Jimmy Fallon gets Chris Christie to boogie on TV

It’s no secret that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is a large man. And because of his size, we don’t usually see him doing active things on TV, like hiking, biking or dancing. Which is probably why Jimmy Fallon recruited him to perform “The Evolution of Dad Dancing” on “The Tonight Show” on Thursday.

There’s a lot of competition on late-night TV, but it was only on “The Tonight Show” that you could catch a glimpse of the scandal-plagued governor performing such classic dad moves as “The Lawn Mower” and “The Three Amigos Salute.” Who would have suspected at the beginning of the year that we’d all be treated to Christie aggressively thrusting his pelvis on network TV by summer?

The bit was performed in honor of Father’s Day and can be viewed as a companion piece to the “Evolution of Mom Dancing” Fallon performed with First Lady Michelle Obama in 2013.

Other classic dance moves, at least according to the Fallon people, include the “Belt Grabber,” the “Honk the Horn” and the “I Saw This Once on Dancing With the Stars.”

Christie proved to be quite a good sport and a decent dancer, even poking fun at his own political party with the straight-laced dance, “The Republican Convention” and the much funkier “Democratic Convention.”

But things took a strange turn at the end, when Fallon attempted the “This Bridge Is Closed” dance. Apparently that was too far for Christie, who fake-stormed off the set. Only to be lured back by a Bruce Springsteen song.

Christie has denied knowledge of the controversial closing of lanes on the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, N.J. in 2013. But many political analysts say that Christie’s political career has been seriously harmed anyway.

Still, it’s interesting to see that Christie can laugh about it.

Twitter: @patrickkevinday