Possible Demo! Done 12/22/11, report added!

It’s the one time of year that the NED show makes a return to my former elementary school, the school where I fueled the yoyo boom when I was there and smuggled my Yomega to school. My 2 nieces now go there, one being in kindergarten. The yoyo virus has latched onto them, the 3rd grader getting a Boomerang and the kindergartener a basic NED Yo.

Unfortunately, the kindergartners were left out of the picture when it came to the actual assembly. It was mentioned/suggested to me about possibly coming into my younger niece’s class to put on a little demo for them since they got the shaft. With this said, should I do everything I know? Start with the basics and work up, or keep it simple since they are younger? Maybe throw some 5A in the mix? In other words, how should I present myself since this will be a first time doing such? If this happens, I’m pretty excited to share the joys of yoyo to a class of 30.

For a small, very young group like you have, learn TONS of picture tricks. Daisy, Eiffel Tower, Scissors, Eating Spaghetti, Jamaican Flag, Bunny, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse,Four leaf Clover, Bicycle, Star, Butterfly, Robin Hood, PacMan, probably way too young for Hangman…

I think opening up with a 1-2 minute routine of not super over-complicated “Crowd pleaser stuff” would work best, do some picture tricks and other classic stuff, then end with something really complex, but then redo it again, breaking it down step by step, and then do it again at normal speed.

This is really cool!

I’d try some neat arm grinds, or some under-the-leg stuff.

I think 5A is pretty confusing. If you know 4A, only a little bit, that’d be really cool.

Are Ned performers even any good? You might put on a better show then they do! Tricks that they would know like walk the dog and rock the baby would be good.

No there not very good there best trick is the matrix and they can badly do that they came to my school

I now wish that I was there during their presentation. After their show, I would have been off to the side doing my own things like Boingy Boing (which my niece saw them do, it’s her favorite trick), Kwyjibo, Gyro Flop, Eli Hops, Zipper, etc. I guess I could youtube the Ned Show to see what kind of stuff they do/what their routines are like.

I do know that they don’t use the same yoyos they sell, my neice said she saw what looked like metal yoyos being used. I’m sure what they do offer is friendly for the beginner or uses outdated tech and that’s about it. I am kind of curious though about that Cosmic Spin 2…it’s not the rebranded 'Gade they had a couple years ago.

I figured I’d go ahead and bump this and add my ‘report’ from the demo. I have a habit (comes from a coaster site I visit) in posting a report/blog on the event I did (in the case of visiting a park or park’s special event) and I figure I’ll carry on my tradition here.

Today, I did the demo with 3 different classes actually. First class to show to were the kindergartners. They thoroughly loved the picture tricks but then I thought it was time to do some more complex stuff. The kindergartners were pretty impressed. I kept the complex stuff down to the simpler complex things like Gyroscopic Flop, Boingy Boing, and Roller Coaster (my take on it). They were pretty amazed and then I showed the my collection of yoyos. And 5A (of what tricks I do know) was a hit but was also a bit confusing to them…just why couldn’t I land Butterfly when I was showing them?

Next up, the 3rd graders. I showed them a few picture tricks but I felt that since they already saw the NED show, it was time to increase the difficulty. Gyroscopic Flop, Boingy Boing, Plastic Whip, Double or Nothing, etc. grabbed their attention real fast. I had questions like “Are you doing this with 2 strings?” and “How do you do that!?” The hubstacked yoyo was also a hit, they were baffled and surprised when I set it on their desk. Then to show some 5A which they have never seen. And I was finally able to get Butterfly going which was a huge hit. Talking to my niece afterwards, I was informed that trick-wise, I put on a better show than what they saw a week or so ago with the NED gig they had.

Getting ready to leave and messing with my yoyo in the hallways, a teacher comes up and asks me “Oh, what can you do?” I do a few tricks, told them I just did a couple demos. She had asked if I can do a quick demo for her special ed class so I did. A little tougher to keep their focus on 1 trick and explain so I just did some combos, then some 5A. This round I was outdoors so I was able to show them “Aerials” and not worry about hitting anything.

In the end, I think it came out good for the first time, as much as I’m not used to speaking or doing things in front of a large audience. I had the office staff tell me I should join the NED team, or better yet, do my own production and do a fundraiser (which I would see about hitting up a company about getting bulk yoyos to sell). Hopefully more of these will come in my future of throwing :slight_smile:

I say just keep calm do a 1-2 min rutine but do it slow so they can see it and wow them

~ justin

Way to go!

You brought some yoyo love to a school and you shared unselfishly. The thing with the special ed kids, while many won’t forget(and many won’t remember), for a few, that may be the highlight of their year.

That is what it’s all about: Sharing.

You sir, rock!

I consider it ‘giving the gift of yoyo tricks.’ Many students already purchased yoyos a week prior, some kids were running around at the school with their NED Boomerangs doing sleepers and stuff. After watching a kid throw a decent sleeper with his Boomer, I whipped out the Popstar, did a couple trick, leaving the kid with a puzzled look as in “Woah, how’d you do that?” Practice is all it is! I’m hoping that maybe these kids will now even be more inspired to practice. The one thing I should have told them: visit YYE.com! With so much going on, it’s easy to forget some of the simplest key things!

I had kids telling me that I was a pro and whatnot. I told them that there’s still a lot for me to learn and even with that, there really is no end. Unfortunately, the one thing I couldn’t do is let the kids try as there were far too many to keep in control. But I did let them look at my collection so they can see all the different shapes, colors, sizes and materials yoyos are made of.

And…never say there is not a strong market for yoyos. Walking down the halls carrying my clear tacklebox of yoyos, every kid passing by were saying “Oooh, yoyos! Show me something!” If yoyoing were more publicized in the area (much like what I did), yoyos would sell like hotcakes.

Lastly, this was done at my elementary school I went to, the school where I smuggled my yoyo to school, went with some friends down to the far end of the field and just played yoyo…until we got caught that was. We got a petition going and were given a designated yoyo zone for us to do tricks at. So throwing there today brought some nostalgic value to me since that was my old throwing grounds where I showed my friends how to do the basics and got them hooked. I enjoyed every bit of today and would definitely love to do this again, perhaps with some form of storyline next time.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/p480x480/379878_1702069487513_1711232018_840360_1619969199_n.jpg
Throwing for the Kindergarten class, doing a “Boingy Boing” or a “Bow and Arrow” as they called it.