“SLUGXURY – The Manifesto” by Aidan Gabriel

SLUGXURY

The Manifesto

Pogo stick propaganda written by Aidan Gabriel
With editing assistance from Duncan H.

It has been three months since I released my debut trick pogo video, SLUGXURY. Within our pogo community it is not common for people to write manifestos explaining their cinematic creations. However, there is a deeper sentiment I have tried to convey with this project. I have since discovered that a pogo stick video is perhaps an inefficient way to articulate a revolutionary potential. In an effort to rescue the point from obscurity, here I am writing yet another manifesto. 

The opinions contained in these pages are my own. It is undeniable that I have been inspired by books n’shit. I just don’t want to imply that these opinions are shared by other members of the extreme pogo sticking community, my friends at Allpogo or Reaper Pogo, or by my friend Earl who is featured prominently in the SLUGXURY film. I am also not speaking on behalf of the Edgewater Mutual Aid Network Creative Collective.  -> (Read More) ->

Updates in the world of Pogo


We’re back with another update on the state of AllPogo, Pogopalooza, and Pogoing in general. Let’s get into it.

Pogopalooza 2023 – Fred Grzybowski in blue, Duncan Murray in red, Chadd Dietz in orange.

AllPogo Updates:

  • AllPogo has been a bit slow on the social media channels after launching the REAPER and Aidan’s new video. The 2023 post-holiday season has wrapped up and we are kicking on the machine once again for another successful year of Pogo Sticking and community building.
  • We are unfortunately NOT going to be hosting our Winter Warm-Up event this year. We are going to try to bring it back next winter, but seeing as this winter is almost over, it makes more sense to dedicate our efforts towards Pogopalooza. It was a fun time the first time around, but I’m continually hoping to make it an event worth traveling to and I wasn’t confident in that this year, so we’ll see how it goes in the future.
  • Our Tricklist is back up and running! Grab a few new tricks today and you can have them mastered for #PogoAllMay later this year.
-> (Read More) ->

A Brief (& Late) Update


Michael Mena, Pogopalooza 2023 – Shot by Sean O’Malley

A lot has been going on in the pogo world lately, but most of it behind the scenes, and unfortunately some of it may not be good. With that said, we will sail on as always. I just wanted to give a quick update, since there has been a lot of talk and questions being asked to us here at AllPogo, to Vurtego, and to the community channels. I owe everyone a much longer update, and that will come, but life has been busy lately, I’m sure you all know how that goes.

Yes, as noted in our last article, the future of Tech Pogoing is in OUR hands alone here at AllPogo. We are continuing prototyping, testing, and building our REAPER tech stick. More info coming later, but signs are pointing good. As Earl puts it, “This thing is the first ever pogo stick in history designed and built entirely by pogoers purely for the love of the sport.”

Yes, Vurtego is currently going through some parts shortages, and that may potentially last for a little while. -> (Read More) ->

Electric Air Compressors – All the rage!


A year or two ago is when I first started seeing these Electric Air Compressors pop up throughout the community. After a bit of skepticism, I gave one a chance and absolutely loved it. After pogoing for Fifteen years and riding a Vurtego for the majority of that, I grow tired of constantly pumping my Vurtego up to my jumping pressure, only for it to inevitably leak back out because I forgot to tighten something, you get the idea. The cycle is endless. So when I saw these electric pumps I knew I had to get one. After a bit of research, I found a brand I liked online and went for it.

There are a few brands out there currently. I went with the Avid Power model, but I’m sure the Ryobi pump is great, especially if you have other Ryobi tools in your household. An obvious benefit to all of them is of course, that you can pump up tires with it as well. I am a cheapskate who only buys used tires so I am a frequent user of the free Wawa Air pumps. -> (Read More) ->

AllPogo Lifetime Achievement Award


This year at PogoPalooza 2022, AllPogo presented the very first “Lifetime Achievement Award,” honoring two pogoers who we believe have made the biggest impact on the progression of the sport of pogo up until today. Fred Grzybowski and Daniel Mahoney received the award, as well as a free Signature Series pogo stick hand built by Earl Pote. Fred Received an original GG modified into an SS due to his longevity in the sport, and Dan received a Green accented SS, paying homage to an old school website and forum he made back in the mid 2000’s called “Green Pogo.”

Fred Grzybowski (left) and Daniel Mahoney (right) receive their Lifetime Achievement Awards and SS pogo sticks

Fred has been involved with the sport of pogo ever since the very beginning (we’re talkin’ late 90’s) and is responsible for creating a lot of the basics of big air pogo sticking. In fact, Fred was the very first pogoer to move from jumping full time on a spring stick to a big air stick when the Flybar 1200 was released in 2004. -> (Read More) ->

Interview with Marc Matson- Inventor of the Motostik 


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Nick McClintock ULBS at the first Motostik photo shoot- circa 2004

The Motostik is a historic pogo stick that emerged in 2004, the same year as the Flybar 1200, and was used primarily by many riders in the mid 2000’s. The Flybar 1200 was the very first “Big Air” pogo stick that was released into the market, and the Motostik was almost like a hybrid between a Tech stick and a Big Air stick. A lot of pogoers then were obviously still used to jumping on spring pogo sticks, so the Motostik was a great transition stick into Big Air. We at AllPogo happened to snag an interview with Marc Matson, the mastermind behind the Motostik – a pogo stick that helped propel not only some of the greats of pogo forward, but the sport itself.

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AllPogo:

What is your history with motocross as far as racing, freestyle, etc.

Marc:

I started racing motocross around 1980… and I still am. I never was really good, but I always brought two pretty girls with me, so I ended up hanging out with a couple brand-name moto guys. -> (Read More) ->

Blue Lips – Enhanced 10 Year Anniversary – Earl Pote


In 2010, I pretty much decided overnight to pack all of my stuff and move to Florida. I was 20 years old, had a good amount of cash in my bank, and had been thinking about moving to Florida for a while. The thought of being able to pogo year round in warm weather was incredibly exciting to me, and that was the reason why I made the move.

No Handed Ninja Kick Peg Tap

After I got all settled into an apartment in Bradenton, home of Team Hyper Pogo, I began pogoing every single day. It was like paradise. After living in Chicago my entire life, I only had a few months a year where it was good pogo weather, and i’ve always HATED the cold. Not only that, but now I had people to pogo with, which also drove up my desire to constantly jump and influenced me to step up my game.

The very first Casper documented on video

I began filming Blue Lips in Fall 2011. Filming started out like pretty much all of my solo videos, I didn’t really have a solid plan for what the video would look like, I was just stacking clips here and there. -> (Read More) ->

Background Check: Dan Mahoney


We recently had a chat with the legendary Daniel Mahoney, pro pogoer and tea expert. Check out the article below to learn more about Dan’s history in the sport, his life as a tea connoisseur, and more.

Dan Mahoney vaulting over a rail.

AllPogo: Hey Dan, thanks for doing this interview. What year did you start pogoing, and how old were you?

Dan: I often say I started in 2006 when I was 12, but that’s not exactly true. When I was 8 or 9, my sister got a pogo stick for her birthday. They were sold out of the “moon shoes” she had asked for, and I guess a pogo made sense as “the next best thing.” The Tony Hawk video games were big at the time, so obviously we wanted to up the game once just jumping up and down got too easy. I followed my older brother’s example as he tried all kinds of weird stuff. Really, I just wanted to be included and so I jumped a lot with my brother for a couple weeks until he got bored. -> (Read More) ->

Rest In Peace, Haley Greer.



I don’t even know how to begin writing this post. I’ve had a little while to personally process this tragedy, and it still chokes me up writing about it now. The pogo community has lost one of our most valuable jumpers. Haley Greer – the sport’s only real, dedicated female athlete – has taken her final bounce. Anyone who knew Haley personally knew her to be fearless, incredibly resilient, and extremely passionate. I would say a lot of us even thought of her as superhuman – considering some of the slams we saw her take, only to stand back up, eventually returning to the pogo stick. Haley had an endless love for pogoing, and her impact and history will be long celebrated. The first, and only woman to backflip on a pogo stick to date, among many other accomplishments. Haley Greer, in my opinion, was the ultimate pogoer. She lived for the sport, and we will forever miss her.

Rest In Peace, Haley T. Greer



Earl Pote: 18 Years


The year was 2002, I was only 12 years old. My newly acquainted best friend, Bryan Pognant, and I went to an Irish Fest together with his family. We saw a pogo stick abandoned by a ferris wheel, devised a plan to make it ours and made it happen. I still remember that day clearly, even though it was 18 years ago. Bryan and I were passing it back and forth in the parking lot seeing who could get the most jumps or who could jump with one hand or one foot.

Later that day when we got home, we logged onto the internet via AOL Dial-Up internet and searched Ask Jeeves (lol) for like-minded individuals that may think of a pogo stick as more than just a toy. We stumbled across xpogo.com. At the time the website was in its early infancy stage with only a handful of regular users. We signed up for the forums and were greeted by legends like Dave Armstrong, Nick McClintock and Fred Grzybowski. Back then we were always excited when someone new joined the forums, because it happened so rarely. -> (Read More) ->