Merton - The Awesome pianist in chatroullete

Who is Merton? This is the question that most have been made ​​over the Internet in recent weeks, especially among patrons of Chatroulette, a new chat service done with webcams. A video in which a certain Merton, a hoody and sunglasses thick frames improvised piano music inspired by their interlocutors, has become the latest viral video on YouTube: it was viewed more than five million times, became the most votes in the history of the site and, inevitably, generated curiosity about the true identity of the improviser.

The main suspect was a multi-instrumentalist Ben Folds, the physical resemblance and style mocking the piano. On Apr. 20, Folds himself, with glasses and hood, made ​​an "Ode to Merton", improvising on stage during a concert in North Carolina (United States), to the delight of fans in attendance and users of their homes, he coestrelaram with the presentation.

In Chatroulette - created by a young Moscow in 2009 - and a person connects via your webcam, you can chat with any other corner of the planet, randomly. There are of course those who take advantage of the tool to appeal - so the site is prohibited for children under 16 years and one of its rules says that participants should "remain clothed." In it, a Brazilian, for example, can talk to a Chilean logo and then chat with a Tunisian. Merton, who claims to have known the only Chatroulette in early March, also does this, only equipped with a piano, a good dose of sarcasm and a quick thinking that (almost) invariably pluck smiles on who is on the other side of the camera .

Merton composing before three girls / playback Merton, the Chatroulette pianist improviser, fever seen on the internet

On his show, Folds used the same technique of spontaneous composition Merton: after observing the person quickly in another camera, invents verses on their characteristics and reactions to the music. The first video of the hooded improviser was posted a few weeks ago, but had to be edited at the request of YouTube not to break the rules of the site - basically name calling of people who did not take in stride the descriptions musicadas boy. "For the record, the original video has been viewed 4,238,658 times. By the time of his 'death' was the most ranked in YouTube video of all time. No kidding, "boasted Merton, to present the second version of its video, posted just six days, but already approaching two million pageviews.

Last Saturday, he had the second of his series of "improvisations at the piano with random strangers." For some of them, Merton calls and ends up creating a theme song about "flying purple dinosaur" or "Bill Clinton having oral sex." "The Chatroulette was a good opportunity for me. I play the piano but I'm not comfortable introducing me to a lot of people. I prefer a more intimate experience, "said the improviser to the site Mashable, last Tuesday, in the first interview he gave - through your webcam, but this time via Skype. The problem is that after the 15-minute interview, the reporter Mashable now has almost sure that Merton is NOT Ben Folds.

And then, out of nowhere, another myth is born from the internet. That already has his disciples!