Earlier this month we held a hiddent talent contest inspired by HBO’s popular new series Hung. The idea behind the show — which was created by Dmitry Lipkin (The Riches), is executive produced by Alexander Payne (Sideways), and stars Thomas Jane, Jane Adams, and Anne Heche — is rather unique. Ray Drecker, a former high-school sports legend, is now a middle-aged high-school basketball coach. He’s divorced, struggling to support his kids, and virtually homeless after his house catches fire. That’s when he decides to take on a second job — as a gigolo.
But enough foreplay. We’ve gone through all of your entries and finally chosen our winners. For the record, you guys are a lot stranger (and more talented!) than we ever would have guessed.
First-place winners
Roman Hans: “I can identify over 1,000 species of bird, 400 species of dog, and 6 different kinds of cow.”
Pancake Disorder: “I’ve been a drummer since I was 14, but even before that I had one really weird hidden talent: I can drum with my teeth. Like, not just chattering away, but sixteenth and thirty-second notes, triplets and rolls. I do it by moving my lower jaw from side to side while bringing my upper and lower jaws together. I use front and back teeth to do it, depending on the needs of the ‘piece.’ No one but my wife knows about this, and she only found out by accident when leaning up against me once while I was doing it. She was a little startled to hear me playing along, no-hands, to the music on TV.”
Jonah: “My Louis Armstrong impression has been declared, ‘spot on,’ and, ‘alarmingly accurate.’ By the way, I’m a skinny, Korean-Japanese-Irish male.”
Second-place winners
Michelle: “I’m the WORLDS BEST hand farter. It comes in handy when the person next to you is talking super loud on their cell phone.When this happens, I just bust out my extreme hand farting skills and over power the phone conversation making them hang up. It works every time.”
lizardgs: “I can bite my own toenails.”
vika: “i can meow really really well. i seriously sound like a real cat. i probs spent too much time with our pet cat in my childhood, but it’s a good thing this freaky talent finally came in handy!”
Third-place winners
Mark Hooks: “I can do this snaky, slithery tongue trick that I’ve never seen anyone else pull off. I used to think I could perhaps parlay this into moonlighting as a gigolo but I’m starting to realize that most people think it’s just creepy and not sexy. I like it.”
Deepti: “I can do mirror image handwriting at the same time with both hands.”
Woody: “Some people crack their knuckles…I can crack my sternum.”
Our first-prize winners will take home The Sopranos: The Complete Series. Second-prize winners will score a box set of The Wire and Deadwood. Third-prize winners will win a copy of Season One of True Blood. Thanks to everyone who entered, and remember to watch Hung on Sundays at 10 p.m.!