“Juggling” is a new book by Stewart Lawrence Sinclair and is published by Duke University Press. It is part of a series called, “Practices” edited by Margaret Grebowicz. Other titles in the series thus far are, “Fly Fishing”, “Running”, and “Raving.”
Sinclair is a professional juggler and street performer taught by Scotty Meltzer. He lives in New York.
The pandemic and lockdown profoundly changed and endangered his life and the life of everyone else. He describes his experiences and thoughts about it. He is forced to confront everything in his life and can’t help but analyze all that is out there and all that is in his heart and mind.
He talks about what juggling is and was. What it is mathematically and was historically. For example he brings Shannon’s Theorem and mentions that for a ball to stay airborne 3 times as long it must be thrown 9 times as high. Adding another ball increases the difficulty by a greater amount because you’re not only adding another object but you’re now forced to also throw all the other objects a much greater height to accommodate.
The question is immediately raised and never really answered – to whom is he speaking? Jugglers or non-jugglers? It’s written as if for non-jugglers. All basic concepts necessary to understand what he’s talking about are spelled out. But will non-jugglers find it of interest? He admits from the start that the moment he starts to practice or perform, his girlfriend immediately turns away. She, “like anyone who’s ever dated a juggler had no interest in watching me juggle”
So he’s talking to jugglers but making it accessible to any non-jugglers that might want to get on board for the ride as cynical observers. And to potential future jugglers.
But will jugglers find it interesting? They already know the basics. Why go over it again? Because an eloquently written paragraph, featuring your favorite subject is exactly what you do want to read. To hear about your own experience from someone else’s point of view is compelling and entertaining. Especially in the context of the pandemic, a moment unique in world history.
He goes on to describe briefly some of the history of juggling, largely taken from Thom Wall’s writings.
He quotes and describes ideas and routines of Jay Gilligan with sincere admiration obviously hoping that his enthusiasm will be contagious. “As a kid the discovery of Jay’s video illustrated for me, juggling’s limitless potential for creative experimentation. On the way to see him perform I kept silent with nervous energy. Even the obscure world of juggling has its idols.”
He goes off on tangents and, as in any healthy juggling pattern, the tangents become more important than the format. He tells about his first juggling convention and the thrill of being on stage for the first time. He talks about the Isla Vista festival, where BeeJay Joyer and Jack Kalvan were headlining. It is the longest continually running festival since its inception in 1978. It began as a tribute to the victims of a serial killer. One of the victims was activist and performing juggler Patty Laney. The troop The Strombolis founded the festival in her honor.
In other chapters he explains what siteswaps are and where they come from. He tells you about Jason Garfield’s work creating the World Juggling Federation and his ambition to make juggling an Olympic event. He talks about Alexander Kiss, Wes Peden, Sean Gandini, Vova Galchenko, and other significant jugglers that influenced him and so creates a snapshot of the art at this moment in time. He includes a chapter about the tragic death by suicide of Sean McKinney. That and the liberal usage of four letter words throughout precludes this from being a book for youngsters.
He talks about Clowns Without Borders and Cirque de Kabul in Afghanistan. “Outside there’s desolation, in here it’s beautiful,” a teacher in the school tells a Russian interviewer.
Sinclair fits a lot of information and emotion into 130 pages. He oscillates and zigzags between minute details and big picture story lines that put it in context. It’s his personal vision as such makes for a fascinating read for anyone.
To order from the publisher, visit https://www.dukeupress.edu/juggling
Raphael Harris
Raphael Harris was the proprietor of the Jerusalem Circus School for Children for over ten years. He has performed "Sir Juggley's One Man Circus" over a thousand times. He appeared in the Guiness Book of World Records twice and the Record Setters Book of World Records three times. He lives in New York.