When I was 12 I met Penny at my local park. He was so nice and down to earth . He backside flipped this crazy gap and then went and high fives all the kids, last dude to get in the van signing autographs and giving all his stuff away. I hadn’t learned kickflips yet and showed me how he pointed his toes. At the time I didn’t even know who he was, wasn’t til years later I learned like whoa Tom penny told me how does kickflips.
I ran into Tom Penny in the bathroom at the Van's Skatepark in Colorado. I was passing, look over, and there he is, doing the same. We caught eyes amd he said "what's up"? I asked him if he was gonna skate and he replied "nah, my legs hurt too much today. Too many demos. " while kinda softly bouncing up and down. 10 minutes later he's curising the park, with what seemed like 0 effort for him, landing absolutely everything he tried.
I met Tom Penny in Bondi, Sydney while on a filming mission with a friend who was also sponsored by flip at the time. We were out the front of their hotel waiting for someone and then David Bowie's Space Oddity came on the outside restaurant speaker and he said 'Oh not this f'ing song again' and covered his ears and paced around. Everybody that was there was cracking up. "Ground control to major Tom".
Penny's still my all time favorite.. his Radland days embody skating in its purest form.. lol his look then.. pre-ghetto lol, his style, trick selection, and demeanor back then.. long hair, sweatshirt, baggie pants, head down hah It was 95 and yet it felt like he was the first person meant to be on a board
@collie27 arguably one of the most naturally gifted skaters ever, Tom and Geoff to people like me are what I imagine Tony and the Bones Brigade lot are like to Cali kids from that time lol, absolute legends
Have to admit that is one hell of Penny story/photo, all those years later and he still has the magic. Great photo by Arto as well, glad to see him doing excelling in his post-skate career.
I remember going to Germany in 92, to the munster world championship. Outside venue was crappy street obstacles and a good size mini, or midi. On it i see Tom. Im from Britain so already knew how good he was. At that time he was probably the best mini ramp skater u had ever seen. All the others on the ramp didnt have a clue what was about to happen. He absolutely annihilated the ramp with long runs of the hardest tricks. The faces on the other skaters was classic. Here was a kid, still quite young and small at this point, in massive new deal jeans, huge t shirt, already skating at a level most hadn't witnessed. U could see the confused faces of skaters trying to work out which pro this little kid might have been. There is some footage of Tom skating a mini from right around this time in 92. Dressed in New Deal jeans and Adidas gazelles. All the latest tricks, back to back. I had skated with good skaters on mini at this time including chet Thomas, Frank Hirata, Alan peterson, and they were great skaters, but Tom was something else.
Great story! I'd have loved to of witnessed that, or any other Tom Penny in real life. In recent years I've spent a lot of time living in Münster because my gf is from there. They have a strong skate scene and brilliant skaters. Great atmosphere and vibe in the city too.
I was part of that session in Munster bro..! A load of pros also sacked off their tour busses and came with us on the train to Amsterdam the same year.. Coffeeshop 36 with Chet Thomas, Frank Hirata, Tony Hawk, Penny, Matt Hoffman, Denis McCoy, Mad Snoz and Me... Sick times.. Thanks for the reminder . It might have even been the year where me and Snoz kidnapped Penny and took him to Europe - He wasn't old enough to travel on his own so Snoz signed as his legal guardian .. the rest is history.
Got one . When I use to live in Cannes France Tom Came through and skate with us to that plaza by the beach at that time he was wearing does jeans cargo pants and brand new Es Koston one so this was probably 96 or 97 and we speak French because Tom also speak French, anyway Tom was having a full on left ankle roll like green dark blue and he was skating only switch practicing 360 flip and others switch tricks only and he also switch Ollie a 3 flat 4 stairs gap . Crazy awesome day and I also skate with him and Geoff at the Dome in Paris during there 411 industry flip tour . Great and unforgettable time and memories
Greatest skater of all time. Been sharing Penny clips for last few years. Kinda feels like the world is finally catching up. So good. Hard to watch others skate
Skated with Tom a couple times in Oxford a mutual friend introduced me to him we smoked a lil skated alot glad I got to share a j with him before I gave it up aha what a guy man ❤
My friends and I skated with Tom a few times at the SS20 ramps in Oxford. I remember it took him three tries to learn preasure flip to bluntslide on the ramp. This was in the mid 90s. He blew everyones mind. He must have about 14 at the time.
Geoff Rowley and Tom Penny have ALWAYS been my two favourites, and I'm always a little surprised when I notice everyone else also reveres them and gives them mythical status, I mean it is cool but always felt like a personal thing, lol. No one has more swag than Penny, no one is more gnar than Rowley... (if there are new people I don't want to know about them).
I saw tom penny skate bay66 skatepark when it used to be playstation skatepark. I was about 16, he was on the mini ramp skating with Mike manzoori, he boosted a giant alley-oop fs air in front of us that swept like 6 ft across the mini, boosted to fuck. he looked high as fuuuuuuck lol, legend
I knew the es rep in Calgary. He did a van tour with Penny for 5 days. Some footy from it in ghetto child comercial. Anyway he told me he didn't see Tom eat or shower or brush his teeth or change his clothes the whole trip. All he did was smoke, drink and occastionally jump on his skateboard.
I mean yeah, ive never thought about it before, but theres only a few guys who have crazy stories. Its like MJ or Larry Bird and the stories other basketball players talk about
I was visiting my grandparents in Washington and my friend from math class told me Flip was in town for a demo. We all ran there after school. Everyone was there Ali, Geoff, everyone but i couldnt see Tom. The demo started and i kind of got distracted by the crazy tricks when all of a sudden, i see a figure galloping in the distance. It was tom riding a sasquatch into the demo. They both did frontside flips. The end.
I guess it's one of those things where now his style and his tricks don't seem unique, but at the time they were. I don't think it translates if you weren't blown away at the time
When I was 13 i met tom penny at my local skatepark but he wasn't skating he was just standing around smoking with his big clothes doing poses for photographers that weren't there. He didnt even have a skateboard he was just standing around being a black guy. Or his version of what he thinks a black man is. We went over and said hi and he just turned his head up and stared down on us like he was a rap album cover and after like 60 seconds of awkward silence we just slowly backed away and got the eff out of there. Legend has it he is still out there nite and day cold or dry just posing with his head up and eyes down as if a rap album cover is about to be taken. Like everybody else - we never saw him skate.
guys don't get upset w me becuz tom penny hasn't got better or learned any new tricks in the last 25 years because he is so preoccupied with his image and being an urban american black man even though he was a nice little british kid when he started
He's a good skater and I'm not trying to hate but I was dipped out of skateboarding while he was blowing up and since I wasn't part of the energy at the time I just don't get it now. He's a good skater. I'm sure he got some big NBD's. But I've seen people compare him to Gonz....I really don't get it
It's the way he looks on the board with and without doing tricks. He's so natural; the roll up, the pop, the catch, the landing and the roll away is all incredible to watch; it's grace and elegance on a skateboard. He's one of those dudes who just ollie off a ramp or flow through a park and it looks so goo that you never want to stop watching even if you're not a skater....so many skateboarders just aren't like that.
There’s some footage out there from back in the 90s that even today still baffle some of the greatest of all time. There’s a clip of him doing a frontside flip into a really steep quarter pipe come back and do a nose blunt. He’s got lightning quick feet. He really just kinda looks like god put him on earth to skate. He flows in a supernatural way.
When I was 12 I met Penny at my local park. He was so nice and down to earth . He backside flipped this crazy gap and then went and high fives all the kids, last dude to get in the van signing autographs and giving all his stuff away. I hadn’t learned kickflips yet and showed me how he pointed his toes. At the time I didn’t even know who he was, wasn’t til years later I learned like whoa Tom penny told me how does kickflips.
legendary
I read “painted his toes” and was mind blown for a sec 😂
I ran into Tom Penny in the bathroom at the Van's Skatepark in Colorado. I was passing, look over, and there he is, doing the same. We caught eyes amd he said "what's up"? I asked him if he was gonna skate and he replied "nah, my legs hurt too much today. Too many demos. " while kinda softly bouncing up and down. 10 minutes later he's curising the park, with what seemed like 0 effort for him, landing absolutely everything he tried.
"Arto! Arto wake up! Let's go skate man!" - Tom Penny
I met Tom Penny in Bondi, Sydney while on a filming mission with a friend who was also sponsored by flip at the time. We were out the front of their hotel waiting for someone and then David Bowie's Space Oddity came on the outside restaurant speaker and he said 'Oh not this f'ing song again' and covered his ears and paced around. Everybody that was there was cracking up. "Ground control to major Tom".
Penny's still my all time favorite.. his Radland days embody skating in its purest form.. lol his look then.. pre-ghetto lol, his style, trick selection, and demeanor back then.. long hair, sweatshirt, baggie pants, head down hah
It was 95 and yet it felt like he was the first person meant to be on a board
I live near where Tom grew up, the stories of the shit he use to do at the local parks round here are like mythological lol
He used to come to our ramp in Wendover when he was about 10 and was scary already
@collie27 arguably one of the most naturally gifted skaters ever, Tom and Geoff to people like me are what I imagine Tony and the Bones Brigade lot are like to Cali kids from that time lol, absolute legends
@@UKBrownsNFLI’d say he’s inarguably one of the most gifted skaters, and somewhat arguably the most.
Have to admit that is one hell of Penny story/photo, all those years later and he still has the magic. Great photo by Arto as well, glad to see him doing excelling in his post-skate career.
I remember going to Germany in 92, to the munster world championship. Outside venue was crappy street obstacles and a good size mini, or midi. On it i see Tom. Im from Britain so already knew how good he was. At that time he was probably the best mini ramp skater u had ever seen. All the others on the ramp didnt have a clue what was about to happen. He absolutely annihilated the ramp with long runs of the hardest tricks. The faces on the other skaters was classic. Here was a kid, still quite young and small at this point, in massive new deal jeans, huge t shirt, already skating at a level most hadn't witnessed. U could see the confused faces of skaters trying to work out which pro this little kid might have been. There is some footage of Tom skating a mini from right around this time in 92. Dressed in New Deal jeans and Adidas gazelles. All the latest tricks, back to back. I had skated with good skaters on mini at this time including chet Thomas, Frank Hirata, Alan peterson, and they were great skaters, but Tom was something else.
Great story! I'd have loved to of witnessed that, or any other Tom Penny in real life. In recent years I've spent a lot of time living in Münster because my gf is from there. They have a strong skate scene and brilliant skaters. Great atmosphere and vibe in the city too.
I was part of that session in Munster bro..! A load of pros also sacked off their tour busses and came with us on the train to Amsterdam the same year.. Coffeeshop 36 with Chet Thomas, Frank Hirata, Tony Hawk, Penny, Matt Hoffman, Denis McCoy, Mad Snoz and Me... Sick times.. Thanks for the reminder . It might have even been the year where me and Snoz kidnapped Penny and took him to Europe - He wasn't old enough to travel on his own so Snoz signed as his legal guardian .. the rest is history.
@@wildsoulsrunning8526duuude its so awesome to read these stories and to see the people from the event add in their experiences I love it!
Got one . When I use to live in Cannes France Tom Came through and skate with us to that plaza by the beach at that time he was wearing does jeans cargo pants and brand new Es Koston one so this was probably 96 or 97 and we speak French because Tom also speak French, anyway Tom was having a full on left ankle roll like green dark blue and he was skating only switch practicing 360 flip and others switch tricks only and he also switch Ollie a 3 flat 4 stairs gap . Crazy awesome day and I also skate with him and Geoff at the Dome in Paris during there 411 industry flip tour . Great and unforgettable time and memories
wow thats crazy
Greatest skater of all time. Been sharing Penny clips for last few years. Kinda feels like the world is finally catching up. So good. Hard to watch others skate
Skated with Tom a couple times in Oxford a mutual friend introduced me to him we smoked a lil skated alot glad I got to share a j with him before I gave it up aha what a guy man ❤
I unfortunately do not have a magical Tom Penny story.
My friends and I skated with Tom a few times at the SS20 ramps in Oxford. I remember it took him three tries to learn preasure flip to bluntslide on the ramp. This was in the mid 90s. He blew everyones mind. He must have about 14 at the time.
Geoff Rowley and Tom Penny have ALWAYS been my two favourites, and I'm always a little surprised when I notice everyone else also reveres them and gives them mythical status, I mean it is cool but always felt like a personal thing, lol.
No one has more swag than Penny, no one is more gnar than Rowley... (if there are new people I don't want to know about them).
When I was 16 I loved Geoff Rowley ❤
Saw him at Harrow Skate Park in the early 1990s. He was popping nollie heelflips over the funbox.
Skated some Artos back in the day, fuvken loved them
Penny is always going somewhere, that his style to me. Like the kid from Rad delivering newspapers, he just kickflip shiftys off a bump to the store!
The interview stopped for Tom footages 😂
I saw tom penny skate bay66 skatepark when it used to be playstation skatepark. I was about 16, he was on the mini ramp skating with Mike manzoori, he boosted a giant alley-oop fs air in front of us that swept like 6 ft across the mini, boosted to fuck. he looked high as fuuuuuuck lol, legend
I knew the es rep in Calgary. He did a van tour with Penny for 5 days. Some footy from it in ghetto child comercial. Anyway he told me he didn't see Tom eat or shower or brush his teeth or change his clothes the whole trip. All he did was smoke, drink and occastionally jump on his skateboard.
my penny story is: i've met him a couple of times when he comes to chile, really lovely guy, genuine and laidback but i've never seen him skate
I mean yeah, ive never thought about it before, but theres only a few guys who have crazy stories. Its like MJ or Larry Bird and the stories other basketball players talk about
Does anyone know where I can purchase that Tom Penny portrait?
I would love to get this as well! help us out
Saw Tom Penny in London at Southbank .....and Radland in 1990s
Sick. Thanks, gents
So good
I was visiting my grandparents in Washington and my friend from math class told me Flip was in town for a demo. We all ran there after school. Everyone was there Ali, Geoff, everyone but i couldnt see Tom. The demo started and i kind of got distracted by the crazy tricks when all of a sudden, i see a figure galloping in the distance. It was tom riding a sasquatch into the demo. They both did frontside flips. The end.
Gustav nollie cab flipped
I don't think I've ever seen a shifty flip go fully 90 and then all the way back to straight except Tom
Dylan rieder had some insane shifty flips
I remember seeing Yuri Facchini do one, I think off a kicker that was definitely past 90
The sickest one from me is the one Wes kremer does at the same spot in BCN, he does it almost 180 then come back, SWITCH. That is craaaazy
Emerica credits - Reynolds
best shifty flip
Pretty sure, scheckler gap flipped it
Came for a story. Didn't get one.
nope.... the dave swift ones on here are great tho.. he even nails the accent.
@invertedcrown who?
ruclips.net/video/sHchjkAiT8k/видео.html@@williamgass9242
wasn't the story that they lost the footage?
"He kickflipped that thing again" isn't really a Penny story as such, but still quite cool.
I disagree. It may not be magical, as such, but it most certainly is a Tom Penny story. As such.
@@morgellon7877 Passive aggressive.
Here is mine: never met him
I guess it's one of those things where now his style and his tricks don't seem unique, but at the time they were. I don't think it translates if you weren't blown away at the time
Na bro, his style is pure, timeless. Even against today's rider, he is a natural.
When I was 13 i met tom penny at my local skatepark but he wasn't skating he was just standing around smoking with his big clothes doing poses for photographers that weren't there. He didnt even have a skateboard he was just standing around being a black guy. Or his version of what he thinks a black man is. We went over and said hi and he just turned his head up and stared down on us like he was a rap album cover and after like 60 seconds of awkward silence we just slowly backed away and got the eff out of there. Legend has it he is still out there nite and day cold or dry just posing with his head up and eyes down as if a rap album cover is about to be taken. Like everybody else - we never saw him skate.
And on next week's episode of "Things that didn't happen...."
This is a high level Karen type comment imagining delusions
Or could be a 16 year old girl based off how this was typed up
guys don't get upset w me becuz tom penny hasn't got better or learned any new tricks in the last 25 years because he is so preoccupied with his image and being an urban american black man even though he was a nice little british kid when he started
Sheckler fakie cab flipped it
When he came to my town in the 90’s he wouldn’t sign any autographs , didn’t skate the demo, and screamed at this girl for approaching him in skatebiz
Bris?
What's skatebiz? And what did he scream?
@@adrianmercato3607 yes
Maybe he was having a bad day?
Maybe he was, but it seems illegal to say any thing other than rainbows about people these days. I'm a realist.
He's a good skater and I'm not trying to hate but I was dipped out of skateboarding while he was blowing up and since I wasn't part of the energy at the time I just don't get it now. He's a good skater. I'm sure he got some big NBD's. But I've seen people compare him to Gonz....I really don't get it
It's the way he looks on the board with and without doing tricks. He's so natural; the roll up, the pop, the catch, the landing and the roll away is all incredible to watch; it's grace and elegance on a skateboard. He's one of those dudes who just ollie off a ramp or flow through a park and it looks so goo that you never want to stop watching even if you're not a skater....so many skateboarders just aren't like that.
Exactly, I see guys that do fantastic tricks but still look awkward.
You need to get your eyes checked man. Penny is dope.
There’s some footage out there from back in the 90s that even today still baffle some of the greatest of all time. There’s a clip of him doing a frontside flip into a really steep quarter pipe come back and do a nose blunt. He’s got lightning quick feet. He really just kinda looks like god put him on earth to skate. He flows in a supernatural way.
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Wer sind diese Menschen?