| Steve Brown | |
| Birth Date: | 20 February 1976 |
| Birth Place: | Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Known For: | Creating freehand yo-yo play |
| Occupation: | Yo-yo designer and competition judge |
| Nationality: | American |
Steve Brown (born 1976) is an American competitive yo-yo player, competition judge, yo-yo designer, and yoyo blogger currently based out of North Olmsted, Ohio. He is currently the editor for YoYoNews.com and a co-producer of the Triple Crown of YoYo events.[1] In 2001, the National Yo-Yo League named him as one of eight National Yo-Yo masters.[2] He has designed multiple yo-yos, including the "Cherry Bomb" for Team Losi.[3] While employed by Duncan Toys Company as marketing and promotions coordinator,[4] Brown invented and patented freehand yo-yo play where instead of being attached to the finger, the string is actually attached to a counterweight, and designed a line of yo-yos for the new style.[5] He also authored a book called Duncan Yo-Yo Trick Book while employed by the company.[6]
A regular competitor in the 1990s, he has moved out of competing in most venues and has shifted his focus to judging.[7] His skill with yo-yos also landed him a job as a stuntman on the 2001 movie Zoolander,[8] work as a consultant on "The Lone Ranger (2013 film)"[9] where he developed and taught several of the actors the pocket watch trick that features prominently in the film, and led to an appearance on The Best Damn Sports Show Period.[10]
Steve Brown was young when he first held a yo-yo, but as a child, took little interest in the few tricks he learned. It was not until his later years and after some instability in his life that he got serious about yo-yoing. Brown was looking for a job at the time when came back to the yo-yo trade. Finding himself in a job of assembling yo-yo's for Lofty Pursuits, he was thrown into retail one day, making a huge impression on his customers and his boss, Greg Cohen. He impressed everyone with not only his ability to yo-yo, but also to juggle, showing his multitude of talents.
After working the next two years with his independent cart, fine-tuning his yo-yo skills through hours of practice, Brown joined with Duncan Toys Company. Working as Duncan's marketing and promotions coordinator, Steve created a following with his creative designs and yo-yo tricks.
Brown worked for Duncan Toys for the start of his career. He worked for Duncan for seven years (1999-2006)[11]. Here is where his unique style and flare created a name for himself. Brown was, and is, known for his punk rocker sense of style that he has brought to the yo-yo world. With his tattoo covered arms and past Mohawk hairstyles, he's keeping the hobby of the yo-yo alive in the youth. At contests early in his career, his unique style and accompanying punk rock music helped him to stand out among the other competitors who were either significantly older or significantly younger.
After leaving Duncan Toys in 2006, and finding less time to spend yo-yoing with age and a newly established family, Brown kept himself active in the yo-yo community by creating his website 365yoyotricks.com, on which he recorded and posted one original yo-yo trick every day for an entire year in 2011. The following year, Steve outsourced some of the tricks from a few of his favorite yo-yoers, but continued to contribute tricks of his own alongside them.[11] He continued this system in 2013 with a different group of players, but this is no longer an active sight, since Brown stopped posts to the site in 2013. Currently, he works as an editor on another website called yoyonews.com.[12] Here he works to keep the yo-yo community alive, and persisting towards creativity. Alongside the creation of his websites, Brown was also sponsored by the Yo-Yo Factory,[13] where they created four specific yo-yo models inspired by / for Brown.
Now, Brown resides in Cleveland, Ohio with his three kids. He currently works on Yoyonews, keeping up on current yo-yo trends and events all over. In addition to this, he works on the Triple Crown of Yo-yo event, which occurs every year, except in 2015, due to the birth of Brown's youngest child. He also works at the Caribou Lodge Yo-yo Works.[14] There he serves as the team and marketing manager, creating yo-yo's with creative, abstract designs. He has obtained a patent for his yo-yo design involving counterweights. Since Steve himself started off using plain wood yo-yo's, he dedicates this site and company to creating a unique image for the yo-yo community while maintaining a signature old school style that Brown has been recognized for throughout his career. Along with hand crafted yo-yo's, they also produce a limited clothing line and offer video tutorials on their website.
Steve Brown has won many awards throughout his career in competitive yo-yoing. He has participated in many different contests and championships, and currently holds various titles and placed in several yo-yo competitions. To current date, Steve Brown's competitive records include:
Steve Brown has now retired from being a competitive yo-yo player, but has continued on to be a judge in numerous different competitions around the world.