Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers (born November 13, 1967) is an American dancer and actor, known for his role as "Turbo" in the 1984 film Breakin' and its sequel, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, in which he is credited as "Boogaloo Shrimp". Chambers, along with his Breakin' series co-star Adolfo "Shabba Doo" Quiñones and other dancers from the films, were prominently featured in the music videos for Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" (1983) and Chaka Khan's "I Feel for You" (1984).
Early life Chambers, born in Wilmington, California, is the youngest of four. In 1978, while at junior high, Chambers saw a member of the Samoan American dance group Blue City Strutters perform. The group would influence Chambers' style by performing King Tut and domino routines.Higa, B. & Wiggins, C. (1996) "Electric Kingdom" The history of popping and locking, from the people who made it happen. Rap Pages. Sep. 1996: 52-67. Print. Initially, he formulated his style of dance through his interest in fantasy and sci-fi television shows, including the work of Ray Harryhausen and others. He credits his older brother with introducing him to the "moonwalk".
While still a teenager, Chambers' older brother would take him to Redondo Beach, California, where he would perform for money. Chambers' sister gave him a jacket that read "Mike a.k.a. Boogaloo Shrimp", his street dancing name. Chambers would meet Bruno "Pop N Taco" Falcon and Timothy "Popin' Pete". Both would later be featured in the Breakin' series.
Career
Chambers' early stints were through television commercials, followed by an appearance in the music video for Lionel Richie's "All Night Long". He made appearances in the videos for Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You", Richard Marx' "Children of the Night", Stacey Q's "Give You All My Love" and Paula Abdul's "Opposites Attract", where he played the character MC Skat Kat and was an assistant choreographer. In 1985, he co-starred in "Stop the Madness", an anti-drug music video sponsored by the Reagan administration. He also appeared in such films as Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)—as a dancing robot—Naked Gun : The Final Insult (1994) and Dudley Do-Right (1999). He also appeared as Urkel-Bot in two episodes of the television show Family Matters: "Robo-Nerd" and "Robo-Nerd II". Chambers auditioned for New Monkees and advanced to the final round of auditions, but was ultimately not chosen.
Chambers was the announcer on the children's show Fun House from 1990 to 1991. He also appeared in Sugar Ray's 1997 video for the song "Fly" and break danced in the video.
Chambers has been invited as a speaker several times to USC's Thorton School of Music. He has also spoken at Santa Monica College, the University of Redlands, and gave a surprise visit to Spelman College in Georgia, U.S.
In 2014, Chambers was in talks to do a second sequel to the Breakin franchise. As of 2020, Chambers is set to release a website, as well as music and YouTube pages, featuring his original footage from his early career.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1983Breakin' 'N' EnterinSelfas Michael 'Boogaloo Shrimp' Chambers 1984 Breakin' Turbo / Tony as Michael 'Boogaloo Shrimp' Chambers 1984 Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo Turbo as Michael 'Boogaloo Shrimp' Chambers 1991 Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey Good Robot Bill as Michael 'Shrimp' Chambers 1994 Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult Dancer 1999 Dudley Do-Right Dancer 2018 Groove Street Shrimp Television Year Title Role Notes1990-1991 Fun House Announcer 1991–1994 Family Matters Urkelbot / Emile 4 episodes Music videos Year Title Role Notes 1983 Lionel Richie: All Night Long (All Night) Break Dancer 1984 Chaka Khan: I Feel for You Michael Chambers 1986 Stop the Madness Michael Chambers 1989 Paula Abdul: Knocked Out - Version 2 Skeleton Dancer Uncredited 1989 Opposites Attract MC Skat Kat Choreographer, uncredited
References
External links Official website
Comprehensive Interview with Michael Chambers, 17 parts on YouTube Cast biography from Breakin'