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Zoltan Torkos

Zoltan Torkos

Country flag United States

Age:

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Lives in: United States

Gender: Male

Nationality: American

AKA: "The Magician"

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Websites:

 
www.zoltantorkos.com/
 
 
 

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Disciplines: Shortboard Surfing

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Background: Inventor of new school aerial surf tricks including the infamous Surfing Kickflip.

 

What's up

Zoltan Torkos: The Kickflip Surfing Magician Zoltan Torkos - the surfer who treats a wave like a skateboard ramp - is a known name in Santa Cruz and on the internet. People call him "The Magician." He mixes skate tricks, showmanship, and a long local history on the water. He grew up in Santa Cruz, California. His family story is a patchwork: a father who came from Hungary, and a mother from an Italian-Scotch-Irish line of magicians. Zoltan says he learned to surf, skate, and perform at a very young age. His older brother pushed him into surfing, and the two brothers shaped his early days in the lineup. What makes Zoltan stand out is a simple idea: try skate tricks on a surfboard. He trained the same moves you see on a skateboard - kickflips, darkslides, finger flips - and adapted them to waves. Torkos is widely credited as the first surfer to land a true kickflip on a wave and to film it for public view. That effort drew big attention in the surf world and beyond. The kickflip moment became a small drama. In 2011, a contest bounty for the first kickflip on a wave led to debate about whether Zoltan's clip met the contest rules. Fans and critics argued online, and the contest sponsor eventually paid him. The episode helped burn his name into surf lore. Zoltan didn't stop at one trick. He brought the "darkslide" - a skateboard move where the board rides upside down - into surfing, and he kept inventing or adapting unusual moves. Publications often describe him as experimental and a little mysterious. He gives lessons in Santa Cruz and still rides the local breaks. His style is playful and deliberate. Torkos names new moves in ways that sound like stage acts. He likes to push the limits of what a surfboard can do in the pocket of a wave. That attitude attracted attention from surf media, from online outlets to TV series. Red Bull's "In Plain Sight" profiled him, and several surf magazines and websites have run features and clips on his work. Zoltan's self-presentation blends surf culture with performance. He embraces the nickname "The Magician," a nod to his family history of stage magic and to the theatrical side of his surfing. On his personal website and social channels, he posts videos of trick attempts, lessons, and short films. His footage is often the evidence people point to when they talk about who did what first in trick surfing. People who know him or who study the small currents of surf history see him as ahead of his time. For some, he is a local character who never chased mainstream fame. For others, he is an innovator who quietly changed the trick vocabulary for a generation of aerial and technical surfers. Articles that revisit his work often note the stubborn, patient grind behind each trick - hundreds of attempts, odd bruises, and a long stretch of experimentation. Quick facts you can check fast: Nickname: "The Magician"; Hometown: Santa Cruz, California; Notable firsts attributed to him: first recorded surfing kickflip on a wave, first darkslide on a wave, early wake-surf kickflip, and other flipped tricks; Media: featured on Red Bull's "In Plain Sight"; Zoltan's approach matters to surfers because he asks a basic question: what else can a surfboard do when a rider brings skateboard thinking to the ocean? The answer has rippled through trick surfers, aerial specialists, and filmmakers who chase new images on waves. Visit ‪@ZoltanTorkosOfficial‬ channel on YouTube.

30/09/2025   |   video icon

The Surfing Magician | In Plain Sight In Plain Sight is back with it's second installment, 'The Surfing Magician', featuring the legend Zoltan Torkos himself. This episode dives deep into the story of Zoltan, the magician who dedicated much of his life to not only a unique style of surfing, but one particular move — the kickflip. Channeling his skateboard skills and background in making magic happen, Zoltan was fairly obsessed with landing a kickflip on a surfboard while riding a wave. In 2007, surf/skate/snow pillar Volcom sent word from high up in the surf industry hills that it would write a $10,000 check to the first person who could land a kickflip on a surfboard. (That was back when $10k was a down payment on a house, not three month’s rent for a Pleasure Point bungalow). A few years later, Torkos seemingly nailed it. He uploaded the clip online, sent it to Volcom, and his circle of friends started to celebrate. But Volcom deemed his theatrics did not meet their strict criteria, specifically the part specifying the flip had to be “above the lip.” Chaos ensued — or at least a lot of online chatter. Was it cool? Was it not? In surfing, cool is a commodity that never loses value, however it’s often like trying to fit an objective peg into a subjective hole. And where does magic fit in? His video went viral. Online masses came to his defense. Surf journalists went so far as to write entire columns deriding anyone who would even try something so far outside surfing’s unwritten standards. Zoltan would eventually collect his bounty. And many years later, he continues kickflipping and performing his stunts, in and out of the water. The sordid details aren’t important, but the story of Zoltan, the surfing magician, should keep its place in surfing history forever.

23/03/2022   |   video icon

First Ever Wave Pool Surfing Kickflips Zoltan Torkos - Lunasurf Full Grip Zoltan 'the magician' Torkos - the first person to land a surfing kickflip, and now the first to land the surfing kick flip in a wave pool - all riding Lunasurf Full deck Grip

09/08/2020   |   video icon
 
 

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