Tom Penny

[natenola forever]

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Such an odd fellow... Here's a guy who supposedly is so out there that he needs a minder to travel with him, yet is able to become fluent in new languages after being in the country for less than a year. The language thing brought to mind something that bespectacled dude was saying about Penny's line, the way he coasts along without pushing or speeding checking. It's like he becomes a part of his environment, on and off the skateboard. Paradoxically, by merging with his environment he stands out more than those who stand in opposition to their environment.

Seems like his mental health is kind of an elephant in the room, understandably. But it's hard to not be nosy. I can't help but wonder if it's a substance dependency thing or something psychiatric...

[close]

As a self proclaimed Penny Scholar, I'd say he had a talent and a proclivity towards mind altering substances and when done in the right combination brilliant things can happen.  It has been said that the big boulder canyon jump really hurt him, and I think that doesn't get mentioned enough.  Dude got injured so he can't skate like he used to, but he still progressed his tricks in a new relaxed style.

People bash Penny because his style changed, but what the fuck do you expect from a dude that went that hard?!  To me, his style improved because he has become so relaxed it looks sketchy.

We loved Tom Penny because he was so relaxed, so isn't it a proper progression that he now looks overly lazy?  He doesn't give a fuck.

I think part of style issue has to do with those dudes that are super overly talented and kinda Stoney, they roll away from a lot of things that shouldn't have worked and the same mellowness that makes them look amazing also makes them look sloppy at times cuz they don't focus on correcting the trick they just roll with whatever happens. Also there may just be a lot less quality control with Toms footage coming out, ever since he became this mythical person everyone is feinting for footage of him, there could tons of tricks of normal pros that would never see the light of day, but every tom penny clip gets blown out. Lastly being that he drinks a lot and is older he could be filming a lot with that post drinking day stiffness, anyone that is over 30 and gets wasted regularly should know what I'm talking about.

[tura]

The canyon jump is another beautiful part of the Penny mythology. From what I understand it was at like 4AM by Salvidor Dali's house when he was about to catch a flight for some kind of Flip tour.

I love this because others might prepare for a trip with dinner, a few stretches, and a good night's sleep, while Tom Penny is at Dali's house jumping around on rocks

[TheVisitor]

Damn, The Tom Penny movie was sick.

[OldieButFrenchie]

so he injured his ankle not skating? I didnt know but that's not surprising for some reason...

here's some footage from that Paris demo I talked about. magic carpet stuff basically.



that year actually holds a special place in my heart, cause that's when the Eiffel tower banks stayed empty for 6 to 9 months. Best times of my skating life! And the day that demo happened was the day we learned the banks were empty. I remember going straight there after the demo. Actually Penny does a fs kickflip there in the Rad Rat vid, at 9'56.

[stephop]

I remember quitting skating for a few years when I went to college. So I had a gap between like Virtual Reality to 411 Penny. I had never seen 411's but my buddy gave me some to watch to get me back skating and said he was the best. I specifically remember TSA ads and him doing flip tricks over big rails and he looked asleep. I definitely was like WTF

[Betaphenylethylalamine]

It's all speculation, but I've skated with Tom 3 times(forever grateful). But when I skated with him it was just a tad of booze and or weed, not alot.

I'm not saying he didn't get into other shit cause I honestly don't know, but I'd say an injury/age plays the part the most.

I've said it on here numerous times, as dumb as this sounds, in his prime he was WAAAAY fucking better than what was documented. Penny did hardflips like Herman 20 years ago.

Travis stenger was alot like penny(although not nearly as good) he would just sit for an hour or two, get up and withing 5 minutes you were witnessing pure magic on a skateboard.

Not to bring stenger into it, but I knew him. Pretty sure they both have some mental issues, like possibly social anxiety? Both were really self conscious and seemed to use drugs/alcohol to separate the mind from the crowd. Mike Carroll is the same too. Like they know the spotlight is on them and it's too much. But all accounts of penny seems like he had zero clue the spotlight was on him, that's complete bullshit.