By Justin Juul
If we’ve learned anything from the most recent technological revolution (Web 2.0 and stuff, duh!), it’s that nerds are way cooler than we thought they were. In fact, the word “nerd” has lost nearly all of its negative connotations, now defining a certain type of person with highly specific interests rather than a loser. “I’m a music nerd,” people will proudly say, or “I’m an art nerd.” Being a nerd, then, has become cool; and not just in an ironic hipster sense like when you wear glasses without lenses or pretend to like B-movies. The people who used to be nerds are now actually cooler than the people who used to be cool. Take skateboarders for example. Being a skateboarder in 1990 meant that you lived a life of dread, that you were a nerd, and that all the jocks, cheerleaders, and thugs got to make fun of you. But being a skateboarder these days means that you have the freshest gear before anyone else, you know about underground art and music, and you have a pretty good chance of being an extra in the next Larry Clark film. The same thing goes for yo-yo champions like David Capurro. He may not spend his weekends getting drunk and doing cocaine at clubs, but well, come on; that shit’s for nerds.
The Guardian caught up with Capurro recently to explore the subculture of competitive yo-yo players, who might just be the coolest people on the planet (next to skateboarders, of course).
SFBG: How did you get into yo-yoing?
David Capurro: I saw a kid playing with a yo-yo when I was ten years old. I was kind of a socially awkward kid so I traded him a pair of walkie-talkies for his yo-yo. I guess I just figured I’d rather play with a yo-yo by myself than go out and try to make friends with those damn walkie-talkies. Besides, yo-yos don’t need batteries.
SFBG: Were you good at it at first or did you have to practice a lot?
David Capurro: I had to do it for a couple years. At first I wasn’t too crazy about it, but then I started getting a kick out of the challenge. Most people don’t know it, but playing with a yo-yo is really difficult. There’s a lot of manual dexterity involved and it’s more hands-on than video games and stuff. I’d much rather be doing something physical than just staring at a screen.
SFBG: I’ve never met a yo-yo person before. Are a lot of people into it? How big is the yo-yo community?
David Capurro: There are thousands all over the world. There’s a big contingency in Japan and there are clubs throughout Germany and all over Europe. There are clubs in Poland, Singapore, and Korea too. Of course, the biggest population is here in The United States where the yo-yo became popular in the 1920’s. There’s really a lot of competition going on out there.
SFBG: Speaking of competition, I’ve been wondering, what exactly does it mean to be a Seventh Degree Yo-Yo Master?
David Capurro: I have no idea, dude. I think you made that up. It sounds pretty prestigious though.
SFBG: Oh shit, really? I must have heard it in a movie or something. Sorry about that.
David Capurro: No, it’s cool. People have all sorts of misconceptions about the yo-yo community. People tend to think we’re dorks, but most of the kids I play with are pretty hip. I mean, they’re fashion conscious and into cool stuff. They get dates, you know. I’m probably one of the dorkier ones actually.
SFBG: Yeah, I can relate. I grew up skateboarding in a small town in the Midwest, way before skateboarding was “cool,” and I remember all the ridicule I endured just because I was into something that wasn’t mainstream. I think it’s like that for anyone who doesn’t play football or basketball or date cheerleaders or whatever.
David Capurro: Yeah, you know yo-yo’s are not easy. It takes skill and determination and that’s probably why a lot of people talk shit about it because at some point they probably tried to do it and realized how hard it was. Then they just decided it was stupid and started making fun of it. Not everyone has the hand eye coordination or the manual dexterity required to master a yo-yo.
SFBG: Yeah, I’ve tried before. I can’t even keep the damn thing going, much less do tricks. What’s the best trick you can do, by the way?
David Capurro: We don’t really name tricks anymore. It’s more of a combination of new and pre-existing moves. Some people name their combos, but not everyone. I did take a shot of Fernet Branca and knock a quarter off a dude’s ear once though. That was pretty cool, but I don't have a name for that. How about “Potential Lawsuit?”
SFBG: Oh damn. That’s crazy. Is that something yo-yo people do a lot, drink and play at the same time?
David Capurro: No. Most of the players are pretty young so there’s not much of that going on. We don’t do it at my club, I can say that much.
SFBG: What’s your club called?
David Capurro: I started The Spin Doctors 10 years ago. Some of our members have won national and world championships so we’re pretty up there. We compete, but on a day-to-day basis we’re more like a family. The club is like an open forum where people can just come hang out to learn new tricks.
SFBG: Do you have any rivalries with other yo-yo clubs?
David Capurro: I suppose we did a while ago, but that was many years back. Basically, the clubs would release videos online, and then other clubs would copy some kind of running theme/gag, and it just kinda went back and forth. It was all friendly in nature, nothing mean spirited. The Internet has really put our club on the map. We have a different style than other clubs. We do/did a lot of things that people haven't seen before so we got quite popular there for a while. People from all over the world were ordering our jerseys and trying to join the club, but I was like, you have to attend the club meetings to be a member, sorry!
SFBG: Any last words?
David Capurro: Tell people to check out the video and if they like what they see to stop by the club sometime. Thanks.
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