Jamie O’Brien, having fun and pushing his limits. Not for us. Photo: Elliot Leboe/ACL Cinema
Everyone has seen the footage of Jamie O’Brien surfing Pipe on a soft top. Board transfers and third reef bombs on an 8-foot foam beginner’s board are nothing to scoff at, and yet he’s still stepping it up another notch.
On a recent swell at Jaws, JOB, along with Kalani Chapman and that guy-always-in-the-background named Poopies, tackled 25-footers on Catch Surf foamie logs. I have two conflicting thoughts about this.
First thought: This is nuts. Jaws is not a place for playing around. It’s not a place for anything other than seriousness and safety and people that routinely spend a good amount of time stretching, lifting heavy things above their heads, and having breath-holding contests with dolphins while wrestling an octopus. Jamie O’Brien isn’t one of those people, and that’s ok. Neither am I. He surfs incredibly well and parties even better. He does it so well that it’s turned into a job. Would that ruin the fun?
Second thought: Surfing should not be taken so seriously. It’s so fun. And if Jamie O’Brien is good enough at surfing to have fun out at 25-foot Jaws on a soft top with wobbly fins, then that’s good. Really good, because I can look at him doing it, and say to myself, “Look at that! I should have conflicting thoughts about that!”
But there is another part of me that thinks that most of this is purely for show. This part wonders whether he’d be out there in the name of trying new things for fun if we weren’t standing on the cliffs of the internet while did it. There are stunts like these all the time, especially at Jaws, probably because it’s such a notable wave – Ian Walsh on his inflatable hot dog or Mark Visser surfing at night, for instance. And always, we hear them say one of two things: “we’re just having fun,” or “we’re just pushing our limits.” Insert cliché about the best surfer having the most fun or inspirational quote about living life to the fullest. Never a word about us, the teeming masses; the ones that secretly hope for blood. They are our gladiators. Thumbs down was always the more popular option. And while they’re amazing to watch, we’re forcing these people to do things that they probably wouldn’t otherwise be doing, all in the name of our own selfish entertainment. Are we not entertained?
This is Poopies. Look what he does for us! Photo: Elliot Leboe/ACL Cinema
