A New Spin on Science : Yo-Yo in Hand, Daniel Volk Blends Stunts and Humor to Teach the Basics of Physics
Teacher, showman, seat-of-the-pants physicist--call him what you will, Daniel Volk is a guy with a mission.
And a whole bunch of yo-yos.
For more than 20 years, Volk, 47, has made his living in much the same way that he wowed folks back home in Cleveland as a teen-ager. During the course of his career, he has shared his skills with more than a million people, ranging from New Guinea villagers to shoppers in America’s mega-malls, and has recently branched out into education, using his abilities to introduce viewers to basic scientific principles.
On Saturday and Sunday, Volk whirls into Costa Mesa with “Yo-Yos and Other Spinning Toys,” a 45-minute presentation in which he blends skill, stunts and humor in a simple lesson in the basics of physics. Designed for children ages 5 and up, the thrice-daily shows are sponsored by Discovery Science Center’s Launch Pad facility in Crystal Court.
Describing his work in a recent phone interview, Volk rattled off terms such as inertia, friction and gyrostatics as readily as a kindergartner recites the ABCs. He explained that by performing tricks with yo-yos, diablos, tops and other toys, he demonstrates these and other physical principles at work in the real world.
Friction can be taught when Volk sets a top spinning on the palm of his hand. The friction caused by Volk’s skin against the tip of the top and of the air against its surface causes the toy to slow and ultimately stop. The gyroscopic principle can be demonstrated by the action of a diablo (a spinning toy roughly shaped like an hourglass that is balanced in the center of a string). As long as the diablo spins, it stays in roughly the same position on the string; when the spinning stops, it falls off.
Volk, self-taught in physics, points out that educators have been using skill toys as teaching aids long before he developed the show he has been bringing to museums and schools since 1991. But, unlike teachers, he doesn’t expect his audience to absorb a great deal of facts and figures.
“This is really about exposure (and) raising awareness,” Volk explained. “I just want to help people think about these physical principles that are involved in everything around them.”
According to World Book, the word yo-yo originated in the Philippines, where it was used as a weapon and a toy. Yo-yo-like toys have been around for about 3,000 years in the West. In the United States, their popularity surged in the late 1920s and 1930s. Volk’s yo-yoing days began in 1960 when, at 13, he won a citywide competition sponsored by the makers of Duncan yo-yos.
After graduating from college with a degree in French, he landed a job as a yo-yo demonstrator with Duncan, a job that took him to corner stores and shopping malls throughout the Western United States. Later, he spent nearly a dozen years with a company that staged promotions for Coca-Cola, demonstrating and selling yo-yos emblazoned with the Coke logo in countries worldwide.
In the late 1980s, he was Tommy Smothers’ “yo-yo guru” on “The New Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” and he’s put in appearances on Nickelodeon and “Candid Camera.”
Children as young as 5 can learn the yo-yo’s basic up-and-down move, but it isn’t until age 8 or 9 that most have the hand-to-eye coordination to handle more complicated tricks, said Volk, who will be available after the Costa Mesa shows to help children refine their yo-yo skills. (Audience members can bring their own or purchase one from a limited selection available at the Launch Pad gift shop.)
For aspiring yo-yo masters, Volk offers these words of wisdom:
“With most skill toys, when you first watch (complicated tricks) you think it’s impossible you could ever do it. But if you just stick with it and practice, you’ll get a lot better.
“And,” he added with a laugh, “always look behind you before you do a Round the World.”
What
Daniel Volk in “Yo-Yos and Other Spinning Toys”
When
Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 20 and 21, at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Where
Launch Pad in the Crystal Court shopping center, 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa.
Whereabouts
From the San Diego (405) Freeway, exit at Bristol Street and drive north. Turn left on Sunflower Avenue and left on Bear.
Wherewithal
Tickets are $5 and include use of Launch Pad’s interactive exhibits. Reservations suggested.
Where to call
(714) 546-2061.
IN COSTA MESA: HARVEST FESTIVAL
An a cappella rock group and a gentleman who juggles chain saws are among the diverse entertainers at the Harvest Festival, a large-scale arts and crafts event Friday through Sunday, Nov. 19-21, at the Orange County Fairgrounds, 88 Fair Drive. Tickets: $3.50 to $6.25. (714) 751-3247.
IN SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO: TELLEBRATION ’93
The South Coast Storytellers Guild marks this nationwide event with an evening of tales designed for listeners ages 8 to adult on Saturday, Nov. 20. Reception at 7:30; stories from 8 to 10 p.m. in the Nydegger Building, 31421 La Mantaza. Fee: $12.50. (714) 496-1960.
IN COSTA MESA: SKATING AT THE CENTER
Olympic Medalists and world and national champions are among the top-flight skaters who’ll leap and swirl Friday, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m. in the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Tickets for “World Cup Figure Skating Champions: Theatre on Ice” are $15 to $38. (714) 556-2787.
