Happy Monday!
Proud to present someone I’ve been wanting to profile for a long time, Remy Baskin!!!
What got you into throwing, how did you find the hobby?
Some of my friends and classmates showed me the very basics - and introduced me to yoyo club at the local toy store A2z which further hooked me into yoyo!
What is your goal in 2025 for yourself? Yo-yo or not!
Competitive yoyo - perform a few freestyles with new tricks, songs I like and generally trick content I’m proud of and enjoy doing. I also would really like to make WYYC finals again.
Non Competitive yoyo - I really want to film a trick centered video that I’m happy with. I also want to keep making new and perhaps name some tricks I’ve made.
Not Yoyo - getting more stability in my life and improving my wellbeing on the day to day. I would also like to travel to some cool places and spend lots of time with friends!
If you could only have one yo-yo for the rest of your life what would it be?
My old answer would have been YYR inevitable, but now I think I’d go either JT Kagerou (old version) or YYR Liminal Autoscopy. Both of those yos are very capable and versatile without being boring.
What trick are you working on currently?
Working on rounding out my competitive trickset at the moment.
What’s the trick that gives you the hardest time?
Mir Kim’s upside down triangle fast hands lasso thing into regular triangle. I have spent so much time trying that trick and I am still so bad at it. Another answer would be neck-stoles or super high hooks (4.0+) but I have put minimal time into practicing those.
What’s your favorite trick?
At the moment Colin Beckford’s Yuuki slack variation from 2024. Incredibly fun and satisfying type of trick that is really natural to bounce off of and create variations from.
What’s your favorite yo-yo of all time?
Anima :’)
What is your favorite contest to attend?
Czech Nationals - it’s always such a good vibe with the most engaged crowd and generally super high energy. Slusny is top tier at organizing contests and usually has extra things that add to the experience like walkouts or live scoring etc. It also has great afterparties & pre/post contest hanging with lots of great people!
Which yoyoer/s who have inspired your yoyoing the most?
Early on A2z yoyoers such as Tylor McCallumore, Eric Koloski, and Doug Kapinos. Also a big influence were yoyoers I saw compete IRL such as Andrew Maider, Tsev, Kurti, and Bergy. When I started competing more seriously around 2016/17 I was most inspired by the Scales crew and watching contemporary contests globally (a lot of jp and us regionals & worlds).
These days I think my inspirations are spread out to a much larger pool of yoyoing from old videos/freestyles, sooo many people on insta, and most consistently from my favorite players Keiran, Colin, Tony, Dkim, Hajime, and Ryuichi (to name a few).
What trick do you think every yoyoer should learn?
Shockwave
What are a few of your favorite yoyo videos of all time?
Revenger - Nate Sutter
Save Deth - Danny Severance
Kaibun - Sid Seed
Team Chubby Lovin - The men you’ll grow to love
What’s the most meaningful throw you have?
Special edition Yoyojam Kickside with my name on it that I got from joining the A2z yoyo team in my first year of yoyoing.
What’s your worst habit with yo-yos?
Constantly making new tricks but never practicing finished combos (or freestyles).
Finding a new element and making it a repeater instead of making a full combo slash not developing longer combos.
What’s kind of things are you into outside of yo-yos?
I enjoy chess, skiing, watching movies, listening to music/live music, reading, looking at old books and art, going to thrift/salvage/antique shops, drawing, playing games with friends, eating food, traveling/exploring new places
A favorite movie and/or book?
Movies; Being John Malkovich, The Royal Tennenbaums, Chungking Express, Wallace and Gromit A Grand Day Out
Books; A tale for the time being, Kavka on the shore, Danny the champion of the world
What does yo-yo’ing mean to you?
Yoyo means a ton to me because it has been there for such a big part of my life. I’ve made so many friends through yoyo and those friendships have shaped me as a person and shaped how I see the world. I’ve also been exposed to different places, music, experiences, culture, food, etc through yoyo and all of those experiences are very meaningful to me too
What’s your best advice for people to get better?
Do whatever is fun and makes you want to spend time yoyoing and you will improve!
If you never picked up a yo-yo - what would things look like now?
I cannot really imagine this, I think I’d have a totally different life in so many ways. Also what would I do when bored ?