Over the past few months, watching people pull off intricate and seemingly impossible trickshots has become my most reliable source of joy on social media. It’s not just the feats itself, but also the particular rhythm they move to—a fail-fail-fail-fail-WHAT cadence that delivers a real sense of satisfaction. For The Guardian, Richard profiles some of the niche’s luminaries; consider the story a fascinating off-ramp from doomscrolling.
These are, however, “super-strange skills”, as David Hulett puts it. Over the hours of practice, you do become incrementally better at, say, tossing ping-pong balls so they play a tune on a series of carefully arranged pans, or dropping paper from a stepladder into a shredder. It was David who had the crucial insight that a small crease across the paper will attenuate the curve of the parabola on its descent, resulting in a greater probability of it sailing into the waiting shredder. Just as Dick Fosbury’s flop at the 1968 Olympics changed the entire discipline of high-jumping, so a trickshooter can alter the history of their sport in a single afternoon.
More #lightreads from The Guardian
‘The Eels Were Climbing Out of the Water to Die ’: Why Did Every Fish in This Idyllic Lake Perish Overnight?
“Furnace Brook in East Sussex was home to carp, tench, bream, roach and trout—and 15 trailer-loads had to be buried.”
A Tale of Two Trap Houses: Being Cuckooed Ruined My Friend’s Life—But Did It Then Help Save Him?
“Drug gangs have moved off Britain’s streets and into vulnerable people’s homes. Addicts like my friend are easy targets, but the reality can be more complicated than it seems.”
The Extraordinary Untold Story of Freddie Mercury: Mary Austin on Her Best Friend–and Love of Her Life
“He was Queen’s flamboyant frontman. She was his shy girlfriend, dreaming of marriage until they both realised he preferred men.”
The Children Who Loved a Killer
“The Carr family took in Steven Judy, hoping to ‘save’ a troubled teen. They didn’t know he would become one of the most hated men in America.”
What Training My Chaotic Dog Taught Me About Power, Control – and Human Beings
“Our lovable yet unruly boxer Dusty forced me to wonder: if a dog has no morals, how do you teach it to be ‘good’?”
It Was Britain’s Most Expensive House. Why is its Only Resident a Homeless Man Who Lives on the Porch?
“With many people desperate for secure housing, what does the abandonment of this palace tell us about the UK?”
