18 minutes may be ideal skate video length and Carousel is a really nice name for one, conjuring a crew hopping on and off cyclical display with a classic, weather-worn elegance and instrumental music. It’s hard to overstress how precious of documents skate videos like these prove to be over the years, of a crew blooming into adulthood, staying stacking with a bag of tricks honed in late teens amidst a trustworthy brotherhood, freshly graduating from arts colleges in America’s capital district, bonded over sessions at Pulaski and adjacent municipal buildings for a flair far more cosmopolitan than crusty. Everyone contributes their best, playing to strengths, repping East Coast cultural arbiters Skate Jawn, Venue, Labor, Vu, and Stingwater, most often appearing in verse length cameos to further emphasize “posse cut” production structure. And then there’s the skater who everyone in the crew acknowledges as fully beyond the best of the bunch, driven and driving and inspiring a scene. This skater in this video is Jason Nam, whose name appears on an iPhone screen at 14 minutes to signal we’ve got a full part finale coming now...
The homie before Jason goes especially hard too and he’s the one, after his section ends with some real enders, prank calling Jason to confirm that Jason has beans. In response, clip cuts to Jason in backward hat and red graphic on black shirt pushing over red brick to goofy stance back blunt slide a long ledge over dirt gap, drop to back-feeble on a nearby bottom step to beanslide. There’s technically no toe drag as Jason touches ground and twists out, introducing his scope of skating with gag landing. Now straight skating, he alleyoop front 180 switch back 5050 to tall ledge gap to drop, shown twice in Old Schools. Next he pops front 180 up Pulaski 3 stair, ledgewise switch back nosegrind revert carve around the wall in black Sk8-Hi’s with subtle white stitching, light denim and faded black tee under green flannel lined dark jacket and WKND beanie to dip a deep chaw back smith pop out. Next two trick ledge line absorbs a magnetic switch crook, then switch back smith front shove boomerang out in same shoes, t-shirt and denim, but no jacket and a different beanie. Same world-class ledge spot again at maybe a war memorial for full length front tail to fakie, second pop switch back nosegrind full length to fakie flip out. Both these lines are like if ‘02 Wenning was filming in DC while he was on DC.
Night footage for a long switch back 5-0 grind sounds sharp, then golden hour back smith over a cobblestone gap. Next trick same ledge gap he’s back smith grinding shot backside angle swish a shove out, where we can see above fresh black and white Half-Cabs that the inseam of Jason’s jeans appear to have ripped mid-session. Jason skates same gap third clip upstream switch back tail soft Ricky Espinoza dismount. He backnosegrind pop outs over stairs shirtless at the same Statue spot where his homie before him stacked, then Jason just ollies the whole ledge and gap on a different day. Another switch back 5-0 on ledge gap out over 3 long stairs. He front shoves 4 stairs then back tails to fakie along a city block ledge past eaves under which the houseless have built tents to finish with switch front blunt to switch before the guard booth.
This is Mid-Atlantic Metropolitan ledge tech acknowledging Pepe Martinez blueprint back to Pulaski as Thrill Jockey jazz rocks out. Jason front nose slides to fakie (could have done without seeing in super 8 as single first) followed by switch flip back 5-0 off the end of long ledge. Super 8 single of little ollie into passageway, again, I feel like I would rather see anything in the world other than a super 8 clip of a trick that wouldn’t have qualified to appear on another camera, but next in sharp camera Jason back blunts off the long ledge to switch manual the ground pop off over the stairs exit the park, off the curb past the parked cars into street as he whips around fallen leaves to regs and the song ends.
Next line in ambient sound Jason front 360s far beyond the stair set, pushes past snow lingering in shadowy nooks for speedy nollie back heel along winterbright corridor of justice to switch back tail an out ledge; you may remember Rob Welsh skating this route in Ryde or Die Vol 1. Same spot singles: switch back smith, switch back smith 180 to regs, switch back Bennett grind as music builds, switch Bennet Grind carousel out. A few more Super 8 clips then Jason is focused in courtyard shirtless switch throw down to brick pop switch heel up a solid granite three to switch manual across the stage switch lift down far side three. Under trees at another plaza ledge Jason switch back bluntslides to regs, nollie bs flip on flat in coke white halfcabs, then fold switch back 180 over block into lower plaza.
Rare exurban crust appears as Jason boosts backside ollie over stairs cut into embankment. Jason returns to other side of his earlier alley oop grind for a back nose blunt benchmark. He channels Tiago to pop switch back tail flower planter, hits a rare handrail with back 5050 as his homie waits to catch him, then Love Park-esque gaps past rail to back smith ledge. For ender, Jason blasts full bloom front 360 over the same block to drop he switch back 180d, now into his crew’s waiting congratulations. It takes a village and I thank the Carousel crew for sharing. My girlfriend returns with five5eeds breakfast sandwiches for lunch then time to hit the ski slopes…