SSD -
You're a braver man than I! Certainly much more experienced, of course. About 30 degrees nose up is about as much as I dare at low level. But with a couple of thousand feet under me I do sometimes use the vertical climb trick as a demonstration of the wonderful vertical inertia the Yak offers... even from cruise power, it really brings home what Neil Williams wrote in "Aerobatics" about the Yak-18 and -50 trading speed for kinetic energy and back again in a yo-yo style of aerobatics.
As for Genna's flick-roll on take-off, first time I saw that I nearly choked on my excellent Old Buckenham airshow burger. And then the square loop circuit to land... hands over the eyes stuff, but I was peeking as well.