Video of Last Week: Lucas Puig and Stephen Khou in Something Sinister

Last week was one of the craziest weeks in terms of video parts released online, so I apologize for the late posting (almost a week late) but I finally got a concise and really gnarly group of videos of the week.

Top honors goes to one of my top favorites: Lucas Puig. His shared part in Something Sinister was the perfect display of nonchalant, stylish technical skating that you'd want in any video. There's a reason why Lucas is one of my favorites, and it's not the first name. It's the fact that he, in my opinion, has the illest style out there and makes all these ledge tricks look so good. I think the leaves caught in his trucks at 1:48 (on a switch front tail heelflip out to switch nonetheless) pretty much sum up the demeanor of how he filmed this part. Stephen Khou killed it too with some pretty tight tricks, but my boy Lucas shut it down! I can't wait till my DVD of the full video comes in.

I would love to write a paragraph for every one of these following videos because they were all that great, but I'll keep it short:

Walker Ryan - A Far Walk From Home - video parts from my two top favorites in one week!? too good to be true! Oh and pairing Walker with Patrik Wallner is a match made in heaven.
Primitive Skateboards - Paul Rodriguez, Nick Tucker, and Carlos Ribeiro team up in one of the heaviest announcements in a while, and based on the jaw-droppers in this intro video, things are going to get heavy.
Karsten Kleppan - Lakai Welcomes this Norwegian with an absolutely shredtastic video part full of super fast skating at a bunch of sick street spots.
Jay Meador - Something Sinister - Jay oozes style (a common thread in Something Sinister it seems) and makes this part a blast to watch.
Jaws - Happy Medium 3 - Just when you think Jaws needs to ice bath for about a year, he ups the ante once again in both skating tranny and deadly drops.
Andrew Reynolds - Varial Heel Hollywood High - The persistence and determination needed for this trick is beyond anything most of us could imagine, but leave it up to The Boss to not accept anything but perfection.
GX1000 - Moving Violation - This will no doubt make you want to go skate in the streets right now and just cause shenanigans with your homies.
Brick City Street Styles - Living in Newark right now, I had no idea how much I was really missing out on until this great all-Newark video came out.

NYC Courthouse Ledge #2: Adidas Team

After covering basically all of the facets of skating the NYC Courthouse, I've left the last two posts for this week for two specific videos. One of them is the Adidas team skating in NYC. Now even though Adidas is a mainstream company that you can say doesn't belong in skateboarding, what they've done in skateboarding is without a doubt pretty awesome. The primary ("American" maybe, though it's really made up of a good amount of internationals too) team alone is so stacked, but not stacked like DC or Nike with guys that are going to be in every contest. Not that contest skating is necessarily a bad thing, but the collection of guys on Adidas is supremely more tasteful to me than many other shoe brands. I think "tasteful" is an accurate word for what Adidas has been doing: the crew mixes up an eclectic group of styles, the shoes are classy and distinctive, and the videos they've consistently been putting out (including every single one of their tour videos) is exactly how I think tour videos should be. It may be the German roots or something but whatever it is the editors, filmers, and skaters at Adidas produce some of my favorite web clips.

Now that I'm done ranting on the tastefulness (last time I use that here, I swear) of Adidas as a whole, let's see exactly what the crew accomplished at the NYC Courthouse. Starting slightly after the 5 minute mark in the video, Lucas Puig surprises by coming in hot with a smooth-as-always switch flip back tail. I'd probably say that this is my favorite trick done on that main ledge at the courthouse, and I am fully embracing my biased support of the Frenchman. Dennis Busenitz of course comes through with speed - though it probably felt slow for him - and shrugs his shoulders on a back feeble, only to step it up with a sick back noseblunt pop out.
Some other rad skating ensues at different spots from Vince De Valle (gnarly boardslide!) to Nestor Judkins to Benny Fairfax (see what I mean about the team?) and then the official introduction of Mark Suciu pops up (SEE WHAT I MEAN?!?!). Just when you think all the ways of skating the NYC Courthouse have been explored, from the two ledges to the drop to manuals in between, Mark somehow thinks of a 3 trick line to perform. A narrow ollie over the edge of the column and a wallie 180 provide the set up for the perfect fakie flip into the bank. Sure it's ABD by Josh Clark, as mentioned a couple days ago, but that doesn't take away the gnarliness of the trick, much less the fact that it was the ender of a line too. And if that's not enough already, which I don't see why it wouldn't be, Mark seals the deal with a backside bluntslide 270 out on the ledge and twists back around with a bs 180 while dropping off the kinked bank (mimicking every viewer's smile of elation with the rollaway). Is he good or what?

Actually Next Week: Speed Demons

Since I want to do the Speed Demons justice and not fly through them on this blog as fast as their skating, I will save the posts for next week when they will be thoroughly covered. Until then, enjoy what I may say is my favorite single video part of all time below. (It's only weird to say that because it's a mixtape of footage, but it's outstanding regardless.)

Switch Backside Kickflips #1: Lucas Puig

Lucas Puig is my other top favorite skater with Walker Ryan, and even though there might be some first-name bias in there, just about every aspect about him is unquestionably a factor to being my favorite skater. Asides from the heavy bag of tricks, one of the best natural styles in skating, and the photogenic European backdrop for his skating, Lucas always exudes those good vibes in his videos combining just the right amount of motivation for landing tricks with equal amounts of just having fun and messing around.
Besides that, when I first started getting into skateboarding I looked up skaters names Lucas and obviously found this guy. It just so happened to be a little after the release of Fully Flared. Of course I found Lucas's part and I instantly remembered his switch backside flip over the rail at 1:38. Not only was the trick in itself a complete shocker to me at the time, but the perfect landing and unwinding of his arms with the roll away was permanently ingrained into my memory. At 2:51, Lucas starts off a real OG line to match the song change with a switch backside flip there down some stairs followed by precision tricks in a very flowy line. It's hard to explain why I could watch that trick from Lucas all day, but when something is aesthetically pleasing as that it usually doesn't have an explanation. One thing I do know is that I've seen a good amount of ever-so-slight variations in the style of Lucas's trick throughout his video parts and clips, which makes the unpredictability of how the trick will appear that much more appealing.
To show even more of Lucas's mastery of the trick, here are some random web clips that include it:
At 0:27 in the Unseen Fully Flared Clips from French Fred, Lucas switch backside flips from kicker to kicker with yet another gorgeous demonstration of the trick. With his Helas homies in the DALAVAS Throwaway footage, Lucas switch backside flips at 0:26 off a kicker and over a street sign twice, because perfection comes in twos of course. In the Adidas at LES NYC clip, he pops a real nice one at 1:50 over the big apple.
Now take a look at Lucas's solid history of video parts, mostly through Cliche:
In Bon Appetit, he nails one at 3:32 over a crusty looking street gap. In Cle, Lucas pops a really solid switch backside flip at 3:55 over picnic table, something I don't remember seeing at all in the latest picnic table trick craze. And then at 3:59 he tweaks the trick out with his own personal touch over the hip of a steep bank. For La Cliche Promo, Lucas shows that he can handle this trick down some pretty tall stairs (and over a rail even) at 1:24 with elegant stomping of the trick, and then take it to the tech side too at 8:08 out of a switch back tail at Venice Beach. In Lucas's Kurds Are My Heroes part (above) he beautifully executes a switch backside flip in the middle of the line at 4:57 over yellow trash can, and then getting even more tech than before by switch backside flipping into a 5-0 grind super close to the wall at 5:18 for his ender. In his TWS Pro Spotlight Video he does the trick over at 1:35 over a California rail and across a sick street gap at 2:39. And most recently in Bon Voyage, Lucas switch backside flips over a flatground block to start a line (which ends with a back smith backside flip!), all the while skating very smoothly and speedily. Later on he switch backside flips a gritty street gap in camo pants, further proving that he is the king of his own style.

Switch Backside Kickflips #1: coming tomorrow...

Because of time issues, the last post of the best switch backside kickflips will be coming tomorrow. But to occupy today's post, please refer to the switch backside kickflip Trickipedia at the Berrics as both a precursor for tomorrow and the best visual lesson for the trick possible.

Next Week: Manny Maniacs

Everyone can basically do a manual, but leave it to the pros to come up with combinations with manuals that just seem to defy how well someone should be able to balance. A lot of tech skaters these days can do manual tricks and variations that are pretty skilled.  However, there are only a select few guys that can do it well enough to fill up their video part with manuals and make each and every one interesting in some way. Before going into this week's Top 5 Manny Maniacs (from my perspective anyway) I have to shout out some skaters that obviously kill it with manuals.
Brandon Biebel has that proper style where he sets up for and lands every trick with authority, and it's no different in how he manuals. In Fully Flared, from 2:27 for almost a straight minute, Biebel stomps manual trick after trick and ultimately closes it off with the scary ender at 4:17 of a nose manny nollie flip out down a hefty set.
Jason Dill definitely has some sick manny skills (to accompany his all around creative skating style) and even though he kills it in Trilogy and Skate More, I always remember the two consecutive manual clips (and last two tricks) from his Mind Field part at 2:23, the nose manual revert, and the switch 180 manual backside 360 out, which just feels impossible thinking of the torque on the body.
Chris Roberts possesses a control over his manual tricks that I don't think I've seen in many others, where he can pull off any sort of shove it or 180 into or out of the manual (nose, switch, fakie, regular, it doesn't matter), showcased in his Time to Shine part. Also, in Pretty Sweet, he does a nollie big heel out of a half cab nose manny (I think he half-cabbed into it anyway...) that he flicks in the weirdest way possible where you need to rewatch it a few times before you see the trick for what it is. So cool!
Daniel Castillo, despite his lack of clips in Pretty Sweet (clips is plural there), has had some great parts in the past, and what sticks out to me was his manual tricks in Skate More where he throws shove its and big spins right in the middle of his manuals. Spinning frontside into manuals as well, he's got some unique manuals.
Sewa Kroetkov is easily one of the most skilled tech skaters alive. He has without a doubt some of the most ridiculous manny tricks (and ledge tricks too for that matter) that I've ever seen, with proof being right in a trailer for the latest offering from Blind: Damn  at 0:57. Being able to balance like he can and mixing in his serious bag of crazy tricks allows Sewa to pull off some wild NBDs in the manny game. I'm only not including him in this week's Top 5 because I feel like his style is too robotic and unfortunately takes away from some of his tricks.
Marc Johnson is a legend. And he pulls off manual tricks like few others with an unmatchable style. I'd reference one of his video parts but with the number he's released and the multitudes of manny tricks to mention, I'll leave this one open.  The only reason I won't be highlighting him this week is because I've never had him pegged down as much of a manual skater but more of an all around skater, possibly with a higher focus on ledges/benches.
Ronnie Creager is also a legend.  He can do whatever he wants on a skateboard, especially with tech tricks including a wild variety of fun manual tricks that he's pulled off over the years.  I will use the words of Marc Johnson from his latest Instagram post which say, "In a very progressive time for skateboarding, most skaters did ridiculously technical tricks very sloppy and nasty, taking any rollaway they could get because honestly, we were just grateful to have landed stuff. Ronnie was one of maybe 4 guys who were flawless while doing the most amazing tricks in the world." This sums up his skating perfectly.
Marty Murawski is up there for me with manuals because of how impromptu he makes some of his manny tricks and combos look.  Along with that, his frontside 180 fakie manuals are a thing of beauty, and I will always remember his promo part from Blueprint because of tricks like from 3:19 to 3:33 where he somehow throws in a really enjoyable style even while popping or dropping down in between manuals.  And at 5:13, he frontside big spins to fakie manny on a downwards slope at some parking deck; it just seems so difficult!
Now Walker Ryan and Lucas Puig are probably my two top favorite skaters in general, and they both kill it at manuals. (Just look at any of their parts but to be specific, Walker's NYC court house ender in Perpetual Motion is just insane and Lucas Puig's Twelve Pack Mission for Helas just shows how even after injury he makes hard manny tricks look like a walk in the park.) But similar to the reasons I'm not highlighting MJ this week, I feel like they have too many all around attributes to include them this week, even though they are without a doubt awesome at manuals.