EVERETT, Wash. — An Everett teacher has earned praise from his students, the internet and The Ellen Show for a unique talent his dad taught him.
Sean Reich teaches second grade at Penny Creek Elementary School. He said his dad taught him an unusual trick where he rips an apple in half with his bare hands.
“In my kid mind I just remember him grabbing an apple and then it was in two,” he recalled.
Reich admits the trick is something he’s been teaching friends and other teachers for years and never expected it to be the reason he found 15 minutes of fame.
“My sister and I wanted to make a video go viral over the summer and she’s younger than me so we thought we should try TikTok," he said.
Reich uploaded various videos of his children and other amusing efforts but nothing made waves. Until he decided to test the waters with his annual apple ripping trick that always impresses his students.
“Turns out, more adults were blown away by the trick and a few days after I shared it on TikTok a producer from Ellen contacted me," he said.
Reich was suddenly on an airplane to Hollywood to appear on The Ellen Show. Reich returned home a hero with video of his magical exchange with Ellen.
The trick is simple to explain but not necessarily easy to do.
“Apples have a grain and if you find that and grab it just right you can crack it wide open. It’s like a hinge motion,” Reich said.
Most of his teaching team has been able to learn the trick.
The trick and technique can be seen on his now booming TikTok channel. Thousands of shares and nearly 3 million likes later, Reich said this whole social experiment validates what he got in to teaching.
“I like hearing the ah-ha moment, or like, the Woah, that’s really something I’ve never seen before moment,” he said.