I’m well-aware that the results of Dream Tricks Challenge # 5 haven’t been published yet. I’m still wanting to give jugglers more time to try those, so click here to check them out if you haven’t. In the meantime, Here are some more tricks to try out. Perhaps if we get enough responses, we’ll publish the results of 5 and 6 together.
If you do record yourself attempting or accomplishing any of these, post the video to youtube as an unlisted (not private) video and then email me the link at davidcainjuggler@hotmail.com or through facebook. We’ll pick a winner for a prize to be determined. It might be a book, an IJA membership, or a Rastelli prop.
1. Head rolls with a raw egg – Joe Taylor was known for doing head rolls with a raw egg in the 1940s and 1950s. Surely someone can accomplish this trick.
Juggling Joe Taylor
2. Knife, Fork, Apple Trick – A photo of Salerno shows him balancing a fork (with an impaled apple on its tines) on a knife held in his mouth. I’m not sure exactly what he did with these, but here’s my theory and the trick I’m looking for. Balance a large fork on a mouth stick of some sort. Toss an apple up and catch it on the tines of the fork. Please be careful and wear eye protection and don’t use a fork with sharp tines.
Salerno
3. Tangled Strings Duo Diabolo Routine – One of the earliest jugglers to do a full act with diabolo was Ollie Young, whom you can read about by clicking here. Eventually Ollie formed an act with his wife, April. They created a diabolo act where the strings crossed, which allowed them to do a variety of tricks. The following photo clarifies the arrangement, but I’d be interested in seeing a brief video of some tricks done by a duo with two pairs of hand sticks where the strings are looped around each other and one diabolo is shared.
Ollie Young and April
4. Juggle six clubs by doing two in one hand and four in the other – The first person to juggle six clubs was Pat McBann (Pat McGreevey). He juggled four in one hand and two in the other. I’d love to see someone do this, especially for more than a flash.
Pat McBann
5. Bounce juggling tennis balls against a wall using tennis rackets – Eric Philmore performed this trick with up to 6 balls. For the challenge, let’s try four balls using two tennis rackets.
Eric Philmore
6. Passing four balls between two hands and a mouth stick – The Balladinis (Fritz and Willi) were best-known as the inventors of juggling small balls with their mouths, but they also performed a trick where one brother juggled medium sized balls with his hands and the other brother used a mouth stick, together keeping four of the balls going. Find a friend and see if you can do the same.
The Balladinis
7. Five clubs in one hand multiplex start – I’ve seen several jugglers use two hands to throw all five clubs up into a juggle, but I’ve never seen anyone do it with only one hand. I’m sure there are some jugglers out there who could accomplish this.
8. Kick up seven rings into a cascade – Gregory Popovich created the routine of setting seven balls in a row and kicking each one up until he was finally juggling all seven balls. I’d like to see someone do this with seven rings. Obviously, placing a beanbag under each ring would make getting the rings onto the foot a ton easier, or you could have each ring start perpendicular to the floor using two several beanbags per ring or blocks of wood with slits in them.
9. Five-club neck catch and flip back into a cascade – This trick is pretty easy with balls, but have you ever tried to do a neck catch with clubs? I might even try this one. Juggle five clubs, collect them, catching the last one in a neck catch, then then toss the neck one back up with the head, going straight back into a cascade.
10. Juggle two balls, two rings, and two clubs – Qualify those six objects. Surely someone has done this, but I can’t recall seeing it. This one should have lots of people doing it. Let’s see who the first one will be.
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).