Guys Dancing on the Streets Funny Viral on Twitter
Maybe you first saw Cale Saurage when his head popped out of a dumpster back in January.
The video of Saurage and best friend John Corban bringing in the New Year by dancing across downtown Baton Rouge was the pair's first viral hit.
Maybe you were already a fan, starting when Saurage and Corban donned flashy wigs and tights to show off their moves at the roller rink.
Or maybe the duo just popped on your feed a few weeks ago, when they took their routine to LSU's Tiger Stadium to celebrate a new football season.
Baton Rouge locals John Corban, right, and Cale Saurage grew up together in Prairieville. They say the antics that have gotten them attention over the last year isn't really anything new. Now it's just being filmed.
A string of infectious videos this year have earned hundreds of thousands of social media followers for Saurage, 21, and Corban, 22. But their antics aren't anything new for these guys, who have been friends since riding the bus home from the seventh grade in Prairieville.
"Everybody tells us, 'Y'all are doing the same thing you always did, but y'all are just filming it now.' That's kind of cool to hear," Saurage said.
HOW IM COMIN ALL 2019!!! pic.twitter.com/R4pkapR4dP
— CALE SAURAGE (@CaleSaurage) January 2, 2019
Recorded on a dreary day in downtown Baton Rouge, the 58-second New Year's video — which Saurage and Corban posted with the line "How I'm Comin' Into 2019" — has racked up millions of views, when counting the different social media platforms where it's been posted, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. The video has 13.5 million views on Twitter alone.
Saurage has racked up 128,000 followers on Instagram and 52,000 followers on Twitter. His largest following is on TikTok, the short-form video platform, where he has more than 400,000.
Baton Rouge locals John Corban, bottom, and Cale Saurage
Saurage and Corban posted their first video last October, just goofing around in the Target on Siegen Lane, dancing with tennis rackets while wearing unicorn masks.
"We had fun," Saurage said, so they made more videos. And other people started reposting them.
With each new video the following grew.
"We said, 'Hey, it'd be kinda cool if we could see what 10,000 followers would feel like on Instagram,' " Saurage said. "And then it just keeps going after that."
They never know what is going to work, so they just have fun, Saurage said. They invite friends to make cameos, expanding their crew, and Saurage occasionally dresses up as Cowboy Cale, a good ole boy in boots and a hat who appears to like a dip of snuff and harbors some unexpectedly serious dance moves.
But Saurage and Corban have developed a strategy — use songs that are rising in popularity and feature timely social media trends, like the Git Up Challenge, a line dance set to Blanco Brown's "Git Up," which hit this summer.
A year in the social media realm is like a decade, so Saurage and Corban speak like seasoned social media producers now.
"Everything's about relatability on Twitter," Saurage said. "If it's relatable, then it's going to do way more numbers."
Baton Rouge locals John Corban, bottom, and Cale Saurage
Being relatable means it's OK that they're not better dancers than many of the people watching the video. It also means recording videos on their phones even when Saurage has better equipment available.
Their videos look like anyone can do it.
Saurage and Corban bust out common moves like the hype, and Saurage gets low on the butterfly. Yet Corban's signature move, where he swings his arms up past his head, has no name.
"Everybody loves that," Saurage said. "And every time we get stopped, they're like, 'Do that move, do that move!' But we don't know what to call it."
Getting stopped on the street and having a horde of social media followers doesn't necessarily equal money. Instagram, Twitter and TikTok are difficult to monetize. And the group runs into issues on YouTube, which often will remove videos that use copyrighted music.
Saurage has sold some merchandise, including a T-shirt featuring a drawing of the Cowboy Cale character, but they still work regular jobs — Saurage co-owns a company that provides power to conventions and trade shows, and Corban works for a company that refurbishes electric motors.
Without making them wealthy, the social media attention has taken them places they never dreamed of before. Before the start of the LSU football season, the team's social media squad asked them to make a video in Tiger Stadium. They also danced on the sidelines during the first home game.
For Corban, a lifelong Tigers fan, the opportunity was amazing.
"The energy in the stands is crazy," Corban said, "so you can imagine that being on the field."
As long as they create videos, Saurage and Corban want to keep it fun. They've come to expect negative comments from trolls who make fun of their dance moves and criticize even the smallest choices, Saurage said.
Baton Rouge locals John Corban, left, and Cale Saurage
"At first we were like, this would be cool to do this," Saurage said. "But then we realized how negative the internet was."
Now they've realigned their goals beyond just creating viral hits. They just want to make people smile.
"We were like, dude, it'd be cool just to post straight positive stuff," Saurage said. "Nothing negative."
Source: https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/article_96944032-defc-11e9-826f-c33cb14328cd.html
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