Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Irish dad whose selfie video was a YouTube hit back in Las Vegas

Updated Friday, Nov. 20, 2015 | 12:56 p.m.

The clueless Irish dad whose accidental selfie video of his Las Vegas vacation was watched by millions is back in Sin City to get a do over.

This time, it's a two-way Go Pro camera and the full VIP treatment paid for by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The first video has more than 7 million views since 20-year-old Evan Griffin edited together clips of his father, Joe Griffin, pointing out Las Vegas Strip landmarks while the camera was focused squarely on himself. Evan Griffin also added the Benny Hill theme song to the YouTube video and mocked his father as a country bumpkin in the caption posted Nov. 13.

The latest video posted by tourism officials Friday shows the two-day father-son trip that started Thursday.

The new footage includes the same excited 52-year-old bus driver from Balbriggan in North County Dublin, Ireland offering the same kind of dad jokes, Forrest Gump impressions and commentary that amused online viewers in his first video.

But this time, he's delighted by his Mirage hotel suite and VIP activities, including at the TAO nightclub, SlotZilla zip line across downtown Las Vegas and on a nighttime helicopter tour.

"Dear god above in heaven — my name in lights, show girls, champagne, CO2 fog, all the things. And I was the center of attention. It was slightly unnerving but wonderful at the same time," said Joe Griffin, a married father of four.

Griffin said the tourism agency offered him and his son the trip days ago, which is a sore point for his wife, who wasn't invited to return. She can be seen in the background of the first video, which was a trip that she had saved and planned for for two years to celebrate her 50th birthday.

The Irishman said the first video was captured in about a three hour span on Aug. 31, the first full day of their trip. There's no other footage from the rest of their six-night stay, he said, because he used it next at the swimming pool and it got fried by the water.

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