Today is the bitterest of bittersweet days. Today marks my last batch of shows and demos on this tour. There couldn’t be a nicer place to wrap up than at Disney World but, it just stings to know that it has to end for me.

The Heritage Tour has been nothing but, the best times in the best places with the best people. Before we even got out here, I considered Drew Tetz, Hank Freeman, and Takeshi Kamisato among my family. But, I like to think that getting out there and doing shows, demonstrating, blogging and throwing contests has let the rest of the world in on how special the bond within Duncan Crew is. There really is nothing like our crew anywhere and I appreciate it more now than I ever have.

We rocked our shows like we rocked every single stop on this tour. We showed the Disney audiences how much joy and love we have for our craft, them and each other. We went the extra mile to throw some special moments into our last shows. And we put the finishing touches on a tour we will be proud of for a long time to come.

A huge thank you goes out to all of the yo-yo legends, retailers, players and nonplayers that allowed us in your places and hearts, or came out to the demos and made this all very special. You are a part of the legacy we are building and you will be remembered.

Duncan Equals Love. Never forget that.

Duncan Crew in one of our favorite cities in the entire world! Austin, Texas forever!!!

Some people make ripples, Duncan Crew makes waves. We had another great day of meet and greet demos as well as stage shows. We can feel the momentum building here in Orlando and it’s hard to ignore. Not only are we seeing people come by daily to check out our shows, we are getting real feedback and it is fantastic.

Today during our informal afternoon demo, we were visited by the general manager from T-Rex cafe. The staff and diners were so impressed by our miniature demo that he invited us back to the restaurant tonight. Making those kinds of connections is nothing short of miraculous. Sure, getting cool invites to awesome places is flattering but, knowing that someone really appreciates our work as yo-yo demonstrators is better than anything I ever could have hoped for. Of course, futuristic stage shows and massive fancy chocolate cake desserts are pretty great too.

I think I will accept that the life of a Duncan Yo-Yo Professional is filled with both.

That’s right! You thought it was over but, Duncan Crew cannot be stopped! We continued on with more demos at Walt Disney World and they just kept on getting better! Not only did we have the crew from the tour out with us but, we got the best backup anyone could ever ask for! Brandon Jackson came to Florida to help us represent and represent we did!

We took the power boost and made things more powerful than anyone could have dreamed. Each demo out here is more and more and more of what they need to be. More people getting excited about playing. More people digging what we do. More people getting involved and picking up yo-yos. And more fun!!

Like always, our demos don’t stop at our formal demos. We stopped into T-Rex cafe and blew the roof off the place today. We came in and had a fantastic dinner and before we knew it, people were asking if we were really Duncan Crew. We never disappoint and threw down for the people there and made believers out of staff and spectator alike. It’s the coolest life ever.

Who has the best job in the world?! Duncan Crew has the best job in the world! We are now hanging out at Walt Disney World and having the best time any had ever!

We have been having some great times doing informal demonstrations during the day here. Everyone here is so fantastic and fun. People come here with the sole purpose of being in the happiest place on earth and they succeed. We’ve met people from all over the world and flexed our skills, only to have them give us an amazing amount of love and gratitude. It is an amazing experience and it is hard to top.

What makes it even better is that just when we thought it couldn’t be topped, Disney World tops itself! After we wrap up our informal daytime demos here, we’ve been given the opportunity to rock the, brand new, waterside stage in Downtown Disney for three shows every night we’re here. Our stage setting looks awesome. The sound system is unbeatable. The Crew helping us out is unbelievable and we of course are putting our best foot forward and rocking the entire world at every single turn. How could we do anything but, absolutely love this?

This is the coolest gig on the planet. It can be so surreal to realize that we are living a life that nearly every child and most adults dream about. We have great times with our friends. We throw the best shows in the best places with the best support anywhere and it is our daily routine. This life is simply the limit. I can’t wait to keep on living it.

We had a good long hike yesterday and today we are in Tallahassee, Florida. It’s been weeks but, I am now on something that qualifies as home turf. It’s cool how it can feel comfortable and foreign at the same time. Being out on tour is like that, I suppose. The most comfortable part of the moment is that we had Hank Freeman return to the tour today. He went to Japan and made us proud and now, he’s back to rock America all over again.

We had a really great demo today. We did our thing at the new home of Lofty Pursuits. The shop has been a staple of Tallahassee local businesses for well over a decade now and has been a force in the yo-yo scene the entire time. The best part is that the new location has breathed new life into an already strong scene. The players that came out of this place have been so influential that they invented things as important to yo-yo as the Triple A style(Duncan Crew’s MArk Mcbride) and Freehand! If that isn’t a legacy that defines modern yo-yo play, I don’t know what is. The best part is that Duncan has always been a centerpiece to it. It’s hard not to love this place and what has come out of it.

We had the chance to meet up and share our knowledge with some future generations of yo-yo geniuses and trade licks with some of the players nipping at our heals. It’s inspiring and mind warping to see how far people can come in such a short time, when they have a place to learn the techniques required to excel at skill toys. Some players at the demo had only been playing a few months and were learning boingy boingy and playing offstring.

In addition to the great players, great selection of Duncan Yo-Yos & toys, and fantastic atmosphere, Lofty Pursuits also happens to have a fully functional old school ice cream and soda shop on premesis. So, you can buy a FHZero and then turn around and have a Dublin Dr. Pepper ice cream float and then have the guy who made your ice cream teach you to play diabolo. Does an experience ever get more complete than that!? I just don’t know if it can.

For serious, you have to come to Florida and check it out. This is what eternally building a scene looks like.

Wish you were here. The tour is getting better and better and better!

Earlier this week Hank had to leave the tour for a little while. We are super sad to see him go but, we are super excited for him because he is on his way to Tokyo, Japan to represent in international competition. Hank is competing in the 44 Clash and we wish him the best along with all of the other Duncan Crew members that are going to be there. It is a prestigious contest and only the best are invited. Extra love to you guys. We know you will do wonderful!

mad love to: Hank Freeman, Brandon Jackson, Fajar Siddiq, Chris Makita, Mimi Makita, Sean Perez, Bu-ko, Kohta Watanabe, Hidemasa Semba, Marron, Terry, and Kazuaki Sugimura!!!!!

Today was a perfect example of a gig being easy because it is just so very good. The people at The Toy Store in Lawrence, Kansas really worked their butts off to insure that today’s demo was going to be off the hook. Mission Complete.

From the minute we rolled up, the spot was hopping. Tons of foot traffic came through. Which meant that every few minutes we had new people to play for. It was amazing to constantly have new hearts, minds and eyes to set on fire. As it turns out, today was National Neighborhood Toy Store Day. So there were plenty of bells and whistles to go along with our own festivities. Everything from an old school popcorn machine, and candy apples, to balloon powered rocket ships worked themselves into our visit. It doesn’t get more awesome.

We had plenty of players as well. Tons of players from the Kansas City Yo-Yo club came out and helped us have a good time. Not only that but, we had quite a few players there who weren’t a part of the club. Jacob Deffenbaugh and others were awesome people to hang out with. They just light up the demo with their creativity and spirit. We need more people with that sort of passion for the activity getting out and in the limelight. They could improve the lives of everyone exponentially.

Unfortunately, the demo couldn’t last forever. So, we wrapped up and met up with National Yo-Yo Master, Rick Wyatt for dinner. He is such a great friend and has been amazingly valuable with our visit to Kansas/Missouri behind the scenes. What a guy. We wrapped up dinner and decided to hit up a local dueling piano spot. As we all know, I love music. I love it even more when it’s live and done well. Rick knows the spots out here and he hooked it up. We got to take in some great piano players killing it and, lucky us, we managed to turn the visit into an impromptu yo-yo demo. The entire place embraced our yo-yo play and we shined as always. A night out with Duncan Crew is more fun than the best night with almost anyone else.

Today’s demo was a hurricane of fun that I simply did not see coming. We have had a great week so far and I am always suspecting that this much fun just cannot keep itself up. I was wrong wrong wrong.

We had a great demo at Constructive Playthings in Leawood, Kansas. The best part is that the people who came out for it were primarily high level players. As it turns out, the Kansas City area is proving itself as a place with an awesome scene with some of the best players anywhere. Everyone is very dedicated to yo-yo play and they all seem to love their share of Duncan.

Not only, did we have a great crowd of experienced players but, we also drew a good crowd of children and adults that had never played a day in their life. Of course, this was a wonderful opportunity to get them involved and teach them how to throw and throw well. It’s honestly one of the very best parts of being out on tour. You just feel like you’re lucky enough to be the one to plant the seeds of a new path in someone’s life. In the end, our impact will be felt for generations and we will be the heritage the future looks back on. It’s exciting and humbling.

Viva la Duncan Yo-Yo!