May 13, 2002

9:34 PM

Bored at work? Need a new hobby? Want to impress others with your skillful, delicate hands? Try some pen spinning. Here's a site dedicated to nothing but the art of the spin. There are even videos. Idle hands are the devil's playground.
posted by ColdChef (26 comments total)

rad!
posted by muppetboy at 9:46 PM on May 13, 2002

This is, by any standard, one of the most useful and entertaining sites I have ever seen. Thank you thank you thank you thank you.

During one particularly dismally dull period at a prior job, the acoustic tiles above my desk developed some bad perforations. If only I had known then how to keep the pens within grasp!
posted by yhbc at 9:50 PM on May 13, 2002

Pen spinning was so intimidating to me as a novice debater in high school. (Ok, so was a well-tied tie, but...)
posted by lbergstr at 10:00 PM on May 13, 2002

You really are obsessed with office supplies!

Pen spinning is awesome - I can throw terms like "air spin" and "continuous combo" and "fake triple normal" around - everyone will think I'm some kind of elite Xtreme athlete.
posted by iconomy at 10:03 PM on May 13, 2002

I hate to make stereotypes, but a few years back I stepped into a class I noticed five or six people across the room spinning pens, and they were all asian males, weird huh.
posted by bobo123 at 10:06 PM on May 13, 2002

You really are obsessed with office supplies!

Ike, you have found my weakness. Coming soon: "Advanced Rubberband Warfare Techniques."

What really got me about this penspinning website is that I kept waiting for the punchline. I looked around and around for a crack in the facade. It was only after about twenty minutes that I realized that no irony was intended. It was a website intended to teach people to spin pens. Simple as that. People constantly amaze me.
posted by ColdChef at 10:08 PM on May 13, 2002

NO!
How am I supposed to spot(and avoid) all those people who were in high school debate team now?
Damnit.
posted by Su at 10:13 PM on May 13, 2002

I mastered the 360 normal in high school, but damnit if that devil's spin won't keep my hands busy for the next week.
posted by eyeballkid at 10:16 PM on May 13, 2002

Pen spinning is responsible for too many pen casualties for this sport to be taken lightly - at least with fountain pens. Strictly for Bics.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:22 PM on May 13, 2002

The videos wouldn't play for me (quicktime plugin on Mac OSX) ...anyone got any tips?
posted by bradlauster at 10:24 PM on May 13, 2002

Pen spinning is also the gateway drug to drumstick spinning.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 10:33 PM on May 13, 2002

I must admit I didn't find the instructions too useful: "Step 4 -- don't let the pen fall." Ah, ok.

I'll stick to my devil sticks.
posted by muckster at 10:38 PM on May 13, 2002

And we all know what that leads to.
posted by iconomy at 10:38 PM on May 13, 2002

I can do the 360 degree normal, like a champion, i'm happy with that.
posted by Zool at 11:33 PM on May 13, 2002

I still haven't mastered this since high-school. Nice to see that there's a thorough site about it online, though.

(I also noticed the Asian guy connection... inherently talented, or just coincidence?)
posted by Down10 at 11:47 PM on May 13, 2002

I'll throw my hat into the Asian pen-spinning ring -- it always seems that Asian dudes are the unbelievable at pen spinning.

Craziness!
posted by josh at 12:07 AM on May 14, 2002

I was on the debate team my freshman year of high school. The team ceased to exist after that year, but I did learn to spin a mean pen.
posted by SisterHavana at 7:18 AM on May 14, 2002

A bunch of people in thread have mentioned high school debate. I was never in debate, but I did see some of the debaters in one of my classes spinning their pens. Of course I was so facinated and frustrated that I imediately went out and learned to do it myself (and now I find that in meetings, I. Just. Can't. Stop!).

So for those of us that weren't in debate, what gives? Do they teach this as a tactic or is it some kind of masonic handshake or what?
posted by willnot at 7:33 AM on May 14, 2002

Office supplies are a true fetish. Great find. And, why is it that I like the supplies much, much more than actually using them for work? Wierd.
posted by adampsyche at 7:44 AM on May 14, 2002

Two things I learned from debate:

1. How to bs your way through an unprepared speech and win.
2. The art of the pen spin.
posted by modularette at 9:18 AM on May 14, 2002

So stupid. So wonderful.
posted by Dirjy at 10:12 AM on May 14, 2002

It’s so difficult, I can’t do any of them.
posted by john_son at 4:48 PM on May 14, 2002

I can spin pens like a mother, but only with a Pentel RSVP...

They're just weighted perfectly!
posted by esch at 5:26 PM on May 14, 2002

I can spin pens like a mother, but only with a Pentel RSVP...

They're just weighted perfectly!
posted by esch at 5:29 PM on May 14, 2002

Check out Micro Juggling for tips on pencil, coin, and card manipulation.
posted by shinybeast at 5:53 PM on May 14, 2002

Pen spinning is responsible for too many pen casualties for this sport to be taken lightly - at least with fountain pens.

Yeah, it's always fun till somebody loses an eye.
posted by diddlegnome at 12:12 AM on May 15, 2002