The Popcorn Stand: Move over Carleton, here comes Backpack Kid

The old fuddy duddy prides himself in trying to stay ahead of the trendy, what’s hip, what’s fleek curve, and maybe I’m not quite ahead of this one, but I think I’m pretty close.

Throughout generations there’s been the Charleston, the Jitterbug, the Twist, the Hustle, the Carleton and now the iGeneration’s version of the Carleton, the Backpack Swish.

For those of you in the iGeneration who don’t know Generation X’s favorite dancer, Carleton normally comes to the celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe every year to do his signature dance. It’s the dance Alfonso Ribeiro made famous while playing the character Carleton on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Now there’s 15-year-old Russell Horning who’s getting his 15 minutes of fame after doing his dance while wearing a backpack while Katy Perry was singing her new song “Swish, Swish” on Saturday Night Live. So now kids all over the country will be doing this dance, swinging their arms back and forth with a deadpan expression on their face while wearing a backpack.

Actually, Horning was semi-famous before the SNL appearance as it was Perry who discovered him and his moves on Instagram.

Who needs to go to Hollywood anymore to get discovered? All you need is an Instagram page. Sounds like a Billy Joel song to me.

And I’m already a little behind the curve as I’ve already seen videos of fans following Backpack Kid — that’s what they’re calling Horning — trying to do his signature moves and yes they’re wearing a backpack.

Now if Horning can do the Carleton while wearing a backpack, I’ll be impressed.

— Charles Whisnand