Get smart curated videos delivered to your inbox.   SUBSCRIBE
The Kid Should See This

The art of Slinky manipulation

Watch more with these video collections:

There’s playing with a Slinky, which can be super fun, and then there’s slinky-ing—or slinking—which can flat-out dazzle. Slinky manipulation is a relatively new art form that began to spread around the globe in 2010. Like juggling, Slinky performances wow audiences with visually surprising tricks: twists, jumps, bounces, waves, and more.

This Wired: Obsessed video features Josh Jacobs, aka Slinky Josh, one of the best Slinky manipulators in the United States. In it, he shares how to do a few basic tricks, emphasizing that it’s practice, practice, practice that will make your slinking smooth. He also demonstrates what Slinkys work best for these kinds of moves.

Note: There’s a brief audience reaction bleeped at 2m06s.

twisting the slinky

“Within Slinky manipulation, there are a couple fundamental moves that almost all of the other tricks are built upon. First one of those is called the energy beam…”

“The other fundamental that you can build a ton of different tricks out of is called the basic bounce… I can make this harder by bouncing off of the ground, for instance. Another way I can make the bounce more difficult is by aiming for a target…”

Slinking to the camera

“To any young people out there that want to get really good at Slinky manipulation, I love to see it. Wear your Slinky on your wrist. Practice everywhere you go because there is wide open, uncharted territory out there.

“We are only at the tip of the iceberg and there is so much more yet to be discovered, especially by the younger next generation.”

dazzled baby
Find more from Slinky Josh on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

Watch more slinky videos on TKSST, including:
• Ridiculous Tricks You Can Do With a Slinky (2017)
• What is the Slinky Drop? Watch in slow motion…
• The Slinky Machine: A hand-cranked, wooden Slinky escalator

This Webby award-winning video collection exists to help teachers, librarians, and families spark kid wonder and curiosity. TKSST features smarter, more meaningful content than what's usually served up by YouTube's algorithms, and amplifies the creators who make that content.

Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.

🌈 Watch these videos next...

Why does a frozen lake sound like a Star Wars blaster?

Rion Nakaya

What is the Slinky Drop? Watch in slow motion…

Rion Nakaya

The Slinky Machine: A hand-cranked, wooden Slinky escalator

Rion Nakaya

Selyna Bogino juggles basketballs with her feet

Rion Nakaya

Rock Swing Cup & more DIY playground physics

Rion Nakaya

Ridiculous Tricks You Can Do With a Slinky

Rion Nakaya

Pat the Roc in Let’s Go by Matt and Kim

Rion Nakaya

Kris Kremo juggles cigar boxes

Rion Nakaya

Japanese Juggling Festival 2012: Yanazo’s winning performance

Rion Nakaya