Calypso-Themed Parody Being Shown In Screening Line

If you travel often, you've seen the dry, government-commissioned videos that play on big monitors for those waiting in checkpoint lines. They do a reasonable job of clarifying what may or may not be carried to the gate, assuming you can stay awake.

Harriet Baskas, who writes often about airline travel in her MSNBC blog, "Overhead Bin," tells the story of Cindy Martin, director of Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell, Montana, who realized there was nothing she could do about the long lines at security. But she decided there was absolutely something she could do about those awful videos.

Martin asked a local novelty music act, The Singing Sons of Beaches, to look over the video and see if they couldn't come up with a more entertaining alternative.

Band member Steve Riddle recalls, "We took the TSA video home. And, oh my gosh, it is the most boring sort of government video we’re all used to seeing.” With help from bandmates Nick Terhaar and Greg Devlin, he says they crafted a calypso tune which incorporated all the essential points. “Things like knives, liquids, scissors, belts and shoes off, etc. We used it all. And we made it rhyme.”

TSA Spoof Video YouTube Screen Shot

In the video, which runs under two minutes in length, the trio demonstrate what not to take through checkpoints, including a chainsaw case as a carry-on, bleach and a gas can, and a bomb which looks much like something Wiley Coyote might have ordered from Acme. There's even a cameo by a real TSA screener.

The video is now alternating with the official government-produced one on screens at the airport, and Riddle says he's heard people with no plans to fly have paid to park at the airport just to go in and see it.

Baskas notes a similar - if much more polished - approach was used at McCarren International in Las Vegas, where performers including Wayne Newton, Carrot Top and The Blue Man Group appeared in a checkpoint video.

FMI: Overhead Bin on MSNBC