All About Planking

What's Planking?

Planking (or the Lying Down Game) is an activity consisting of lying face down—sometimes in an unusual or incongruous location. Both hands must touch the sides of the body.[1] Some players compete to find the most unusual and original location in which to play.[1] The term planking refers to mimicking a wooden plank. Planking can include lying flat on a flat surface, or holding the body flat while it is supported in only some regions, with other parts of the body suspended. Many participants in planking have photographed the activity in unusual locations and have shared such pictures through social media.

Planking Image

More Information

History of Planking

A planking-like activity – called face dancing by its participants – was initiated in 1984 in Edmonds, Washington by Scott Amy and Joel Marshall. The two high school age boys were walking in a park when they came upon a baseball game. They decided to lay face down in right field to see if anyone would react. No one did, but they had such a good time and laughed so much, they continued to do it for many years to come. It became a fad amongst their friends, and especially in the non-clique clique called the Myth Club, but died out after awhile.

In 1994, Tom Green performed a stunt he called "Dead Guy" for a cable TV show, which consisted of Green lying down on an Ottawa sidewalk without moving. Green, who was in an MTV show in the 1990s, is a comedian known for his pranks. In 2011, he informed CNN about this video evidence and how it did not air on the show, stating that it was "a very obscure piece of video." Green tweeted “Just found video of me #planking in 1994. I will post it soon. Let people know. :)” on July 12 of that year.

True planking arrives

The actual planking fad originated in 1997 when two bored school boys in Taunton, England started lying face-down in public places to amuse themselves and baffle onlookers. They could not have known of Green's stunt, as it was never aired or of the Edmonds, Washington activities since that was a purely local phenomenon. Gary Clarkson (then aged 15) and Christian Langdon (then aged 12) called it the "lying down game". As Clarkson puts it, "It was just a really stupid, random thing to do."

The Lying Down Game remained within Clarkson and Langdon's circle of friends until 2007, when their friend Daniel Hoppin created a Facebook page for their craze. As Hoppin says, "We began a Facebook group to see who could get the craziest photo."

The term "Planking" was coined by Sam Weckert, of Adelaide, South Australia, "Planking was a term myself and two other mates came up with in the summer of 2008". Weckert created a Facebook fan page to share "planking" photos. After reports of the practice started appearing in the Australian media, it grew rapidly and the meme became a global phenomenon.

After reports of the craze in the British media in 2009, the lying down game spread to the rest of the world. Worldwide it has also been known as "extreme lying down" (2008, Australasia), "facedowns" (2010, USA and Ireland), and "planking" (2011, Australia, New Zealand and worldwide).[12] In the years following its explosion in popularity, several variations on planking have proliferated, some inspired by the fad, and others that have arose independently.