It was a surreal morning for Funkanometry — the Vancouver Island dance duo of Jacksun Fryer and Carlow Rush — when they woke up on Oct. 14 to discover Ellen DeGeneres had shared one of their videos to her 175 million followers.
For a duo who once dreamed of performing on Ellen’s show, the moment felt full-circle.
DeGeneres had reposted their dance to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain', captioned with four simple words: “I love these two.”
For the pair, the recognition carried extra meaning.
“We always talked about going on the Ellen Show,” said Fryer.
“I remember on our first TV show they were asking us what we want to do and we said we want to go on Ellen one day,” Rush added. “It is weird how it came all around.”
Though DeGeneres’s talk show ended in 2022 and she has since relocated to the U.K., it was still a dream come true.
That morning, Fryer called Rush with the news.
“He’s always telling me news and it’s never this lit. It’s never this fire,” said Rush. “He was like ‘dude, no bro, you’re not even ready for this.’ I was like, ‘OK bro, just say it.’ I was still in bed. I knew it was probably exciting but I thought it was more like, 'I have the sickest spot for the video today', or something like that. But he hit me with ‘Ellen DeGeneres reposted our video’ and I was like, ‘No!’ I might have even been dropping a couple of swears in there. I was so excited.”
There was no time to bask in viral glory. By that afternoon, the duo was in Chemainus filming a dance to Michael Jackson’s 'Man in the Mirror' at Heritage Square, with the In Search of Snipes sculpture as their backdrop.
The day before, the pair had choreographed the dance live online, streaming to fans on multiple platforms. Their fans love tuning in to watch their creative process.
“We’ll take tips from our fans too,” said Rush. “‘What do you guys think, this or this?’ and then they'll vote. It’s pretty dope.”
Passersby stopped on Mill Street to watch Funkanometry film on Oct. 15, drawn in by the music playback from their portable speaker and the sight of the two dancers performing take after take in perfect sync.
What looks effortless on screen represents a lot of behind-the-scenes work.
They spent hours refining each move, determined to nail every step, expression and camera movement. That relentless attention to detail and the pursuit of the perfect take is what has helped propel Funkanometry to international fame, with appearances on shows like World of Dance and America’s Got Talent.
And yet, the video that DeGeneres shared wasn’t one they thought was perfect.
“He wanted to come back and refilm,” said their camera operator, Jerome Fryer, known to Jacksun as "Dad" and to Carlow as "Romi". “And then Ellen reposted it. They are overcritical.”
That’s right, their performance was good enough for Ellen DeGeneres, but not good enough for Jacksun.
“It wasn’t the best I could dance, I’ll tell you that,” said Fryer. “The video could have been better…”
After a busy year of touring, Fryer said their focus has shifted.
“Last year we did a lot of performances and didn’t post that much,” said Fryer. “So we’re kind of focusing on the videos right now.”
They performed live at Sunfest, the Montana State Fair, the Fresno State Fair and NASCAR, to name a few.
The pair now aims to post their best work on social media at least twice a week.
What’s next for Funkanometry?
“We’re going to work on our own one-hour show that we can perform live. We were thinking of doing it at the Port Theatre, because I’m from Nanaimo, but the Chemainus Theatre would be cool too,” Fryer said.
They’ve got other goals as well.
“I do really want to try and get on Drew Barrymore’s show,” said Fryer. “She follows us on TikTok, which is pretty cool. I would totally go perform on her show.”
“Oh yeah,” agreed Rush.
From international fame to filming on the streets of Chemainus, Funkanometry proves that big dreams can thrive in small towns. With talent, drive and a love of dance that’s downright contagious, even bigger things are ahead for these two.
