Toss juggling with clubs can be traced back to James DeWitt Cook. Cook, who was born in 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States. He was the first to juggle clubs, starting around the late 1870s. It is believed that Cook, who juggled as the “King of Clubs,” used solid wood Indian clubs, and other jugglers copied him, eventually using lighter, hollowed out clubs. He was also a very talented club swinger. He retired from performing in the late 1890s and passed away in 1927.
James DeWitt Cook
When jugglers learn that club juggling is only around 140 years old, many seem to doubt this. They can’t imagine that no one juggled objects that flipped and were caught on a handle prior to that. And they are right. The problem stems from our current thinking that one learns to juggle with clubs and then moves onto things like knives, torches, and other stick-like objects. The historical record tells us that the juggling of linear objects happened in the reverse of that, with clubs being the final example. Let’s take a look at some examples of jugglers using these linear props prior to James DeWitt Cook’s work with clubs.
Knives and Swords
In Chapter 8 of the Liezi, a very old collection of Daoist sayings, we read about a juggler who lived during the reigh of Duke Yuan of Song (531-517 BC). The passage reads:
- In the State of Song there lived a man named Lanzi, who sought favor from Lord Yuan of Song for his skills. Lord Yuan of Song summoned him, and he performed on stilts that were twice as long as his body and attached to his legs. He walked and ran on them, and he also juggled seven swords, alternately throwing them and always keeping five swords in the air. Lord Yuan was amazed, and at once he granted Lanzi gold and silk.
This would indicate that juggling with bladed objects is at least 2500 years old.
Lanzi juggling 7 swords
Swords continued to be popular in China. Below is an illustration of a juggler from the Ming Dynasty era (1368 to 1644 A.D).
Ming Dynasty sword juggler
The Jewish Talmud mentions Levi bar Sissa (circa 150-220 AD), who juggled eight knives in front of Rabbi Yehuda the Prince, the national leader.
Tulchinne, the royal buffoon of Irish King Conaire, is described in “The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel,” as juggling nine swords. The earliest manuscript of the tale dates from the 12th century.
Norse Mythology from the same general time period includes a character named Gylfi, who supposedly juggled 7 swords.
Medieval depictions of juggling show swords and knives being used, as you can see below.
Illustration of knife juggling from an early 11th century manuscript
11th century knife juggler
Medieval knife juggler
Medieval knife juggler
Knife juggling rabbit from a Bible, circa 1265
After the middle ages, knives continued to be used by jugglers, as you can see in the following French woodcut from the 1700s of a juggler dressed in Indian garb with knives shown next to him.
French wood cut, 1700s
Another juggler who passed himself off as an Indian was Angelo Orsini. Below is an illistration of him juggling knives from 1826.
Angleo Orsini 1826
Actual Indian jugglers used knives as well, as you can see in the following depiction of Indian jugglers from 1830.
Indian jugglers 1830
Torches
The earliest known record of a juggler using torches is Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel (circa 10 BC – 70 AD). He was the head of the Sanhedrin (High Court). A direct descendant of King David, he was held in great esteem as a leader by the entire nation. He is recorded in the Jewish Talmud as being able to juggle 8 torches.
Bottles
Bottles have been a popular prop for hundreds of years. The earliest known example of bottle juggling is from a mention of mathematician Abu Sahl al-Quhi juggling glass bottles at the market of Baghdad prior to becoming a famous mathematician around the 11th century.
Below is an illustration of a Japanese street juggler juggling a bottle, sickle, and ball, as you can see below.
17th century Japanese performer juggling a sickle, bottle, and ball
Bottles were popular props for European jugglers in the 1700s and 1800s.
Karl Rappo (1800-1854) apparently did a trick with three champagne bottles where he balanced one on his head and one on the back of each hand and then launched them into a three bottle cascade.
Juggler with bottles on his prop stand
Native American juggler White Eagle shown with bottles on his prop stand
Bottle juggler in tights
Sticks
Some jugglers didn’t juggle dangerous or fragile linear objects, but simply used sticks and stick-like objects such as drum sticks. The earliest known example is the depiction of five stick juggling shown below, which is around 900 years old.
12th century illustration of a stick juggler
Traditional Japanese juggling, Edo Daikagura, was developed in the 1600s and involves juggling drumsticks known as bachi.
Japanese juggler with bachi sticks, 1850
Hand Bells
Handbells were popular props leading up to the start of jugglers using clubs. You can see hand bells on the prop stands of many of these 19th century jugglers. Note also that many of these photographs show bottles on the prop stands as well. Although these may be from after the time that James DeWitt Cook began juggling clubs, they reflect that clubs had not yet permeated the juggling world and show the linear props that were already established.
White Eagle with hand bells and bottles
White Eagle with hand bells and bottles
Native American juggler with hand bells and bottles.
Niadon with hand bells and bottles
Umbrellas and Tennis Rackets
It’s certainly possible, and perhaps even probable, that jugglers before the late 1870s juggled with umbrellas and tennis rackets. They certainly were doing so around that period.
Roberto Alfonso 1880s
Eldora 1892
Carlotina
Nerlow
As you can see, linear objects were popular long before clubs were toss juggled. If you have an old image of one of these props, feel free to send it my way.