The YouTube Live event in San Francisco last week turned out to be a lot of fun, with the usual interesting backstage group of individuals that YouTube gathers together, including the 'Will it Blend?' guys and Chad Vader himself, and talents like singer-songwriter Katy Perry, Esmee Denters and Akon.

The live show for the main event was by far the shortest piece we have ever been involved in, with only a few seconds to get on stage and set up Ray 'The Punisher' Stevenson's introduction of the parkour international action compilation put together by the ever-productive Miss Julie Angel. Short and sweet maybe, but the live audience - and the millions watching the live stream around the world - loved it, and in fact the event that night went on to become the largest live-viewed event on the internet ever, even beating the Olympics. And hey, Ray Stevenson turned out to be a damn nice guy too - let's hope the new Punisher movie is as good as he assured us it would be..!

However, by far the best part of the trip was hooking up with the San Francisco parkour community to train and talk. The parkour practitioners around the world always prove to be incredibly welcoming and hospitable people, with a real desire to train and a hunger for knowledge, methods of practice and self-improvement. And SF was no exception: great people, great weather, good training spots... what more could one ask for!

Great to see Mr Tyson Cecka in the area for a few days as well, always a pleasure to train with - and a man who particularly likes the mental challenges... ;)

So this post is just to say thanks to all the people who made the trip such a good experience, particularly Brian, Jeff, Brandon, Austin, Albert, Tyson and of course lovely Lauren who made sure I found my way around the picturesque city, despite my best efforts to get on the wrong buses! And big thanks to everyone who came out for the jam on Sunday morning - good to see such spirit and enthusiasm for the art thriving on the West Coast. That is what it's ALL about.

Labels: Event Coverage