History Main / SpoonBending

** Mewtwo, an incredibly powerful psychic pokemon from ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', is shown to wield a massive spoon.
** In the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]] episode "[[Recap/PokemonS1E22AbraAndThePsychicShowdown Abra and the Psychic Showdown]]", many of the psychics in Sabrina's gym are shown to be practicing their psychic abilities by trying (to limited effect) to bend spoons. One such psychic tries demonstrating this to Ash, Brock and Misty with great difficulty. For some reason, Ash was unimpressed, then bent a spoon with his hands and boasted his method was better.

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[[quoteright:350:[[Manga/MobPsycho100 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_478.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Good luck with that soup.]]

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* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''
** Mewtwo, an incredibly powerful psychic pokemon from ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', is shown to wield a massive spoon.
** In the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]] episode "[[Recap/PokemonS1E22AbraAndThePsychicShowdown Abra and the Psychic Showdown]]", many of the psychics in Sabrina's gym are shown to be practicing their psychic abilities by trying (to limited effect) to bend spoons. One such psychic tries demonstrating this to Ash, Brock and Misty with great difficulty. For some reason, Ash was unimpressed, then bent a spoon with his hands and boasted his method was better.
* Fumiaki Uchida from ''Anime/OccultAcademy'' developed psychokinetic abilities at a young age, it first manifesting when he was mentally able to bend spoons, only to lose such an ability when his mother denied him a normal life because of it.

* In ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'', one NPC in Magicant has a spoon he wants someone to bend back into shape. Ninten does it with his PSI powers.
* One ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters King of Fighters]]'' manga has [[VideoGame/PsychoSoldier Athena Asamiya]] do this to a spoon while the [[ButtMonkey USA Sports team]] struggle to bend theirs to no avail. [[https://snk.fandom.com/wiki/Athena_Asamiya/Gallery?file=Screenshot_173.png The image in reference is shown here.]]

* Several Website/ChuckNorrisFacts go like this: "[Insert a famous psychic's name here] can bend spoons with his mind. Chuck Norris can bend [psychic's name] with his."

* Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/{{Spliced}}'': Entree attempts to twist a utensil, but ends up twisting everything around but it. Peri counts the test as a fail.
* In ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', Heffer is tempting Spunky with a Fatheads-brand chewable vitamin by asking him to perform common dog tricks, the last of which is bending a spoon with his thoughts.

** [[spoiler:Ritsu discovers his powers at the Awakening Lab, where he thought he was the only member with no powers at all until a bust of anger caused three spoons to twist together into a gnarled mess. He then became the single strongest esper in the group, and his help led the rest to improve their less-than-impressive abilities.]]

* An add for Timex had a psychic bending spoons, but being unable to stop the advertised watch. According to The Other Wiki, Uri Geller took offense and tried to sue!

* An add for Timex had a psychic bending spoons, but being unable to stop the advertised watch. According to TheOtherWiki, Uri Geller took offense and tried to sue!

* When Uri Geller first came to prominence in TheSeventies and demonstrated his putative skill on TV in Great Britain, the watching audience was invited to join in. Indicating something interesting was going on, or possibly the extreme gullability of the British TV viewing public, the BBC's switchboards were inundated with calls from viewers alleging not only spoons bending to order, but also anomalies like long-stopped clocks springing into life again, or else clocks and watches inexplicably stopping at the very instant of Geller putting out the 'fluence. Either way - genuine paranormal event, mass gullibility or people misinterpreting wholly coincidental event - it provided lots of material for publications like ''Magazine/ForteanTimes'' to fill space with. FT still deals with spoon-bending, under the general headings of things like parapsychology, telekinesis and poltergeist activity. [[spoiler:He was eventually caught rigging the spoons by bending them back and forth until metal fatigue set in to the point that they could subtly be pushed with the tip of the thumb as a slight-of-hand trick. He also was never able to bend a spoon that was offered by someone else and usually refused to do so.]] He also tried to sue Nintendo for use of his likeness with the Pokeémon Kadabra and Alakazam, claiming they were based on him and the symbols on their bodies (actually taken from Zener cards) were occult Nazi symbols used to defame him. The suit lasted from 1999 to ''2017'' before finally being dismissed.

* ''Literature/{{Spoonbenders}}'' is named after the practice, and Teddy bends a key to try to impress Maureen, his future wife.

* A RunningGag in ''Manga/MobPsycho100'' is that Mob has trouble eating soup, since he always subconciously bends his spoons with his mind.

* When Uri Geller first came to prominence in TheSeventies and demonstrated his putative skill on TV in Great Britain, the watching audience was invited to join in. Indicating something interesting was going on, or possibly the extreme gullability of the British TV viewing public, the BBC's switchboards were inundated with calls from viewers alleging not only spoons bending to order, but also anomalies like long-stopped clocks springing into life again, or else clocks and watches inexplicably stopping at the very instant of Geller putting out the 'fluence. Either way - genuine paranormal event, mass gullibility or people misinterpreting wholly coincidental event - it provided lots of material for publications like ''Magazine/ForteanTimes'' to fill space with. FT still deals with spoon-bending, under the general headings of things like parapsychology, telekinesis and poltergeist activity.

* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "[[Recap/SupernaturalS07E07TheMentalists The Mentalists]]", Sam and Dean investigate the death of two alleged psychics in Lily Dale, New York, the "most psychic town in America." While prop spoons are commonly seen in the episode - used as souvenirs and props for fake psychics - utensils bending on their own occurs whenever the MonsterOfTheWeek [[spoiler:the ghost of an actual psychic]] looms nearby.

* [[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2mz1it A skit]] on ''Series/ABitOfFryAndLaurie'' had Creator/StephenFry interviewing Creator/HughLaurie as a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Uri Geller who bends a spoon between his hands.
-->'''Stephen''': Well, I could bend a spoon with my hands.
-->'''Hugh''': I never claimed that my powers are unique! Always, I stress that ''anybody'' can bend a spoon! And my book is not expensive, by the way.

* Mewtwo, an incredibly powerful psychic pokemon from ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', is shown to wield a massive spoon.
* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episode "[[Recap/PokemonS1E22AbraAndThePsychicShowdown Abra and the Psychic Showdown]]", many of the psychics in Sabrina's gym are shown to be practicing their psychic abilities by trying (to limited effect) to bend spoons. One such psychic tries demonstrating this to Ash, Brock and Misty with great difficulty. For some reason, Ash was unimpressed, then bent a spoon with his hands and boasted his method was better.

[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/{{Pokemon}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spoon_bending_pokemon.jpeg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:That's the kind of face you make only when: A) [[YouWereTryingTooHard You are trying too hard]], B) [[MurderIsTheBestSolution Ready to assault someone]], or C) are ''really'' [[PottyEmergency holding it in]].]]

-> Do not try and bend the spoon, that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth...there is no spoon. Then you will see it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

-->'''Stephen''': Well I could bend a spoon with my hands.

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episode "[[Recap/PokemonS1E22AbraAndThePsychicShowdown Abra and the Psychic Showdown]]", many of the psychics in Sabrina's gym are shown to be practicing their psychic abilities by trying (to limited effect) to bend spoons. One such psychic tries demonstrating this to Ash, Brock and Misty with great difficulty.

* In an iconic scene in ''Film/TheMatrix'', the unreality of [[{{Cyberspace}} the matrix]] is properly demonstrated to Neo when a boy mentally bends a spoon. Neo's attempt at doing so is the first time Neo learns to manipulate the world around him.

* In the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''The Also People'', the Doctor claims that he once attempted the universe record for continuous spoon-playing, but was sabotaged by a telekinetic who kept bending his instruments.

* In ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'', Torhu and Kanna see someone do this on television. They try to do it themselves but with no success.

Has nothing to do with AteTheSpoon, CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon, FunnySpoon, GreasySpoon and {{Spoonerism}}.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Referenced in "The Pirate Planet" (written during Uri Geller's heyday), when the Doctor needs to maintain a distinctive mental image so that a psychic ally can keep track of his location, and chooses the image of a bent fork.

* The Bent Spoon Award is an award given by the paranormal and pseudoscientific investigating organizations Austrailian Skeptics and [=NZ=] Skeptics to those who are "perpetrator[s] of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudoscientific piffle." While there is an actual, physical award that exists, there is only one in existence (having claimed to have been made from wood from Noah's Ark and a spoon from the last supper to {{Troll}} winners) and the winners are only aloud to possess the award for themselves if they acquire the award themselves through supernatural means. Naturally, no one has accomplished this task.