If seeking, stalling and standing in a wave’s hollow section cures one’s ailments, Tosh Tudor is a very healthy man. Tosh’s endeavors over the last eight months culminated in a new 45-minute film, Tube Therapy. The movie’s underlying thread plays on the idea of surfing as an addiction and comes to life in the comedic and semi-improv-driven skit. Though the team won’t be called up to Hollywood anytime soon, Tosh plays a depressed surfer who can’t find a good wave to save his life. The therapist, played by his good friend and heavy water madman Skip McCullough, places him in hypnotic trances to get Tosh to his happy place.
“It just makes fun of the fact of how addictive it is and how people crave it so much,” Tosh said. “But at the same time, and most people haven’t experienced a barrel in their life, it is like a form of therapy. You could have the worst day, and feel so bad about something. And if you go out and get fun waves or a good barrel, you forget about everything.”
Frame: Tube Therapy
The film, edited by Cameron Vurbeff, documents Tosh trying to get as barreled as humanly possible at a classic trifecta of locations known for supplying surf cinema: Indonesia, Mexico and Hawaii. In the course of eight months, he discovers gems at Desert Point, indulges in pumping Pascuales, and packs lefts at Off the Wall. At just 19 years old, it’s a wave portfolio most can only hope for.
While looking for waves on the East Coast of Australia, Tosh explained over the phone that he got the idea to create his own movie more than two years ago. Though he’s backed by Vans, he paid out of his own pockets to collect clips from a litany of filmers. It was a dream come true to premiere his film at the La Paloma Theater in Encinitas in April. Though Tosh is known for being an easygoing guy, he was apprehensive before the final product was released.
Frame: Tube Therapy
“Before (the premiere), it was so nerve-wracking worrying about what people are going to think. Are they going to understand it? Are they going to laugh?” he said. “Surf acting can be super cringy. It’s not easy to execute. So I was super nervous.”
But the premiere crushed, and he followed it up with screenings in Coco Beach and Marin County, then jumped overseas for shows at Noosa and the Gold Coast. The film includes stellar clips from Skip, Kobe Hughes, Jojo Roper, Justin Quintal and Koldo Illombe. And of course, Father Joel makes numerous tubes at a certain North County left.
Related: Watch Joel and Tosh Tudor Style Through Salina Cruz
Given his father’s repertoire, it’s not surprising that Tosh has developed into a stylish and talented surfer, one capable of blending approaches from the past and present. He said the parallel stance he employs backside is a mix of John Peck and Jamie O’Brien.
“There are so many different people like Torren Martyn or Mason Ho who are good at it,” Tosh said of the backhand stall. “I think just watching surf videos helps, being able to nitpick and get my own style out of it.”
It’s entirely possible Tube Therapy will prove formative for a young grom’s technique, and it could bring them the same happiness Tosh experienced over and over again.
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