Tomorrow in Las Vegas, the 2023 AArrow Sign Spinners competition begins.
If you’ve seen people putting on those elaborate sign routines to get you to stop over at a big sale or an event, that’s the practical part of sign spinning.
It’s marketing and advertising and it can be pretty effective.
But there’s more to it: sign spinning has also become a sport.
Many of the top names in the sport say they started out spinning signs just to make a little money.
But after they worked out some basic moves to attract customers, they started working up some complex ones.
Multi-time world champion Kadeem Johnson can balance a giant cardboard sign on his head as it spins.
He can do flips and breakdancing spins with the sign in hand – or he can toss the sign way in the air, do some acrobatics, and then catch the sign as it comes back down to earth.
The competition starts with sign spinners sending in videos of their best moves, and judges choosing a top ten for each region in the US and from other countries.
Those top spinners from each of the main regions come to Las Vegas for the world championship.
Whether or not they win the top honors and the prize money that comes with it, everyone has the chance to make a big impression for their sign spinning skills.
And they get a workout: as one spinner said, when you’re doing gymnastics and flips and martial arts moves during your sign spinning routine, you don’t really need a gym membership.
Today is National Rubber Ducky Day, which is a pretty big day in Chatham, Massachusetts.
That’s where you’ll find Ducks In The Window, which bills itself as the world’s largest rubber duck store.
They have hundreds of varieties, from superhero ducks to president ducks to ducks that look like doughnuts.
AArrow Sign Spinners Competition
Broward Man Heading to World Sign Spinning Championship in Las Vegas (Miami New Times)
Meet 2 sign spinners who will compete in Las Vegas in a worldwide competition (KGW)
The World’s Largest Rubber Duck Store, Ducks in the Window, Offers Quirky Gifts In Massachusetts (Only In Massachusetts)
