Flipping Crazy April Fools’ Day 2010 Hoax Is Successful
It's the 1st of April 2010, and I wake up at 6am excited that it's April Fools' Day. More often than not, the opportunities to do something fun will escape me by the deadline of midday, normally due to being too busy or ill prepared. This year it was going to be different. The aim would be get a fake news story published online and share it with friends and colleagues who'd find it tough to figure out whether it was true or not.
I jumped out of bed and it's bloody cold and grab the necessary props to pull this off. I make my way to work preparing myself with the rough script inside my head and trying to work out exactly how and where to pull this one off. I only have approximately 1 hour to execute this.
The April Fools' hoax: Announce that I'm going to set a new world record running the fastest London Marathon and flipping 15,000 beer mats.
Now it goes without saying that a lot of people know that I can flip a beer mat or two. And a lot of people know that I'm going to be doing the Virgin Money London Marathon 2010 on the 25th April. What better than to mash these up and convince people of the impossible, or downright craziness of a stunt.
Well the day is almost over and I can proudly announce it was a resounding success! Work colleages were particularly the most gullible, and many good luck wishes were hailed at me as I walk through the office during the hours that followed having sent a company wide email. The premisce was a request for sponsorship for the London Marathon, with a subtle final comment saying I was attempting a world record at the same time.
The email had a link to the www.beermatflipping.com website, click the link to read the post called London Marathon Beer Mat Flipping World Record Attempt. There is an intro video, a brilliant photo of me in Richmond with the River Thames behind me, and a few quotes that add to the realism. Check it out and leave me a comment.
One final note, I actually got my video onto Sky News. Brilliant. Click the image below to see for yourself.
Add to the promotion of this April Fools' Day hoax, and retweet or share the orginal post; London Marathon Beer Mat Flipping World Record Attempt.
Or if you want to sponsor me, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/jimhaysom (you can donate via PayPal too).
World record attempts at flipping beer mats blindfolded
So last weekend I started the warm up to flipping beer mats blindfolded. At a friend's house and after a few beers, I thought I'd at least start trying at setting a new world record.
Below are two videos, the successful flip of 50 beer mats whilst blindfolded with two hands and two stacks of 25 beer mats, and the bloopers / out-takes.
And the blooper reel...
Surprisingly enough, the record flip was my 5th attempt!
If you want to try your luck, visit the Beer Mat Flipping YouTube Competition for more details.
BeerMatFlipping.com website launched
Earlier this week I launched a site dedicated to Beer Mat Flipping at www.beermatflipping.com and am really happy that it's come together so quickly. The website gives a background to beer mats, a how-to video guide to flipping beer mats, as well as a video gallery of some of the best on YouTube.
As part of the launch, I've set up a YouTube Video Competition, and encourage you to take part. It's a bit of fun, but sets out a worldwide contest to see who can flip the most beer mats in a single and double stack, with their eyes open and whilst blindedfolded. The four categories can be found on the Beer Mat Flipping Group page on YouTube, where you can join the Group and submit a video.
I've also created a Twitter profile at www.twitter.com/beermatflipping and you to follow me and get to hear how the competition is shaping up. If you are on Twitter and are taking part in the competition, then it's the essential way to keep up to date and share videos with your friends.
Pub2Club Beer Mats eBay Charity Auction for NCT
The summer heat wave has hit the UK, and thousands of people are enjoying the sun in pub gardens across the country. It really does make you feel good, enjoying a pint of beer or cider, whilst sitting at a picnic table socialising with friends with idle chit chat.
Flip a beer mat for Charity
But right now is the opportunity to combine that friendship banter with some charitable fun, and participate in some beer mat flipping for charity.
I am selling 6,300 new beer mats that are very rare on eBay.co.uk and raising money for the NCT charity. Click here to place a bid on eBay.co.uk on one of the last of the 63 sealed and unused stacks of 100 beer mats. The auctions start on Thursday 9th July and end at 8pm GMT on Sunday 19th July 2009.
You might ask why I have so many? Well I once ran a dotcom company called Pub2Club.com between 1999 and 2001, and had a limited production of 20,000 beer mats made promoting the company and website address. After distributing over 13,500 in one summer, the remaining beer mats that were still sealed and in their original packaging, stayed with me after the company was closed down.
Now it's time to clear out my garage and put the last of this beer mat memorabilia and nostalgia to rest. But rather than throw them all away, I thought I'd sell them and raise some money for charity. Also, I want to prove a point to a family member that someone will buy some (hopefully).
eBay.co.uk Charity Auctions
I am not making any profit, as a minimum of £1 is given to the NCT charity (National Childbirth Trust) from each stack of beer mats sold. MissionFish will take this donation from the final value of each winning auction. Each stack of the 63 stacks have a starting bid of £5.99 and will be shipped for free with 1st class recorded delivery. I will ship worldwide for an additional £6.00 to cover postage to any country, with any remaining monies donated to the charity.
After eBay and PayPal fees, postage and packaging, any remaining money will be rolled up and donated to the NCT via www.justgiving.com/jimhaysom where I am trying to raise £1000. I'm running the 2010 Virgin London Marathon and this will help towards my fundraising target.
How to flip a beer mat video
Below is a video to help you once you have got your beer mats, on how to flip a beer mat. If you get them, you will need to know what you can do with them.
Click here to buy your beer mats on eBay.co.uk and do your flipping bit for charity.
If you are interested in the World Records for Flipping Beer Mats, follow the link to see the videos and current records.
Good luck and happy bidding!
Beer Mat Flipping World Records & Videos
A lot of traffic actually comes to this website, with searches for the World Record of Beer Mat Flipping. So I've decided to provide you with a quick shortlist of the current records as they stand for a beer mat flip.
How To Guide: Beer Mat Flipping
This is a short video showing you how to flip a beer mat or two. The best thing is starting at one, and then increasing this each time trying to beat your previous record. You need to know exactly how to flip a beer mat before you can beat a world record!
World Records for Beer Mat Flipping
With the recent increase of social media and video sharing, I encourage you to try and beat these world records and upload the videos into YouTube for validation. Please note, there are strict rules and guidelines if you want to beat an official Guinness World Record.
1. Flipping the largest single stack
The Guiness World Record for flipping a single stack of beer mats is 112. This was achieved by Mat Hand, ironically in 2001. There is no available video to show this, but this is a huge achievement.
You will need to buy two stacks if you want a chance of beating that record, and large hands! This video shows exactly how big a stack of 50 is. Click here to buy beer mats on eBay.co.uk.
2. Blindfolded beer mat flipping
The same as flipping a large single stack but blindfolded.
The World Record was set by Jim Haysom (myself of course) at 45 beer mats in 2008, as seen in the video below.
But this has since been beaten by Dean Gauld at a whopping 71 in 2009. He currently is the Daddy!
3. Two handed beer mat flip simultaneous
Two stacks of beer mats and caught by two hands at the same time. Ideally the stacks should be the same height, otherwise you may find flipping stacks of different amounts quite difficult.
The World Record for this is again Dean Gauld, with a total of 130, flipping two stacks of 65 back in 1987. Unfortunately there is no video of this record available.
4. Speed flipping beer mats
That record breaker Dean Gauld is at it again, 25 stacks of 40 beer mats flipped in 45 seconds, a total of 1000. This was done in 1993 and would imagine it's been unchallenged for a while. Again, not video to support this.
To break this record you will need to have 1,000 beer mats all lined up, to be in with a chance of setting a new world record.
Buy your Beer Mats on eBay
Click here to place a bid on eBay.co.uk on the Pub2Club beer mats shown in the videos above. Or follow the link and search for beer mats, as there are thousands available to buy online. I am selling 6,300 beer mats for the NCT charity, all are new and sealed, and in blocks of 100. Information about this can be found on this site.
Breaking a World Record
If you want to try and beat the official world records for beer mat flipping, you will need to be aware of the Guiness rules and note that you will have to have evidence, witnesses, and be the right size, and follow the strict submission process. Phew, all that effort eh?
Here are links to Guiness World Records and Record Breakers Republic which are two sites that you should consider looking at if you are serious about putting in a record breaking submission.
Alternatively, why not upload your beer mat flipping video attempts on YouTube for everyone else to see.
Beer Mat Flipping Blindfolded World Record
It is to no surprise to my friends and family the range of talents that I possess, which would clearly be deemed downright odd. But without boring you or having to list them all, there is one that is a raw gem of a talent...
Beer Mat Flipping.
Many have asked why I have over 6,600 branded beers mats in my garage. And to put clarity to this question, I once set up and ran a dotcom company in the boom years and had 20,000 beer mats produced with the logo on it both sides. Around half of these had the 2001 calendar on them, so it shows how long I've been hoarding them. Whilst they were great marketing and promotional material at the time, distributed amongst bars, clubs, restaurants and offices, I need to do something constructive with them.
Rather than throwing them away just yet, I've decided to set a new world record...
Beer Mat Flipping Blindfolded.
The video below shows you a video taken last summer in my back garden. Having successfully managed to flip and catch beer mats with my eyes closed, and holding the camera at the same time, it was time to turn it up a gear. Getting a friend to hold the camera this time, I'd put on an eye mask and attempted a larger stack of 45 beer mats. Success.
Jim Haysom is currently the undisputed world record holder and champion of flipping beer mats blindfolded.
Unfortunately Guinness World Records have denied this as a new category, so it cannot be officially granted Guinness World Record status - there are a lot of terms and conditions to get a GWR and that certificate. Also, I was approached by a television production company to teach a celebrity how to flip beer mats on T4, but they never got back to me, which is a real shame.
Therefore, I am going to try and improve on this record during the year, and break this world record. If you think you can beat this, I encourage you to do a video response on YouTube.
I will auction off the beer mats on eBay at some point to encourage people to have a go in the next couple of months, and raise money for charity. I'll write another post nearer the time with the dates and links of this record breaking challenge. If I can shift these beer mats and help a good cause, then I'd be a very happy man.
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