Hailing from Southern California comes one of the most lively and daring barbershop quartets, The New Fangled Four. Sharing their four-part harmonies in borderline irreverent takes on classics, the group travels the world.
The young men founded their quartet in 2012, and they regularly compete in barbershop quartet competitions. The group combines slapstick humor with incredible singing.
In this video, The Newfangled Four sings an original arrangement of the song “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from “Mary Poppins.” The quartet’s version was arranged by Anthony Bartholomew.
The song is from the beloved children’s movie that’s all about a made-up word that you say when you don’t know what to say. In “Mary Poppins,” people say it when they want to express their love for others or their complaints, but they can’t find the words.
The New Fangled Four infuses their version with references to historical figures like Gandhi. They speculate that the monk had halitosis.
Toward the end of the song, the group asks the audience to try to say the notoriously hard word. Leaving just enough time for the audience to respond with their perfectly sung “Supercalifraglisticexpialidcious,” it felt like a call and response tune.
Then the singers ask the judges to do the same. However, the crowd laughs, unsure if the judges will agree to join in the fun. The New Fangled Four must’ve been skeptical of the judges’ response as well. They didn’t leave enough time for the judges to sing and said they blew it, which only delighted the audience more.
Though the group focuses a lot on the humor of their musical skit, the technicality of the arrangement shouldn’t be overlooked. These guys can really sing and are authentic entertainers.
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