To be fair (even though it sounds like backpedaling, I overstepped in the first part of what I'd said)..."What's up my neighbors" isn't racist or anything, it doesn't cause lasting harm, and the intent isn't to hurt but to actually make the person feel embarrassed for losing their cool.
I was thinking more of driving past people walking home at night pretending to fire guns at them, or splashing gas on people (actually water) as if you were about to light them on fire.
In many places, even if you have no intent to harm anyone, and even if they're not really hurt, causing something to feel threatened, as if their life and safety are in immediate peril, can be considered assault.
In one case, you're taking someone down a peg by pointing out how quick they are to rush to judgment, and how we all have a thing or two to learn about how easy it is to fall into habits, or be offended.
In the other, you're terrorizing.
He has another video where he goofs people with fake dogshit and asks people to help him get it off, and they run and scream because ew, poo is gross. That's disarming if you don't like poo on you, but nobody gets hurt and nobody has to even conceive of anything except for a weird person acting gross and maybe the inconvenience of washing your clothes or skin.
"Haha don't you feel stupid, you thought it was real dogshit" is closer to a prank in my mind than "Gimme all your fucking money!" waving a gun in their face (As far as I know, Roman never did that so I'm not advancing that as an argument, but my sensitivity to it, and what part of me is overreacting, perceives his worst stuff as being at a similar level).
I liked the limbo video that was up the other day. "Hey, how low can you go," person gets into classic limbo pose, tries hard because who doesn't like a bit of mindless fun, limbo guys run away while person's blindfolded, quickly-fading public shame and humiliation as you discover you've made an ass out of yourself slow-motion zombiewalking. People that it didn't happen to get a kick out of it because we can empathize with it and remember the humility and the relief associated with those moments.
I see it as less likely that anyone's going to go, "Remember that time I thought the dude in masks were going to kill us? That was a great day."
I want to believe the worst ones are staged. It's one thing if you stand on a scale outside the grocery store but Roman rigged the scale so it says you weigh 40 lbs more than you do, and you feel shitty for the 30 seconds before the reveal. That person's like "D'aw, you got me, where do I sign for the release? My sister will think this is fucking hilarious."
I don't get why with the worst ones people aren't like "Dude! What the fuck!? You don't DO that to someone? I almost had a heart attack! I was trying to figure out ways to kill you before you could kill me. Wait, what? YouTube? Why would I do you any fucking favors, you rat bastard lunatic?"
Of course some people would react like that and not get shown. But for the worst ones, that anyone says yes seems nuts.