Tom Penny (born 13 April 1977) is a professional skateboarder from Dorchester, Dorset, United Kingdom (UK). As of January 2013, Penny is sponsored by the Flip skateboard deck brand and his Cheech & Chong signature deck is one of the brand's highest-selling deck products. Early life Penny was born in Dorset, England, UK and grew up skateboarding in Oxford, England, UK. He attended the Dragon School. Penny has described his early years skateboarding in Oxford: When I first started skateboarding in Oxford, England, there were not so many skateboarders—there were just a few skateboarders that I grew up with. There were no magazines, no skate shop, and we had no vision of the outside world of skateboarding; so, people who influenced me when I was younger, growing up, would be the friends that I grew up skateboarding with: Justin Parker, Erin Chalice, Pete Crucioli and Thomas Kilpatrick. Professional skateboarding Penny was spotted by Oxford local pro and SS20 co-owner Sean Goff and added to the SS20 shop team. He quickly gained coverage in UK skate magazines, including RAD and Skateboard!, and was featured in videos such as Rollersnakes 540 and 720. Deathbox Following the initial coverage that Penny received, he was soon added to the Deathbox Skateboards team by owner Jeremy Fox (Deathbox was later merged with Bash Skateboards and was re-branded as "Flip"). In 1993 Penny appeared in the inaugural Flip video The Long Overdue, alongside Geoff Rowley, Alex Moul, Andy Scott and Rune Glifberg—the video was made by Goff. In 1993 Penny made his first international video appearance in 411VMs "Issue 2" and was featured in a "Wheels of Fortune" segment—Penny was 16 years of age and the segment features footage from the Radlands Skatepark in Northampton, UK. At the age of 16 years, Penny was sponsored by Flip, Independent, Droors, Union and SS20. United States relocation In late 1994, Flip left UK shores and relocated to Huntington Beach, California, US, the "heart" of world skateboarding. Along with other team members, Rowley, Scott and Glifberg, Penny exerted a significant impact on the skateboarding sub-culture with his small part in the Flip industry section in 411VM'''s "Issue 11"; his switch frontside flip at the Carlsbad Gap; and a five-trick downhill run that ended in a backside tailslide on a nine-stair handrail. By the end of 1995, Penny had received acclaim from notable professional skateboarders, such as Tony Hawk. During