For those who work in the stressful medical field, finding a way to unwind at the end of the day is extremely important, and for one group of registered nurse anesthetists from Oakdale, Minnesota, there is nothing they like better than getting together, cracking open a few beers, and creating music — in their case hilarious medical parodies of several classic songs you’ve probably heard of.
Some of their many hits include a cover of “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” by Neil Sedaka, which they have renamed to “Waking Up is Hard to Do”, and a cover of popular Ricky Martin hit, “Livin’ La Vida Loca”.
Their version? “Givin’ The Anesthesia,” of course!
The singing group also has a pretty great name — The Laryngospasms. If you’re having trouble pronouncing the name, it’s okay, you’re not the only one. Many of their fans call them simply, “The Spasms”.
The term itself refers to an involuntary throat contraction that usually occurs when an anesthesia tube enters a patient’s throat. While this sounds like quite a scary experience, the group itself is the total opposite. For decades now they’ve been bringing endless laughter to anyone who is willing to listen to them, which is apparently quite a lot of people.
Their video for “Waking Up is Hard to Do” on YouTube has over 15 million views.
The video starts with the guys all in their nursing scrubs positioned behind a blue sheet, but when the sheet drops is when the real action gets going. The guys start belting out their creative and funny lyrics as they go about their day performing their various duties in the hospital. Even the patient on the operating table gets involved.
They are actually really good singers, too!
While they mostly travel the country performing at medical conventions, in 2010, The Spasms hit the big time when they got to make a short appearance on NBC’s show America’s Got Talent.
Out of 70,000 acts that applied, only 400 in total were chosen to appear on the show, where they performed in front of the judges as well as a huge live audience in Chicago. For a cover band that sings medical parodies, we would say that is a pretty dang impressive accomplishment.
The Spasms were shocked with their success as well, as evidenced by group member Doug Meuwissen’s comment in an interview with the Oakdale Patch.
“I’m always amazed at the reaction we get from people,” Meuwissen said, adding that people often ask for his autograph after a show. “I guess if you give someone a microphone, that person can become a rock star.”
Check out the hilarious video below to see the epic performance that first put them on the map.
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