YouTube superstars Dude Perfect are a group of guys from Texas who have perfected the
art of the trick shot, coming up with such ridiculous, difficult, insane shots, it's
almost impossible to fathom they could be real.
Of course that leads us to ask the obvious question: is it real?
Or are the guys from Dude Perfect just really, really good with special effects?
Here's a look at whether or not Dude Perfect might be fake...
In the beginning…
The bros in Dude Perfect first burst onto the scene back in 2009 with a trick shot compilation
that went viral thanks to a generous pledge to sponsor a child through Compassion International
for every 100,000 views they received.
The video quality is so low tech that it seem unlikely there's any trickery involved, especially
since the whole thing is for charity.
With roughly 18 million views, that's a lot of little dudes being sponsored by the antics
them sinking a shot from the top of the school's football stadium down into a basket at field
level.
That led to a team-up with the school's Heisman trophy winning quarterback, Johnny Manziel,
for a trick shot duel that quickly went viral.
But was that original shot real?
Amazingly, experts in computer editing couldn't find a single shred of evidence that the video
had been tampered with or manipulated in any way.
Pros vs. Joes
In terms of legitimacy, one of the biggest points in Dude Perfect's favor is how willing
professional athletes have been to join them in their videos.
Big time athletes like Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul and Green Bay Packers
quarterback Aaron Rodgers not only have the skills to pull off these shots, they also
have reputations to maintain, making it unlikely they would participate in any fakery.
These guys are legit, and by extension, their buddies in Dude Perfect probably are too.
They're not alone
Dude Perfect may be the best known trick shot artists on the internet, but they're hardly
alone.
In fact, as anyone who has ever played a game of HORSE knows, if you attempt a stupid shot
enough times, you're probably going to make it at some point.
It's just a matter of filming every … single … attempt.
For example, check out Alex Tanney, a journeyman backup quarterback who's bounced around the
NFL for years, but has only thrown 14 career passes.
His accuracy became legendary with his trick shot video, to the point where he was featured
in a History Channel show called Stan Lee's Superhumans.
The guys at Dude Perfect may not be Spider-Man, but given enough time, they're likely to eventually
hit those trick shots too.
Or… not.
"Are you kidding me?"
Science is on their side
Some trick shots seem so impossible they defy the laws of nature.
But in fact, science actually backs them up.
Take this incredible shot from top of the Vulcan Monument in Birmingham, Alabama by
the guys at Legendary Shots, who may not be as famous as Dude Perfect, but are helping
up the ante with each video.
The shot seemed so unfathomable, a science blog took a deep dive into the physics necessary
to pull it off, and came away with the conclusion that it was not just doable, but had been
done.
And the folks at Is It Real agree, concluding that it would be more effort to fake the shots
than actually do them.
"Editing trick shots like that, it gets extremely difficult to get the gravity, the physics,
and the lighting, and all that stuff right.
You might as well do it for real."
Science strikes back
Still, not everyone is convinced Dude Perfect's shots are legitimate.
Eggheads took to the internet en masse to protest Dude Perfect's video of a shot from
the top of a 533-foot tall skyscraper in Oklahoma City.
According to science, since this wasn't a clean swish, the combination of speed and
the weight of the ball should have caused the ball to completely wreck the hoop on impact
rather than merely rattle around a little.
Looks a little fishy.
The more dangerous, the more doubtful
As Dude Perfect continues to push the envelope with their trick shots, they've gone beyond
just throwing a football or sinking a basket.
Now they've moved into truly dangerous and absurd tricks like this one, involving archery,
which is really an entirely different skillset from throwing a basketball or football.
Or golf.
Or darts.
Or soccer and tennis?
So wait, are we supposed to believe each of these guys is a real life Deadshot?
It seems a little unlikely.
They're used to the scrutiny
Internet doubters aren't the only ones who have questioned Dude Perfect's legitimacy.
Even the mainstream media has become skeptical, with ABC News featuring them on Nightline
in an attempt to figure out whether the shots are real or not.
"And yet the skeptics seem to grow as well."
"Everyone is convinced that you guys are sneakily getting these trick shots, that this is not,
couldn't possibly be real."
And back in 2009, when they first went viral, Good Morning America also tried to debunk
Dude Perfect and instead succeeded only in making the world wonder what the heck happened
to Diane Sawyer's career.
"Give it to Diane.
No, come on.
Go, go, go.
There it is!"
Considering people have been doubting Dude Perfect for years now, the fact that nobody
has been able to definitively prove they are fakers is a point in their favor.
The final verdict
The real question might not be whether or not Dude Perfect is fake, but if it even matters.
At the end of the day, it's entertaining to watch these ridiculous trick shots — and
even more entertaining to argue about them.
As long as they can continue turning out these crazy videos, and keep people guessing, the
internet will be happy.