The yo-yo in popular culture

The yo-yo and yo-yoing have been a part of popular culture for nearly a century; yo-yos appear in fictional works and historical events.

· In 1968, activist Abbie Hoffman was cited for contempt of Congress for, amongst other acts, "walking the dog" during a session of the House Subcommittee on Un-American Activities.
· In 1974 President Richard Nixon briefly played with a yo-yo at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
· In 1986 the Smothers Brothers introduced the song "Yo-Yo Man" into their act. Partway through the song, Tom would "enter into a state of Yo", which supposedly gave him enhanced yo-yo wielding ability while depriving him entirely of the power of speech. (This conveniently eliminated the need to stand near the microphone.) Dick provided a reverent and strangely metaphysical running commentary for Tom's performance.
· A yo-yo craze features prominently in the 1992 Simpsons episode Bart the Lover. In the story, a yo-yo manufacturer puts on an elaborate production of children doing yo-yo tricks in order to boost sales.
· The fourth incarnation of The Doctor (played by Tom Baker), in the long running BBC science fiction series Doctor Who is seen playing with a yo-yo from time to time. He claims in the episode "Ark in Space" that he is playing with the yo-yo to judge the gravitational field present on a space station.
· The Detention character Duncan is almost always seen with a yo-yo, and uses it to communicate with the other characters.
· Dr. Lucky Meisenheimer has the largest collection of yo-yos in the world as certified by Guinness. He also has produced a periodic table of yo-yos.
· In the 1990 Nintendo release Star Tropics, the main character Mike Jones wields a yo-yo as a weapon in order to fight aliens and rescue his Uncle Steve.
· In the children's animated series Recess, Gretchen Grundler learns to play with a yo-yo, enters the yo-yo competition and wins.