improv is good for you

Last summer I helped my friends Samrat and Meetu shoot a music video. This is the finished product.

In Madrid’s Parque del Buen Retiro, there’s a busker who dances like Michael Jackson. He’s an easy target because he’s not good (as far as dancing Jacko impersonators go). But by my count, the “Michael Jackson Guy” of Madrid has been at it for more than 15 years. The first time I saw him was in June 1991 when my family and I toured Europe for a month; then, in 1993, I spent nine months in the Spanish capital as a study abroad student– I took great delight in showing Michael Jackson Guy to my skeptical classmates. In 1996, I spent four months as a Madrid-based intern at (then named) AP-Dow Jones, and, yes, Michael Jackson Guy was still dancing, having added a few moves and an affinity for the song “Black & White” (the music emanating from a crappy-cassette boombox just like today). In 1998, I returned to Madrid yet again, this time for a two-year stint as a fulltime reporter for Dow Jones Newswires — Michael Jackson Guy was still moonwalking and tourists and Madrileños alike were still laughing at his clunky, albeit earnest, dance moves. Today, based on these clips, Michael Jackson Guy is still … well, not good. But you know something — he’s still doing it. He’s still dancing like no one’s watching. Just try to imagine, for a moment, the amount of heckling he endures in any given day, let alone in 15 years — it’s impossible. But then, I’m sure every once in a while there is a round of genuine applause. Godspeed, Michael Jackson Guy (obligatory YouTube roundup after the jump).
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