Juggling is a skill involving moving objects for entertainment or sport (see object manipulation). The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, in which the juggler throws objects up to catch and toss up again. Jugglers often refer to the objects they juggle as props. The most common props are balls or beanbags, rings, clubs, and special bounce balls. Some performers use more dramatic objects such as knives, fire torches, and even chainsaws. The term juggling can also refer to other prop-based skills such as diabolo, devil sticks, poi, cigar boxes, fire-dancing, contact juggling, hooping, foot bag and hat manipulation.
The word juggling derives from the Middle English jogelen (to entertain by performing tricks), in turn from the Old French jangler. There is also the Late Latin form joculare of Latin joculari, meaning to jest.[1] "Juggling" may be used metaphorically, like "multi-tasking," to mean constantly refocusing attention among responsibilities, such as in the title of the PBS documentary Juggling Work and Family. [1] [2]
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The earliest record of juggling, a panel from the 15th Beni Hassan tomb of an unknown prince, shows female dancers and acrobats throwing balls. Juggling has been recorded in many early cultures including Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, Greek, Roman, Norse, Aztec (Mexico) and Polynesian civilizations.[2],[3]
In Europe, juggling was an acceptable diversion until the decline of the Roman Empire, after which it fell into disgrace. Throughout the Middle Ages most histories were written by religious clerics who frowned upon the type of performers who juggled, called 'gleemen', accusing them of base morals or even practising witchcraft. Jugglers in this era would only perform in marketplaces, streets, fairs, or drinking houses. They would perform short, humorous and bawdy acts and pass a hat or bag among the audience for tips. Some kings' and noblemen’s bards, fools, or jesters would have been able to juggle or perform acrobatics, though their main skills would have been oral (poetry, music, comedy and storytelling).
In 1768 Philip Astley opened the first modern circus. A few years later he employed jugglers to perform acts along with the horse and clown acts. Since then, jugglers have been associated with circuses.
In the 19th century variety and music hall theatres became more popular, and jugglers were in demand to fill time between music acts, performing in front of the curtain while sets were changed. Performers started specializing in juggling, separating it from other kinds of performance such as sword swallowing and magic. The Gentleman Juggler style was established by German jugglers such as Salerno and Kara. Rubber processing developed, and jugglers started using rubber balls. Previously juggling balls were made from balls of twine, stuffed leather bags, wooden spheres, or various metals. Solid or inflatable rubber balls meant that bounce juggling was possible. Inflated rubber balls made ball spinning easier and more readily accessible. Soon in North America, vaudeville theatres employed jugglers, often hiring European performers.
In the early to mid-20th century, variety and vaudeville shows decreased in popularity due to competition from motion picture theatres, radio and television, and juggling suffered as a result. Music and comedy transferred very easily to radio but juggling could not. In the early years of TV, when variety-style programming was popular, jugglers were often featured. But developing a new act for each new show, week after week, was more difficult for jugglers than other types of entertainers; comedians and musicians can pay others to write their material but jugglers cannot get other people to learn new skills on their behalf.
In the early 1950s, more people began juggling as a hobby.[citation needed] The International Jugglers' Association began as a club for performing jugglers, but soon non-performers joined and started attending the annual conventions. The IJA continues to hold an annual convention each summer.
World Juggling Day was created as an annual day of recognition for the hobby, with the intent to teach people how to juggle, to promote juggling or for jugglers to get together and celebrate. Traditionally it is held on a Saturday in mid June.
Most cities and large towns now have juggling clubs. These are often based within, or connected to, universities and colleges. There are also community circus groups that teach young people and put on shows. The Internet Juggling Database maintains a searchable database of most juggling clubs.
Since the 1980s a juggling culture has developed. The scene revolves around local clubs and organizations, special events, shows, magazines, web sites, internet forums and, possibly most importantly, juggling conventions. In recent years there has also been a growing focus on juggling competitions.
Juggling conventions or festivals form the backbone of the juggling scene. The focus of most juggling conventions is the main space used for open juggling. There will also be more formal workshops in which expert jugglers will work with small groups on specific skills and techniques. Most juggling conventions also include a main show (open to the general public), competitions, and juggling games.
Juggling can be categorised by various criteria:
The object, method, style and number of jugglers can vary. For example, a single juggler could be juggling different objects (say a ball, a club and an orange), could start by toss juggling them, then start bouncing the ball as part of the routine, and finally start passing the objects back and forth with a second juggler.
Juggling world records are tracked by the Juggling Information Service Committee on Numbers Juggling (JISCON). All the records listed on the JISCON page represent the longest runs with each number and prop that has been authenticated using video evidence. As of September 2006, the records for each prop are:
Each of these records is what is known as a "flash", meaning each prop is thrown and caught only once. Some jugglers, and some juggling competitions, do not consider a flash to be "real juggling" and use "qualifying juggle" (a term taken from the International Jugglers' Association's Numbers Competition) to mean each prop is thrown and caught at least twice. The JISCON records for qualifying runs are:
Jugglers commonly feature in circuses, with many performers having enjoyed a star billing. Many circus jugglers are from Russia and other Soviet block states, products of circus schools. Other traditions are represented, such as Chinese acrobatics schools, and traditional circus families that are often Latin American or European. Some of the greatest jugglers from the past 50 years are from Eastern Europe, including Sergei Ignatov, Andrii Kolesnikov, Evgenij Biljauer and Viktor Kee (featured in Cirque du Soleil productions).
Variety theatres still do business in Europe, particularly in Germany. In North America the closest thing to variety shows are in casinos, in places like Las Vegas, where jugglers perform alongside singers, comedians and others. As with circuses, the demand for jugglers to perform in variety theatres and casinos is far lower than jugglers seeking work, meaning only the best, most dynamic performers find regular work in the top venues. Germany and the USA have also produced some of the greatest jugglers from the past 50 years, most notably Francis Brunn from Germany and Anthony Gatto from the United States.
Renaissance and medieval fairs in North America and in Europe can also offer short-term performance venues for professional jugglers. With the increasing popularity of such venues (and with the continued success of Medieval/Renaissance themed restaurants) the ancient art of juggling finds a home.
In some places, especially tourist destinations such as Spain, Cyprus, and London, entertainers perform on the street (busking). Street performers often include juggling and comedy in their shows. Well known locations for this kind of street performance include Covent Garden in London, and Faneuil Hall in Boston.
Juggling has, more recently, been promoted as a competitive sport by organizations such as the World Juggling Federation. Sport juggling competitions reward pure technical ability and give no extra credit for showmanship, or for juggling with elaborate props such as knives or torches.
Juggling has been performed in space despite the fact that the micro-gravity environment of orbit deprives the juggled objects of the essential ability to fall. This is accomplished through 'two-person' juggling passing multiple objects between them. Juggling in space was demonstrated by Greg Chamitoff and Richard Garriott while Garriott was visiting the International Space Station as a Spaceflight Participant in October of 2008. Their juggling of objects while in orbit was featured in 'Apogee of Fear', the first science fiction movie made in space by Garriott and 'Zero-G Magic', a magic show also recorded in space by Chamitoff and Garriott at that time.
Juggling tricks and patterns can become very complex, and hence can be difficult to communicate to others. Therefore notation systems have been developed for specifying patterns, as well as for discovering new patterns.
Diagram-based notations are the clearest way to show juggling patterns on paper, but as they are based on images, their use is limited in text-based communication. Ladder diagrams track the path of all the props through time, where the less complicated causal diagrams only track the props that are in the air, and assumes that a juggler has a prop in each hand. Numeric notation systems are more popular and standardized than diagram-based notations. They are used extensively in both a written form and in normal conversations among jugglers.
Siteswap is by far the most common juggling notation. Various heights of throw, considered to take specific "beats" of time to complete, are assigned a relative number. From those, a pattern is conveyed as a sequence of numbers, such as "3", "744", or "97531". Those examples are for two hands making alternating or "asynchronous" throws, and often called vanilla siteswap. For showing patterns in which both hands throw at the same time, there are other notating conventions for synchronous siteswap. There is also multiplex siteswap for patterns where one hand holds or throws two or more balls on the same beat. Other extensions to siteswap have been developed, including passing siteswap, Multi-Hand Notation (MHN), and General Siteswap (GS).
Beatmap is a numeric notation which can notate any number of hands or juggling props, and in any rhythm, with no added complexity to its basic structure. Within beatmap it is possible to notate not only the balls in a pattern, but also the hands or arms of the juggler, as well as the position, location, or orientation of the body of a juggler. Luke Burrage, the inventor of beatmap, claims[citation needed] that beatmap can more accurately describe more patterns than all ladder diagrams, causal diagrams, mills mess state transition diagrams, vanilla siteswap, synch siteswap, passing siteswap, and multi-hand notation combined. So far, use of beatmap is very limited, as most jugglers and all juggling software understand only variations of siteswap.
Learning to juggle is not as complicated as it may seem. By taking five simple steps, one at a time, you should be able to juggle three balls within one hour. This may vary depending on your motor skills.
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To learn how to juggle, you will need three objects of suitable size, weight and hardness. Beanbags or hackey-sacks are optimal, but tennis balls or racquet balls and the like can fill the role in nicely. You may also wish to use mandarin oranges, rolled-up socks, newspaper balls or other similar objects instead.
The place where you juggle should be bright enough to allow you to see the balls clearly. Depending on the balls used, it may also be necessary to juggle in front on a bright wall (as is often the case with hackey-sacks). The place should be well ventilated and not too hot, but a direct breeze is ill-advised as it may make it harder to throw the balls accurately. It should also be tall enough to allow you to juggle freely without hitting the ceiling.
Stand up in a comfortable position in the middle of your juggling area and begin with step one!
The three ball cascade is the basic juggling style. If you have not done any juggling before this is what you should start with. You should NOT try doing a shower(where all the balls move in a circle with all the balls moving in the same direction. aka clockwise or counter-clockwise) until much further along in your juggling practice.
Use one ball for this step. Take a ball in one hand. Now throw it to the other hand. The throwing hand should move in a semi-circle before releasing the ball in order to make the ball fly almost vertically. This is called a "scoop" and will help a lot in further steps.
You should aim to throw the ball in such a way that it falls directly into the other hand. Having to move the catching hand too much is not a good sign. The ball should travel in an arc, its top around the height of your eyes.
Do not look at the ball as it falls. You have to learn to control yourself and catch the ball without looking at it. If you do not learn to do so now, further steps will become very hard. Throw the ball softly and try and keep the flow of the throwing smooth.
Do not underestimate this step, as it is possibly the most important. Not knowing how to throw the balls nicely will result in trouble in the following steps.
You will need two balls for this step. Take one ball in each hand and throw it directly upwards. Catch each ball with the hand that threw it. Alternate which ball you throw such that when the left ball is at the top of the arc, you throw the right ball and when the right is at the top, you throw the left one.
This process will help you achieve good rhythm for later. Apply the principles from step one - throwing the ball so you don't need to move the catching hand much, looking upwards instead of at the balls etc.
Try and make this step as automatic as possible. Listen to a few songs while performing it and throwing the balls to the rhythm. Try and listen to songs with different rhythm. Fast, slow, whichever you like.
This is the step that makes what you are doing actually look like juggling. Take a ball in each hand. Now throw one ball to the other hand as in step one. When the ball is at the top of the arc (as in step two), throw the other ball to the first hand. The second ball should travel underneath the first one.
This step may seem a bit daunting, but it is just a combination of steps one and two. When practicing this step, you should train both hands equally. First, throw the left ball first and the right ball second. Then, throw the right ball first and the left ball second. After a while, you should be able to do this in a nice, circling movement.
Never be afraid of going back to previous steps just to recapture the rhythm or throw more accurately.
When performing this step, you are actually already juggling. Take two balls in one hand and one ball in the other. Always begin with the hand with two balls. Repeat what you have been doing in step three, but when the second ball is at the top of the arc, throw the third ball to the opposite hand.
When you have done this step, you have made the first juggling circle. Actual juggling is just a series of these steps. Try and repeat these three passes until you feel you have perfected them. Throw the balls accurately, remember the rhythm when throwing and always try and catch the balls. It isn't a problem if they fall on the ground, but you need to be able to do at least three circles (with pauses after each circle) without them falling down before proceeding to step five.
Remember to practice this step with both hands equally. Left-right-left, then right-left-right. Music might help you with rhythm.
This step is the forerunner to juggling. As such, you might feel tempted to pass it quickly, but you should resist the urge and repeat it until you are comfortable with it.
This is it, the last step of the way! This is the breakthrough step and the time needed to get the grip of it varies greatly from person to person. If you have thoroughly practiced the previous steps, however, it shouldn't be a problem.
Repeat step four, but instead of catching the third ball as it falls down, throw the first ball again and proceed right into the next circle. When you first do it, you might get caught off balance and you will drop all the balls. Don't worry, it's natural at this point! Repeat step four again. When you are comfortable, try and do two circles without pausing.
As you learn this step, you will realize the movements are becoming more and more natural. Feel the flow of the balls as they soar through the air. Enjoy yourself! You now know how to juggle!
This is probably a mental problem. If this is happening to you, you need to make a point of throwing your balls whether or not you think you can catch them. Even if you drop them, throwing the balls will help you get past this mental block.
(and in turn have to walk forward to keep up)
This is a common problem and can probably be fixed by juggling while facing a wall just close enough that you can extend your arms.
To fix this problem you will have to work on your throws. Go back to step one and make sure you throw the ball correctly. Make sure that you are "scooping" your throws so that the ball flies almost completely vertically.
Try this: http://www.alightfingers.com/tuition/ This is a more gradual and supportive version of the above.
After you have practiced the three ball cascade enough that you can do it comfortably, you are ready to learn your first juggling trick.
The first trick that most people learn is "over the top". This trick is just what it sounds like, instead of the normal cascade throw in which the ball travels under the previous one, you throw a ball over the top of the other one.
To begin with, practice the over the top throw with only one ball. Simply take the ball in your hand and "scoop" in a half circle towards the outside instead of the inside. When doing this you will probably want to move your hand further to the outside in order to make the throw more horizontal. When doing this you should throw the ball all the way from one side to the other whereas in the cascade you throw them from the middle to the outside.
Once you are comfortable with this try working it into a three ball cascade. Do not worry about it falling. Just throw it over the top of the other balls and resume your cascade.
Before you learn this trick you need to know "over the top".
When doing "juggler's tennis" it may help if you have one different colored ball but it is definitely not necessary. The jugglers' tennis is when you do an "over the top" over third throw such that the same ball goes over the top every time you throw it. If you have a ball that is a different color than the other two that should be the one that goes over the top. This will help you to remember which ball you are supposed to throw over the top and lets you concentrate more on the technique.
Before learning this trick you need to know "over the top". "jugglers' tennis" will help but is not required.
In the "half shower" you throw ever other ball over the top such that the same hand always makes this throw. If you thoroughly practiced "over the top" and "jugglers' tennis" this should be fairly easy.
Before learning this trick you need to know all previous "over the top" tricks.
This trick is basically a cascade where you throw every ball over the top of the others. It is not, however, that simple. You see if you throw every ball with the over the top throw, you will have to continually throw them higher and higher until you cannot keep up. Instead, you must make your throws go from the outside to the middle. This will be hard at first but with practice will gradually become easier.
As soon as you have the new throw down you will want to work it into the cascade. You may have been starting with a normal cascade and working your way into the trick before, but with the reverse cascade you will have to go straight into it. You may not get it at first but keep at it. You will get it eventually and it is really fun once you do.
Juggling is a skill which throwing objects for enjoyment or sport. The juggler throws objects up to catch and throw up again. Jugglers often call the objects they juggle as props. The most common props are balls or beanbags, rings, clubs, and special bounce balls. Some performers use more dangerous objects such as knives, fire torches, and even chainsaws.
Juggling can also mean other prop-based skills such as diabolo, devil sticks, poi, cigar boxes, fire-dancing, contact juggling, hooping, foot bag and hat manipulation.
   | The Internet Juggling Database - IJDb - Internet Juggling Database |
| | The International Jugglers' Association (IJA) - IJA - International Jugglers' Association |
| | The European Jugglers' Association (EJA) - European Juggling Association (EJA) - en |
| | The Passing Database - Passing DB - Home |
| | Learn the Cascade - Learning the Cascade |
| | videos on this page - Bounce Juggling World Records |
| | Kaskade - Kaskade - European Juggling Magazine |
| | video on this page - Vova Galchenko - The Only Juggler Gravity Fears |
| | Giocoleria.org - Home of Italian Juggling - Giocoleria.org - Home of Juggling |
| | Juggling Records Database (Bogleg) - BOGLEG - JRDb Home |
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