Comedian Karl Porter ‘overwhelmed’ as slow-motion goal celebration goes viral

A football-loving comedian has said the last few days have been a “rollercoaster ride” after a video of him performing a slow-motion goal celebration went viral.

Karl Porter shared a clip of the celebration, which came complete with an imaginary knee-slide, on his Instagram page earlier this week.

The video has attracted nearly 3.7 million likes in four days, with the official account for the Premier League replying to say the performance was “superb!”.

The celebration also went viral on X, formerly known as Twitter, with hundreds of thousands of users liking various posts which shared the clip.

Some said it was “genius” while others called it “perfection”.

Speaking about the reaction to the video, Mr Porter told Sky News: “It’s just been overwhelming, just in terms of the reaction.

“I just didn’t expect it to blow up as much as it did. It’s really hard to get my head around. Hard to take in.”

The 30-year-old, who has been a lifelong fan of Liverpool FC, said he would often mimic goal celebrations when he was a boy.

He grew up watching the likes of Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney.

However, his viral celebration is not based on any particular player.

Porter, who lives in Manchester, continued: “It’s something I have been doing since I was kid, just watching goal celebrations and trying to perfect them.

“I wanted to try it out on stage because it’s something different. I see humour in celebrations, with it being so physical, the facial expressions and everything that goes with it.

“It just felt right to do it on stage.”

Porter has also posted a message on his Instagram account thanking those who liked the video.

He said the reaction has been “truly overwhelming” and the last four days have been a “rollercoaster ride”.

Mr Porter has been doing the routine for around six months – with his performance that went viral taking place at the Up The Creek comedy club in Greenwich, London.

In the footage, the stand-up comedian tells the audience he can “do a goal celebration in slow-motion” before asking: “Do you want to see that?”

The crowd replies “yes!”

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Porter then composes himself before pretending to fix his gaze on an incoming football as he jumps into the air to head it into an imaginary goal.

The audience is already in hysterics with one heard saying: “That’s f****** class.”

Mr Porter then smiles like a striker who has just scored the winning goal before running towards imaginary fans.

His slows nods of head as he mouthed an expletive were a familiar site for the millions of football fans who tune in to watch the Premier League every weekend.

Porter ends the celebration by doing the sign of the cross on his chest before looking up to God.

Professional footballer Mats Hummels, who plays for the German national team and Borussia Dortmund, tweeted: “That is just perfection. Incredible performance.”

Another X user wrote: “I’ve watched this 400 times.”

Damascus, another use of the social media platform, posted: “I swear I’ve seen this a thousand times already and it keeps getting funnier. How is he so good at this?”

Another user wrote: “Take a bow, son. This is genius.”