Newark comedian explains why he tried to take ATM onto bus

NEWARK  —Turns out the ATM video was too funny to be true.

The comedian who made a video of him trying to load an ATM onto an NJ Transit bus said the video came together spontaneously when he saw a deactivated ATM that had been thrown out with the trash.

A friend recorded the video of his struggle on Irvine Turner Boulevard. The video got thousands of views on his own social media platforms and on NJ Transit's Twitter account, which used it as a "caption this" post. NJ Transit later deleted the tweet about the time when city police confirmed that the video had been staged.

NJ Transit said it had not participated in the video.

"No no no no no no no no no no," the driver says as she closes the door.

"We could have made money together," the man identified as Darius Kinney shouts as the bus pulls away.

Kinney, who describes himself as a "sit-down comedian," said as a resident of Newark he sees a lot of unusual things on the streets.

"When I pulled up to the barber shop I noticed there was an ATM outside so I'm like, 'Oh man, this is gold right here.' The bus stop is right there, so I said, 'Let's do this video.'"

"I really thought there was money in the ATM," Kinney joked. He thought the driver would consider sharing whatever money was inside but "she probably didn't want to lose her job."

Kinney said the ATM was one of the heaviest things he's ever picked up. At one point he balanced the machine on its corner while trying to move it.

"I was dancing with it. You got to roll with it," Kinney said.

Kinney said he is working on his stand-up career and planning performances for later this year. He also produces and posts comedy videos.

He said he was unaware of a video posted a few weeks ago by another Newark funnyman who released a live rat being inside a crowded downtown McDonald's.

Kinney said he doesn't find the premise funny, saying "there's no creativity in that."

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

More from New Jersey 101.5