I remember this thing being “kinda big” in Brazil around the mid-late 2010s because of a TV show that did a tournament with kids. Then it thankfully died out.
Anyway, according to the article, the only reason this took off is because mr Fox, ex professional clown, was good at hyping up and teaching the thing to kids, once he became a PE teacher:
If you skimmed over that clunky [rule explanation] paragraph, you’ve proved my dad’s foundational epiphany: You really need to see it to buy in.
I’ve seen cup stacking in action. Yes, lots of speed and dexterity, but it’s as “fun” as watching people solve rubik cubes, in my opinion.
DesolateMood@lemm.ee 6 days ago
Was cup stacking as popular as this article makes it out to be? The only reason I’ve heard about it before is because it was seen as a sort of sister hobby to Rubik’s cubing
silence7@slrpnk.net 6 days ago
My impression is that it was highly regional, with a few areas, covering several percent of the population, being really big on it for several years.
prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
It was big in a “look at this niche thing people are doing” back in the early 2000s but honestly haven’t thought about it since.
There was even a fairly famous song that used a beat made by cups being stacked if I recall.
papalonian@lemmy.world 6 days ago
It says that around 5000 schools had the program, so roughly 7-8% of people between 25-35 probably did it for school.
Suck_on_my_Presence@lemmy.world 5 days ago
✋ yes hello. I did cup stacking for a unit in middle school gym class. It was very bizarre.
PrincessTardigrade@lemmy.world 4 days ago
It started in elementary school thru middle school for us. They marketed being good at cup stacking as indicative of being good at other athletics.
ora@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 days ago
My elementary school was too small to have a gym and we still did it.