The world record holder for the most whip cracks in one minute has stopped in Mount Isa on his way to the Tamworth Country Music Festival this weekend and then on to Melbourne.
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Nathan “Whippy” Griggs impressed locals with his vast array of cracking techniques at Mount Isa Hockey Grounds on Sunday with a wit as quick as his whip.
Nathan hails from Mataranka in the Northern Territory and locals enjoyed his Territorian sense of humour, with routines about “cane toad golf” which he admitted might not go down as well with more sensitive Victorian audiences.
His routine also features some of his talents as the fastest whip cracker in the world.
Nathan broke the world record (of 513) for the number of cracks with two whips in one minute with an impressive 530 whip cracks, back in 2015.
The world record was then taken back by an American whipcracker before the Australian champ broke his own record, with a new total of 697 whip cracks.
Nathan,24, said he had been practising whip cracking for years.
“I saw this guy in Perth doing whip-cracking when I was 14 and I bought my first whip in Darwin,” Nathan said.
“I’ve been doing shows and performing now for the past five years,” he said.
From that first whip in Darwin, Nathan now owns dozens of whips.
“Having so many make me look good,” he joked with the audience.
“Nah, they are all different lengths.”
“Mr Whippy” has taken the internet by storm, featuring his fast paced, multiskilled whip cracking at new levels while touring rural Australia with his shows.
Over those years he has spent on the road, taking his show to hundreds of towns, entertaining thousands with his ever evolving whip cracking talent, audience interaction and distinctive style of Aussie humour.
Nathan thanked the Mount Isa Hockey Association for providing a venue at short notice said he would be back in Mount Isa to perform later this year.
Hockey Association secretary Retha de Beer said they were happy to help.
“We’ve got a lovely field here which doesn’t get used enough,” she said.
“And it’s a fundraiser for us with money from the canteen.”