William Morgan
Keeping your cool no matter what is going on around you is among the most valuable skills an on-camera news reporter can have, whether they're speaking from a warzone, or even Cincinnati.
Viewers of FOX19 NOW got to see this professionalism live on air this week, when reporter Alexis Martin kept delivering her piece to camera even though something gross and disturbing was going on behind her.
Martin had been speaking about President Trump's visit to Ohio on Wednesday, and was standing next to a busy road when a man sauntered into view over her right shoulder, as she began to say 'the President just left a little over ten minutes ago.'
The casually dressed man, wearing blue shorts and a red T-shirt with a dark colored jacket slung over his shoulder, turned his head to the camera as he walked into view. Then he began walking towards the Fox reporter with a mischievous look on his face.
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Smoking a cigarette, he approached Martin from behind as she read her report out. Then he appears again in frame, just over her shoulder, before doing something utterly disgusting. Like actually gross.
"We are seeing a lot of the people here clearing out," Martin says, keeping her train of thought as she shifted her body slightly towards the person behind her.
Presenting his cigarette to the camera in the same way a magician might present a rabbit, the Cincinnati man then turns his smoke around and puts the whole thing in his mouth. Burning end first.
Then in a truly horrifying moment, he starts to chew on the lit cigarette, lifting his hand to wave at the camera. Meanwhile, the Fox reporter continued reading her report, despite what was going on behind her, before the news station cut the feed to some B-roll.
The video of the incident, naturally, blew up online, with many people praising the reporter for continuing to do her job despite the gross act committed over her shoulder.
"Where does this rank in great moments in Cincinnati TV history?," one person asked.
But an equal number of people asked questions along the line of 'who needs Florida Man when we have Ohio Man?'
Plenty online admired the man for the commitment he showed to the gag, with some praising his 'graceful confidence' and 'passionate delivery' of a random act of grossness. Some simply thought it 'impressive', which is certainly one word for it.
Most people viewing the video online simply wanted to know 'what the hell did I just watch?'