85858585]

I love everything about the University of Oxford... apart from its students.

[@tommywilliams6010]

active85858585 why?

[@TerryCrodgedy]

active85858585 ... christopher hitchens went to oxford , sooooooo

[@remotefaith]

@@TerryCrodgedy ...so?

[@ChrisSmith-mk3wo]

@@TerryCrodgedy so one person you didn’t like studied there, that does not mean they are all exactly the same as him

[@shanekelley7682]

Students are allowed to laugh you know! No need to be jealous. I'm not a student.

[@J2onton]

What a character .. ! Loved every second in 2022.

[@sirperegrineblack]

I'd hate to be stuck on a small island with that audience 😟

[@patriciacalunniato]

We need more like you angelo for a good laugh

[@araregoodguy]

He's smarter than the jumped up students.

[@djlunaticdreyfuss7562]

Comedy legend!

[@McPrfctday]

3.23 almost everybody missed the Jim Davidson joke haha. The 'oldies' got it of course.

[@McPrfctday]

Neil R Bradley Oh I meant the joke part of it. Maybe I imagined it. When he said "everyone's done it... Like Jim Davidson... But it's mostly comedians" (who do it. making out that Jim Davidson isn't a comedian)

[@robinhood6399]

@@McPrfctday Every time I hear his name, I think of Mick Jagger.🤣

[@TomSmith-jp1es]

@@gecko2gecko2 It's got nothing to do with Big Break, it's to do with the fact Davidson is a massive racist and all his stand-up is racist.

[@highdownmartin]

@@TomSmith-jp1es he’s not all racist. He’s a misogynist and a wife beater as well.

[@xDeepPurpleDreamx]

"You look like Feargal Sharkey from The Undertones!" I died.

[@robinhood6399]

Bunny Berigan He sounds like him too.

[@lazyjesus6573]

Probably the most sense ever spoken there.

[@NSA720]

These students will spend the rest of their lives hinting, every day, that they went to Oxbridge. Doesn't matter if they were thick, or got a third class - every single day, for the rest of their lives, they will drop that hint.

[@CrossPurposes]

I knew a woman for many years, went to Oxford in the 70s, jemmied it in at all angles given the slightest opportunity.

[@NSA720]

@@CrossPurposes One way they do it is to say 'do you know that little restaurant in Cambridge?' That sort of thing. I wouldn't mind, but I'm a quadruple graduate with an MSc. I don't feel the need. (Ok, I declared it now, but you don't know who I am!)

[@nanashi7779]

@@NSA720 Your true viewpoint came out at the end there lol

[@NSA720]

@@nanashi7779 Oops. OK, I admit, I'm a master of astrophysics, and I've told you now - but I don't drop it into conversation every bloody half hour :) No-one f*ckin' cares.

[@pjmcc1uk]

Are the rest of the videos available? I can only find 3

[@matthewstone1362]

The great debating society. Where you learn to cast of principles and shed morals and your beliefs in order to win debates.

[@ashleyburns6752]

Isnt he what Oxford students think all working class people are like?

[@RavenShinyThings]

wish he would have trolled the audience a bit harder. Love how that did not get the Afghanistan joke,tumble weed.

[@sallybaddeley6060]

What's in your bag Angelos?

[@vicecapo8767]

Tell us what's in your bag ya bastard

[@araregoodguy]

Best Union address ever!

[@royfr8136]

Oh no...that guy clapping sitting on that chair...towards the end.....

[@Tkarma77]

The audience makes me shiver.. Ugh

[@tommywilliams6010]

Tkarma77 why?

[@Aubepine81]

likewise

[@FoggyAle71]

1:47 Ivo Graham sat in front row

[@jaediccacairns4754]

What’s worrying is that that lot at the back will be in the cabinet deciding on our future in a couple of years.

[@Ryannnn123]

6.12 "Gap yuh"

[@NeverHADaNes]

There is not a spectrum big enough to put all of these people on.

[@tomwotton9]

I miss him.

[@herfnold]

Genius

[@MrMadfrankie]

Was that ed Byrne the comedian?

[@RapidBlindfolds]

Next oxford union title: there IS life after love

[@tomcarton7448]

This guy is hilarious

[@chriswainwright185]

Angelos is absolutely brilliant. You really should have alex lowe on too

[@ibuprofen303]

He fucking sounds like Fergal Sharkey as well, uncanny...

[@54spatula]

I bet he turns up and leaves in character

[@therespectedlex9794]

Top

[@socialdemocracy3700]

When a university turns into a circus ...

[@badabar82]

about 5 minutes in I realized that Ahir Shah and Ivo Graham are sat on the seats on the raised platform.

[@stuartliddle7228]

Freedom of speech. just watch what you say! Brilliant!

[@turdington23]

When fergal Sharkey stood up 😅

[@hehwhwh727]

jason williamson of sleaford mods has let himself go

[@gimme_ur_ass1738]

2:53 comedian Ivo Graham doing the thumbs up

[@JimJimothy]

Ironically, the dude who plays Angelos went to private school.

[@alexandersupertramp3807]

He didnt

[@annother3350]

@@alexandersupertramp3807 His school charges 6-10,000 pounds per term. Not private enough for ya?!

[@DjNikGnashers]

According to the tinterwebz, he (Dan Skinner) attended Reed's school (an independent day and boarding school for boys located in Cobham) in Surrey, 'Fees at age 13+ for the 2016/17 academic year are £29,985 and £23,265 per annum, for boarders and day pupils respectively'........then graduated with a BA (Hons) degree in Drama from Middlesex University in London.

[@ntreacy1]

Yep kinda explains what he is doing there. Ingratiating himself with the other privileged little children

[@angusmcangus7914]

Was it pantomime season?

[@mikeraphone953]

LOL, when the two debating sides spontaneously interchange seats. Also, when he is is invited to entertain the troops, for the Taliban. LOL.

[@tomtalk24]

Angelos also went to a public school.

[@kevinsonghurst8428]

That’s Ivo Graham sat at the front with the kids in onesies.

[@MrNikkiNoo]

"...I was joking."

[@PickeringSamuel]

Bunch of toffs

[@johntwomey5339]

Ivo graham the comedian is one of the students in the opposition.

[@asasbs1411]

ﺍﺷﻜﺮ ﺍﻛﺴﻔﺮﺩ ﻳﻨﻴﻮﻥ ﻟﺮﻓﻊ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﻄﻊ

[@sepgorut2492]

I didn't miss much by going to a crap university

[@Twirlyhead]

A.E. there going through the bowels of the O.U. like a double dose of salts.

[@jaykay8098]

Cinderalla thing was smart af

[@matthewsmith3660]

I think I see a young Ahir Shah in the background.

[@MrMarkhall1]

They're all trying to look like the kids in the Burberry advert.

[@douglasfreeman3229]

This is how I used to dress, then I discovered heavy rock and changed my image to leather-jacket dude and I started to attract women. Odd.

[@nastyham5302]

"Astanjisjancje"

[@marathon8954]

Oh rar rar rar rar, fah fah fah fahdee fah, daddy and mommy - frightful Tory toffs - send hugs - fah de fah fah, Bertie, Hugo, Felicity and Sebastian.

[@BoiledOctopus]

Mommy?

[@Dude0000]

Marathon think most of them are socialists..

[@fooman65]

Most people there have no clue what is going on.

[@ntreacy1]

You are quite right. I’m sure the majority of Oxford students come from hard working backgrounds and has the same starts in life as most. They will Grow to be hardworking, caring and humble individuals. Just like their parents. That better snowflake?

[@notmyname3361]

Lol why do u hate them so much, do u think u don't have to work hard to get into oxbridge, this isn't eton or smtg, like they prob more likely rich parents but still u don't pay to get in and what does it have to do with caring or humble or hardworking just cos they look like posh nerds, this is the student union anyway so obv gonna be weird people, u sound insecure about not being as smart as them

[@alastairbrewster4274]

@@notmyname3361 you do pay to get it, don’t be naive. University fees are just the tip of the iceberg, how many working class kids were going to uni before compulsory fees and how many are going now? Whilst admittedly there are still many WC kids who do their debts are frankly debilitating especially when you consider many degrees do not lead to employment. We have quotas in certain workplaces for women and ethnic minorities, we should have quotas for people of a WC background in all Universities.

[@LukeTPZ]

@@notmyname3361 A-Level grades don’t mean automatic entry, that’s just the entry fee…the interview is where the ‘sorting’ happens.

[@danoliver3053]

​@@LukeTPZ What is the relevance of that? The guy you're replying to was implying that you likely DO have to be hardworking to get into Oxbridge. How is your comment a rebuttal to that?

[@LukeTPZ]

@@danoliver3053 Because you can be the smartest person at the interview, but if you don’t ‘fit’ you won’t get in. It’s should be pure merit-based instead of filtered narrative-upholding.

[@Johnny-sj9sj]

I bring you some very disturbing news: Angelo AKA Dan Skinner actually possesses a BA honours degree. Really 🤡

[@meisterlymanu5214]

i often wonder what the best educated in UK do to better the country. Most end up in the corporate world making the corporate world an even bigger monster. Others become politicians, which is even worse. The rest i assume get great roles at the BBC, reporting about their mates in the corporate and political world, strictly in a woke only fashion. It dawns on me that they only better themselves. It makes Oxbridge utterly redundant.

[@SundaeExpress]

Do you have some data to back that up?

[@MrEdrftgyuji]

​@@SundaeExpress Do you have any data to dispute his claim?

[@SundaeExpress]

@@MrEdrftgyuji I do, yes, but the burden of proof is on the person making the claim. Page 1 of the Beginner's Guide to Debating. Bless

[@alan-]

Doctors.

[@alan-]

Scientists.

[@jameshall2195]

Even the laughing is posh.

[@b0bbys0x]

Is that IVO GRAHAM sat at the back?

[@Abdullah-gv3zo]

شكلهم فلة

[@WorkingLight]

Я нашел тебя мой хороший

[@dansumsion9904]

2:24 these people are so strange

[@dansumsion9904]

this place feels like a fever dream

[@dansumsion9904]

sitting on that chair, so greasy and performative do the audience even know what they're laughing at or has four years at oxford just had them forget what humour is

[@geoffsaunderson5766]

Hey! Did you see that crazy guy in pink trousers put his feet on a chair? Around 2.50 hahaha amazing 😂

[@teacupmundane6615]

What is this...

[@girlperson1]

"America is full of twats".....I agree, however, they are all found in Washington, DC....LOL!!

[@Godlovesbertha]

I would love a debate....

[@elizabethwinsor5140]

A mass debate sounds good!

[@neilgrant6876]

This was the weirdest thing I’ve seen

[@taasinbinhossainalvi9173]

Are you British?

[@neilgrant6876]

Taasin Bin Hossain Alvi are you a white Obama impersonator?

[@multitrackjake8698]

They're students attending one of the best institutions in the world and they worked damn hard to get there. Entry criteria at Oxford has nothing to do with background and everything to with work and preparation. Put your petty jealousy aside and leave the students alone for fuck's sake!

[@endors_toi]

Wow, you've replied to just about every comment on here that criticisms Oxford students. I really don't think arguing in the youtube comments section are going to help with your insecurities...

[@herberthuncke1288]

utter bullshit......Oxford and Cambridge have been condemned over failure to improve state school application success rate

[@polygontwin]

Haha, you're off your fucking head if you believe that.

[@tommywilliams6010]

ted mckenna that’s a joke they accept over merit, and they should of course... they should not give people from state schools easier access, (it is easier in a state school to get in than a private school)

[@Picnicl]

NOTHING to do with background? Background includes parentage and school type and, on average, these tend to have some bearing on average likelihood of not so much just getting high grades but feeling socially on a relative par! Independent school chap or chapess can generally afford to act a bit sillier.

[@Picnicl]

3.48-3.53 might have got more of a response. Not dick joke enough I guess.

[@ospreybird]

:-)

[@cruggletops8087]

a room full of egotastic 17 year olds. not missing out not goint to oxford.

[@multitrackjake8698]

Apart from a world class education which opens doors that little else could! Nah I'd much rather take bitter jealously any day!

[@aodhanb4469]

nibble

[@Aubepine81]

dont be absurd

[@MrStevieburchill]

One trick pony

[@michaelwoods3462]

He's certainly learned got style. Jeremy Corbyn's style.

[@VCanisMajorisY]

Love all the hatred in the comments section because people who study hard and have managed to get into Oxford are oddballs. Well done guys the people who will eventually own you are the odd ones.

[@Jackomac43]

You’re making Oxford University students sound like future slave owners. That’s pretty odd in 2020.

[@boneyween]

"the people who will eventually own you are the odd ones" and you wonder why there is hatred?

[@benitotommassi5820]

Old guy bottom left refusing to " lower himself"?

[@strongerasone2403]

He definitely lowered the tone with his attitude.

[@user-Red5hield-exp0ser]

Few boring looking ppl in that audience, not laughing at all. I bet they find 'Friends' funny though. Nice n basic, spoonfed humour with canned laughter 🙄

[@Househead1200]

Well-off, middle-class vista of smugness.

[@grahamthegardener1]

RICH mainly foreign privileged people laughing at a Englishman playing the role of a man ,From a very poor working class back ground ,Switch the roleS round and have the British working class laugh at the poor FOREIGNER and they would scream racist bigot

[@joliecollier7937]

Have a bit of bloody humour its really not that deep.

[@grahamthegardener1]

@@joliecollier7937 Twenty years ago it was only a bit of fun ,But now they are trying to destroy British comedy ,They would nt be allowed to make a carry on film now ,they have taken our humour/freedom to laugh away

[@SundaeExpress]

Cry me a river, Graham

[@kenthomson9562]

Cringey.

[@stevephillips7264]

No it's not

[@kenthomson9562]

Steve Phillips are you saying I don’t find it cringey. Because I do.

[@stevephillips7264]

Its exactly the opposite to cringey.. literally

[@stevephillips7264]

My I be so bald as to guess that you are American with a total lack of understanding for humour

[@kenthomson9562]

Steve Phillips No, I’m British and Angelos was one of my favourite characters when he was on Shooting Stars. Since you questioned me though, I’ve analysed my thoughts on this and realise it’s the students’ reactions that are having the effect on me.

[@nirupkumar5122]

I never wrote a comment in KZbin and it deeply saddens me that my first one's going to be negative! Forgive me but it's just my opinion. I am a student too and love to have fun as well but I most certainly wouldn't drink alcohol in a church nor babble silly words! People look up to something for a particular reason. Oxford union, where resplendent personalities gave speeches, and the panel with the president which was maintained with an etiquette of discipline, is to be honoured. It's a place of great thinking minds and debates and particularly a place of discipline, which many including I looked up to it! This is an utter disgrace and they spoiled the entire decorum of this institution! I hope this would never happen! If I've hurt anyone with my words, then my apologies!

[@joepublic3933]

Interesting.... but I think there's a place for humour and irreverence pretty much anywhere. Take for example the Whitehouse correspondents dinner... In British parliament there's also a tradition of humour; a speech, whatever the subject (or mostly) can be enlivened and made more memorable by injecting a bit of humour. Natural human thing: in such places as parliament where people are in the middle of debates all day (or night) long, humour provides a welcome, even necessary break. Doesn't take away from the important stuff, but rather contributes. In this particular case, bringing comedy into such an environment serves also as a demonstration of how it could collapse as a system if the discipline is not respected. Comedy is nearly always useful and here is no exception. That was my opening speech....

[@GamingRobioto]

Stop taking everything so seriously.

[@paulgeddert6125]

cheer up.

[@dazminer498]

The fact that people can actually find comedic value in this is rather amusing to me.. it's utter garb!

[@Yoyoyomcyoyo]

modern liberals

[@royfr8136]

This guy is just aguy from my home town....it isnt funny ...just reality.

[@hurr_durr_]

Why are there so many dumbos getting angry at their betters in the comments? Stick to restocking aisle 4 lads, this is why Brexit happened.

[@ntreacy1]

Can't say that mocking them with that comment made your light shine any brighter

[@tomhamilton1562]

Not funny boring

[@glennbraiden3310]

Genius character ! This stuff should’ve taken the roof off but these smart people were too stupid to realise!

[@Yoyoyomcyoyo]

how? how is this even mildly amusing?