Nanaimo's Jacksun Fryer (left) and Duncan's Carlow Rush (right) bust a groove on season 17 of America's Got Talent. (Funkanometry)

By Alex Rawnsley

funk fam

‘Bigger performances, better videos:’ Funkanometry eyes future gigs as NASCAR beckons for Island dance duo

Aug 30, 2022 | 4:34 PM

NANAIMO — Even with their America’s Got Talent dream potentially over, Jacksun Fryer and Carlow Rush are firmly focused on the future.

The duo, better known as Funkanometry, were eliminated from the hit NBC talent show on Wednesday, Aug. 25 after failing to secure enough of the fan vote, which was only open to Americans, to advance.

Despite the setback, the pair look back on the experience fondly with Fryer telling NanaimoNewsNOW their live performance on national television was like nothing they’d done before.

“There was some pressure, mostly with last minute changes of our piece. We left the Island with nothing solidified and we technically didn’t finish our piece until the day before or maybe the morning of. That was pretty heat and stressful, but when it comes to performing live we’ve done it our whole lives.”

Music rights were behind many of the changes required by NBC executives, according to Fryer who is from Nanaimo and Rush who lives in Duncan.

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One of Funkanometry’s hallmarks is playing with the speed, pitch or pacing of a song to create memorable transitions, something they had less freedom with on the show.

“When it comes to the TV and NBC, they actually need the full rights to be able to do that and when it came down to it, there were some curveballs of ‘oh, we can’t do this to the song’, so we had to make some last minute changes.”

Praised by the crowd in attendance via a standing ovation and beloved by their fans at home, their live routine failed to earn much love from three of the four judges.

The dream of AGT victory however may still be alive. The competition will feature a wildcard round with the four judges, plus host Terry Crews allowed to nominate an act they’d like to save.

Five selections will again go to a fan vote, open only to Americans, with the winner coming back into the competition.

Fryer and Rush urged their fans to comment on judges Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandell and host Crews’ social media, telling them they want Funkanometry back.

Regardless of the result, the show has already proved beneficial for the dancing duo.

“We’ve been doing what we’ve been doing and it’s been working and even though we got out in the semi final round, it can’t be a loss,” Rush said.

Barring a return to America’s Got Talent, the next major thing on the calendar for Funkanometry are performances at the NASCAR Playoffs at the Texas Motor Speedway in late September.

Fryer and Rush will dance five shows over the weekend, plus a sixth surprise appearance at the event.

It’s just the latest in a string of profile-boosting performance opportunities for the pair who are keen to continue performing across the Island.

“We’re just going to continue to do our thing, we love performing live, we love making videos for our FunkFam,” Fryer said. “We’re just going to elevate it, bigger performances, better videos.”

When not dancing at festivals or AGT main stage’s or on NASCAR tracks, Fryer teaches dance at Vibrant Studios in Nanaimo and Urban Dance Connections in Campbell River.

Rush works with Carlson’s Dance in his hometown of Duncan.

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