Yo-yo pro recalls wandering career
Photo by Jtmmi Hams
Eugene yo-yo professional Tom McCoy demonstrates a trick of his
own invention which he calls "swing on a star. '"McCoy toured the
U S. and Mexico for seven years promoting Duncan yo-yos
By BOB WAITE
Of the Emerald
On a sunny spring day a
crowd of kids collect at the local
shopping center parking lot
The yo-yo man is in town to
perform incredible tricks and
conduct a contest
The kids have been practicing
‘ walk the dog." "around the
world" and "rock the baby" for
weeks with hopes of winning a
new yo-yo.
Many people have fond
memories of their first yo-yo. of
the contests and of the yo-yo
man who did seemingly impos
sible tricks that they knew they
could do if they had an official
Duncan yo-yo
Tommy McCoy is a
semi-retired Duncan yo-yo
professional currently living in
Eugene
As a child, McCoy enjoyed
yo-yos but he did not become a
professional until after he
graduated from college in Wis
consin As a student he perfect
ed the yo-yo trick swing on a
star" during study breaks
After he graduated, McCoy
moved from Wisconsin to
California in search of an ac
counting job One day a yo-yo
pro came to town proclaiming
his amazing star trick
The pro made a string star
while the yo-yo slept to one side
McCoy showed the pro how to
do the trick while rocking the
sleeping yo-yo beneath the star
The impressed pro invited
McCoy to dinner where he of
fered McCoy a job
After some quick soul
searching, McCoy, the
accountant-to-be. became a
yo-yo professional
From January 1972 until this
year McCoy toured the U S and
Mexico conducting demonstra
tions. contests and perfecting
new tricks to promote Duncan
yo-yos
He traveled and performed,
spending two months in each
city "I followed the weather.”
he remembers ' I'd go to a city
and it would be just becoming
spring Then I d go to another
city and it would be just becom
ing spring there - it was great'”
McCoy regards himself as a
true professional While some
yo-yo men learn a few impres
sive tricks and stop McCoy
spent his off-time learning and
devising new tricks
But even the best profession
als make occasional mistakes
McCoy remembers losing con
trol of his yo-yo during a
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performance in Mexico and
breaking his glasses As a group
of little girls giggled he quickly
bowed out and went home to
grope for his contact lenses
He also learned the art of
creative covering “When I
came back from Mexico the
streaker fad had hit.'1 he says
When the yo-yo would not re
turn McCoy would shout. Hey,
there’s a streaker*" and quickly
rewind
’ Actually, people like it when
even the professional makes a
mistake," he says. "It got to the
point where it was a mistake
when I didn't make a mistake,"
he adds, explaining that it en
couraged his audience and
gave them hope
McCoy says that there are
currently two women Duncan
yo-yo professionals and he
hopes that more women will fol
low suit Yo-yos have
traditionally been thought of as
a boy s toy Women pros, he
says, will help to remove the
yo-yo s sexist stereotype
McCoy says that he always
cautions kids to master the ba
sic yo-yo tricks before attempt
ing the more difficult ones He
concedes that it can be a dan
gerous toy. but any toy can be
dangerous.” he shrugs
Yo-yo popularity is currently
in a slump, he says, although
Duncan continues to promote it
For this reason, combined with
the fact that “yo-yoing was just
becoming too big a part of my
life," McCoy has temporarily
retired
"The yo-yo goes down-up
down rather than up and
down," explains McCoy, "The
yo-yo is down right now, but like
the way it works, it will always
come back up again It always
has ”
And so, states McCoy, will he
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