Robert Brink - Writer

Flick: Toy Machine's Lurk Fest

July 7, 2008 | Skip To The Comments (0)

Flick: Toy Machine’s Lurk Fest
By Rob Brink
The Skateboard Mag June 2008

So I guess Nick Trapasso is the hot shit these days. He can make even the biggest tour video haters actually like a tour video because he’s in it. And we all know tour videos are total throwaway footage, right? That’s why they are free! No, it’s true. I read it on the message boards.

This new Toy Machine tour video, Lurk Fest, is hereby proclaimed officially cool and acceptable in the skateboarding industry. Ed, Turtle Boy and crew can totally rest easy tonight, knowing they got the stamp of approval from some of the most intelligent, all-knowing finger-on-the-pulse and important aliased people in skateboarding.

So now you have to go get it. Then, shortly after, you’ll feel a strange magnetic pull towards the Toy Machine decks on the wall at the skate shop. That’s just how it works. And after you buy one, grip it, set it up and stand on it, you’ll feel this strange sensation working it’s way from your feet up to your head. It’s called “total coolness.” Because you’re riding the same board the pros in the video ride. And you just might actually get better and learn new tricks or gain more social acceptance in certain circles because of it. Or at least you think you will.

I like that thing Trapasso does with his body after he lands a trick (or bails one for that matter). You know the thing I mean. The nonchalant bounce-up, “I don’t give a fuck and coulda’ landed it better” dazed and confused springy motion thing. Where his hair flies all over and his neck snaps back and stuff. That’s pretty rad. It must be, because I already see kids all over the place copying it. How you going to copy someone’s style? Really. What’s that all about? Go make your own, kid. When you are done writing your trick list for your next sponsor-me tape, brainstorm yourself a non-ABD style.

A few months ago there was all this footage on YouTube of Billy Marks playing with ping-pong balls. It’s pretty tight. Some more of this footage is in Lurk Fest. Billy should be careful that his zany ping-pong antics don’t overshadow his skating. He’s pretty good at both. I often wonder how many tries those ping-pong bangers take. I wonder if because they are in a tour video, if they are any less relevant? Like, because it’s an artificial setup, not natural terrain, does this discount the difficulty, laws of physics and bewildering randomness it takes to pull off one of these maneuvers?

Oh, and the subliminal messages. They made me laugh. I like laughing. Laughing is pretty cool. A lot of skate companies try to be funny, but Toy Machine’s always been, ya dig? I even rewound the messages so I could watch them again and laugh some more. Did you know there are healing qualities to laughter? No, really. Ping-pong balls, bouncy styles, laughter… Lurk Fest.