2023 / Video / Creator-led transit-performance and confidence format
Tube Girl
One woman, one phone, one open Tube window: the commute briefly became a music video, and the internet wanted her confidence.
The original is off-site. HAHrchives preserves the story and a route back to it.
What happened
Bahsoon swung the camera through the carriage, used the wind from an open window like a fan, and performed with the complete lack of embarrassment most people only manage alone in a bedroom. The point was not a choreographed challenge so much as the nerve to act like the train was your stage.
Where it came from
In August 2023, London-based creator Sabrina Bahsoon filmed herself lip-syncing and dancing on the Central Line with her phone’s wide-angle camera. The clip’s caption treated a long commute as a reason to hype yourself up; viewers quickly named its creator “Tube Girl.”
Why it mattered
Tube Girl made public self-consciousness into the whole joke—and then answered it with joy. It was a memorable bit of creator-owned internet confidence: technically just a phone trick and a dance, emotionally a tiny permission slip to be less embarrassed in public.
How it spread
Her original post and follow-ups inspired recreations on public transport and beyond, while the “Tube Girl” nickname became shorthand for filming yourself with unapologetic main-character energy. Bahsoon stayed visible as the maker of the format rather than disappearing behind the trend.