Ken Burke Obituary

(Editor’s note: Much thanks to Ken Burke’s good friends Scott Dineen and Nathan Dorrell for their contributions to this obituary.)

We are sad to report that innovative juggler Ken Burke passed away on March 7th, 2024. Ken was the inventor of the famous juggling pattern Burke’s Barrage, the game of Field Juggling, and the concept of Jazz Passing.

Kenneth Scott Burke was born January 7th, 1966 and grew up in Northern Virginia. He was a very active part of the local and national juggling scene in the 1980s and early 1990s, sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm at the Fairfax, VA, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, MD, juggling clubs and attending many IJA festivals. Ken learned to juggle as a young teenager in Springfield, VA from his friend Wayne Keinau. He also formed a juggling club that produced a host of skilled and enthusiastic jugglers, such as Scott Dineen, who went on to have a professional juggling career, and Alan Hodge, both of whom passed along their passion to their kids. In the mid-1980s, Ken achieved a very high level of technical juggling, performing long runs with nine balls and consistently flashing seven clubs in the years before Anthony Gatto provided a model of rhythm and technique for the juggling world to follow. When he attended Virginia Tech as a biochemistry major, Ken regularly performed for Virginia Tech halftimes shows, including a flawless televised routine with a marvelous four club sequence, five clubs while jogging around the arena, and a long run of seven balls right in front of a live television camera. During his summer breaks, Ken toured school summer camps performing both his astounding technical juggling and a comedy routine in which he originated the famous Burke’s Barrage to illustrate the dangers of drunk driving with the Barrage’s dynamic weaving pattern. Unfortunately, Ken’s technical achievements were short-lived. As a young adult, Ken developed a severe bipolar disorder, and the ordeal and the medication he required created significant physical changes that sidelined Ken from highly technical juggling for the rest of his life. Ken was a generous coach and patient and skilled at instructing and inspiring the next generation of jugglers, and he continued attending festivals and juggling clubs for many years. He was a man with a golden heart and a keen mind, and he will be greatly missed by his friends and by the worldwide juggling community.

Photo credit: Barry Sperling

Ken’s most famous contribution to the juggling world was the three ball pattern named after him, Burke’s Barrage.

Here is a video of Ken teaching the pattern.

And here is a video from Taylor Glenn teaching the pattern.

Ken was also the inventor of Field Juggling. This game was featured in Dave Finnigan’s book The Complete Juggler, which was published in 1987. Here’s a description of the game from an interview that Nathan Dorrell did with Ken in 1998.

“Back in 1984, when I was a new juggler. I heard a lot of talk about trying to get juggling into the Olympics. The only ideas that I heard others talking about was to get it in under the ice skating and the gymnastic format where jugglers would perform an artistic routine. I thought it would be nicer to have a game that was a competition between two teams and have tournaments. I realized that if everyone held one non-scoring ball in each hand and on the field there would be one live ball, that whoever had possession of that one ball would therefore have to juggle. That live ball then would have to be passed between teammates, causing the possessor to have to juggle. From this comes many varieties of Field juggling. Basketball Field Ball, Keep Away-the most popular version, to Football Field Ball, where no one is allowed to advance the ball toward the end zone without throwing it over a complete zone-thus giving the opportunity to loose possession of the ball.”

Photo taken by Ken’s Aunt Sue

A lesser known invention of Ken’s is something he called Jazz Passing. Here is an edited description of this creation, again from Nathan Dorrell’s interview from 1998.

“Jazz Passing is a type of passing between two jugglers, it’s a simple numbering notation for a rhythmic juggling pattern. There are two types of throws that are numbered. The first is the type that would happen in a 1 count, where each hand throws straight across. The other type of throw is a self. It is actually a very simple numbering notation. It recognizes that each time that one passer throws a one count pass, that the other passer will also throw a one count pass. So you pick a number and do that number of one count throws. Then you pick another number and do that many self throws. Then you repeat that as long as you want your pattern to go. So lets say you pick a 3-3-2-2. You would throw three one count passes, three selves, then two one count passes and two selves. Then you would keep repeating that pattern.”

Photo Credit: Nathan Dorrell

Ken was a devoted Christian who took his faith very seriously. He was a member of the Christian Jugglers’ Association. In addition to juggling, he also played the guitar, wrote songs, and wrote poetry. Friends often remarked that he had a brilliant mind. They also commented on how generous Ken was to those in need, even when he had little. Although his health problems prevented him from being active in the juggling community for the last couple of decades, he was a friend to many jugglers and an inspiration to many others. His contributions will continue to bless the community for many years. His grave is located in the Grandview Cemetery in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Our condolences go out to Ken’s family and friends.

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).