Transcript
Speaker: I'm Steve Brown and I'm Mark McBride and welcome to season two of the Yo-Yo Player podcast where we grab some friends and reminisce about the 1999 Fiend Magazine Yo-Yo Tour on this episode a party without Hans I know what happens in this episode and I wish I could forget what happens in this episode I thought you did
Speaker: There was a photo on the blog of Steve, like with a trophy for some, like, like you got a, you got some kind of trophy from less than Jake. Well, that's right. That was, yeah. Do you know what it was, Darren?
Speaker: I have, I have a set of them downstairs. um There's like a, ah yeah, male, female version of them. And I don't remember why we had them.
Speaker: You guys yeah i't remember had you had a bunch of them, and you were like yeah every day at the merch booth, and you would give one out for somebody who did something funny or yeah weird or something. i did a lot remember I did a lot of weird shit.
Speaker: I think I actually earned mine from pulling one of you guys in a chair with my dick. Pulling one of us a
Speaker: Like the the whole rope around like the, like, but there was no, it was like a, like a luggage cart or something. Yeah. Yeah. It was in San Diego.
Speaker: San Diego. And we had Steve won the less than Jake insanity contest, but we can't discuss what he did to win.
Speaker: So, yeah, I was, I was fresh off of doing a lot of sideshow stuff. and like touring with all these different side shows. And that was where i learned the the stunt where you tie one, you tie a rope around your junk and then the other end around like a shopping cart or an office chair or whatever. And you put a person in that rolling contraption and then you walk backwards and pull them. and it's like a strong man act, but with your junk.
Speaker: And at the time I was just trotting it out all the constantly. I was so pleased with my, was like, look at this neat trick. And there was a later stop on the tour where I tried to do it with Rick Wyatt in the chair on carpet.
Speaker: And I very nearly fucking killed myself. Oh no, it's worse. That would have been the stop before San Diego. Oh man. Really? Yeah. Wow.
Speaker: So maybe I might, so San Diego that I must've been like hell bent on redeeming myself. And also still drunk from the night before.
Speaker: of of the excursions that we took, um the one that I remember was, i think it was we were in Phoenix, which must've been early on in the tour. Cause I think, I think we, we went west from Texas.
Speaker: Oh, speaking of Phoenix, Steve, why don't you tell us about Phoenix? No, I'm sorry. I have no comment on Phoenix. Nothing happened in Phoenix.
Speaker: we We showed up at the venue, we played the show, and that was pretty much it. Okay.
Speaker: If you really want more details, ask Katie from Playmax. And we went over to Kate Miller's house. And for those that don't know, Kate's obviously, uh, at the time was, uh, an incredibly popular, um, demonstrator and professional from, from Playmax.
Speaker: And so, mean, that was again, like talk, I mentioned this kind of in the, in the outset, but to, I mean, Kate was somebody that for me, like, you know, she was like somebody you'd only read about online. and, and kind of see in the, in the, in the yo-yo media. Right. And so just to have an opportunity to kind of hang out, hang out at her place, you know, with her friends. And, um, I think we had, it must've had an, had a, an off day, uh, the following morning because I remember it was pretty late there.
Speaker: It was the opposite. We had the off day before and we partied that night. And i remember the and The reason I remember that is because Steve got really drunk and you and I and Jason Tracy. Steve and Rick got really, I just want to be clear. I was not the only person drinking too much.
Speaker: So we're in Phoenix. And by this point we were buddies with Like, this was Julius's hometown. I was buddies with Kate and Huber and Taylor and those guys and Ambry. And so and Hans was out of town. all Other demonstrators. Yeah, these are all the – this is all the Playmax team that wasn't – Ben and Hans. Exactly. yeah Absolutely. Everybody but Ben and Hans was around, and but they were out. And you, Steve, had it like – you were all about like just –
Speaker: being sassy with Hans. So the idea of getting drunk at that guy's house. Yeah, I don't, i mean, here's the thing is that we'd been like outside in the sun in Phoenix all day long. So what I needed was water.
Speaker: What I drank instead was like three quarters of a bottle of Jack Daniels. Jack Daniels, yep yeah. Hell yeah. No, i was I was absolutely wasted at Hans's house. running yes I was running through his house with post-its. Like I had an entire stack of post-it notes. And I was writing little notes for him and hiding them all around. his I was putting them in the pockets of every single article of clothing in his closet. I was tucking them into shoes. I was putting them like under the flaps of backpacks and like random bags. I was tucking them inside the silverware drawer. like i mean he I remember talking to him later about this and he was like, dude, I was finding those for years.
Speaker: The thing I remember was, and that was Phoenix too, right? But the I remember the Roman candle fights with the fireworks. Tell us about that. Yeah. i did I think I hit Steve in the back or something. he was, you know...
Speaker: It was like he lived, but was maybe had a mark or something. Oh, shit. That fucking night was insane. So I think we did fireworks earlier before we started drinking. Oh, we did. we had like We had a Roman candle fight. And we had there was a pipe. And we were we were doing bottle rockets at each other, like in an open field. Right.
Speaker: There was stuff. Like there's a picture of ah of one of my Avengers with bottle rockets taped to it. yeah We tried to get that to work. at Right. For the advice kids, it doesn't work. Yeah. It was a noble effort, but it didn't work.
Speaker: Yeah. Oh, shit, man. Yeah, Phoenix was where Uncle Steve decided to pull his junk out and destroy decided to pull a 300-pound man With his, uh... Yep. okay, so there's ah there's an old side show stunt that i used to do when I was, like, touring with side shows and stuff. and And this is something that there's a juggler and, like, side show guy named Mark Fay who came up with. I think he came up with this. He's the guy who I learned it from. Yeah. um
Speaker: But the idea is that you basically like get someone up on stage and you would put them like in an office chair or or something. And then you would tie a rope to the office chair and you tie the other end and it around your junk. And then you'd walk backwards and drag them across the stage.
Speaker: And I mean, i had done that bit like with him at shows where like the two of us had people in chairs and we were racing, right. To see who could get their person to the finish line first. I've done it with people in shopping carts before I've done that bit like a lot of times in a lot of places and a lot of different variations for some reason in Arizona, I was drunk enough that I thought I could do it with an office chair on carpet and yeah with with dragging somebody who weighed fully three times what I weigh yeah oh shit but yeah me and Steve we ended up butt ass naked out of the pool so she Steve shaved one leg or had had one leg shaved and I'm just like ding-a-ling just swinging
Speaker: But, uh, Julia grabbed me and, you know, we had snuck off and, you know, did what we do. Um, so Steve, you know, I guess everybody was drinking, uh, pretty, pretty heavily. So for whatever reason, Steve and I, we you know, we both ended up just fucking naked, um, in, in, in his, uh, in his, um,
Speaker: because they had a pool in the backyard so Kate was there I guess they were a couple or a thing at a time yeah Hans hans and Kate were were dating at the time so they were living each together at this house so you know at that time Julie and I were a thing which nobody kind of knew yeah um yeah so Julie and I you know we had been messing around for a couple years so but so Here we are. um Steve's
Speaker: drunk as shit. You know, Jack Daniels. Somebody decided to shave his leg. um Yeah, I pat yeah i i pat i got wasted. Like, basically, like I was just like chugging it right out of the bottle and not paying attention. And it was like, yeah, I'm going to drink. I'm going to drink. I'm drunk. like And I was like, I went from like, hey, this is hilarious. Have a good time at Hans's house while he's not here. a light right I literally just like stood up and was like, I'm completely blackout wasted now. Yeah. And that's, that's the And so I decided like, fuck it. I'm drunk too.
Speaker: Um, so, uh, Julie didn't let me get stupid. Um, but and na you know, we, we, we, weep we fucked up.
Speaker: oh you theid i mean it was no steve and were fucked up so um i was told later that i was uh naked in the pool trying to do handstands yeah at one point one point i wrote Like I went under the water and I just didn't come back up for a while. yeah There was a moment where we were like, oh God, he's going to die. He's going to die naked and Hans is fool.
Speaker: And this going to be real impossible to explain. the one thing was you, Steve, had this head it in for Hans and were constantly making fun of him shaving his legs. Yeah. Because at that point he was working on like a lot of cars and motorbikes and i apparently like the grease thing, it's ah it's common for mechanics to shave their legs. And you thought this was the funniest, most girly fucking thing ever.
Speaker: and so what you were I don't think I really thought it was girly. I just thought it was fucking hilarious. Well, you didn't let it go. I thought it was real... mike Because my whole thing was that between the legs and that hat of his, he was so aerodynamic. Yes.
Speaker: Absolutely. I was like... was Because he always wore that like backwards like scally cap. yeah yeah And I was just like, dude, you could throw him so far. He would just... Like a rocket, man. He's just like perfectly... yeah and so So you're... You like...
Speaker: passed down the bathroom and like me, Nick and Jason were like the sober guys. And so we're like, well, we obviously have to shave Steve's legs for all the shit that he's been giving Hans we in Hans' house. But you only shaved one. Right. Because we got about halfway through it. And I was like, was sitting there shaving. you I'm like, there's no fucking way we're going to finish this. How is he not waking up for this? Like, I was baffled that you were not waking up for the fact that we were fully shaving your leg. And I'm like, guys, you know what?
Speaker: Fuck it we're just doing one here's the Here's the thing. The joke's on you. Even if I was stone sober, I wouldn't have woken up. I just don't wake up. Yeah.
Speaker: But I remember that was the joke is that we decided to to shave Steve's legs because he kept on talking so much shit about Johan shaving his legs. And we have a photo ah edit of you, me and Jason as like the three sober guys shaving Steve's legs leg as he was passed out. But then we got halfway, we shaved one leg and got,
Speaker: I was like, I can't believe Steve's not going wake up through this. So we stopped after one leg and ended up just shaving one of his legs. And then the next day. And writing I heart Johans all over me. and Yeah, i was going to say, wasn't there a Sharpie involved in this as well? There was a Sharpie.
Speaker: There was a Sharpie. That's what I remember. I don't i don't remember the leg. There were many warm messages of love written all over my unconscious body. And in retrospect, I fully deserved this. Yeah, I don't remember the leg, but I remember the Sharpie. Did we get your face too?
Speaker: Yeah, there was yeah there wasn't much on the face like you guys, you know, i I appreciate that small mercy. But, you know, when when one of your friends is an idiot and drinks way too much, way too fast, way too early in the evening, like this is the sort of thing that is pretty acceptable in your mid 20s.
Speaker: and so And so we had a gig the next day then. So, like, did we have to catch a bus that night to travel overnight? no it was in Phoenix. Yeah. got so So we had with the off day ahead of Phoenix. Got it.
Speaker: though it though So the next day, this is no shit. So the next day we're all like, and I, this is how I know that the party was the night before the tour was that we had to go from the hotel cause it was a day off. So we had a hotel and we had to go and there was like a shuttle.
Speaker: And so it was like, who's taking first shift? Who's taking second shift? And you were fucking passed out and gone at the hotel. And so they're like, well, we'll put Steve on second shift. since he's not waking up.
Speaker: um So everyone else goes out there. I'm like, fine, I'll stay and get Steve out on second shift. And so I'm in one hotel, you're in the room, you're in the other hotel room and everyone else has gone out there. You wake up, you and I are doing like the noon or new shuttle and and the phone rings and it's you and you go, dude.
Speaker: And I'm like, oh fuck. And I go, there go what's up Steve? He goes, where's everybody? And I'm like, dude, there's two shuttles. You and I are on second shuttle. You got 35 minutes. he's like And you're like, okay, cool, man. I'll be ready. All right, cool.
Speaker: Click. Like what? And then five minutes later, phone rings again. You motherfucker. I'm like, what?
Speaker: You, oh fuck. And that's when you, it took you, it took you that long to realize that you had one shaved leg. Yeah. yeah does It took me that long to find pants.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: But the one that killed me was Phoenix because it was on blacktop. Yeah, but it's a dry heat. Dude, I freaked out that like we'd gone the whole day. Like literally the, the fact that, um,
Speaker: the Yoohoo wax cups in catering melted together. Oh, fuck. And they melted together. And I was like, this is bonkers. Like Rick was like putting – and those guys who were like doing the 2A, they were literally having to ice down their lube because it was like – just any kind of like yo-yo lube would just melt.
Speaker: And I was like, yeah, no, it's definitely – it's tragically hot everything like that. and but And I was like, I got to drink a lot. I drank over a gallon of water that day because I had like my little drink. I was filling it up. I went through over a gallon water and I remember being on the bus as we pulled out and everything went, dude, I drank a gallon of water today and I didn't take a piss once.
Speaker: Like that just, I was like, Whoa, fuck Phoenix. Yeah. Phoenix is, I can't remember which year it was, but, um, on one of the Warped Tours in Phoenix, uh,
Speaker: <unk> if it was a van or a truck, the tire blew just from sitting. It got so hot, like the blacktop got so the tire blew. I can't where it was, but that absolutely happened in Phoenix.
Speaker: I mean, looking back on it, I feel like Warped Tour was a good moment. the The Fiend Magazine tour was a good moment. It was an interesting moment in Yo-Yo history. there's a lot of moments in yo-yo history where you look back on it and you're like, yeah, that happened, but it didn't necessarily move the needle one way or another. You know, like there's, there's a lot of like contests where it's like, this didn't change the course of anything. This didn't, you know, it was a good time at the time, but like it didn't,
Speaker: Nobody's going to remember it later. But I feel like this was this was enough of a thing that its it provides a snapshot of what yo-yoing looked like and what just general like you know punk rock music culture looked like at this moment.
Speaker: Well, actually, I'm going to disagree with you. I don't think that that's what... I think that that's what... At the time, I don't think that, I think that Warped Tour was what yo-yoing was becoming.
Speaker: i think that it was the, the fact that we all got together was, and i actually, wait, no, maybe you're right. Like at that time, that was when we were real, like people were getting together for the sake of getting together. I think about, again, that we would, we went to Phoenix and hung out with all the,
Speaker: the pro-yo folk. And then we went to, and they came out and then the, the clubs came out and we got to talk, like it was, it was all of the, the hanging out and getting together for the sake of getting together. i mean, in the end, like I can think of a handful at most of the yo-yo things that came out of the tour, as far as like,
Speaker: your gyroscopic flop came out of the tour. Like we, like so in Phoenix, I remember sitting around doing, working on, i think I finally figured out Mach 10 with Taylor and John and a few other things where, yeah, there were actually some yo-yo tricks and yo-yo things that came out of that event. But nah, man, it was just like the, the culture, the fact that we, no, we were,
Speaker: for community.
