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YoYo Player

Steve Brown & Mark McBride

YoYo Player is a show about the modern history of yoyoing from two of the guys who helped make it. Before the global yoyo boom of the late 90s, two guys in Florida sat in the back of a kite store and dreamed up what would eventually become significant foundational advancements to the art, sport, and promotion of yoyo play. Almost 30 years later they're looking back on where it all started, poking holes in each other recollections, and laughing their asses off about the whole thing.

Mark McBride is the creator of 3A yoyoing, and an early innovator of yoyo video and promotion.

Steve Brown is the creator of 5A yoyoing, an early innovator of yoyo tricks and promotion, and currently an organizer of the World YoYo Contest.

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20 episodes
Avg 41 min
English

Episodes 20

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S2 · E6
August 20 · 23 min
First Last Supper in San Antonio
And so begins a summer of signing autographs for people who are not us.
S2 · E7
August 6 · 31 min
New Tour, Old Friend
Steve reconnects with some Florida punks.
S2 · E5
July 23 · 30 min
Mason-Dixon Line
The Mason-Dixon Line is a true border between one world and another.
S2 · E4
July 16 · 25 min
Florida Boys
Steve gets called out for his tendency to...uh...embellish things and everyone has a good chuckle at his expense.
S2 · E3
July 9 · 16 min
Julius & Rick
Julius & Rick join the tour. There's a lot of uncomfortable laughter in this one.
S2 · E2
July 2 · 29 min
Jason & Nick
This week we get some more info about how Mark & Greg got this idea off the ground, and we meet demonstrators Nick Van Der Schie and Jason Tracy.
S2 · E1
June 25 · 26 min
Rollerblades & Bikini Models
Behold, Season 2 is here! This entire season dives deep into the 1999 Fiend Magazine YoYo Tour when a grip of yoyo players from different companies went out on the Vans Warped Tour and spent an entire summer slinging yoyos and getting into trouble. In this episode: the mayhem begins.
May 28 · 1 min
YoYo Player Podcast Season 2 Trailer
Season Two of the YoYo Player Podcast is a complete oral history of the legendary 1999 Fiend Magazine YoYo Tour with guest appearances by the people who were there. Organizers, demonstrators, and musicians all chime in to talk about the mayhem, on the record, for the first time ever. First episode drops June 25th, new episodes every Thursday.
S1 · E11
Nov 11, 2024 · 51 min
Fiend Magazine
Mark & Steve dive into the history of Fiend Magazine, the first full-color magazine dedicated to yoyoing. It only lasted 4 issues (kinda) and died a glorious death. This is the final episode of Season One! We'll be back in 2025 with Season Two. This episode brought to you by YoYoExpert.com.
S1 · E10
Jul 15, 2024 · 52 min
How To Be A Player 1 & 2
Mark & Steve talk through the making of the "How To Be A Player Vol. 1 & 2" videos during their time with Duncan. Originally released in 2001, these VHS tapes were commercially released and quickly became cult classics yoyo players and fans of VHS kitsch. This episode brought to you by YoYoExpert.com.
S1 · E9
Jun 17, 2024 · 1 hr 1 min
Behold: The Yonomicon!
Steve and Mark talk through the history of The Yonomicon, the most feared, inspiring, and confusing book in the history of yoyoing. Original released almost 20 years ago, a newly revised edition is now available at Yonomicon.com! This episode brought to you by YoYoExpert.com. Theme music is "Runaway" by Reconciler.
S1 · E8
May 15, 2024 · 1 hr 3 min
Oral History of 3A
Steve and Mark talk through the history of 3A style, which started as a joke used for publicity photos in the 50s and became a full-blown style once Mark got his hands around it. This episode brought to you by YoYoExpert.com. Theme music is "Runaway" by Reconciler.
S1 · E7
Apr 15, 2024 · 47 min
Team Losi
Steve and Mark talk about Team Losi, the R/C car company that gave Steve his first big break as a demonstrator. Brought to you by YoYoExpert, the best place to do expert things with expert yoyos, especially if you want to do those things expertly.
S1 · E6
Mar 15, 2024 · 1 hr 13 min
Oral History of 5A
Steve and Mark sit down and talk through the beginning of 5A - how it started, what inspired it, and discuss the full starting history of this unique style of yoyo play.
S1 · E5
Nov 6, 2023 · 1 hr 26 min
Bill Liebowitz Classic
Mark & Steve discuss the Bill Liebowitz Classic, known as the BLC, a former regional yoyo contest held in Los Angeles, California. They talk about contest culture in general, an old beef from when the two of them didn't agree on something for like 10 years, and where they think contests should be heading. Apologies for the audio quality. We know a lot about yoyos but we have no idea wtf we are doing with this podcast.
S1 · E4
Jul 3, 2023 · 44 min
Triple D
Mark & Steve discuss the Triple D Classic, a one-off yoyo contest they ran in Los Angeles in the early 2000s. It was in a punk rock dive bar, had three bands playing between divisions, no scoring system whatsoever, and all the parents started drinking at noon. It might have been the best contest ever.
S1 · E3
Jun 1, 2023 · 1 hr 11 min
Adventures in Manila
Mark and Steve settle in to talk about the filming of the Duncan 2004 Philippine National YoYo Contest DVD. It was a whirlwind trip to Manila filled with yoyo players, toy historians, strippers, balut, and more good times than you can shake a stick at.
S1 · E2
Apr 14, 2023 · 43 min
Mark's Origin Story
Our second episode story is dedicated to Mark McBride's origin story. Find out how a film student in Tallahassee wandered into a comic book store in Los Angeles and ended up becoming a professional yoyo player who would eventually go on to create 3A-style yoyoing, one of the five divisions of play at every yoyo contest in the world.
S1 · E1
Mar 20, 2023 · 47 min
Steve's Origin Story
Our first episode story is dedicated to Steve Brown's origin story. Find out how he went from homeless in Tallahassee to becoming a professional yoyo player who would eventually go on to create 5A (counterweight) style yoyoing, one of the five divisions of play at every yoyo contest in the world. It's a hell of a story.
Mar 7, 2023 · 58 sec
Trailer
YoYo Player is a podcast about the modern history of yoyoing from two of the guys who helped make it. Before the global yoyo boom of the late 90s, two guys in Florida sat in the back of a kite store and dreamed up what would eventually become significant foundational advancements to the art, sport, and promotion of yoyo play. Almost 30 years later they're looking back on where it all started, poking holes in each other recollections, and laughing their asses off about the whole thing. Hosted by Mark McBride and Steve Brown.

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