Vitaly Zdorovetskiy (
Russian:
Вита́лий Здорове́цкий;
IPA: [vʲɪˈtalʲɪj zdərɐˈvʲɛtskʲɪj]; born March 8, 1992), better known by his
YouTube username
VitalyzdTv, is a
Russian-
American YouTube personality,
prankster,
comedian, and
actor. Zdorovetskiy currently resides in Southern California. He holds Russian citizenship.
[1] He is known for his public
prank videos, which he uploads to his YouTube account. As of July 13, 2015, his main channel videos have garnered more than 1 billion views and more than 8.4 million subscribers, while his
vlog channel garnered more than 107 million views and 1.4 million subscribers. Zdorovetskiy,
Roman Atwood and Dennis Roady are starring in the film
Natural Born Pranksters.
[2]
Early life[edit]
Zdorovetskiy was born in
Murmansk,
Russia on March 8, 1992,
[3] and moved to
Odessa,
Ukraine shortly after, where he was raised. Zdorovetskiy later moved to the United States, and became a
permanent visa holder.
Early work[edit]
Zdorovetskiy attempted to become a professional skateboarder at an early age and produced his first videos featuring himself and his friends performing skateboarding tricks in order to attract sponsors. However, due to injuries sustained while skateboarding he was forced to give up this career path.
[4] Just shortly after turning 18, Zdorovetskiy took part in a porn clip for the adult entertainment company
Bang Bus in 2011.
[4]
VitalyzdTV produces these pranks among others.
Miami Zombie Attack Prank[edit]
In 2012, Zdorovetskiy received his first significant success, with the video "Miami Zombie Attack Prank!" Inspired by the
cannibal attack of a homeless man in Miami in May 2012, Zdorovetskiy dressed up as a zombie and traveled to some of the poorest neighborhoods in Miami to scare random bystanders. By January 2015 the "Miami Zombie Attack Prank!" had been viewed more than 30 million times. The video was also featured on the
Comedy Central television show
Tosh.0.
[4] A sequel video prank was produced filming him in
Columbus,
Ohio chasing residents through the streets with a hockey mask on, wielding a chainsaw. The video made it to five million views within a week on YouTube.
[5]
Russian Hitman Prank[edit]
On July 16, 2012, Zdorovetskiy and cameraman Jonathan Vanegas filmed the "Russian Hitman Prank". As part of the prank, Zdorovetskiy approached a Boca Raton man (later identified by Sun-Sentinel as 51 year old Andre Brown) and informed him they had 60 seconds to get away from a briefcase he placed on the ground. After Zdorovetskiy revealed the whole thing to be a prank and that there was a
hidden camera nearby, the man started attacking him and his partner and called the police. Zdorovetskiy was arrested by Boca Raton police department,
[6] on charges of
threatening to detonate a bomb.
[3] According to the
Sun-Sentinel, "Police arrested Zdorovetskiy on Monday for inciting a fake bomb threat, though the prankster said that the arrest will have no bearing on future videos. 'I'm just sad the person got upset,' he told the Sun-Sentinel. 'We're pranksters, we don't fight back. That's not professional.'" At the time of the prank Zdorovetskiy's YouTube channel had only about 100,000 subscribers, however due in part this incident and other exposure, his channel grew to over four million subscribers within just over a year.
[7] Following the incident the victim of the hoax stated that while he felt the joke went too far, he did not believe that the pranksters should be severely punished.
[8]
Extreme Homeless Man Makeover[edit]
On July 20, 2013, Zdorovetskiy released the video "Extreme Homeless Man Makeover", in which he befriends a homeless person named Martin and provides him with new clothes and a hotel room. The video posting resulted in a job offer that Martin accepted.
[9] He was also reunited with his wife. The project also included an attempt to raise money to have Martin's teeth fixed, for which Zdorovetskiy was able to raise about $10,000 online. The fundraising campaign was canceled before it was completed, because of Zdorovetskiy's criminal history. However, Zdorovetskiy received several offers from surgeons to do the dental work for free.
[10] The surgery and the video story was featured on television news casts including the
Good Day LA Fox morning show.
[11]
Gold Digger Prank[edit]
Other videos he has created include the "Gold Digger Prank", featuring a woman who rebuffs his advances until she believes he drives a
Lamborghini sports car.
[12] The video generated more than 18 million views in its first week of posting,
[13] making VitalyzdTV the third most watched YouTube channel in the world during that week with over 45 million views.
[14] Gawker wrote of the video that, "On its surface, the latest prank from YouTube jokers Vitaly Zdorovetskiy,
Roman Atwood, and Dennis Roady, isn't quite as controversial as their previous stunts. But, underneath that surface, "Gold Digger Prank" will likely go down as one of the most divisive "social experiments" they've ever conducted."
[15]
ATM Robbery Prank[edit]
On March 4, 2014, Zdorovetskiy along with fellow pranksters
Roman Atwood, Dennis Roady, and Chase Gilroy, filmed a prank involving them jumping out of an
SUV and pretending to rob a fake
ATM. The ATM, belonging to Atwood, had been previously placed at diverse locations in
Columbus,
Ohio and filled with fake money. After a few minutes the pranksters arrived and pretend to be stealing money from the machine. After several 911-calls from witnesses, the police arrived at the location and arrested Zdorovetskiy, Atwood, Roady and Gilroy on charge of disorderly conduct and inducing panic, also confiscating their cameras and recording equipment. A public trial held in Columbus from June 24 to June 25, 2014, with the
Columbus Police Department as the
plaintiff resulted in the pranksters winning the case. The YouTube video now has over 6 million views (as of October 2014).
[16]
2014 FIFA World Cup Final[edit]
On July 13, 2014, Zdorovetskiy ran onto the pitch during the
2014 FIFA World Cup Final in Brazil between
Germany and
Argentina with "Natural Born Prankster" written across his torso and attempted to kiss German defender
Benedikt Höwedes.
[17] Brazilian authorities arrested him, but he was released hours after the match after friend and fellow YouTuber
Yousef Erakat paid his bail which was equivalent to US $100. Erakat had traveled to Brazil with Zdorovetskiy and was sitting next to him before he ran onto the pitch.
Chainsaw Massacre Prank[edit]
On October 15, 2014, Zdorovetskiy pulled a prank which involved himself dressing up as Leatherface from
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, pretending to saw off the legs of
Hanhart syndrome patient Nick Santonastasso
[18] with a chainsaw in front of unsuspecting witnesses. The prank went viral receiving over 30 million views in 3 weeks.
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