Why oh why unicycling world?

When I started riding I was the only person I knew that owned a unicycle.
Youtube was a great place to find more information and inspiration on a sport that I knew absolutely nothing about. After being exposed to extreme riding online, I sought out DVDs, magazines, and anything else uni-related I could get my hands on. It might be different in a large city with a thriving unicycle community, but speaking as one of the older riders in our community (I haven’t even been riding for 4 years), Youtube and other online sources are really helping to shape our local unicycle culture. I think availability is a major reason some of these DVDs aren’t selling… you can’t find them anywhere.

I really don’t agree with people who say that the sport isn’t growing. I see more unicycles today than I did even 2 years ago. And the skill level of even casual riders in growing at exciting speeds. I agree that more mainstream exposure would be wonderful, and people making some cash from riding wouldn’t hurt… but money can’t be the motivating force behind riding.
Artists and musicians continue to create even when faced with a choice between new guitar string, pencils, etc. or a decent meal. I don’t see why unicycling is that different. This is a sport still in it’s infancy compared to others. I really don’t see the need for some of the negativity I read regarding
the state of unicycling.

I guess I don’t really have a point in this mess of a post, I just wanted my turn on the soapbox.

I live in an area with very few unicyclists, and I myself live a good distance away from the city. Youtube was the only way that I was inspired to learn. Do non-unicyclists really watch the community uni videos? The only people who have ever commented on my videos, are either unicyclists, or friends that know my channel for its other stuff, and I keyword my videos really well.

Oh, I didn’t know that. That’s groovy with me. :wink:

Woah, are you suggesting unicycles are only performed in street shows and YouTube videos? You must only be referring to your own case, right? Some of us performed in all sorts of venues with roofs over them. Sometimes the audience even paid up front. Sometimes, we even got paid to fly to the country with the roofed-over venues and do shows there. :slight_smile:

Yes, but this doesn’t make them less legitimate. Our shows were designed to entertain. Online videos are designed for many other purposes; in most of these cases, to showcase cool riding. Nothing wrong with that, but definitely a different type of “performance”.

In most cases, they are still on YouTube because they aren’t trying to be somewhere else. No amount of YouTube videos will teach you to be an entertainer, or pass an audition for Cirque du Soleil, etc. It’s different stuff.

As for skills shown, they are not only on YouTube. If people are viewing the vid, some of them are either learning those skills, or using them as inspiration for their own original stuff. It has a big effect.

An interesting perception of those vids. U1 and U2 blew up because they were both so revolutionary. The world ate them up. Defect was less revolutionary, with less “newness” to what was happening in it. And my perception of Revolution One’s “floating there” is mostly the fact that it’s taken forever to get finished. Also it’s definitely more about history and origins than it is about showcasing amazing riding.

And none of those videos sold well. Not sure why, but Dan never seemed to be able to get them into some kind of major distribution, where they would get more mainstream exposure. I think they all sold in relatively small numbers (should have been by the thousands at minimum!).

Do a lot of people believe this? Because the opposite is true. Yes, everything is being done on YouTube, but that’s the upside. Before YouTube (and similar outlets for random videos), most people were never exposed to what unicycling could be. Now they are. People are learning to ride unicycles specifically to do the stuff they saw in YouTube videos. Only a few short years ago, nobody got into unicycling to do that, because they didn’t even know anybody did it. Almost everybody who learned to ride did it because they just wanted to be able to ride one. If they were lucky, they found out about all the cool stuff you could do before they lost interest (or “aged out” which is kind of Shaun’s situation).

BTW, don’t worry about aging out. Some of the most interesting people in today’s unicycling community rode when they were young, stopped for the college/kids/career thing, then came back later. None of them are doing the same type of riding they were then, but they’re doing something they enjoy.

I guess the best people to go to are Kris Holm and Dan Heaton and get there opinions. Are there more shows/events/tv programs/whatever that get this riders in them or not? I’ve been out for 2.5 years and have seen nothing in the major sponsorship area. That’s my interest. You have seen several of the once best riders have to quit because of college. Then new people take there place ride until college and quit because it’s too demanding on their schedule otherwise. So new people replace them, all the time getting slowly better and better by generation. (Like waves of a rising tide). Never allowing the best at one time to keep going until they are 24,25,26,27 to see how far they can push the sport because there is no money. (actually too old to ride progressive is like 30 to me). It’s preventing the sport from really growing.

I have to disagree

At least before You Tube. Collage age was when people really started to advance their juggling and uni skills. I went to weekly juggling meets, on Sunday, in San Fran (golden gate park), Boulder, Madison and NYC. 80% collage age 20 + crowd at all of them. I called them juggling meets, but there was uni riders, gymnasts, magic jokers and musicians as well.

It would have been rare for a high schooler to have seen a good juggler or uni rider. Few learned more than the most basic skills, before going to the big meets, held at major collages, or conventions.

Most of the unfunny guys quit by 25. You can only suck so bad as a performer for so long, before you start joking about it or get a real job. I saw many hack performers drag on into their 30’s, but really just for the money. I was a sharp half funny juggler, made it into my 40’s. Some of my funnier, lamer juggling, friends , are still doing decent shows in their 60’s. Sorta like WC Fields.

This has been the career path of all jugglers and uni riders I have known. You ain’t gonna cash in at some big contest and get a million $ to have your picture on a cereal box. The only professional uni riders or jugglers I have met were first and foremost entertainers, who expected to build their reputation being paid for live shows.

When did this idea that one could earn a living with videos start ? Maybe you should have gone to the carnival instead of that Britteny Spears concert ?, pussy. You can’t quit show biz before you are 25 !, unless you are the worst comic , have no talent, or are just a pussy. Stage fright can feel alright, tonight, as long as you get the job done. Most people will be afraid to try, all but a few naturals will be a bit scared during the act, that is why performers are better than normal people. They perform better. For every 100 super talented uni riders You tube inspires, I predict we will get 93 pussy’s, 6 half sharps, and a Carlin in a cash tree. Talent and brains, all goes down the drain, if you are a pussy.

What we have here is a bad case of one person hell bent on talking at everyone, but not with anyone.

I recommend anteseptic cream, apply liberally to the ‘swollen area’.

My god says that Shaun is the anti-christ.

lol jk, I don’t have a god.

Bro, this thread is about Shaun. An extreme unicyclist. Not a performing unicyclist sitting at a street corner or doing shows. Shaun wasn’t trying to be in “show biz” but then failed because he was a “pussy.” I’m guessing from all your posts thus far that you only have experience with street performers, which is a completely different thing that extreme unicycling, so nothing that you’ve said is relevant at all.

Thank you for your comment

Sean was asking for some hate, so I was being helpful. I can really hate Sean. I have seen his videos. He has awesome talent. “Pussy”, in this sense is about fear of the stage. He is a pussy. I can’t think of anyone with so much talent that has so little Carny. I really hate that about him, he shames himself and all of us by association with this character weakness. Clowns are looking away. Jugglers continue to feel superior. Our champion has no carny.

I guess that every single street/flat unicyclist is a pussy then. I can’t think of even one, off the top of my head, that has forgone their education to pursue unicycling. This January, Pedro T. (great unicyclist) and I had made some plans to ride/film before EUC. He never came. Later, I heard that he was contacted by a university and went back home instead of coming to EUC and competing. Wow, what a pussy. Now that I see this character weakness, I hate him. Sarcasm. He obviously made the choice that was in his best interest.

Dang, FTL, way to hate-on! :astonished:

Not to take the wind out of your sails, but I’m pretty sure Shaun never wanted to be an entertainer; a carny. He was pushing the limits of an area of technical riding, something that would likely have limited appeal to an audience even under the best of conditions.

I dropped out of college to ride unicycles. Later I became a professional unicycle entertainer. I am not a pussy. I was just stupid. If I had the chance to do it over would I do the same thing? Probably.

Be glad he only called you a pussy.

i personally think that doing what u love and and what u think is fun is more important than school. you go to school to get a job basicly and when you have a job you start making a family buys a house and get a dog and u live like everybody else.
and then when ur old you think back and think what if i would have continued unicycling
and you realised you have wasted your best years doing something u dont love
i know this for sure because someone close to me wanted to be a painter but instead she became a nurse and now she regret that she didnt pursue her dream

i will choose my dream instead of babylons dream

i personally think that doing what u love and and what u think is fun is more important than school. you go to school to get a job basicly and when you have a job you start making a family buys a house and get a dog and u live like everybody else.
and then when ur old you think back and think what if i would have continued unicycling
and you realised you have wasted your best years doing something u dont love
i know this for sure because someone close to me wanted to be a painter but instead she became a nurse and now she regret that she didnt pursue her dream

i will choose my dream instead of babylons dream

I definitely understand that mentality, but I don’t see what there is to pursue about unicycling? I mean, at least for me, unicycling is training around my house and going to the skatepark, and then competitions every so often. There is no way anywhere in there to get any essential things (food, clothes, shoes), so I mean I guess I see 3 possible options:

  1. Mooch off of your parents your entire life
  2. Steal
  3. Be homeless and beg people for food

Plus, after you get to be about 35 (best case), you’ll barely be able to physically ride anymore. Then what the heck do you do?

Shit! 3 more years and I’m screwed :smiley:

Why does it have to be all or nothing?

It’s ok, I just meant that you can’t be Shaun over 35. :stuck_out_tongue: You can still be a really good rider hahahaha.

yeah but theres always ways of making money

  1. Sell blood
  2. Sell Seamen(for the guys)
  3. Be a prostitute

Jokes aside what would you choose some paper or your freedom?
and i understand that ur body takes some damage but if u live healthy and take care of urself i think u can unicycle for quite some time (Terry for an example) he can unicycle better than many youngsters.

a bit of advice

I am new to this list and new to unicycling. I am also too old to ride as well as Shaun (Ill admit that) but at the risk of sounding like a really old fart Ive got a little advice for those about to go to College. Dont take it too seriously! Those years will be some of the best of your life. You dont have a home loan, you dont have kids, you can study, work a shitty job and still have time to enjoy yourself. So make sure you do.

I was fortunate enough to do a BSc an MSc and a PhD and ride my mountain bike (A LOT). I have also supervised a bunch of students and the ones that dont take it too seriously and enjoy themselves are always less stressed and generally do better at their studies.

Study hard, play hard and enjoy yourselves.