Lulu & The Lampshades "You're Gonna Miss Me"

My wife, who teaches at an elementary school, had been out late the previous night.

The students and teachers had put on a talent show, and she'd attended to show support.  The next morning, she was talking about how 3 different groups of kids did "the cups song" thing.

What is "the cups song" thing?

Instead of answering me, she got a plastic cup out of the cupboard and went off to her computer.

She had a vague memory of how to do the cup thing, but needed to bring up a Youtube video, to re-train herself.

With just a little bit of practice, it all came back to her.  Here she is, accompanied by my son and a bowl of pasta.


See it on Youtube.

What the heck is that, and why are kids doing it?

Well, you can watch this appearance on David Letterman by actress Anna Kendrick, but the short version is this:  Kendrick had learned to do the cup trick from a viral video, and when the folks who were making the movie "Pitch Perfect" saw her do it, they wrote it into the movie.


See the Letterman interview on Youtube.

So if your kids know "the cups song" thing it's probably from seeing "Pitch Perfect" and then Googling this viral video, that Kendrick had studied.


See the viral video on Youtube.

But that doesn't explain how my wife knew how to do it.  She hadn't seen "Pitch Perfect," and wasn't aware of the song.

"How do you know the routine?"

She was a bit sheepish.

"It's from a drinking game.  We used to do this in college.  When you get to the last step, you send the cup to the person on your right.  If you mess up the routine, you drink."

A drinking game, of course.  Now appropriated by grade schoolers everywhere.

Next talent show?  Quarters!


PS.  One more fun version:

See the viral video on Youtube.