By David Cain
In honor of April Fools Day, when pranks, practical jokes, and hoaxes abound, I was asked to put together an article showcasing some of the best known fakery and pranks in the juggling world.
Faked Juggling Photos and Videos
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, photographic shutter speeds were not fast enough to catch most props that were being juggled. Therefore, jugglers usually either posed with their props, did statue tricks (click here to learn about these), or did some type of trick photography or other trickery for their promotional photos. Sometimes this was as simple as hanging props on strings or attaching them to back drops. Below are such photos of Kara, showing him juggling five balls in one hand in a very low pattern and the Cromwells, showing another not so realistic trick from 1910.
Kara
The Cromwells
With the advent of more modern technology, cameras were able to capture live juggling tricks, so such trickery was no longer needed. However, occasionally a juggler would still resort to these methods to fake a trick. One example was a juggler who submitted a photograph to Guinness in the mid 1980s showing him juggling 12 rings, which would tie the existing record at the time of a 12 ring flash by Albert Lucas. Upon close examination of the photo with a magnifying glass, it was discovered that the top four rings were being held aloft by clear fishing line! The claim was denied and the juggler faded into obscurity. Another more modern example of trying to show a trick beyond your actual ability is the picture below of Joey Jordan. It shows him in the midst of the Brunn Finish, but with the addition of three rings; one on his arm, one on his leg, and one in his left hand. There’s a reason this trick is not in the record books, as the likelihood that it was ever performed or even successfully attempted is infinitesimally small.
Another reason a modern juggler might use digital trickery in a photo is to create something comical that he or she would never do in real life. Such is the case in the following photo of Daniel Rosen.
With the huge advancements in digital photography and video, it is easier than ever to fake juggling feats. Let’s take a look at some videos that have attempted, with varying degrees of success, to mimic true juggling using digital effects.
King Kong
In 2005, director-producer Peter Jackson released his modern remake of the 1933 classic film King Kong. In one scene, Naomi Watts, playing vaudeville performer Ann Darrow, tries to win over the giant ape by juggling and dancing. Digital effects were used to make it appear that Watts is a capable juggler, juggling three rocks and doing shoulder throws and under the leg throws. Below is the scene.
Hammer Juggling
In 2007, a viral video showed a man juggling three hammers and hitting a nail into a board at the apex of the throws. The hammers were then tossed up so that their claw sides stuck into the overhead board. Many people were fooled by this and believed it to be an actual juggling accomplishment. While the initial juggling of the hammers is real, the hitting of the nail and ending isn’t. It was actually part of an advertising campaign for German home improvement store Obi.
Badminton Juggling
In 2011, a viral video featuring a “Badminton Legend” named Pete Stokes reverse cascading 10 shuttlecocks. The fact that 10 objects can’t be reverse cascaded should have been the first indicator to any juggler that this was computer generated juggling. The fact that he never looked to the top of the pattern should have been another indication of the fakery. The video was part of an advertising campaign for PlayBadminton.co.uk. It fooled many non-jugglers.
Bowling Ball Juggling Accident
In 2007, a viral video hit the web that caused a huge uproar. It showed a Russian man juggling three bowling balls and striking a young girl in the head with one of the balls. If you google this video, shown below, you will still see page after page of people saying this is real. Fortunately, this is not the case. It was part of a viral campaign for Samsung DuoS mobile phones in Russia. It was created by the Russian advertising agency Cheil Communications Rus.
Grill Out Juggling Accident
This is another viral video created by the Russian advertising agency Cheil Communications Rus in 2007 as part of a viral campaign for Samsung DuoS mobile phones in Russia.
Five Beer Cascade
One of my jobs as a juggling historian and writer is to uncover the facts behind jugglers about whom little is known. My articles on Frank Le Dent (click here) and Ferry Mader (click here) are good examples of revealing a goldmine of information on important jugglers that the history books have simply passed by. Now I’d like to shine the light on one of the most mysterious of all jugglers. Several times in the past, I’ve had jugglers ask me to write something about Magnus Nicholls. These jugglers have searched online and found a wide variety of facts about this performer. Let’s take a look at what such a search has to say about Mr. Nicholls.
1. Magnus Nicholls was born in 1895. He was of German, Swedish, Welsh, and Gypsy heritage.
2. He was the first juggler that Enrico Rastelli ever saw.
3. Nicholls was the first juggler to juggle five clubs and to juggle with fire.
4. He also worked with plates, cups, and candelabras.
5. He could juggle at least 11 balls. Some say it was multiplex while others said it was not.
6. He was a master of self promotion and even encouraged rumors that his great skill came from a pact he had with Satan.
7. He practiced without any props, miming his entire routine over and over again. Some say this was just an odd practice technique while others say that this was due to the fact that instead of performing amazing feats, he actually hypnotized his audiences into seeing the tricks he was miming and describing.
8. He had an affair with Enrico Rastelli’s wife, fueling an already existing feud between the two performers, caused by Magnus claiming that Rastelli stole some of Nicholls’ routines. Supposedly at one point, Magnus sneaked into Rastelli’s dressing room, took Enrico’s mouth stick, and wiped his rear end with it.
9. He was mostly erased from the juggling history books when a juggling / circus historian felt slighted by Magnus’ son Pierre when Pierre would not pay the check for a dinner the two shared. Other sources say that it was Rastelli who worked to remove Nicholls from the juggling limelight.
10. His appearance was unworldly and alarming. He dressed in black, was thin with protruding bones, and very pale.
11. To better Rastelli’s claims of flashing 8 sticks and 8 plates, Nicholls juggled 8 flaming torches and 12 hoops.
12. He experimented with performing with one ball. While audiences didn’t take to it, this routine was an inspiration for Francis Brunn’s work.
13. He lost a leg in World War I in a German minefield. He took three years to recover. When he finally returned to the stage, he incorporated his newly acquired peg leg by kicking it up while juggling four clubs into a four club and one peg leg cascade.
14. Magnus had an identical twin brother.
15. Magnus was a master of diabolo and even performed stickless diabolo and eventually a kind of stringless diabolo where he was able to roll it over his body.
You can see some of these claims reflected in the wonderful poster created by juggler and artist Jason Horst, which can be seen below.
It has also been pointed out that you can see a picture, provided below, of Magnus on page 91 of the book Juggling & Feats Of Dexterity.
Frequent readers of my articles and fans of juggling history may have noticed a few “facts” about Magnus Nicholls to be troublesome. For instance, if Magnus was indeed born in 1895, he would have had to have been an amazingly talented and physically strong 8 year old to be able to do five wooden clubs before Ben Mowatt Jr. did so at least as early as 1903. Also, it’s known that torch juggling goes back to the decades prior to 70 A.D., as historical references point to Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel juggling with them. Also, since Rastelli’s parents juggled and Enrico was born into a circus family, it’s highly doubtful that the first juggler Rastelli ever saw would be a boy only a year or so older than himself. So we have to ask ourselves, what statements made about Magnus Nicholls are fact and what is hyperbole?
The truth is that Magnus Nicholls never existed. He’s a complete work of fiction. Magnus was the creation of various members of the rec.juggling forum that was popular in the 1990s. In March of 1995, Barry Bakalor came up with the idea of creating a fake historical juggler. Andrew Conway actually came up with the name and sent out emails to selected rec.juggling participants asking them to participate. Bruce Tiemann (Boppo), Barry Friedman, Jack Kalvan, Alan Morgan, and others joined in and began to post about the upcoming 100th anniversary of the birth of the amazing Magnus Nicholls. Each added to the mythology of Magnus until an extraordinary life story was developed. In the twenty years that have passed, many who were not in on the joke or who failed to see it for what it is have taken the rec.juggling accounts at face value. As a result, I get asked about him from time to time and have even seen others try to insert him into serious discussions of juggling history. While I enjoy a good prank and hoax quite a bit, ten years ago I felt that twenty years had been long enough to let this one go on without someone pulling back the curtain. I also felt that if the juggling community wants to be taken as seriously as other performing arts, we should do our best to do accurate and thorough research and writing about our history. Some readers may be mad that they were deceived while the creators of Magnus may be mad that I’ve spoiled their work. Nevertheless, the truth has been out there for a decade now. I just hope another juggling historian doesn’t get mad at me and erase me and my work from the annals of juggling!
David Cain
David Cain is a professional juggler, juggling historian, and the owner of the world's only juggling museum, the Museum of Juggling History. He is a Guinness world record holder and 16 time IJA gold medalist. In addition to his juggling pursuits, David is a successful composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and singer as well as the author of twenty-six books. He and his children live in Middletown, OH (USA).