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How to Spin a Pen Around Your Thumb (Tutorial)

2019-05-28 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 8:47 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Other · mode: Explanation and tutorial · tags: His medical past, Sponsor segment present

Ali teaches the thumbaround pen spin with an Apple Pencil: the pencil rests between thumb and middle finger, the middle finger pushes it round the still thumb, and it is caught again in a writing position; he advises holding the thumb off-centre and practising with the hand resting on a table.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Introduction: the Apple Pencil spin he uses to impress people at work, and the plan of the video

  • ★★ Spinning his Apple Pencil is one of Ali's favourite ways to impress people at work: he takes out his iPad, detaches the pencil and does a few spins. — 00:00:00 · Apple Pencil, iPad
  • ★ Ali is a junior doctor working in Cambridge. — 00:00:00 · Cambridge

00:00:58 — The theory: thumb, middle finger and index finger, tension and release

  • ★★★ For the thumbaround pen spin, Ali says the Apple Pencil rests between the thumb and the middle finger, with the index finger only giving a bit of support. — 00:00:58 · Apple Pencil
  • ★★★ In the starting position of the pen spin, the thumb pushes the pencil away while the middle finger pulls it towards you, with the index finger acting as a stop to build tension. — 00:01:35
  • ★★ To spin the pencil, Ali says you release the tension by letting the index finger go, so the pencil pivots about the thumb and lands back in the same position. — 00:02:04

00:03:00 — Slow motion and tips: thumb off-centre, practising on a table, using other fingers

  • ★★ In the pen spin the middle finger does all the work, pushing the pencil over the thumb; the spin works even without the index finger. — 00:03:39
  • ★★★ Ali advises holding the pencil with the thumb slightly away from its centre, because the pen spin is really hard with the thumb in the middle. — 00:03:39 · Apple Pencil
  • ★★ With the thumb about three quarters of the way up the pencil and the middle finger near its middle, the spin becomes easy and the pencil is caught in an almost writing position. — 00:04:03
  • ★★★ Ali advises learning the pen spin with the back of the hand resting on a table, pushing with the middle finger, and says it takes many hundreds of attempts to get the knack. — 00:04:32
  • ★★ In the pen spin the thumb stays still and only the middle finger pushes. — 00:04:32
  • ★ Once the pen spin is learned, Ali says it can be done with the ring finger or even the little finger instead of the middle finger. — 00:05:21

00:05:51 — Wrap-up and mock magic tricks with a coin and a date

00:07:10 — Skillshare sponsor read, his own Skillshare classes, sign-off

  • ★★ Ali says he is working on a series of Skillshare classes on how he films, edits and produces his YouTube videos, and asks viewers to follow his Skillshare profile for them. — 00:08:08 · Skillshare classes

Humor (significant)

  • Ali says pencil spinning is said to impress romantic prospects — 00:00:30

    “I think getting your pencil out and spinning it around a bit might be a good idea.”

  • Ali imagines the comment viewers will leave after mastering the spin — 00:05:51

    “I've even managed to attract a spouse by my spinning of my Apple Pencil”

  • After making a coin and a date vanish with his "magic wand" pencil, Ali makes a coin vanish with no pencil at all — 00:07:10

    “and it would go invisible just like that with absolutely no camera tricks, obviously.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Apple Pencil

Also: Apple · Cambridge · iPad · Skillshare classes

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