How to Be a Player Vol. 1

Featuring: Steve Brown, Chris Neff, lots of others (see list below)
Running Time: 49 minutes
2001 Duncan

I have to say that this video features some of the coolest, most cutting edge tricks I've ever seen. But by the time you read this review the tricks might be considered old school and lame by current standards.

This video has lots of goofy stuff included during and in between tricks. It's obvious that Chris and Steve had lots of fun making this video. There are also clips from the 1979 film "How to Run a Duncan YoYolympics Contest", featuring Lance Lynch mixed in between tricks as well.

There are also various single and two-handed freestyles and numerous tricks performed by other players mixed in (I'm not sure of the names of all these tricks or if some of them even had names, so I'm not listing them). Trick types include freehand, triple A and offstring. One segment includes the apparatus, a thingamajig created by Chris using several pipes. He uses it for some really cool freehand tricks. The music for the video is by Less Than Jake and Jersey. It's pretty good and provides a nice flow to the video.

The video starts off with basic stuff like stringing and winding a yo-yo. Then Steve and Chris demonstrate some basic tricks and work their way up to freehand, triple A, and offstring (see trick list). Some of the tricks demonstrated are not explained so it will be necessary to repeatedly view the video in slow motion if you want to learn these. This is probably true for some of the ones that are explained as well.

The video concludes with a review of the Duncan product line. There is also a "bonus" trick at the end of the credits which shouldn't be missed (or attempted, unless you're one of those people who likes to make a mess). Overall, this is a fun video to watch and the tricks demonstrated should appeal to a wide range of players.

Trick List:

1. throw and sleeper
2. forward pass
3. walk the dog
4. rock the baby
5. around the world
6. backwards around the world
7. lateral around the world
8. texas cowboy
9. eiffel tower
10. flying saucer
11. trapeze
12. double or nothing
13. triple or nothing
14. rollercoaster
15. pinwheel
16. brain twister
17. split the atom
18. zipper
19 barrel rolls
20. chain reaction
21. boingy boingy
22. mach 5
23. inside loops

24. outside loops
25. shoot the moon
26. hop the fence
27. punching bag
28. buddha melt sandwich
29. chainsaw combo
30. freehand Gates catch
31. frog in a bag
32. hole feed
33. claire
34. iron whip
35. koi
36. kwyjibo
37. leg pit stall
38. lucky 7
39. meltdown
40. over arm catch eli hop
41. behind the head trapeze
42. pangalactic garggle blaster
43. behing the back roller coaster
44. some combos
45. suicide
46. water torture

Freehand:

1. 360
2. double
3. pinwheel
4. brain twister
5. nun-chuck
6. atom smasher
7. grind

8. arial
9. freehand combo
10. under leg pass
11. kamakazi corndog
12. morpheus
13. vine
14. Whitley wannabe

Triple A:

1. velvet rolls
2. 6 point star
3. mach 10

4. gunslinger staircase
5. twistie thing

Offstring:

1. winding
2. throw
3. return
4. overhand throw

5. flea bounce
6. barrel rolls
7. whip catch

Other Players: Clay Murray, Brian "Glasseye" Cabildo, Markus Lawson, Kalani Bergdorf, Dennis Schleussner, Mike Vanderweele, Felix Avellana, Taylor Whitley, Patrick Mitchell, Roger Pimentel, Mark McBride (also produced and directed), John Huber, Jen Niles, Leviathan, Mike Dunn, Michael Milan, Jason Tracy

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