Awesome Talents

Freerunner Dominik Sky, shows off his ability to fling his entire body through windows and other tight spaces. While he makes it look easy, he says it took a year to compile, and he sustained many injuries along the way.

Meliani Siti Sumartini (aka “Mel”) may be just 15 years old, but she proves that rocking out has no age, gender or cultural boundaries, as she shreds with the best of them on her electric guitar. Hit up her YouTube channel for more headbanging.

(NSFW: Language) Robert Franzese went viral last year when he was filmed performing an impromptu stand-up comedy session while imitating Family Guy‘s Peter Griffin. Boom! Big Pants made this short profile of Robert.

Breakdancing is challenging enough without having a bunch of explosives strapped to your ankles, but that’s exactly what dancer Lil Amok did on New Year’s Eve in Frankfurt, Germany. He’s literally got canned heat in his heels.

Tom Grey and Sonya Belousova are the talent behind the awesome Player Piano channel. Here, Tom throws out some video game themes that Sonya hasn’t played before, and she plays on-the-fly arrangements. Support them on Indiegogo.

This street performer starts out with a solid demonstration of his pickle-tub drumming skills, but amps things up to percussion level 9000 when he busts out a lightning-fast, single-handed drumroll at the end.

Musician Esteban Antonio demonstrates a truly unique custom instrument. The Ha-Shem is a 17-string grand concert harp guitar that can be played by plucking, strumming or bowing it like a cello. Doc Ock needs one of these.

YouTuber Luc “Zapatou” Bergeron is back with his 2014 compilation of people being generally awesome, as they demonstrate their many talents, adventurous spirit, and sense of humor. List of videos here.

Marquese “Nonstop” Scott busts some of his sickest moves yet as he once again shows off his ability to flex, balance and contort his body in inconceivable ways. The track is One-Click Headshot by Feed Me. BOOM! HEADSHOT!

We’ve featured 15-year-old electric guitar prodigy Tina S. shredding licks before, but this rendition of the solo from Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb is downright brilliant. If we had a band, we’d want Tina as our lead guitarist.

Remember when you got Garage Band on your iPad and then fooled around with the drums for three seconds before getting bored and going back to Clash of Clans? Let Appleman show you what you could’ve become. More on his page.

Pro lifter Ilya Ilyin set a new clean & jerk world record for the 105kg (230lb.) division at the 2014 IWF World Championships. Ilya’s opponents set world records themselves before he set the highest bar at an insane 242kg (533.5lb.).

Rocky Byun specializes in balancing objects of various shapes, sizes and mass using only small stones. He can even do it while wearing roller blades and a blindfold. You can do this too Jub Jub, we believe in you.

Kwe’Shaun Parker turns just 18 this year and is only 6’2″ tall. But this high school junior is the reason why prolific dunkers are described as playing above the rim. Sometimes literally in this kid’s case. More of Kwe here.

Musician Jacob Tolliver does an incredible Jerry Lee Lewis cover on an old piano he found in a neighborhood hardware store. Not only is his performance amazing, he channels the mannerisms of Lewis brilliantly. Mirror here.

The incredible Marquese Scott impresses yet again with his sick dance moves, morphing from smooth and buttery flows to killer electric robot as he gets his groove on to vocalist jACQ’s dubstep track It’s Goin’ Down.

NeoGeofanatic shreds a rockin’ new version of Michael Sembello’s cheesetastic classic Maniac from the 1983 film Flashdance. We’re picturing Jennifer Beals welding and pouring a huge bucket of water over herself – not at the same time.

The drum crew from the U.S. III Marine Expeditionary Force challenged the Republic of Korea Army Band to a battle of the bands. The Koreans shot first, but the Marines came right back and gave them a taste of their own medicine.

A group of playing card masters in Singapore show off their impressive manual dexterity and card manipulation skills in this short film by Kuma Films. If we tried this, there’d be cards all over the ground.

We’ve seen some impressive ping pong trickery in the past, and this kid’s ability to land a plastic balls in plastic cups are right up there with the others. Where was this kid when Bozo’s Circus was still on the air?

Singer and music teacher Anna-Maria Hefele demonstrates polyphonic overtone singing. This uncanny technique allows her to generate two melodies in one breath and manipulate them independently.

Musicians will tell you that a 7/4 time signature is one of the trickiest rhythms to follow. In Stewart MacLennan’s short film, performers show off their ability to keep in sync with this unusual beat. Inspired by Dave Brubeck’s eponymous track.

17-year-old rapper A-F-R-O has an uncanny ability to improvise lyrics on the fly, spitting an amazing flow of prose as he’s handed random objects. Oh, did we mention he did this while suffering from 8 cracked ribs and a broken spine?