Some Scots Can't Say "Purple Burglar Alarm"
Comedian and Twitch streamer Brian 'Limmy' Limond meets his match...
One of 21st Century comedy's great polymaths, Limmy found his footing in Flash animation and satirical websites before becoming a cult sensation with his BBC Scotland sketch series, Limmy's Show (2009-2013), which introduced a wider audience to his unique comic outlook: equal parts surreal, subversive, observational and mundane.
Feverishly creative and unwilling to be pinned down by the mainstream, Limmy bounced between old and new media as his profile grew, with his output eventually encompassing podcasts, books, and prolific posts on YouTube, Twitter and Vine. Despite commanding a considerable following, he ultimately decided to leave the grind of TV production behind, and found an unlikely home on the streaming platform Twitch.
With no commissioners to please, streaming is a perfect canvas for personalities as idiosyncratic and naturally funny as Limmy. The medium allows him to engage directly with his community of 500,000 viewers and follow whatever bizarre whims he fancies during each daily broadcast.
Twitch is primarily a platform for watching streamers play video games, but at any point across Limmy's many hours of content per week, he is just as likely to be slogging through the likes of Death Stranding and Dark Souls as forensically rewatching 1990s light entertainment television programmes, or simply responding to chat messages from his audience. That is the case in this clip, which subsequently went viral to the tune of 13 million views, in which he tackles a Scottish tongue-twister.
In this clip from his Twitch livestream, Scottish comedian and author Brian 'Limmy' Limond struggles with the challenge of saying 'purple burglar alarm' after a commenter suggests that some Scots can't pronounce this sentence.
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Online Video
First came the Cinema Age, then the TV Age, and now the age of Online Video. Digital film created for distribution online is today’s most dynamic, influential screen form. Encompassing much that’s new, from ASMR and Unboxing Videos to Twitch streaming and TikTok twerking, it’s also breathed new life into older film forms, filling our screens with fresh takes on advertising, journalism, satire, public information, campaigning, training and much else that’s been with us since time immemorial, and variously taking the forms of comedy, drama, documentary and animation. It’s become embedded into every aspect of UK (and world) society.
This unique collection of 50 online videos combines iconic highlights of British online video with other examples chosen to illustrate that sheer diversity. All were acquired by the BFI National Archive as part of the Lottery funded Our Screen Heritage programme. Our thanks to the Lottery, and lottery ticket buyers nationwide. for their support of this vital collecting and preservation work.
60 videos in this collection
The Trojan Room Coffee Pot Movie
Online Caroline Walkthrough April 2025
Weymouth 2001
THE BOOO KROO 'WORK IT'
We Like The Moon
Badgers
Howard Davies Carr on Charlie bit my finger - again!
Charlie Bit My Finger - Again!
Paul Weedon on I can’t believe you’ve done this
I Can't Believe You've Done This
CHIP | TIM & BARRY TV | 64 BAR STATEMENT
Scotch Mist
Red Hot Entertainment on Junior Spesh
Red Hot Entertainment - Junior Spesh (ft. Jaxor, Klayze Flaymz, Terra & Ray)
KateModern Trailer
No Through Road
Mandem On The Wall - Episode 1
The Nick Clegg Apology Song: I'm Sorry (The Autotune Remix)
How to Code Music with Raspberry Pi & Sonic Pi
British Gas Rampage
Binaural ASMR Ear Massage & Ear Brushing
Vlogging At 11 Years Old | Zoella
Vlog From The Future #4
Plastic Fork Removed from a Sea Turtle's Nose!
Stapeless Chinese New Year Lantern Tutorial with KOKUYO
Fox chased and saboteur attacked
Rabz Lansiquot on Nyansapo
Nyansapo
Let Refugees Learn
Adjani Salmon & Natasha Jatania on Dreaming Whilst Black
The Great British Race Off
Charity Shop Sue | Part 1 | Sec*hand Chances
Ash Sarkar x Extinction Rebellion: Lovebomb the Cops?
The Evolution of Queerbaiting: from Queercoding to Queercatching
MAWAAN - Mango (Official Video)
207. Slow TV: Narrowboat Cruising along the Macclesfield Canal
Olive and Mabel. Episode 1 - The Dog's Breakfast Grand Final
The Movie Gifs That Keep on Giving
Hannah Witton on The Truth About Sexual Desire
The Truth About Sexual Desire | Hannah Witton
I’m No Havin Children
Lucy Edwards on How Does a Blind Girld Do Her Own Makeup?
How Does A Blind Girl Do Her Own Makeup? #shorts
Mixed Feelings - by Nozomi Tolworthy
Know Your Own Mind and Stand Strong
Some Scots Can't Say "Purple Burglar Alarm"
What Isn't a Video Essay?
Day seven: Which wet lettuce will last longer?
Things I Would Hope Were General Knowledge
Chetna Makan on Cooking with Chetna
Mums Punjabi Kadhi | Delicious Punjabi Pakora kadhi | Easy Yogurt Curry | Food with Chetna
Is There a Trans Person Lurking in Your Bathroom? Message 5318008 to Report Suspicious Activity
STRAND Collective on NATIVES
NATIVES
Waiting List / Nowadays
Check in on Those around You | #WorldMentalHealthDay #youarenotalone
77 Squadron: A Raid Too Far
Everything you wanted to ask about the ancient Roman Empire | History Hotline