Comments on: A break from the Olympics

A break from the Olympics

five fresh fish — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:11:07 -0800

A comedic break from the Olympics. Plus a mildly amusing advertisement.

Paul Hunt was a competitive gymnast before becoming a trainer; his students must adore his antics.

By: Solon and Thanks

Solon and Thanks — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:23:05 -0800

At first I was put off by the whole "oh a man in a dress how very silly isn't it" thing, but I thought the actual routines were great. Very amusing.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:26:34 -0800

Hilarious. Thanks fff. First and fourth links are the same.

By: Brockles

Brockles — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:46:21 -0800

Kind of related* is the Video of the German girl doing the crazy things with a fixed gear bike. I'm not sure where I happened across it or why - it may even have been here - but it's worth another watch regardless. (*maybe, although nowt to do with the Olympics, so maybe not, but it reminded me of it)

By: clearly

clearly — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:54:01 -0800

This guy is great. Thanks for sharing.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:11:53 -0800

Testicle-injury humor never stops being funny to me. This is not sarcasm. I wonder how this type of routine would go over in today's society. No doubt we would "tsk tsk" the fun out of it.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:13:34 -0800

damned Opera does not reliably copy selections. The four links should have been different; please check the "related videos" sidebar for the missing link.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:14:12 -0800

The French apparently found the fun in it around 12 years ago. This guy doesn't seem to age much.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:15:50 -0800

I may have seen the gal on the bike perform at Cirque du Soleil. If not her, someone equally or better skilled.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:26:47 -0800

*wipes tears from eyes. God I loved that. Thanks for the good guffaws.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:57:10 -0800

Brilliant!

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:59:14 -0800

ok. Adding to the Olympic sillybiz: Michael Phelps swimsuit debate and OWWWwww, painfully not so funny, 20 Best Olympic Gymnastics Falls Ever, which put Paul Hunt's antics in perspective.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:01:37 -0800

*correct link for the Michael Phelps swimsuit debate

By: schyler523

schyler523 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:18:18 -0800

Where's the debate on that swimsuit Nickyskye? The top featured video on the gymnastics falls site is Martha Stewart Cake Farts... Oh and this is great fff, thank you.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:22:06 -0800

correct link for the Michael Phelps swimsuit debate What's the debate?

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:30:36 -0800

Oh ... you are likely referring to the Speedo LAZR debate:

"They've been called super-hero suits and bat suits. The coach of the Italian national swim team even called them 'technological doping.' The Speedo LZR (pronounced laser) Racer suits aren't magical, but they have raised some eyebrows in the swimming community around the world and here in Southwest Florida. Since the LZR Racer debuted in February of this year, 59 world records have been set — 54 of them by swimmers wearing the LZR Racer. When Michael Phelps goes for yet another Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly tonight, he will be wearing a version of the LZR Racer. The LZR Racers were designed with the help of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA. They use a high-tech LZR Pulse fabric that is low in friction and drag. The suits are ultrasonically welded together, meaning they have none of those pesky seams that cause resistance in the water. So, does all of this technology really make swimmers faster? 'Not really,' Gulf Coast Swim Team coach Don Henshaw said. 'I think the suit enhances the performance some, but the swimmer has to do the work in order to swim that fast.' The LZR Racers are not yet available to the public. If you want one, you can get on a waiting list at speedo80.com where the LZR Racers retail for as much as $598. At this year's USA Swimming Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb., local swimmers from GCST and Swim Florida — both Speedo-sponsored teams — got a chance to try out the LZR Racers firsthand. For a $200 deposit, local swimmers had full use of a variety of LZR suits from the full-body, so-called bat suits, to the legs-only suits that are popular with Olympic breaststrokers and butterflyers because they offer a better range of motion throughout the arms and torso. The results were mixed. Swim Florida's Amy Modglin, a three-time high school state titlist, loved the LZR Racers. 'It depends on how you swim, but in backstroke it helped me stay on top of the water and not jam my hips down as much, which is really important for going fast,' she said. Her teammate, University of Florida-bound breaststroker Robby Kennedy, disagreed. He prefers Blue Seventy swim suits, which are made from neoprene, the same buoyant material from which wet suits are crafted. Gulf Coast's Chelsea Franklin, another multiple high school state titlist, found the LZR Racer too constricting. 'I did not like it at all. I talked to some coaches and they said that if you're already on top of the water, it doesn't really do anything for you. I felt claustrophobic in it,' she said. All three swimmers agreed that the LZR Racer is more of a psychological boost than a physical one. And with such a hefty price tag for a suit that will only last for about 10 swims, it's hardly a frugal purchase. 'I think everyone should go back to the old suits that Janet Evans used to wear,' Franklin said. 'It's not fair that they can go out and break her records when it's not necessarily an equal field. I'm all for technology, but you have to keep it fair.'"

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:53:55 -0800

ericb, the fun of that link is that Michael Phelps had partly taken off his swimsuit and left it so low, it's almost falling off him and each additional photo the swimsuit seems lower and lower, while he's making these screaming faces. It just seemed funny to me and in keeping with the Olympic humor theme of this post. Sorry what I thought was funny has obviously flopped on its face, LOL The title of the series of images is "The Michael Phelps swimsuit debate". The point of that link in relation to this post was not the debate but the silliness of the photographs taken at the Olympics.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:55:41 -0800

Unless they make the swimmer swim nude (but shaven), I can't see that wearing swimsuit X instead of swimsuit Y or Z is any different than using a particularly professional racquet, bicycle, luge, or hand cream. They're a tool of the sport. Of course they're going to improve and the limits of the sports rules pushed to the limit. One would hardly fault a Tour de France rider for using carbon-spoked rims; or a skier for prefering Atomic skiis; or a rally driver choosing a Subaru. More naked Olympic sports, that's what we need.

By: Dumsnill

Dumsnill — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:05:52 -0800

More naked Olympic sports, that's what we need. Indeed. Women's beach volleyball is the only sport that comes close to the true olympic spirit.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:30:29 -0800

I don't think I ever knew about this Paul Hunt character before, so thanks FiveFreshFish! Wow. There isn't a "Paul_Hunt_(gymnast)" page at WikiPedia. That's rather odd. I'm also having difficulty finding anything about him elsewhere. I agree that at first it looked like a joke in bad taste to have a grown man pretending to be a little girl gymnast, but then he gets up on the bars and the beam and does the floor dance and actually has the talent and experience to pull it off successfully. Like Dick Van Dyke or Chevy Chase in their prime when it came to pratfalls, you have to be really amazingly good to look that bad.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:00:26 -0800

Omg. This guy is incredible. The splits underneath the beam made me gape.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:02:17 -0800

it's almost falling off him and each additional photo the swimsuit seems lower and lower Not fucking low enough, goddammit.

By: bjrn

bjrn — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:31:39 -0800

When that first video started I was fearing the worst (some kind of stupid clown routine), but that guy's good. Thanks for posting this!

By: Drexen

Drexen — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 07:44:18 -0800

The splits underneath the beam made me gape. They probably made him gape as well. /going to hell

By: desuetude

desuetude — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 08:57:54 -0800

Not fucking low enough, goddammit. Agreed.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:53:39 -0800

This just in: China's Gold Medals Found to Have High Lead Content. And in other news, chinese women gymnasts discover not all boys have cooties.

By: Mike1024

Mike1024 — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:38:03 -0800

I can't see that wearing swimsuit X instead of swimsuit Y or Z is any different than using a particularly professional racquet, bicycle, luge, or hand cream. They're a tool of the sport. Perhaps, but sports are inherently about achievements within the arbitrary constraints which make up the rules. Plenty of tools are regulated by the rules of the sport. You can't wear flippers or webbed gloves in the pool, you can't use a moped on the tour de france, and you aren't supposed to take prohibited performance enhancing drugs. There is debate as to whether amputees' artificial limbs should be allowed. Personally I see prohibiting or standardising on certain swimwear materials as consistent with this - so we could do it, whether or not we should is another matter.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:59:17 -0800

I deny having any involvement in this.

By: bluefly

bluefly — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:34:17 -0800

Oh that was so cute. I've never seen anything like it before. Do they have "fun" acts in between events at the Olympics nowadays? Or is it all serious world unity, cross-cultural experiences, friendly competition all the time? Also, I agree with whomever said he must be a pretty good gymnast to be so funny at it. He's like a Harlem Globetrotter.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:55:07 -0800

Interesting; I missed this the first time it came around, but someone mentioned this guy's videos to me in person this past weekend, and suggested I look them up (although he couldn't remember the comedy gymnast's name). When I saw the links in the other Olympics thread today, I figured it had to be Paul Hunt, and then I saw there was an entire MeFi thread about him. Thanks!

By: ericb

ericb — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:03:29 -0800

Do they have "fun" acts in between events at the Olympics nowadays? Paul Hunts' performances were not at the Olympics, but as comedic breaks during various televised gymnastic events.