I had a chance to interview a stunt buddy of mine. Let’s find out what Jonny “Too Much” Yurco’s geek is.

V: So tell us about yourself.
J: I’m a stuntman and actor from Youngstown, Ohio. 30 years old, born in 1985 (weeks apart from Nintendo’s birthday). A Kwanmukan 4th Dan black belt with 26 years experience. Competitive shooter, and western and trick shot expert. Huge fan of comedy and “one-liners”. I get long winded with jokes a bunch which earned me the name “Too Much” among my friends and family.

V: Whatz your geek?
J: My geek is retro video games, namely NES games.

V: So how did you get into it?
J: I got into it when I was five and my Pops bought my brother and I a Nintendo for Christmas. Pops was a cop and Mom was a nurse (RN) so they were gone a lot putting in long hours. My oldest sister would just put the three of us in front of Super Mario or Adventure Island and talk on the phone with her friends in the other room (back when that was a thing). So Nintendo was kind of my babysitter. Plus it was an easy way to get along and spend time with my siblings. I still play and I still collect, currently hold 329 titles with some great rarities like: Duck Tales 2, S.C.A.T, and The Mega-man series, among many others. My brother is in the armed forces and I don’t see him much now that we’re older. Though, even as grown men, when we get together we play Double Dragon II: the Revenge until we beat it. I go to a convention once a year to buy and trade in Cleveland. It’s a great time and a great opportunity to catch up with my cousins ( also huge NES geeks).

V: What is your favorite memory?
J: My favorite memory is when I was a teenager I went to a place called “Funcoland”, now a Gamestop in my hometown. They had retros for sale and some even on playable display. I noticed they had super Mario for demo play. I looked at the guy behind the counter and said: “Hey cool, great one (game) to put up! You can beat that game in five minutes.” He said “No you can’t, that’s old school those games are impossible.” He then bet me a $50 dollar gift card if I could, and I wagered I’d spend $50 if I couldn’t. 4 minutes and 48 seconds later I received the gift card and the best stunned look I’ve ever seen on a gamer’s face, then I walked out with about a dozen classic titles!

V: Anything else you would like to tell us?
J: I was forever a player two. My older brother was always player one. I was perpetually stuck with Luigi, Jimmy Lee, Bobble, Dale, and the always appearing “red guy” in about twenty million titles. To this day if I game with friends, I prefer it if I use controller two. Everyone else wants to be Mario anyway.