In Mid-September Austin Hall '10 went where few have gone before: the Ellen Show. Personally invited by comedian host Ellen DeGeneres, he performed his YouTube hit (with nearly 4 million views), Daft Hands.
Daft Hands is a remarkable work starring Hall's hands gyrating to the song Harder Better Faster Stronger by electronic group Daft Punk. (You may have heard this song sampled in Kanye West's summer hit Stronger.) Hall's smooth moves have spawned hundreds of copycat videos--most notably, one featuring a hapless dog with puppet-strings attached to paws.
Nice.
Hall tells Shout how he came up with the idea, how long he had to practice, and what it was like being on the Ellen show:
The original Daft Hands, in its entirety:
Hall reprised his performance on the Ellen show:
This is the Carleton Knights' a capella rendition of Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger that got the song running through Hall's mind: