The power of choice

Judson Laipply brings humor, wisdom to JMU

By Whitten Maher, contributing writer
Posted on November 15, 2007

Judson Laipply, whose unique performance entitled “The Evolution of Dance” is currently the all-time most watched video on YouTube, visited JMU Monday night to speak to students and, of course, perform his routine.

The Festival Center Ballroom was packed. Ann Simmons, coordinator for JMU’s Office of Health Promotion said that the room was set for 900 seats. However, including the students standing at the back of the room, attendance neared 1,000.

An inspirational speaker whose style is light and direct, Laipply entertained the audience with his high-energy, comedic styling. He finished one story by saying “I’ll tell you this much… I’ve never snorted Smarties up my nose since.”

But these humorous anecdotes served to illustrate what Laipply came to JMU to speak about: the power of choice.

“A majority of the things in our lives are there because of the choices we make,” he said.

The key, he explained, is not to obsess about situations beyond your control because “the more stress you have, the quicker you die.”

Throughout the program, Laipply emphasized the fact that life is full of change. He said that the perfect way to understand this is to look at dancing through the years, at which point the entire room realized it was time for the highly anticipated performance of “The Evolution of Dance.”

The act, as seen on YouTube, includes dozens of hit songs from various decades. The crowd shifted forward to get a better view as the music came on, and some audience members held their camera-phones above the rows of seats to capture the performance. The high point was when Laipply performed “the worm,” drawing massive applause and cheers.

While the YouTube video is Laipply’s claim to fame, the dance routine does not share the amateur origin of some fellow YouTube videos. It came from his inspirational speaking, not the other way around.

After realizing that people flock to see “inspirational comedy” more than an “inspirational speaking,” Laipply came up with the routine as a metaphor for change.

“Emotional memory is way stronger than just plain memorization,” Laipply said of his act. “People always come up to me and say ‘Dude I never understood why you did it, but now it makes total sense.’”

Sophomore Emilia Randler, who has seen Laipply speak three times, enjoyed the program.

“[The dance] helps because it’s always entertaining,” she said.

After the program, Laipply stuck around to talk with fans and students, and to pose for pictures.

“Are you gonna tag it?” he asked enthusiastically after a student snapped a picture, referring to the way people are identified in pictures on Facebook. He even performed an impromptu dance for some students as music continued to play.

A follow up to “The Evolution of Dance” has been in the making for over a year. Laipply is currently working to get the rights to the songs and has been also working closely with YouTube.

The video can be viewed on YouTube (its status as all-time most watched is being threatened by an Avril Lavigne music video) as well as on Laipply’s Web site, theevolutionofdance.com.