A Brief History Of Yo

First, an old video of Mission locals Dr. Popular and Kiya (yeah, Self Edge Kiya) nonchalantly SHREDDING on their yos while interviewing for KRON 4. (Bonus: it’s the same awkward correspondent that interviewed Broke Ass Stuart some time ago):

Next, Kiya posted this bit of history in the comments of the last Yo-Yo-related post and I thought it was too interesting not to share:

The Mission yoyo craze started many years ago when Doc moved from Minneapolis to the Mission and lived with me for a while on 22nd street.

I have a yoyo club which he’s a part of called The Consortium of Yo, we used to be sponsored by Zeitgeist and for years there was a COY x Zeitgeist yoyo you could buy at the bar that had both our logo and the Zeitgeist logo/motto on the side-caps.

Also, another bit of trivia… I named the fried pickles dish at Weird Fish/Benders, hence the name Fried Yoyos.

Doc is the Bay Area’s yoyo ambassador, 2nd Place World Champion, and a famous hair model.

Kiya: Still got any of those Zeitgeist-branded yo-yos buring a hole in a box in your garage? We must learn your ways.

Ok no more yo-yo posts this month, I promise.

6 Responses to “A Brief History Of Yo”

  1. It’d be hard to talk about yo-yoing in the Mission without fully giving props to Kiya. Kiya owns a yo-yo company called Anti-Yo with his friend Sonny. They used to assemble their yo-yos in Kiya’s Mission Apartment. He also used to organize frequent yo-yo meet-ups at Zeitgeist Bar, but they actually don’t allow yo-yos anymore (not sure why, I don’t think we hurt any bikers or anything). The Mission is a small dot in the yo-yo world, but many World and National champions are from the Bay Area. Some of them were even on Anti-Yo’s team.

    If it wasn’t for Kiya, I would never have moved to this incredible city. About 4 years ago, when I was living in Minneapolis, I was asked to come to SF to perform at the Monsters of Yo show at the Odeon Bar. While I was in town, Kiya lent me use of his apartment on 22nd and Valencia St. I loved the neighborhood, but it was Kiya’s constant prodding to stay for “just another week longer” that eventually led to my relocating. I actually now live right next to the apartment Kiya lent me during my first visit to SF.

    • Daemon says:

      Ahh, the good ol’ days…the Paranoids are gonna hafta dust off our infamous yo-yo love song Feb 13 at Kimo’s in tribute. Bring yr favorite yo-yo.

  2. olu says:

    Ok, I get it, sheesh! your yo-yo mob rolls deeper than philatelists! good for y’all.

    incidentally, i saw dr.popular open(?) for Sean Hayes at the make out room a few years ago. sean hayes is awesome.

  3. Kiya says:

    Oh god that was so long ago.. that video will forever haunt me, so awkward.

  4. Andrew jones says:

    That’s crazy. I haven’t seen yo-yos like that since I was a kid. Loooove San Francisco

  5. Jason says:

    Holy Crap! I can’t believe he did walk the dog on the asphalt with a Fluchs!