Your secret is safe with my indifference.

[Laura sings the first line of the theme song]

Guys this is epic quarantine entertainment.

“EW can exclusively debut an epic at-home performance of the uplifting and high-energy “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from the Broadway musical Hairspray. In a video created in partnership with Marc Shaiman — who wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics for the musical adaptation of the John Waters movie — actors, singers, dancers, and musicians from Hairspray on Broadway, Hollywood Bowl, London, the original 1988 movie, the 2007 remake, and the 2016 NBC live rendition, virtually gather to perform the iconic song from their kitchens, closets, and even from the bathtub. There are hairbrushes and kitchen utensils as impromptu microphones, family-member cameos, and pilates-inspired choreography.“

[Source]

The editing on this thing is crazy-pants good, and the performances are sublimely joyful. 

If you’re not chair-dancing by the end, I don’t know what to tell you. Let this thing brighten your day.

(The purpose of the video is to raise money for The Actors Fund, so if this video made you happy and you have some spare change, you can drop it here.)

Travis, mid-rant: “—gathering dice has no limit! Right? You haven’t said like ‘when I get a thousand dice—’”

Laura, interrupting: “No! No! ‘Cause here’s the thing! Have you been in Wil Wheaton’s game room?”

Travis: “Oh I’ve heard about the big ol’...”

Laura: “He’s got barrels, you guys! He’s got barrels of dice! Barrels!”

Travis: “Right! But short of, like, you know, Roger Rabbit throwing a bunch of, like, dice on a floor, making villains go like ‘who-o-oa!’ and fall, what are you gonna do with barrels of dice?!”

Laura, inexplicably Scottish: “I don’t know, I just want them!”

———

please watch this

They’ve blown up since then. The promotional video they made at the school has more than 30 million views. They’ve been on tons of TV shows, including performances with Oginome Yoko, the original singer of the song (Dancing Hero (Eat You Up)) that they remixed for their dance. 

This dance routine was riffing off the comedian Hirano Nora and actually includes some of her comedy catch phrases in the remix. (They even got her to join them eventually!) For the uninitiated, one of the most accessible forms of comedy in modern Japanese pop culture are comedians like this who create outlandish SNL type characters and then appear on one or more shows regularly as that character. Hirano Nora’s gimmick is that she’s a woman from the height of Japan’s “bubble economy” era in the 80′s when there were tons of newly wealthy yuppies. This is why the remix is called “Bubbly Dance”. (Compare her to similar comedy character Blouson Chiemi whose gimmick is that she’s a modern, man eating career woman.)

(vague spoilers for CR ep95)

I’ve been getting more into animation and it’s been a blast!

[x] Bonus:

“The Distance” by Cake “POP/STARS” by K/DA “Fist Bump” from Sonic Forces “My Sweet Escape” by Gwen Stefani “First Date” by Blink-182 “Still Alive” by Jonathan Coulton “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears For Fears “Chop Suey” by System Of A Down “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day “Stand Proud” from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO “Basket Case” by Green Day “Walk Like An Egyptian” by The Bangles “Accidentally In Love” by Counting Crows “London Bridge” by Fergie “Milkshake” by Kelis “Like a G6” by Far East Movement “You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful” by One Direction “Hey Ya” by Outkast “We Didn’t Start The Fire” by Billy Joel “Roundabout” by Yes “Bodies” by Drowning Pool “So What” by P!nk “Pumpkin Hill” from Sonic Adventure 2 “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea “Toxic” by Britney Spears “Sugar We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy Monkey Watch “Get Low” by Lil Jon “Walkin On The Sun” by Smash Mouth “All Star” by Smash Mouth Me plugging the Bandcamp link where you can download this