http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060607/ENT/606070351
Dance spoof is Internet hit
BY ERIN CARLSON | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
<!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT-->Judson Laipply isn't afraid to bust a move.
Laipply, a 30-year-old comedian/motivational speaker from Cleveland, is - as he puts it - That Guy at the wedding "out there dancing with everybody and having fun."
Now, he's cutting a rug as the It Boy of the Internet.
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Laipply's video clip,
"Evolution of Dance," taped at one of his speaking engagements, has been viewed more than 18 million times on the video Web site
YouTube since April. In the clip, his combination of a nerdy-guy persona and his hot dance steps - he covers everything from Elvis's 1950s' hip-bopping to today's flashy hip-hop moves - makes for a hilarious six minutes.
Laipply blends motivational speaking with comedy to "No. 1, make them laugh; No. 2, make them think." Four years ago, he began closing many of his appearances at colleges, high schools and corporations with the unusual dance medley, which became a crowd favorite.
"I sat down one day and mixed some music, and came up" with the original version of the dance, he says.
After friends asked him to post a clip of it onto his Myspace.com page, Laipply obliged, also uploading it onto YouTube.com, which allows users to post videos for sharing. It now holds the record as that site's most-viewed video. And Tuesday he performed a shorter version on NBC's "Today" show.
"It's one of those things where no matter how old you are, you almost can always find something within (the video) that resonates with you," Laipply said. "I have
e-mails from families who've said, 'I was watching it, I'm 65, my daughter was watching it, her daughter was watching it and we were all laughing and loving it.' "
In the video, Laipply gyrates to Elvis' "Hound Dog," dusts off the stiff-limbed robot routine for Styx's "Mr. Roboto" and shimmies to MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This." He shakes his rump to Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back" and snakes his neck to the Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian."
He also channels John Travolta in "Grease," does the "Y.M.C.A," kung fu fights and break dances. And that's only part of the act.
Laipply, whose only formal dance training was a one-year stint in his high school's show choir, has received much feedback from fans.
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