Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers:

Episode: TONY HAWK Was a San Diego Latchkey Kid
Hosts: Seth Meyers & Josh Meyers
Guest: Tony Hawk
Date: October 28, 2025

Episode Overview

In this lively and nostalgic episode, Seth and Josh Meyers are joined by legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk. The trio dives into Tony’s unconventional Southern California upbringing, family trips from his childhood, navigating a “latchkey kid” life, his parents’ unique approaches to parenting, skateboarding’s early days, and parenting his own large family. Stories span from wild family adventures in Baja to the origins of Tony’s professional skate life, with plenty of laughs about generational contrasts, injuries, and more. As always, the tone is warm and playful, blending sincerity with the brothers’ signature banter.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Family Trips and Parenting Styles (00:00–06:40)

• Meyers’ Family Logistics: The hosts reminisce about planning family trips, creative ways to surprise kids (like letters from grandparents), and the chaos of coordinating schedules.
• Josh on party attendance:
  • “My kids go to no birthdays. Well, because we, you know, we get out of town on the weekends, and they're all in New York on the weekends.” (01:26)
• Kids’ quirks: Josh’s son Ash is “leader in yawning,” while Addie plans to grow up to “be a mom and solve crimes,” a notion the family decides must have originated from Peppa Pig.
• Favorite traditions: Seth fondly recalls the excitement of getting letters as a kid and muses about surprise trips.

2. Introducing Tony Hawk: Childhood and Sibling Dynamics (07:34–17:00)

• Tony and the Meyers Bros Connection:
  • Josh: “People have told me over the years that I look a little bit like you... Have you ever gotten the other direction?” (07:38)
  • Tony: “We were wearing almost the same outfit, too, so that didn’t help.” (07:45)
• MADtv Sketch Memory: Seth describes a surreal sketch they shared during Tony’s Boom Boom Huck Jam tour featuring Anna Nicole Smith. Tony still owns the “skateboard with the pink fluff,” admitting, “...every time I see it, I'm like, oh, did I really do that?” (08:32)
• Growing Up the Youngest by Far: Tony explains that his three siblings were 13, 18, and 20 years older:
  • “I was not planned, let's put it that way.” (12:26)
• Parental Support:
  • Tony praises his father for being especially supportive—driving his brother to surf or acts for his sister:
  • “He... had a pretty rough upbringing, so he went the other way with his support for his kids.” (13:24)
  • Despite being an “emerging athlete in an emerging sport,” Tony’s dad grasped the value.
• Siblings as Cool Uncles/Aunts:
  • Brother bought him a National Lampoon subscription and took him to see Richard Pryor live at age 10.
  • “He took me to see Richard Pryor live on the Sunset Strip when I was, I don't know, 10 or 10.” (15:42)

3. The Rise of a Skateboarding Legend (21:18–31:00)

• Early Signs of Greatness:
  • “...a couple years in when I started gaining the interest of sponsors. And I was only 12 at the time, so it just didn't seem like some burgeoning career.” (21:28)
  • Tony’s pro “promotion” was as simple as ticking the ‘pro’ box instead of ‘amateur’ on a contest entry form.
• On Style and Innovation:
  • Tony was openly ridiculed in skate magazines for his “lack of style.”
    • “The way that Stacey explains it, he says I look like I was a puppet being maneuvered by a puppeteer.” (24:07)
  • Invented an aerial technique by “ollieing at the top of the pool,” which was initially called “cheating” but became the standard.
• Transition from Amateur to Pro:
  • Early pro scene was tight-knit; traveling to Florida at 14 for pro contests felt “like a world away.”
• Support from Parents:
  • Stacy Peralta of Powell Peralta/Bones Brigade personally recruited Tony.
  • Tony’s dad saw a lack of organization in the skate world—so he organized contests, sometimes making it “super tricky” for Tony as a competitor (27:05).

4. Life as a Latchkey Kid & San Diego Roots (31:10–37:10)

• Hawk Family Structure: Parents both worked, so Tony was “basically a latchkey kid.”
• Father’s Career: Dad sold musical instruments wholesale; mom was a community college educator who left temporarily to pursue a doctorate.
• San Diego Life: Tony grew up in Tierrasanta—predominantly military families.
• Skating as an Outlier:
  • “There was a minute where it was kind of a fad. ...but then one day I got invited...to the skate park in San Diego, and I think that’s when I really fell in love with it...” (34:00)
• The Skateboarding Landscape:
  • Describes the closure of skate parks due to insurance issues and the “do-it-yourself” era: stealing wood, building backyard ramps, and the rise of charitable efforts to build public parks.

5. Injury, Resilience, and Parenting Philosophy (37:10–42:00)

• Early Injuries: Tony’s major concussion at age 10: “I knocked out my front teeth. ...I literally woke up in the ambulance.”
  • But his immediate thought was, “Wow, I gotta figure out how to do rock and rolls better.” (38:43)
• Resilience Lesson:
  • “I didn’t want to get hurt, but I didn’t mind getting hurt for the sake of trying to learn new things.” (38:43)
• Comparing Risks: Seth’s wife is an equestrian, and the “get back on the horse” philosophy resonates.

6. Building the Backyard Ramp (42:01–43:30)

• Ramp Origins: Tony didn’t have a half pipe until he could afford a house big enough.
• Dad’s Engineering Genius:
  • “He figured out how we would actually cut the radiuses, the transitions, and he had to do all the math... He created all that stuff on the fly. It was really, really cool.” (43:01)

7. Pop Culture Moments & International Adventures (43:40–48:49)

• Police Academy Stint: Tony was David Spade’s skate stunt double:
  • “And then they fired me. …I was too tall.” (44:08)
• Search for Animal Chin:
  • On the legendary Bones Brigade video: “The plot was just a vehicle so that we could be skating this ditch in Hawaii and this ramp in Bakersfield.” (45:39)
  • The acting? “On par with any porn acting, too.” (45:59)
• First International Skateboarding Trip:
  • At 16: to Japan for a kids’ “That’s Incredible!”-style show:
  • “Being 16, …Japan just seemed like. It seemed like I was living in a video game. It was crazy.” (47:22)
• Japan as a Family-Favorite Destination: Tony’s entire family is deeply attached to Japan, and every time he visits, “the conversation …is ‘we’re all going, right?’” (48:02)

8. Family, Weddings, and Generational Travel (49:23–52:31)

• Wedding in Ireland: Chose location based on wife’s family roots; everyone invited actually came.
• Bringing Kids Back for Anniversary:
  • “We have five boys and one girl. My oldest son is 33.” (51:41)
  • The whole family joined for a return visit.
• On Being a Grandparent:
  • “That’s the most fun. That’s the coolest thing ever. I hope you guys get to experience it.” (52:14)
• Family Vacation Dynamics: Realizing he and his wife now serve as babysitters on family trips, and that’s fine by them.

9. Generational Movie Memories & Changing Times (54:22–56:12)

• Kids, Movies, and Grandpa’s Lax Rules:
  • “My son will come home is like, grandpa just showed me National Lampoon’s vacation. I’m like, what? That’s 45 movies past the movie we’re talking about.” (54:24)
• Dated Films:
  • “Even Airplane. When you look at it from a parents perspective, it’s like, oh, oh, yeah.” (54:48)
  • Nostalgia for films like Bad News Bears, The Jerk, Slapshot, but noting their pacing/content is a tough sell for today’s kids.

10. Speed Round: Tony’s Vacation Preferences (57:01–59:49)

• Ideal Vacation:
  • “Relaxing with a side of adventure.” (57:10)
• Favorite Transportation:
  • “My car—that’s, like, the only time where I’m actually alone and I can listen to stuff and kind of just do my own thing.” (57:17)
• Vacation with Any Family:
  • “It would have to be the Griswolds, right?” (57:51)
• Desert Island Companion:
  • “It would have to be my wife.” (58:13)
• Pitching San Diego:
  • “We’re more than the zoo... And there are secluded beaches. You just gotta find it.” (59:04)
• Grand Canyon:
  • “It’s cool from the top. Let’s put it that way.” (59:45)

Notable Quotes

• “I was not planned, let's put it that way.”
  — Tony Hawk on his place in the family (12:26)

• “The way that Stacey explains it, he says I look like I was a puppet being maneuvered by a puppeteer.”
  — Tony Hawk on his controversial skating style (24:07)

• “I didn’t want to get hurt, but I didn’t mind getting hurt for the sake of trying to learn new things.”
  — Tony Hawk on injuries and determination (38:43)

• “The plot was just a vehicle so that we could be skating this ditch in Hawaii and this ramp in Bakersfield.”
  — Tony Hawk on The Search for Animal Chin (45:39)

• “We're more than the zoo... And there are secluded beaches. You just gotta find it.”
  — Tony Hawk’s San Diego tourism pitch (59:04)

Memorable & Funny Moments

• The Anna Nicole Smith Skateboard: Seth and Tony reminiscing about MADtv; Tony sheepishly admits, “It gives me weird feelings when I see it.” (08:32)
• Tony’s stint as David Spade’s Police Academy double—fired for being too tall after puberty hit. “I was on a plane home the next day.” (44:12)
• Comparing ‘Search for Animal Chin’ storytelling to “porn acting,” and vivid recollections of ‘bad’ movies from the past.
• “My son will come home is like, grandpa just showed me National Lampoon’s vacation. I'm like, what? That's 45 movies past the movie we're talking about.” (54:24)
• Grandparent babysitting duties on Hawaii trips: “We were only there as the role of babysitters. …there was no surf trips or…outings.” (52:41)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–06:40 — Meyers family trip banter, Josh’s kids, parent quirks
• 07:34–17:00 — Introducing Tony Hawk; childhood and family dynamics
• 21:18–31:00 — Tony’s early pro career, style controversies, and sponsorship
• 31:10–37:10 — Life as a San Diego latchkey kid, skateboarding’s rise and fall
• 37:10–42:00 — Injury, resilience, and lessons for kids
• 42:01–43:30 — Building the backyard half-pipe
• 43:40–48:49 — Movie stunts, ‘Animal Chin’, Japan stories
• 49:23–52:31 — Weddings, family rituals, grandparenting
• 54:22–56:12 — Movie nostalgia, generational shifts
• 57:01–59:49 — Tony’s speed round: vacations, family, San Diego

Overall Tone

Warm, rambly, nostalgic, funny. Tony Hawk’s mix of modesty and openness fits perfectly with Seth and Josh’s blend of dry humor and genuine curiosity. The conversation effortlessly blends childhood memories, pop culture, skateboarding innovations, and generational insights, making for an episode that’s both entertaining and heartwarming.

For anyone interested in family dynamics, California childhoods, or the journey from latchkey kid to global icon—this episode is a treat.