Paging Tom Smothers
April 10, 2015 1:31 PM Subscribe
The Secret Life of Yo-Yos. In which high-end titanium models cost upwards of $500, and ball-bearing trans-axels allow yo-yos to "sleep" for over 30 minutes.
Also, Tom Smothers has still got it.
Oh, I remember getting that Klutz catalog as a kid and immediately flipping to the Yo-Yo section. I remember when I finally got the Tom Kuhn Silver Bullet for Christmas and was so psyched. So smoooooth!
posted by leotrotsky at 1:48 PM on April 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by leotrotsky at 1:48 PM on April 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Interviewed Tommy Smothers back in 1999. He started off in character, as the dumb younger brother, but, when he realized I had a really solid understanding of his career, dropped the character. We had a really long talk about censorship, politics, family, and continuing to do work you enjoy when you have gotten older. The Yo Yo thing was part of that. He was an athlete when he was young -- and a competitive unicyclist, if you can believe it. So he liked physical stuff.
He had known some pretty good yo-yo tricks when he was younger, and found he could still do them. He added them into the act, while singing a song called "I'm a Yo-Yo Man." He kept adding tricks, and eventually the bit grew into a silent routine he called Yo-Yo Man, which was elaborate and complex enough to break off into its own bit.
We can all do this. Just start doing something we like, and build upon it, and get better, and eventually have it break off into its own career. Tommy has an instructional video about how to yo-yo. The Smothers brothers have branded yo-yos now.
What did I like to do when I was younger? What did you? That can be a cottage career in a decade, if you want. It's encouraging. Tom was a good guy to talk to. I still sometimes start something new, knowing it might turn into something I am well-known for in a few years or a decade.
I was impatient when I was younger; I wanted things to happen quickly. But Tommy had early success, and it was snatched from him when he ran afoul of Nixon, and there was a long time when there wasn't much success at all. He was middle aged when he starting throwing the yo-yo, and it took a decade before it really became its own thing.
Now I have patience. It's nice to work on something, to see it grow, slowly but in real was that can be marked and counted. Maybe it will take a year. Maybe a decade.
I have the time.
posted by maxsparber at 1:59 PM on April 10, 2015 [28 favorites]
He had known some pretty good yo-yo tricks when he was younger, and found he could still do them. He added them into the act, while singing a song called "I'm a Yo-Yo Man." He kept adding tricks, and eventually the bit grew into a silent routine he called Yo-Yo Man, which was elaborate and complex enough to break off into its own bit.
We can all do this. Just start doing something we like, and build upon it, and get better, and eventually have it break off into its own career. Tommy has an instructional video about how to yo-yo. The Smothers brothers have branded yo-yos now.
What did I like to do when I was younger? What did you? That can be a cottage career in a decade, if you want. It's encouraging. Tom was a good guy to talk to. I still sometimes start something new, knowing it might turn into something I am well-known for in a few years or a decade.
I was impatient when I was younger; I wanted things to happen quickly. But Tommy had early success, and it was snatched from him when he ran afoul of Nixon, and there was a long time when there wasn't much success at all. He was middle aged when he starting throwing the yo-yo, and it took a decade before it really became its own thing.
Now I have patience. It's nice to work on something, to see it grow, slowly but in real was that can be marked and counted. Maybe it will take a year. Maybe a decade.
I have the time.
posted by maxsparber at 1:59 PM on April 10, 2015 [28 favorites]
Oh man, that Yo-Yo Man video tape is literally the entirety of my familiarity with the Smothers Brothers
(I owned a Yomega Yo-Yo With a Brain when I was a kid, and it was JUST the GREATEST)
posted by DoctorFedora at 2:15 PM on April 10, 2015
(I owned a Yomega Yo-Yo With a Brain when I was a kid, and it was JUST the GREATEST)
posted by DoctorFedora at 2:15 PM on April 10, 2015
Oh man, that Yo-Yo Man video tape is literally the entirety of my familiarity with the Smothers Brothers
One of my favorites.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 2:31 PM on April 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
One of my favorites.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 2:31 PM on April 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
Classic pre-controversy Smothers Brothers. But even "I fell in a vat of chocolate" is now pretty serious. Even politcal (re: immigration).
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:09 PM on April 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:09 PM on April 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yo yos are a solution looking for a problem.
posted by rankfreudlite at 3:14 PM on April 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rankfreudlite at 3:14 PM on April 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
That was a great essay. I just read big chunks of it out loud to the family. I had no idea the state modern yo-yos were in.
posted by not that girl at 6:34 PM on April 10, 2015
posted by not that girl at 6:34 PM on April 10, 2015
My parents had the Smothers Brothers at the Purple Onion album when i was a kid. I really enjoyed it. Thanks, maxsparber, for that little meditation inspired by Tommy. That's really something to think about.
posted by edheil at 9:47 PM on April 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by edheil at 9:47 PM on April 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you don't remember who Tom Smothers is, ask your grandpa.
ಠ_ಠ
OH FUCK YOU, TMZ.
GET OFF MY LAWN.
posted by louche mustachio at 11:55 PM on April 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
ಠ_ಠ
OH FUCK YOU, TMZ.
GET OFF MY LAWN.
posted by louche mustachio at 11:55 PM on April 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yo-yo demos (& marketing strategy) were often held in the interval between films in the kids' matinees on Saturday mornings in the UK pre-WW2. The kids went wild for them.
posted by Crustybob at 4:08 AM on April 11, 2015
posted by Crustybob at 4:08 AM on April 11, 2015
My *parents* took me to see the Smothers Borthers when they were in Ann Arbor's Power Center wayyyyy back in 1998 (or it might have been 1999), and it was a fun show to behold. Tom's skills are pretty great to watch live, and good to see he's still got it as of 2012.
posted by JoeXIII007 at 6:43 AM on April 11, 2015
posted by JoeXIII007 at 6:43 AM on April 11, 2015
I go a ways back with yo-yos (yeah, I'm an old guy).
In the early 60s, all you could get was Duncan yo-yos. I had Imperials, Butterflys, a Mardi Gras, and one of those dumb Satellite things; it had holes on the edges and would whistle while spinning.... I had a few of the Kuhn models too--the Roller Woody was a favorite. Kuhn was a dentist who quit the profession to make yo-yos!
Duncan would hire regional guys to visit stores that sold yo-yos once during the summer and they would hold contests and award patches for first, second, and third. The contest consisted of 10 basic tricks with a loop-the-loop contest in case of a tie. There was a little cartoon book with the 10 basic tricks that everyone had...and no way to learn the advanced stuff unless a Duncan guy taught you. (nowadays, all the advanced tricks are on youtube....)
I learned after I got good that I could go around to various stores in nearby towns and show up for contests all around the area (to get more patches). I could usually win, because I practiced often. After a while, the Duncan guy recognized me and would just give me a patch so the other kids could compete.
I have a few of those old yo-yos and a couple of the new machined ball-bearing axel models too. The new stuff is just amazing...I can do tricks I only dreamed of in the old days because they sleep seemingly forever!
All of the tricks Smothers does are from that basic trick booklet...except Eiffel Tower; that came later with all the long sleep models and string tricks started to get really popular.
And you never wanted to do Walk the Dog with a good yo-yo because most surfaces would ding up the edges and then you had a nasty sharp yo that would harsh on your hand.
But I still can't do Shoot the Moon. It's like a reverse arc loop-the-loop. I've only seen a few people do that one. So...more practice needed!
posted by CrowGoat at 9:56 AM on April 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
In the early 60s, all you could get was Duncan yo-yos. I had Imperials, Butterflys, a Mardi Gras, and one of those dumb Satellite things; it had holes on the edges and would whistle while spinning.... I had a few of the Kuhn models too--the Roller Woody was a favorite. Kuhn was a dentist who quit the profession to make yo-yos!
Duncan would hire regional guys to visit stores that sold yo-yos once during the summer and they would hold contests and award patches for first, second, and third. The contest consisted of 10 basic tricks with a loop-the-loop contest in case of a tie. There was a little cartoon book with the 10 basic tricks that everyone had...and no way to learn the advanced stuff unless a Duncan guy taught you. (nowadays, all the advanced tricks are on youtube....)
I learned after I got good that I could go around to various stores in nearby towns and show up for contests all around the area (to get more patches). I could usually win, because I practiced often. After a while, the Duncan guy recognized me and would just give me a patch so the other kids could compete.
I have a few of those old yo-yos and a couple of the new machined ball-bearing axel models too. The new stuff is just amazing...I can do tricks I only dreamed of in the old days because they sleep seemingly forever!
All of the tricks Smothers does are from that basic trick booklet...except Eiffel Tower; that came later with all the long sleep models and string tricks started to get really popular.
And you never wanted to do Walk the Dog with a good yo-yo because most surfaces would ding up the edges and then you had a nasty sharp yo that would harsh on your hand.
But I still can't do Shoot the Moon. It's like a reverse arc loop-the-loop. I've only seen a few people do that one. So...more practice needed!
posted by CrowGoat at 9:56 AM on April 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
Kuhn was a dentist who quit the profession to make yo-yos!
And then he picked it up again because he's my dentist. Wow. Now I can't wait for my next visit.
posted by yaymukund at 2:50 PM on April 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
And then he picked it up again because he's my dentist. Wow. Now I can't wait for my next visit.
posted by yaymukund at 2:50 PM on April 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
They actually had assemblies when I was in grade school in the 70's where a guy - always a guy - did tricks. Because it was at school, they didn't sell yo-yos there, but they were always conveniently stocked in the local variety stores in a display in the days after the assembly.
posted by jkosmicki at 5:48 PM on April 11, 2015
posted by jkosmicki at 5:48 PM on April 11, 2015
I always liked the Smothers Brothers, and one of my great pleasures in reading about them over the years has been learning that Tom was really the smart, decision-making brother. And as much trouble as Tom's decisions caused, Dickie always stood with him.
posted by jkosmicki at 5:50 PM on April 11, 2015
posted by jkosmicki at 5:50 PM on April 11, 2015
I have a vintage '70s Duncan butterfly that I keep meaning to ask MetaFilter about, as I'm curious if there's any value in it (which really is a question of whether I should take better care of it, since I love the thing too much to sell it).
I can't really do any tricks at all but it is--as the article points out--quite soothing to just lob a yo-yo up and down repetitively. Highly recommended as a stress reliever and brain settler.
posted by librarylis at 8:28 PM on April 11, 2015
I can't really do any tricks at all but it is--as the article points out--quite soothing to just lob a yo-yo up and down repetitively. Highly recommended as a stress reliever and brain settler.
posted by librarylis at 8:28 PM on April 11, 2015
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