Page 1 of 1

Pen tricks

PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 6:34 pm
by Warrior4Christ
Can anyone else do them?

I can only do the basic 'spin pen around thumb' thing (see video (500KB)). In first year uni I saw people doing fancy things with their pens, so I tried it. Once I got the hang of it, I could almost immediately do it on my left hand as well. I've seen people spin it around like I have, but immediately spin it back in reverse, which I'm trying to work on now...

PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 6:43 pm
by Lynx
that's amazing! lol. i can juggle, so i've tried to juggle pens before... it was a challenge! that's about it as far as tricks tho.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 7:04 pm
by Mr. SmartyPants
I need to learn this!

How do you do this??? Teach me!

PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 7:10 pm
by TurkishMonky
i can, um, write... does that count?

*hides in a corner and writes his abcs in a sloopy, barely legible script*

lol jk

that's awesome!

PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 7:36 pm
by Mr. SmartyPants
I can twirl a pen/pencil/chopstick/marker/small slender cylinder object between my fingers

PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 8:00 pm
by Tringard
Warrior4Christ wrote:Can anyone else do them?

I can only do the basic 'spin pen around thumb' thing (see video (500KB)). In first year uni I saw people doing fancy things with their pens, so I tried it. Once I got the hang of it, I could almost immediately do it on my left hand as well. I've seen people spin it around like I have, but immediately spin it back in reverse, which I'm trying to work on now...

I can do the pen trick in the video, but oddly only with my left hand even though I'm right handed. But was never able to get beyond that. I tried for awhile to twirl it back the other way, but that got to be a good way to lose pens ;), so I gave up learning more.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 8:12 pm
by The Last Bard
Okay, I tried the one in the video, but no matter what I do, all I manage to do is nearly poke my eye out. o.O

PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:34 pm
by soul alive
I could never pull off the pen flip, but when I was in speech and debate, the debators made it a point to learn all the fancy pen flips they could. The best I saw was a guy who could make the pen spin all along the curve of his thumb and forefinger, and then back again. 'Twas amazing.

PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 12:16 pm
by Godly Paladin
Ah, pen trick masters...the heroes of youth groups and Sunday schools across the nation.

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 4:27 pm
by Mave
I do the spin-the-pen-around trick on my left hand but that's about all I can do without accidentally hurting someone.

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 4:46 pm
by glitch1501
ahh haaa, i knew this pointless bookmark would one day prove useful!

http://www.pentrix.com/videos/videolist.php

that site pretty much teaches you everything about the insane sport of pen stuff

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:26 pm
by Warrior4Christ
Why do people find spinning it around in their left hand easier?

Good link glitch! I think the Sonic Normal will be my next challenge. It even has a ThumbAround (the one I did) tutorial.

My tips:
- Be prepared to drop the pen many times. About a two thirds of you time will be spent picking the pen up. Try resting you arm on a surface like your bed, then when it spins away, it won't go too far.
- Use a long pen if possible.
- Try grasping the pen near the end of the pen when you first start trying to spin it.
- It took me about 3 months of practice to do it properly.
- If we label the thumb 'finger 1' and the little pinky finger 'finger 5', and the ones in between their respective numbers.... finger 1 should push down on the pen gently halfway between fingers 2 and 3, and finger 3 should be pushing up wanting to curl inward slightly, while finger 2 holds the pen at the very end preventing it from moving. Then when you spin it, finger 2 releases the pen (it slides out of finger 2's grasp by pushing down with finger 1), then it should spin around, and don't worry about catching it until you practiced that enough. Catching it (using finger 2) is hard and just requires a lot more practice.
- And finally, don't spin your pen around in lectures/classes until you're confident enough unless you're willing to pick it up, and/or accidentally hit people with a flying pen.

I hope that made sense.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:05 pm
by SnoringFrog
I can spin it around between my fingers (2-5) near-endlessly with my right hand, and I'm getting faster at it with my left hand, but I can't do that one in the video, I've thrown my pen every time I tried so far. I'm gonna have to practice that one so I have something new to do in study hall.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 6:25 pm
by Godly Paladin
Thanks for the link, Glitch. Danke!

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 6:44 pm
by HisaishiFan
Can't do the pen trick, but I once knew a guy who could play the William Tell Overture on his teeth. . . .