The title of this article and contest may be a bit misleading. While I use the word trivia, I don’t believe juggling history is trivial at all. In fact, I think it’s quite important for us as a community to know and understand our history. It’s for that reason that I put together the following quiz. Most of these questions can be found by reading through my eJuggle articles and / or through the use of Google, but that’s alright if it helps to introduce or remind readers of some of our rich history. However, a few are very, very difficult. The person who gets the most correct will win a one year IJA membership and $40.00 in IJA store credit. If there is a tie, a winner will be randomly chosen by drawing names from a hat. Entries must be made to me at davidcainjuggler@hotmail.com within one month of the publication of this article. At that time, the answers and winners will be announced via another eJuggle article. Good luck. Thanks to fellow juggling historians Scott Cain, Erik Aberg, and Alan Howard for being early quiz-takers/editors or in clarifying some questions.
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Warning: The photos below don’t reveal the correct answers to the questions. They are for reference only.
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1. Who was the first juggler to use three hats of differing colors so that the audience could follow the action better?
Dieter Tasso
2. Who was the first juggler to use shaker cups?
3. Who was the first juggler to manufacture shaker cups specifically for juggling rather than just modifying regular shaker cups?
4.Who was the first juggler to juggle six boomerangs?
5. Who was the first juggler to put on a full-length one man juggling stage show?
6. Who was the first juggler to juggle 3 large flags?
7. Who was the first juggler to juggle 7 clubs?
Scott Seltzer
8. Who were the first two jugglers to perform 7 club cascades (not passing, but solo)? This is in performance, not practice.
9. Who was the first juggler to flash 11 rings?
10. Who was the first juggling duo to pass 7 club one count back to back?
11. Who was the first juggler to kick cups and saucers up to his or her head?
12. Who was the first juggler to kick cups and saucers up to his or her head on a unicycle on a slack wire?
13. Who was the first juggler to juggle 3 rings with one hand, spin a ball on his or her finger of the other hand, and spin a ring on one leg while holding a ball on a mouth stick and balancing a ball on a head pedestal?
Edoardo Raspini
14. What juggler patented the first electrically lit juggling clubs?
15. Who was the first juggler to do the cups and spoons trick?
Herbert Lohse-Bertini
16. What juggler currently holds the world record for the cups and spoons trick (most spoons in most cups)?
17. Who was the first juggler to flash 11 rings throwing them all from the hands (no holster, mouth hold, crotch hold, etc.)?
18. Who was the first juggler to juggle five clubs while balancing upside down?
19. Who was the first juggler to perform a 9 plate flash?
20. Who was the first juggler to use a prop stand that launched props to him or her?
21. Who was the first juggler to do the gag of catching a ping pong ball balance on the nose?
22. Who was the first juggler to balance a glass fish bowl on the foot and balance a glass fish bowl on a mouth stick and then switch the two bowls?
23. Who was the first juggler to do the trick we know as Albert Throws?
24. Who was the first juggler to bounce 8 balls off of a drum?
25. Name the juggler who regularly performed his entire act while standing on top of a moving car.
26. Name a female juggler who died as a result of a juggling trick gone wrong.
27. Who was the first juggler to perform a five club, five up 360?
28. Who was the first juggler to juggle 5 clubs?
29. Who was the first juggler to perform 5 club back crosses?
30. Who was the first juggler to perform pirouettes / 360s with cigar boxes?
Krisitan Kristof
31. Who was the first juggler to perform kick ups with clubs?
Gena Shvartsman Cristiani
32. Who was the first juggler to perform back rolls with four hoops?
33. Who was the first juggler to bounce five balls off of a drum while doing a head stand?
34. Who was the first juggler to compete in the IJA Stage Championships in their modern system (on stage and receiving both technical and performance scores)? This was not the first winner, but the first person to compete in the modern system.
35. Who was the first female juggler to win an IJA Numbers Championship gold medal?
36. Who was the first juggler to win the Rastelli competition in Bergamo, Italy?
37. Who was the first juggler to perform a backward roll / somersault while spinning a ball with each hand and with a third on a mouth stick?
Michael Chirrick
38. What juggling troupe originated the Restaurant Juggling genre?
39. Who was the first juggler to perform a 9 ring flash while balancing a ball on a head pedestal and spinning a ring on his or her leg?
40. Who was the first juggler to balance three balls in a non-spinning stack, just holding the bottom ball?
Sarno
41. What is the following type of club often called?
42. Who was the first juggler to sell hollow wooden clubs?
43. Who was the first juggler to flash 10 rings while balancing a head pedestal and spin a ring on the ankle while standing on a slack wire?
44. Who was the first juggler to accomplish a flash of 9 ball back crosses?
45. Who was the first juggler to juggle while bouncing a ball on a platform atop of a pole balanced on his or her head?
46. Who was the first juggler to juggle 6 clubs in splits (three pairs of clubs in columns)?
47. Who was the first juggler to perform the picture frame slide trick?
Chinko
48. Who was the first juggler to juggle 6 plates while balancing a pole on their chin and a flower pot on their forehead?
49. Who invented the modern composite juggling club (flex handle, wooden dowel, plastic body, foam knob)?
50. Who was the first juggler to perform slap backs with three clubs?
Just to reiterate: The photos in this article don’t reveal the correct answers to the questions. They are for reference only.
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).