Yeah I do believe in a duty to retreat but if I saw someone workshopping ways to confuse me with a group of people and refusing my demands to stop harassing me, while they advanced in a bizarre fashion I’d be looking for a clear path to retreat and reaching for my knife. That behavior is unpredictable, invasive, and demonstrates refusal to respect pearly stated boundaries. I’m not one of those paranoid people who doesn’t go anywhere without a gun or anything but there’s no way I’d feel safe in that scenario. I wouldn’t even consider that YouTube prankster is a job some people have, I’d be much more afraid he’s going for my purse or worse.
And as for the lack of fear, yeah every self defense lesson I’ve had has taught to show no fear nor aggression, you firmly demand the aggressor to back away while looking for an out by which to flee.