Tony Hawk Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions | WIRED

hey I'm Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and this is the wire and autocomplete interview and go ok let's complete the autocomplete first one is can Tony Hawk I'm guessing can Tony Hawk do a 900 still skate yes I can still skate I still skate often actually I would say three or four times a week especially since Co vid and no travel I've just been either home or at my ramp or actually in backyard pools and just located my fingers last weekend so yeah I'm still skating cam Tony Hawk's Street skate the short answer is kinda I went through a big street phase in the early 90s because there were hardly any vert ramps around skating was all about Street handrails and ledges and things like that and I did as best as I could until I rolled both my ankles twice so severely that it was sort of risking my sense of being able to skate at all again and so I just sort of focused in on transition and ramp skating been doing it ever since so yes I have some dormant Street skills I can do the handrails I can do a few kickflip variations but not in the traditional sense that you see especially on TV or like X Games can Tony Hawk kickflip yes I can I was about 13 years old when kick plus were actually invented by rodney Mullen and I learned them shortly thereafter I still do them they're not beautiful I don't catch them very high but yes I can kick a loop and so I feel justified when I go and ask kids do a kickflip because I walk the walk alright can Tony Hawk still do a 900 I do one a couple years ago I think that if I was really motivated and I had the right incentive I don't mean like financial I just mean in terms of like emotional incentive to do it I could probably throw him down if you're gonna go try a 900 the incentives to go do it and make it and so I know going into it if I'm gonna go try 900 I'm definitely gonna take a few knocks along the way and I have to be fully prepared for that it takes so much out of you just to attempt it there's no reason to just test it out Kent Tony Hawk's Singh I'm gonna leave that for you to judge because I did the math singer I was voted first out in my group I don't know if that means I can or can't sing it's probably not a good sign but I think I can I come from a line of musicians in my family so my dad he knew how to play a lot of different sermons my sister was actually a backup singer for Michael Bolton and for the Righteous Brothers John Denver and the Pet Shop Boys and so I feel like I had enough I don't know hereditary skill to do it can't Tony Hawk's sir yes I can serve I've been surfing almost as long as I'm in skating I don't put the effort into trying to go out when it's good because my schedule is crazy and so if I were to actually be chasing swells I would have to compromise a lot more in my life I that is one excuse but I went to Kelly Slater surf ranch couple weeks ago got pitted so yeah I can surf Ken Tony Hawk's snowboard yes been snowboarding since they first made snowboards first time I went snowboarding was in 1982 so I've definitely been snowboarding longer than you where was Tony Hawk born and raised San Diego California my dad was in the Navy and he was stationed in San Diego and he retired lucky me we just ended up here and stayed let's see where did Tony Hawk go to high school well it's funny I say I stayed in San Diego mom my parents actually did move around San Diego while I was in school so I went to my freshman year at San Dieguito high school now known as San Dieguito Academy moved to Torrey Pines High School in my sophomore year and graduated there San Dieguito was rough back then honestly and that's why I asked him move schools I was a skater I got picked on a lot which we now know is bullying I would literally get hassled in the hallways just because they knew I skated I was already really small and kind of nerdy and then the fact that I skated was just like not to you that dude sucks it got a little bit better Torrey Pines but I can't say it was the most pleasant experience all right where does Tony Hawk live now Encinitas North San Diego it's a metropolitan area but it's not crazy like Los Angeles where it's just gridlocked traffic all the time I just love that there's a very strong surf skate culture here and there always has been and really the reason I loved it so much as the kid is because one of the last skate parks in the US was right here and that was where I developed most of my skills and really honed my style all right where has Tony Hawk been really is that really an auto-fill that comes up where has Tony Hawk been maybe they mean just in terms of in the public eye where I've been been right here doing my thing skating raising a family you know maybe I'm not on Punk'd or maybe you haven't seen me on talk shows recently but I've stayed the course just doing my thing I think that maybe people will start to learn a lot more about me in this coming year because thanks to my master class and thanks to the thps remaster but um where have I been just raising kids and skating that's where I've been is Tony Hawk I can already sense that one of these says is Tony Hawk alive the rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated by the way he's talking a hawk a nice guy what a strange question ask Google it's just a matter of opinion it does the Google dude I don't know do I have any sort of Yelp reviews on myself how would anyone know that I'd like to think I'm a nice guy I have a great relationship with my kids I love interacting with fans and I get to skateboard for a living and that I think in itself is what makes me friendly cuz I get to I live my dream is Tony Hawk a good skater again a matter of opinion I would say if I had to judge myself I'm very good for my age all right is Tony Hawk a vegetarian I am NOT a vegetarian I do lean towards plant-based foods my friend said it best was and he said um hey Tony I know you kind of lean towards vegetarianism but I bet you'd have a steak and he's right I would I love barbecue - all right is Tony Hawk a Boomer I am NOT a Boomer I am Gen X my older siblings are boomers and you know it's funny is somehow this is an insult it only means that you were part of the baby boomer generation and that was the generation of families that came back from the war and then everyone was having babies that is what the baby boomer generation is people there's your lesson in generations I was born in 1968 not boomer it's Tony Hawk British no but there is a British comedian named Tony Hawk's I think he truly despises my existence because people get him confused they get his name confused they send him fan mail on my behalf they actually invited me on a morning show in London a long time ago and surprised me with him as a guest as well and then he got to basically chew me out his Tony Hawk going to the Olympics I was planning to go to the Olympics to be a commentator of sorts but not to be a skater representing the United States of America there are much more qualified skaters and trust me you don't want me being there just because you know my name I'm 52 and I'm a vert skater that's a park discipline and we have such talent in the US and they deserve to be there so I'd much rather be behind the mic explaining to all you what exactly they're doing it's Tony Hawk you'll be feted yes I am good be fitted right foot forward and I'm not very good at skating switch so I'm not gonna say I'm ambidextrous and yep I may be foot it is Tony Hawk sponsored by bands yes I am and here is proof Dalton I'm wearing right now my first ski she was vans in 1979 that I insisted my dad buy for me because I saw an ad for them and the skateboarder magazine and I was like skateboard shoes I ride skateboards I want those I've been through various sponsors since then and came back to vans and I'm thankful does Tony Hawk hmm wear a helmet for the most part I wear a helmet especially when I'm skating bigger ramps and that's kind of my thing beer amps if I'm out cruising Street skating skating smaller stuffs generally I don't and I'm sure that some people would complain about that but it's more about my experience level I encourage people are learning to skate to wear a helmet because you never know what's gonna happen and a lot of times you can fall back very quickly if I'm on a big ramp and we're in a helmet and it saved my life plenty of times if you're gonna skate vert you probably know where element does Tony Hawk still compete not in the traditional sense every once in a while I will jump into an event if there's sort of a legends division or maybe there's like a best trick thing and I feel like I might have something that I can contribute I'm actually I'm in a really good place because I get to pick and choose which events I want to go to because I'm not really trying to earn points I'm not trying to keep my status up like that does Tony Hawk have tattoos I do have tattoos I have this one right here which is a dr. Wu tattoo of a skateboard and some planets and then if you can see closely it has initials of my wife and all of our children sort of sprinkled out throughout here and then I have a kind of a falcon head tattoo on my ankle that is not the finest work I'll show you you see that not the most intricate work but the funny thing is is that I got it because I thought it'd be cool I used to wear low socks all the time and so you know any video or pictures you'll see this hawk and then I started getting burns on the sides of my ankles from the socks and so I ended up just wearing long socks after that and now you never see it does Tony Hawk have fake teeth yes many these four right here I've knocked him out a few times each I chipped them really badly and I chipped him again and then there was just sort of a little piece hanging on one side and then I end up getting posts right there does Tony Hawk longboard um no not really I prefer skateboards that I can maneuver quickly and that I can do tricks on if you longer it it's cool I think of a more of a mode of transportation and I have seen some people that do tricks on them but you know whatever gets you moving and if you're on a skateboard as cool with me just went out my brother I do I have an older brother Steve Hawk and he is the one who gave me my first skateboard he was a surfer still as a surfer actually was the editor of Surfer magazine for a while that's first skateboard that he gave me somehow I held onto it all through the years and he and I donated it to the Smithsonian a few years ago which is very cool we got to fly to DC together and hand it over what is Tony Hawk pro skater that is our video game franchise the first one was released in 1999 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater we kept releasing them almost every year stopped for a while I wasn't working with Activision and then just recently we have decided to remaster Tony Hawk's Pro Skater one and to literally 20 years later we're releasing it for all the new systems what Tony Hawk game is the best there are all these subjective searches how is that something that anyone can decide it's all up to the eye of the beholder I would say the one that got the best reviews was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 I think it still holds up as one of the top 10 best reviewed games of all time what skateboard does Tony Hawk right you want me to go get my skateboard so this is the skipper I ride it's a bird house Falcon eight-and-a-half inches independent trucks and bones 60 millimeter skatepark formula wheels this thing has been used I think exactly three days I will probably end up giving it away in a couple weeks for like an auction item or something like that they usually want the whole skateboard which would make a lot of skaters cringe because once you get used to your trucks that becomes what you rely on and that's sort of your signature on how you turn and once you break in your trucks you you hold on to them forever I'm so used to giving my boards away the complete boards that I've just gotten used to getting new trucks all the time and I'm actually more used to new trucks than if they're broken in what shoot is Tony Hawk wear when I skate I wearing the Vans old-school high tops just like I did in 1984 but if I'm shelling I'm wearing the slip ones like Spicoli thank you you for joining me for the wired autocomplete interview it was very thorough it was very cathartic and I appreciate you including me doing your searches sir John

Channel: WIRED

Views: 1,473,095

Rating: 4.9747162 out of 5

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Id: W4cJH7ppPbU

Length: 13min 23sec (803 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 24 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/ScarecrowFM]

Why do they call it a Redemption arc when Tony has done nothing wrong?

[u/ZeroCruz]

You can feel that Tony was preparing himself mentally for questions like “Does Tony have a purpose in life?”

[u/Kentrix11]

Redemption arc?

Did he ever had a fall from Grace?
Was it the pro skater HD games which were bad?

[u/dooblagras]

End of Tony's arc is just the last episode of Eva. Calling it now.