12-Year-Old's Amazing Bar Mitzvah Invite Is Worth Watching to the End
Photo: YouTube
About 100 people are invited to Brody Criz’s Bar Mitzvah this May, but more than 800,000 are already celebrating with him. The 12-year-old’s “Mitzvah Fantasy” video invitation to the big day has raked in that many views on YouTube where his parents posted it Feb. 28 to show loved ones.
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"We had no clue anything like this would happen,” Deerfield, Ill.-based mom Ali Criz tells Yahoo Parenting about the 3-and-a-half minute mash-up of Brody and their family parodying hit songs that’s going viral online. “We’re just shocked. People from different countries are calling Brody wanting him to be on TV and friends and family have given us the most wonderful responses.”
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The seventh grader’s skit is certainly a crowd pleaser, featuring a medley of five chart-topping tunes and a truly show-stopping performance by the tween, who, ahem, reveals an unforgettable interpretation of Robin Thicke’s racy “Blurred Lines” at the end. (Keep watching, it’s worth it).
Photo: YouTube
Brody begins with a bang – belting out a one-of-a-kind take on the Grammy winning “Happy,” by Pharrell Williams. “Because I’m Jewishhhh…,” he riffs while dressed up as a rabbi. “Clap along if you feel like the Old Testament is the truth” and “Clap along if you just tried Manischewitz and it tastes like juice.”
And it just keeps getting funnier, with parodies of John Legend’s smash “All of Me,” – to which the tween croons, “Because all of me, would like all of you, to come attend my mitzvah party, my mom will probably cry and get all snotty.” Then he does a fresh take on Lorde’s “Royals”: “I’m allowed to be spoooiled, shouting orders like a king,” blasts Brody in a long black wig. “I’ll rule, I’ll rule, I’ll rule. That’s my Mitzvah fantasy.”
The family, out of costume (Photo courtesy of Ali Criz)
Ali says she knew her little star-to-be would be game for a parody video, which is why she suggested doing it back in January. “Brody is an exceptional kid and an old soul,” she tells Yahoo Parenting. “He has a huge heart and we want to celebrate his import milestone but also celebrate him and show off how funny and confident he is. And he said he was up for anything.”
No wonder. Brody has dreams of being a Hollywood comedian. “I love to see when people have smiles on their faces,” he tells Today. “So, I [wanted] to go above and beyond with my bar mitzvah invitation… When I’m older. I want to try to be kind of like Jim Carrey. I want to be known for being funny.”
Photo: YouTube
He’s off to a great start with the spoof video (filmed in just one day, vocals recorded in another), with Northbrook, Ill. Xpress Video Productions and their writer/director Patrick De Nicola, who reportedly trained with Chicago’s famed comedy crew Second City. (Average reported cost for such a project? $4,000).
“Brody is not judgmental and doesn’t mind what people say or think of him either as long as he’s happy with himself,” says Ali. “We wanted to let him embrace that. He’s such a unique kid and has always danced to his own beat ever since he was little. I mean, I look up to him. He’s amazing.”
Internet fame hasn’t gone to the boy’s head either. “He likes all the attention from the video,” she adds. “But in another way he’s indifferent too. It’s a good mix. He’s mainly just concerned about his plans for the weekend.”
Don’t expect these parodies to run in the family. Brody’s little sister Simone makes a cameo in the video – along with Ali, dad Jesse and brother Jared, 14 – but their mom says there is no chance the 10-year-old will top it in a sequel of her own when it’s time for her Bat Mitzvah. (Jared, for the record, has zero interest in his own skit. “We barely got him to walk in front of the camera,” says Ali). “I don’t think that we could ever come up with something more,” she adds. “Plus honestly, I don’t have the wherewithal to do it again. This was a once in a lifetime thing.”
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