Mouth Trick
Cloverleaf tongue
Folding the tongue into three lobes, like a clover leaf. In one Dutch study, about 15% of adults could do it. It is usually called the hardest tongue shape.
About 15% (one Dutch sample)
Party trick
Good for showing off.
Showing 19 oddities.
This tag marks entries that are good for showing off, mostly harmless demonstrations of an unusual skill or body quirk. Ear wiggling, raising one eyebrow, and voluntary joint dislocation all fit here.
The tag exists to flag entries with social value beyond the biology, the kind of thing you show a friend. A reader here is often looking for something to learn and demonstrate, not just to understand.
This list will tell you how impressive or common the trick is, so you know what reaction to expect. It will not tell you how to perform the demonstration safely if the entry also carries a caution elsewhere. Read the full entry before trying anything that involves a joint or strong physical effort.
Spiritual 5Icky 5Not an emergency 21Get it checked 15Try it 67Learnable 18Party trick 19Vestigial 7Genetic 37Sleep 6Illusion 22Childhood 8Debunked myth 11Community 14Famous people 14Record 7
Results narrow the list below as you type.
Eyes Trick
Crossing your eyes
Turning both eyes inward toward the nose on purpose. Most people with normal two-eyed vision can do it. Your eyes will not get stuck that way.
Most people (no formal count)
Ears Trick
Ear rumbling
Up to about half of all people can make a low roar inside their own head by tensing a tiny muscle in the middle ear.
43–55% of people
Ears Trick
Ear wiggling
Moving the outer ears using three small muscles that most mammals use to point their ears at sounds. About 1 in 5 people can wiggle their ears. Some people can learn.
About 1 in 5
Eyes Trick
Eyelid flipping
Turning the upper eyelid inside out so the pink inner surface shows. Nobody has counted how many people can do it. Eye doctors do it to patients to look for grit.
No formal count Icky
Muscle Trick
Flaring your nostrils
Widening the nostrils on purpose. No study has counted how many people can do it on command. It also happens on its own during hard breathing and in strong emotion such as anger.
No formal count
Mouth Trick
Gleeking
Shooting a thin jet of saliva from under the tongue. It can happen by accident, often during a yawn, or on purpose. No survey has counted how many people can do it.
No formal count Icky
Mouth Trick
Gorlin's sign
Touching the tip of your nose with your tongue. About 10% of people can do it. About half of people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome can, so doctors use it as a quick check for stretchy connective tissue.
~10% of people Icky
Eyes Trick
Independent eye movement
Moving one eye while the other stays still, or moving the two eyes in different directions. Few people seem to manage it, and nobody has counted them. Chameleons do it all day.
No formal count
Bones Variation
Joint hypermobility
About 1 in 5 people have joints that bend further than usual, measured with a nine-point test called the Beighton score. For most people it causes no trouble.
10–25% of people
Muscle Trick
Platysma display
Tensing the thin sheet of muscle under the skin of the neck so that cords stand out from jaw to collarbone. Everyone has the muscle. Nobody has counted how many can flex it on its own.
No formal count
Mouth Trick
Pointed tongue
Making the tip of the tongue narrow and sharp, like a pencil point. About 55% of people in one Chinese survey can do it. It and tongue rolling are the two most common tongue tricks.
~55%
Muscle Trick
Raising one eyebrow
Lifting a single eyebrow while the other stays down. Informal estimates say 30% to 35% of people can do it without training. No study has measured how many of the rest can learn it.
30–35%
Mouth Trick
Tongue folding
Folding the tip of the tongue backward over itself inside the mouth. Studies find that between 1.5% and 27.5% of people can do it.
1.5–27.5%
Mouth Trick
Tongue twisting
Turning the tongue on its side so the edges face up and down, or all the way over. Between 12% and 36% of people can twist it at least halfway.
12–36%
Organs Trick
Voluntary burping
Swallowing air on purpose and letting it back up as a belch. Nobody has counted how many people can do it. The loudest recorded burp reached 112.4 decibels.
No formal count
Bones Trick
Voluntary joint dislocation
Pushing a joint partly or fully out of its socket on purpose, then back in. Between 10% and 25% of people have some joint hypermobility. One survey of students and their siblings found 0.5% to 2.6% could dislocate a shoulder at will.
0.5–2.6% (shoulder, one survey) Icky
Eyes Trick
Voluntary nystagmus
About 8% of people can make both eyes shake rapidly from side to side on command. It looks alarming and is harmless. It is tiring and lasts only seconds.
About 8% of people
Eyes Trick
Wall-eyed divergence
Turning both eyes outward, away from the nose, on purpose. Nobody has counted how many people can do it. Most people can learn the mild version, parallel viewing, from Magic Eye pictures.
Not known