The first time I saw Richard Angelides was in the Transworld video First Love (above). I didn't quite know who he was at the time, but I was definitely enjoyed watching him skate. His ability to skate switch caught me off guard with this part. Since I was not fully developed in my skate video watching capabilities yet, I legitimately couldn't tell which stance he was at the time. A switch backside 360 did not make any sense to me when I saw this so I was convinced that his trick at 2:13 forced him to be regular. But then I felt more contradictions with his next trick, the cab flip switch manny 180 down the bank he actually has a bunch of tricks on too. Later looking back on his older parts (as I learned how to tell a guy's stance), I finally grasped that Richard was just a king at skating switch. His part in Hiatus contains a nice mix of switch and regular skating and that OG mongo push the worked so well with that era of skateboarding as everyone was just having fun with their newfound variety of fliptricks. His part in Expedition One - Alone continued Richard's switch mastery and big bag of tricks. Without a doubt, Richard Angelides has one of the best switch varial heels in the game; see 0:37 for proof. I thought that this part was a well thought-out improvement with new clever lines and a mixture of fliptricks and grinds off of his last part. Upgrading from a switch heel at the schoolyard block set to a nollie back heel between the two parts for his respective enders was a nice touch. Not to mention a switch backside flip in First Love that is quite beautiful. But what officially sold me on this guy was his short but effective few clips in Expedition's Madness. The first trick alone, nollie front heel fakie manny fakie FS 360 shove out, got me incredibly stoked because I somehow learned fakie frontside 360 shove its and had never seen one (or at least noticed one) in a video before this. I was sold from this already, especially considering that that is a really sweet manny trick when you think about it, but then he continues with his appealing lanky style. The nollie bigger flip switch manny at the brick manny pad (that he could probably claim his own by now) was great because that trick is still nuts and I don't think I've seen it outside a game of skate other than here. And his last trick, the nollie fs big spin 360 over the hip, will always stick out for me because shove-itting and spinning in that direction with a trick like that just seems so awkward. Definitely one of my top under 30 second parts out there.
Even though Richard Angelides skates switch quite a lot, I don't seem to get tired of it. There's something about his style and trick selection that keeps me wanting more. So for not coming out with anything since that mini Madness part, I would really like to see another solid collection of clips (if not a full part) from this guy.
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