Jugglers constantly seek to push the limits of gravity by controlling objects thrown into the air, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that several of them were early airplane pilots as well. Let’s take a look at a few of them. HAP HAZARD The idea for this article started when a saw a rough set of Harry Lind clubs up …
Juggling In Commercials
If you watch any TV at all that still includes commercials, you’re bound to see a lot of your fellow jugglers on the screen. If you watch very closely, you might notice that some of the jugglers are the same from commercial to commercial. I thought it might be fun to ask two of America’s leading jugglers in TV/Film and …
Jugglers – Where Are They Now? Part 2
Back in July 2015, I introduced a new column where I presented updates on jugglers that the general juggling population hasn’t heard much from lately, but who were quite popular at one time. That first column, which can be found HERE, featured updates on the juggling team DOUBBLE TROUBBLE, consisting of Nick and Alex Karvounis, as well as juggling kick-up …
IJA Festivals – A Survey of Long Time Attendees
While sitting at a table at the 2015 IJA Festival in Quebec City, I looked out at the gym floor and saw a wonderful mix of young jugglers standing right next to those who have been attending festivals for decades. As I saw this diversity of age and experience, my mind floated to my earliest memories of attending IJA conventions …
How Time Flies – When 5 Clubs & 7 Balls Went From Rare To Commonplace
My first time at an IJA Convention was in 1985, when I spent a full three hours at the Atlanta festival on the opening day. My goal in my brief time there (my family was passing through back from a vacation in Florida) was to see my first five club juggler and first juggle of 7 balls. I did get …
Jugglers – Where Are They Now: Part 1
As a middle aged juggler (45), I have some years under my belt as a juggler, performer, and attendee of IJA Festivals. My first festival was in 1985 in Atlanta. I only attended for a day, but it was enough to know that I wanted more. It was also around this time, and just before, that I started reading about …
Juggling Child Prodigies
You’d never know it by looking at the floor of a modern-day juggling festival, but the existence of technically advanced child / youth jugglers was once fairly rare. These days, you can find 5 club and 7 ball jugglers in their early teens at many festivals. There are so many more resources available now than even 10 years ago to …
Interview With Joe Taylor
The Summer of 1987 issue of Juggler’s World magazine, which was the IJA’s 40th Anniversary issue, included an article on Joe Taylor, the first African American member of the IJA, as well as other early black jugglers. The write-up, which can be read here, chronicled some of Joe’s performances and background, but at the end of that article, it stated …
The IJA – Our Living Pioneers
For an organization like the IJA that is nearly seventy years old, it is easy to forget that we began as a very small group, started and nurtured by people who wanted to share their love of juggling with others. There was no internet, no local clubs, and no flashy magazine. Even more importantly, a number of the early pioneers …