Transcript
Speaker: I'm Steve Brown and I'm Mark McBride and welcome to season two of the Yo-Yo Player podcast where a couple of dusty old farts grab their friends and reminisce about the 1999 Fiend Magazine Yo-Yo Tour.
Speaker: On today's episode, Julius and Rick.
Speaker: Henry signed on. Henry signed on. And that was Nick Vandersky. Nick Vandersky. And ProYo came on and Julius Shikolshai was their demonstrator.
Speaker: Julius was theirs. Okay.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, he was a character as well. You know, maybe the thinking on him was like, Playmax probably didn't take the tour very seriously or they would have sent kind of someone from their A-team, but we got him, which is probably the the next rung down.
Speaker: That is so accurate.
Speaker: So what did you know Julius before the tour? What did you think of? ju What was, what's your Julius take? Oh
Speaker: oh my gosh. No, no I didn't. Dirt man. Yeah. no there's no dirt. No, I did not know Julius before the tour. Um, but I knew he was part of pro yo with, um, Ben and Kate and Hans and all that stuff there.
Speaker: Oh my gosh. I honestly, I think they sent Julius because he was the only person on the team that didn't hate us. Hate us or hate you. me was Me, specifically. Me, specifically. I tried to go, ah you know, the royal us. No, it was me. It was definitely. He was probably the only person on the team that, like, thought that they could.
Speaker: Ironically, he was the only person on the Playmax team they thought could get through the whole tour without punching me. And then, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And i' I'll add to that. I definitely like his skills. I mean, he was a hell of a ya player and his two handed skills were and you had to fucking work a stay. You never go stage as well as anybody was tour, you know, but but I do remember feeling like before the instance happens, he wasn't connecting real well with the rest of us. You know, it's just and he seemed like he was kind of in his own little world. Seemed like he wasn't necessarily enjoying himself and really not having a lot of fun with what we're doing, you know? Okay. So there's like a larger context to Playmax here that I think probably played into this a little bit, which is that at the time, Playmax was kind of establishing themselves as like the go fuck yourself brand in Yo-Yos.
Speaker: Like they were, um, they, They were really successful. They were doing really, really well. And as a result of that, combination of the fact that they were really successful, a combination of the fact that Tom Vanden Elsen, the owner of the company, was like a relentless asshole, and the fact that they had this really squeaky clean image that all the rest of us were just relentlessly making fun of. Am I right in thinking the yo-yo of the time, their big yo-yo of the time, was a bumblebee?
Speaker: Yeah, that's correct. Right. yeah yeah and boy And boy, when those brake pads were good, they were pretty smooth, man. But constantly changing those brake, those fucking cork brake pads. I'm like paying the ass, man.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, that's the thing is they were. Well, you got remember, they were based in Arizona. They didn't have humidity to contend with. So the pads wore completely differently for us in Florida than they did in Arizona. I remember like, I remember getting a bumblebee and I was like, holy shit, this is fucking fantastic. And then in 10 minutes it was trash.
Speaker: And then after you, after you changed the cork pads a number of times, the glue would build up enough that then the new cork pads would be super responsive. yeah i can never I can never get these things right. there They would drive me crazy. um anyway And then we would paint the tips of the pads with like clear nail polish to last longer. Classic. I mean, this like this is the golden era of having to fuck with your yo-yos to make them work.
Speaker: And it was absolutely ridiculous. But anyway, so they were really successful. They had this really squeaky clean image that a lot of us were just fucking relentlessly making fun of. And like the owner of the company, like never pass up an opportunity to tell somebody to go fuck themselves. So there was like there was already like a little bit of tension, just the fact that that they were participating. Like we were everybody was surprised that they were participating the tour at all because they were also one of the companies that was like, fuck you, we'll throw our own world yo-yo contest. So like at a time when like Omega was like, go fuck yourself, we're to have our own worlds. Playmax was like, go fuck yourself, we're going to have our own worlds. And then the world yo-yo contest was like, but where the world yo-yo contest? Like it was very much like there was there was a lot of tension kind of already sort of there. So even though Julius wasn't necessarily doing anything wrong, him just showing up and being from Playmax, everybody was like, Playmax. Interesting. I remember being... I remember, like, early... Like, again, the Playmax crew having this, like...
Speaker: Or they were too cool, they were kind of the a-holes. And then at some point, actually meeting and becoming, like i think I was the only one of the gang that was friends with a lot of them.
Speaker: And I felt like this, I was like, how am I standing between these two warring factions? But I've been in. But it wasn't all of them. That's the thing, is that Huber and Taylor Whitley were the fucking raddish guys. Yeah.
Speaker: And everybody just kind of generally got along fairly well. Johan Johans was, I thought the creme de la creme of that. I never met him, but it wasn't, he considered to be like their top demonstrator at the time.
Speaker: He was, he was the, he was the poster boy. Yeah. Yeah. He was, he was like the lead personality for the company. His dad owned the company. And so he was, he was very much, he was, you know, the best demonstrator of the bunch. Like he's still to this day is like one of the best yo-yo teachers I've ever seen in practice. Um,
Speaker: But anyway, so like they occupied this sort of space where there was a there was a very strong kind of like ah we don't fucking need you. Go fuck yourself sort of attitude, like just sort of coming off of not everybody involved in Playmax, but most of Playmax.
Speaker: And so Julius showed up. julius showed up with a chip on his shoulder expecting to be treated like shit so it it didn't i don't think it took much of anything for him to then feel like he was you know what i mean it was very much like uh you know hey is this your bag here oh i'll move my fucking bag and you're like dude fucking come on so i think i think there was there was some of that there was also i think he just wasn't good at being on tour And, you know, I've seen lots of people just not be good at that. Yeah, it's hard, man. It's stressful. Yeah. it's definitely a stone world.
Speaker: and um And, you know, I also personally think that Julius is just an unstable fuckwit. So when you all those things together.
Speaker: Then Leigh said, YoMega signed on because... but And i I'm pretty sure that they were the one that put us over the edge because I remember laughing, just fucking laughing that I had gone through i've gone through so much crap with them.
Speaker: And here they were being like the company that signed on and then made this ah and that made this agreed like they were the they were the tipping point. They were like, and we can do it now.
Speaker: my Amazing.
Speaker: Yeah, Rick was like the coolest guy on the tour, you know, ex-football player. i think he played for the Vikings. You know, he he he didn't have like the stereotypical yo-yo persona, um but yet he he loved yo-yos and was just like like a super cool guy and, you know, somebody who, you know, you could watch the Super Bowl with and have a blast.
Speaker: Rick, he was always a...
Speaker: example of like dude this guy used to be an nfl player like now he throws yo-yos this is amazing this guy's crazy like this is just this is crazy this is what you know this is what you can do with yo-yos because once again everybody's like what you what you play with yo-yos what and uh yeah and obviously he was a he's he's got a good background he's got a good background story yeah it's awesome
Speaker: I mean, Rick, he is such a big personality, man. Just like he yeah he had that. He was just like the gentle, fairly soft spoken, but like fucking, you know, the guy could shred some yo-yos, man. And like just cool and smooth. He's a little older than us, right?
Speaker: Definitely older than I was. He seemed like he had his shit together. He was a little more, he was pretty established in what he was doing. It seemed like, you know, and great guy. I remember, I remember when he ah beat the, uh, the longest spin record at some point, i think it was 17 minutes or something ridiculous. Yeah.
Speaker: So yeah, we was in Hawaii. Um, that's when I broke the, um, spin the sleeper record first time. Uh, Um, we went out for sushi.
Speaker: Was that 99? Yeah, I think that was 99. Okay. I kind of vaguely remember that in that in that weird, awkward, half-empty warehouse. Yeah. Bondi got for Worlds.
Speaker: Right, right. Yeah, that insane.
Speaker: So after doing those tours, I had left HBK. i Well, I left, WinWizard left HBK. And I got a call from Alan Amaral for, well, it was ah actually John Marcantonio, his second hand, ah to come visit Omega's and do an interview out there. So I did an interview out there and they pretty much just hired me on the spot. So I came back to Kansas City, ah packed my stuff. This was all within like five days.
Speaker: hypo well Yeah, yeah, it was quick. It was quick. So but you know, we were we were all single then we were single no kids. So know it was nothing just to jump around. So the world was just our playground. So I packed my stuff, you know, told my dad by because that's who yeah who I was living with. There's no need for me to buy a house just because we were always gone.
Speaker: I told my dad by and moved out to Massachusetts. And, you know, lived out there for a year. And, you know, at that point, Warped Tour came about.
Speaker: And... So then, so you get out there, and then how, who specifically approached you about the tour? Oh... That's... It's a little fuzzy, because if you recall, Omega kind of liked to stay separated from kind of yo-yo...
Speaker: industry as far as the people, the people, the players that's in it. Yeah. um didn't They didn't like their demonstrators, like hanging out with demonstrators. Yeah. Yeah. And that that was like dangerous. Yeah. That was the weirdest thing. So yeah, we'll get into that, you know, with things that went on with Arnie Dixon and, you know, the videos that we all did. um So I don't, I don't really remember who approached,
Speaker: me specifically, but it was... At that point, we basically the tour had sold Yomega, and like, because Greg was working with Yomega, they said, fine, you're on there.
Speaker: So at some point they had to decide which one of you guys was the guy on it. Right. So, um and you know, i because you all three of us have been friends long before ah you know i was with Yomega, I already knew I wanted to be on it, but with C.O. Sick Ooch, he didn't do the tour, but he comes he comes along later as far as a performer.
Speaker: um But, you know, I knew I wanted to be with you guys just because 1998 Prem Nevada, our my first, um that was world that was a world competition. Yeah, it was worlds. So, so the world and I'm playing with Playmax Bumblebees at the time. you know just it was it was just the strangest thing, but I knew you guys. And then I got to Omega and they just kind of wanted to separate themselves from the rest of the world just because they had this this this hold on everybody.
Speaker: As far as we did this thing um yeah you know it's difficult to explain we did this thing we're bigger than you guys we don't we need our people to associate with those people dude the ooch told me years later so that when I would talk to like when I would talk to the ooch kunis was a demonstrator for yomega he was like
Speaker: he was a perfect Omega dude. He was yeah because he wasn't, he wasn't really a yo-yo player first. He was a performer. He was an entertainer who like learned how to yo-yo and then, you know, got a job working with Omega. Yeah. And so he and I started Omega, you know, pretty much at the same time. And so we were rolling through and like, we had a good relationship and I would all, and I was, again, I was the remote employee and they didn't really know how to use the remote employees. It always kind of bugged me And I was always like, dude, I think John Mark Antonio is actually like that fucker would call me. It's 7 a.m.
Speaker: every morning. And I'm like, you have to understand how time zones work, dude. You have to understand that it's 10 a.m. for you, motherfucker, but it is 7 a.m. for me.
Speaker: And I'm always like, and he would hear, I'm peeling, oh, what? Oh, Hey John. You know, he just launched right into it. And I'm like, he's gotta be doing this on purpose. He's gotta be doing this some purpose. And so, and then I'm like, not in meetings and all this stuff. And was kind of was like, man, I'm woefully underutilized. I'm really kind of out on the outs at the place that I work. And I thought that I was like doing good work when Uch and Chris and I were on tours, we were in it.
Speaker: And at some point, like after I'd stopped working there, I was talking with Uch and I was like, like talking about this and he's like, oh yeah, no, they they definitely kept you out of meetings because they had this paranoia about like, he's got too many friends.
Speaker: And I'm like, dude, the guy who is most engaged in the industry that you sell stuff in and you're like, he's got too many friends. We're gonna not include him in meetings. Yeah, they had they had that whole vibe. i mean, they were they were one of the companies, and I feel like we talked about this before, but they were one of the companies that there was that point in time where every company wanted their own world yo-yo contest. Right. And so like Playmax had their own, and Yomega had their own, and then there was the actual world yo-yo contest. Right. Yeah.
