teeterboard

best act: 2014, 2020, 2025

The teeterboard, an apparatus whose origins can be traced back at least 600 years, was used in Gymkana’s first season, according to an article from The Diamondback published in February of 1947. Arnold Gibbs, Tom Tyrrell, Hank Detweiler, Chuck Pinckney and Bill Ward were the first troupers to take on the teeterboard. This act resembles a playground see-saw, but participants use their body weight and perfectly timed jumps to launch each other into the air, performing flips, twists, and transfers. This dramatic, lively act was actually pushed aside for 30 years and reintroduced to the troupe in 2004. Teeter can be presented in a serious or silly way, and troupers have performed it alongside a skit to create more tension and amusement for the audience. Within its new life, teeterboard went on to win Best Act in 2014, 2020, and 2025. Although it occasionally disappears from the continuity, teeter is an act guaranteed to thrill and amaze audiences every single time.