Joey Boullianne in "Don't Ask Me When"

by Steve Mastorelli

The first covid summer Jason and I took NJ Transit to Jersey City. He was the only person on the train without a mask and was being yelled at by multiple separate passengers by the time we reached our Garden State exit. We stacked around throughout the day as Phoebe drove by in her car and Chachi was busy screenprinting. After dark, we’re cooling by the PATH station, buying beers from a farmacy to drink while we edit footy at a pizzeria’s outdoor seating when we hear urethane wheels. These riders are Steve Mastorelli, Alex Huang, Rob Snyder and Joey Boullianne. I’ve known Joey rips since Jeremy Cohan was mentioning his name in 2005. They know Jason and know of me, so soon enough we’re in the corner bar’s backyard for a few rounds before continuing to a spirited establishment across the street. They buy Dollar Stories and we follow IGs. We talk spots and show our recent efforts. They invite us along to any sessions. They have a van, filming for what turns out to be this video, Don’t Ask Me When. I see flyers for the premiere being posted online but I’m out west until the weekend so tune with fresh snow dusted outside our adobe casita, piñon in the stove and my girlfriend writing beside me:

24 minute length hits a sweet spot and first quarter-hour checks boxes of music supervision, Jersey Crust, NYC landmarks, points south, well known and less known skaters repping on their home turf and attacking out of town spots as a conquering army in Paterson hoodies. Mastorelli has been a video student through decades of skateperception lurking with a c.v. of recent celebrity commercial work as testament to his trained eye. Don’t Ask Me When is his artistic output on his own terms, hence Jersey brash titling, ready when it’s ready, bound to be heady.

From nearly a decade following its release, I celebrated New Years alone in my room listening to Future’s “Turn on the Lights” as the clock struck 12. Now I’ve found her and this New Years we fell asleep together a minute after midnight. I relate deeply to all fellow seekers, so when Joey Boullianne appears in Supreme dunk highs, camo pants and white tee to front 5-0 first sizable ledge, then on the entirety of next, back nosegrind balanced low revert out, then fakie flip to switch hill bomb down a paved park path before he jumps off to grass stain butt slide ride admiring the Jerseyan vista before him as Future poses searching questions, I feel Joey is ready to make a statement with this part. He kickflips a baby picnic table sideways over Joey Boullianne headline. He poses in Jersey hoodie and Polo horse beanie, then dons his puffy hammer vest and steps to a wrought iron handrail for a tall mellow front 5050 Frank Gerwer style. He celebrates next line’s completion by shotgunning Modelo can with thumb, then hits a classic white Newark ledge spot with ollie up, gap to front lip while Steve blurs out the onlooker’s face during Joey’s kickflip off curb. During a double set ollie, Joey threads diagonal needle between the separate handrails down each set with a leveled, Carrol in Modus confidence. He ollies into a concave bank spot and pops front 180 over a tall yellow pole exit. Next clip shows him looking skinny shirtless, nevertheless breaking a board over a pole with power. He reminds me of the white man teacher in Abbot Elementary as he back 5050 back 180s a flatrail then hyper kicks flatground fakie 360 flip.

Next spot, best spot so far, along parking garage fortress with consecutive embankments gets ride up back tail, then second bank gets kickflip from flat onto back 5050 ride down. Joey wears unzipped Michigan colored track jacket, navy track pants, white and navy dunk high’s for nighttime line with manual, then kickflip nose manual. Back in his hammer vest for a nocturnal kickflip into manual on a narrow marble ledge to drop onto another ledging for descent. The homie Alex from that Jersey City night appears for a high on the embankment fakie inward heel where Joey gets his back with a full cab flip. More Supreme Dunks footage, kickflip front 5050 on the first ledge, second ledge Kalis nosebluntslide. He lifestyle lamps wearing 700fill in front of Caterpillar machinery. He fakie heelflips into Newark’s broad children’s slide that Lurker Lou explores in “Happy Lou Year.” He switch 5050s a rail in Donovan Piscopo outfit. He tailgrabs out of a pillar blast at a BQE-esque spot. He boardslide transfers to lipslide pop over at a parking garage spot to landing echo. He hits a polejamp to wallride, then rides onto a switch 5-0 to drop. We see Joey gazing out of his kingdom, then focus in on a switch 5050 on the edge of a building high drop. At the drop in to flat gap that BarcoPolo has skated, Joey nollie frontside flips into the bank, landed with precision to pop switch ollie over the flat gap to drop off, then for his ender he backside 5050s up Pyramid Ledge. He doesn’t land the 360 flip after and I probably would have cut after the 5050, but Joey is a skate rat making his dreams come true well into his thirties and knows that he got here by never being satisfied and always popping another trick to push the envelope until humbling. He takes his big fluffy dog for a ride down Lurker Lou’s slide, then over to the beach for some more fun before turning reigns over to the last two gents, spotlights shining.