Everyone is going wild for Saturday Night Live's David S. Pumpkins this Halloween season but what about that other dancing pumpkin man?
I didn't watch SNL this past weekend so when everyone was raving about David S. Pumpkins come Monday morning I went in search of the video. I'm still not sure I'm totally on the David S. Pumpkins train but bless silly Tom Hanks.
But respect should be given to the dancing pumpkin man who came before him.
The “pumpkin dance” was originally broadcast in 2006 on KXVO news in Omaha, Nebraska on Halloween of that year. WNYC's Studio 360 actually even did a feature on him and Inside Edition recently posted a ten year retrospective on its subject Matt Geiler. He told them, “[People are] still reposting it, still hypnotized by the magic. It”s pretty amazing.” Especially when you consider they were just trying to kill some time on air. And yes, he definitely has fans:
“I was in Wisconsin doing a comedy thing, and this gal came up and she was like, ‘are you … you”re the pumpkin guy. I just found out, you”re the dancing pumpkin,”” Geiler recalled. “I was like, ‘yea, I actually am the dancing pumpkin guy.” She was like, ‘oh my god, can I take a picture with you and then can we get my mom in it?'”
“In the cannon of work that a human does in their lifetime, there”s the stuff you do, and then there”s the stuff you don”t even think about… this definitely falls under that category,” he continued. “But I think it”s cool. I love it when people are like, ‘that”s a rad thing.””
But wait! I've found the perfect storm!!
YUSSS! Something old, something pumpkin, something borrowed, something bumping!
I honestly found this by accident yesterday while searching YouTube for a clip that featured just the “Haunted Elevator” dance music (as it was already stuck in my head). The internet provides.
While both the “pumpkin dance” and David S. Pumpkins will always be in the back of my mind, there's another pumpkin man who has my heart. I'm talking of course of Jack Pumpkinhead from Return to Oz. He doesn't dance as he's still getting the hang of the whole “walking” thing.
Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeen.