# Do The Monkey **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 2, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-monkey/414156 "2007-08-02T18:01:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-monkey/414156/1 "2007-08-02T18:01:32Z")
Okay, I give up. How _do_ you do The Monkey? And The Jerk and The Swim? And those other old dances from the ‘Dance Craze’ era? I thought The Monkey was basically the one where you move your fists up and down in front of you, but a coworker wondered if that was The Jerk. So I looked on YouTube to see if I could find The Monkey. I found a video with a couple of guys diong moves, but they did the _Pulp Fiction_ looking-through-two-fingers move and the holding-the-nose-and-pretending-to-drown move so I wondered if they knew what they were doing. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-monkey/414156/2 "2007-08-02T18:28:00Z")
Holding the nose and going down is The Swim. The Monkey is like you said, arms up and down (in time) in front of you. The Jerk is something like a hitchikers’ thumb over the shoulder as you jerk your body. I’m barely old enough to remember these, I swear… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-monkey/414156/3 "2007-08-02T18:40:02Z")
I actually remember doing The Twist at an O-Club when I was three, but I looked it up anyway: > [@](#): > > “It’s like putting out a cigarette with both feet, and wiping your bottom with a towel, to the beat of the music.” When I read ‘wiping your bottom with a towel’, I actually got the image of that butt-flossing thing some people do with towels. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-monkey/414156/4 "2007-08-02T19:05:34Z")
So this thread isn’t about **Portnoy’s Complaint** …? ---
**Author:** ![WhoHasAngeredTheVolcanoGod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WhoHasAngeredTheVolcanoGod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhoHasAngeredTheVolcanoGod)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-monkey/414156/5 "2007-08-02T19:10:41Z")
Courtesy of the Blues Brothers: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdqFPIWwFjg) ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-monkey/414156/6 "2007-08-02T19:24:26Z")
Awesome! You made me grin! I love that movie… ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-monkey/414156/7 "2007-08-02T19:24:40Z")
I can do the Frug. I can do the Robocop. I can do the Freddie. I cannot do the Smurf. How does one do the Frug, the Robocop, the Freddie, and the Smurf? ---
**Author:** ![Huvudtvatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Huvudtvatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huvudtvatt)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-monkey/414156/8 "2012-11-12T14:56:57Z")
I was going to start a new thread but we might as well continue with this one. So far the Jerk, the Twist, the Swim and the Monkey has been covered. But how do you do: the watusi the skate the twine the mashed potato the boo-ga-loo the shing-a-ling the duck the philly dog ? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-monkey/414156/9 "2012-11-12T15:09:14Z")
[The Mashed Potato](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzGPpPUML94) is practically impossible for me. You have to move your ankles sideways. My ankles don’t go like that. I want to learn the shag. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-monkey/414156/10 "2012-11-12T15:15:24Z")
Remember the Waddle? The Limbo? The Hully Gully? ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-monkey/414156/11 "2012-11-12T15:36:26Z")
The Pony anybody can do the Pony.