KXVO Pumpkin Dance
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About
KXVO Pumpkin Dance features a man dressed in all black wearing a Jack O’Lantern mask dancing to the theme song from the 1984 film Ghostbusters. The clip originally aired on a local Omaha, Nebraska news station without explanation during a Halloween broadcast in 2006 and resulted in many mashups, remixes and parodies after it was uploaded to YouTube.
Origin
The Pumpkin Dance first aired on Omaha, Nebraska’s local news station KXVO[1] during a 10 PM news broadcast on Halloween, October 31st, 2006. Without explanation, a man in a black unitard and a pumpkin mask was shown dancing to the Ghostbusters theme song[2] in front of a graveyard backdrop. On November 2nd, the clip was uploaded to KXVO’s official YouTube channel, where it has received more than 1.2 million views as of October 2012.
Identity
The masked pumpkin dancer was played by comedian Matt Geiler.[13] As of October 2012, he lives in Los Angeles, California where he performs stand-up comedy. On October 3rd, 2012, he uploaded a video to his YouTube channel reenacting the pumpkin dance with a makeshift costume.
Spread
In November 2006, at least one video that may have been a parody of the pumpkin dance was uploaded via YouTube. In early 2007, KXVO brought the character back to do Christmas (shown below, left) and Valentine’s Day (shown below, right) dances.
In 2009, more remixes were uploaded to YouTube, replacing the audio with other songs. In late October 2009, the original video, as well as some remixes, began appearing on entertainment sites including Videogum[4], Entertainment Weekly[5] and Milk and Cookies[6] as well as internet culture site Buzzfeed[7] and the Huffington Post.[8] In 2011, Mashable[9] included the KXVO Pumpkin Dance on their list of YouTube’s spookiest Halloween videos. The next year, the video was also featured on the Huffington Post[10], GeekNation[11] and the Social Times.[12]
Notable Remixes
As of October 2012, there are more than 6300 search results for “pumpkin dance” on YouTube.[3] However, not all of these videos are specifically related to the KXVO character.
Search Interest
The phrase “pumpkin dance” is often searched for in October, due to Halloween, however there have been correlating peaks with “pumpkin dance youtube” in 2011 and 2012.
External References
[2]WIkipedia – Ghostbusters (song)
[3]YouTube – Search results for “pumpkin dance”
[4]Videogum – The Very Best Pumpkin Head Halloween Dance Of All Time In The World
[5]Entertainment Weekly – The creepiest thing you’ll see this Halloween. Guaranteed.
[6]Milk and Cookies – KXVO Pumpkin Dance
[7]Buzzfeed – Amazing Pumpkin Dance
[8]The Huffington Post – The Pumpkin Dance Remix
[9]Mashable – YouTube’s Spookiest Halloween Videos [BOO!]
[10]Huffington Post – Pumpkin Dance: Time To Get Funky For Halloween
[11]Geek Nation – It’s The Funky Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
[12]the Social Times – 10 Fun Jack-O-Lantern Videos To Get You In The Halloween Spirit
[13]Twitter – @MattGeiler
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