A Dubai–based flight attendant, whose hilarious how-to dance video recently went viral, has become the latest YouTube sensation.
Jem Mark Andrada’s How to Dance in The Club, which he uploaded in late May, has clocked close to 2.5 million views the last time we checked. Not bad, considering he made the video because he was bored.
“I love the art of making short, funny films. I just wanted to have an outlet and get my creative juices going, so I decided to do something that I really love, and that’s to make people laugh,” he says.
Andrada’s video features him imitating dance moves he’s seen in night clubs to the beats of the 2011 hit Give Me Everything by rapper Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, DJ Afrojack and Nayer.
The response, he says, surprised him too.
“Man, you are amazing! I didn’t learn anything but ‘Like’ for you,” says one comment, while another added: “So funny. Every one of those [moves] I’ve seen.”
“Watching this vid was an instant flashback of ALL my friends! LOL,” says another.
The Filipino, who insists he is a better actor than dancer, says he might become the next Channing Tatum, “with a little practice”.
He says he rarely even goes clubbing. “Last year, I went twice. This year, not at all.”
Listing cooking and cleaning his apartment as hobbies, Andrada, who’s lived in the UAE for little more than three years, has been quick to capitalise on his popularity. He’s gone on to make three more videos with Part 4 of the dance series uploaded four days ago. He says he took 20 minutes to film the first video and 45 minutes to edit it, with an additional hour for brainstorming.
“I have made a lot of funny videos, skits, monologues, clips from vacations, drama, me playing the piano, basically showcasing my talents. If that’s what you can call it.”
But while there’s been a few negative responses to the dance videos, (“Well, you can’t please every one”), he says the positive reactions to the video keeps him going.
“People have been asking me to marry them,” he laughs. “Hello? How can I marry someone I don’t even know?”
