In March 2022, my article examining the 1938 account of juggling history titled Juggling and Jugglers by Dr. Henry R. Evans resulted in several jugglers asking me to research and attempt to recreate one of the tricks in the article. I call this the the Broom Stick Break Trick. It was most famously performed by two well-known jugglers of the late 1800s and early 1900s; Paul Cinquevalli and Gintaro Mizuhara, who was mostly just known as Gintaro. Let’s take a look at the description of the trick from the Juggling and Jugglers article.
“Mr. Cinquevalli’s assistant holds two open razors and from these are suspended a couple of loops of twisted paper, made before the audience. In the loops is hung a broom-handle. The juggler then takes a heavy oak stick, and sharply strikes the broom-handle, breaking it in halves, but without in any way injuring the paper loops that are hung on the razor-edges. Sometimes the trick is varied by placing the broom-handle on two clay-pipes, these pipes being smoked, more or less placidly, by a couple of assistants.”
“When the above feat was exhibited before the Prince of Wales, he was greatly struck with it, and asked the juggler to repeat it again and again, in order that he might himself select razors, broom-handle, and striking stick, and also make the paper loops. The foregoing experiment is something of a physical phenomenon, and has enlisted the attention of scientists.”
This description by Evans was a quote from an 1897 Strand Magazine article by William G. FitzGerald. In that article, the following illustrations were included showing Paul Cinquevalli performing the stunt.
Fellow juggling historian Erik Åberg, the world’s foremost expert on Paul Cinquevalli, speculates that Cinquevalli may have seen famed Japanese juggler Awata perform the stunt at some point, thus inspiring Paul to include it in his repertoire.
As I stated earlier, the trick was also performed by Gintaro. Below is a description of the trick written by Gintaro himself.
“Here is an easier one which anyone can try. It is really a feat of Japanese swordsmanship which anyone can practise without a sword. Make two bands of tissue paper, about a yard long and an inch wide. Get a friend to hold two razors, one in each hand. Open the razors and hang the bands of paper on the blades. Now take a stick and hang it on the bands of paper. This must be done very carefully, or the papers will be cut. Then pick up a broomstick and with a mighty blow come down on the center of the stick. If you are successful you will break the stick without breaking the bands of paper (Fig. 6).”
“The blow must be given quickly, and immediately before the blow is given the broomstick should be brought up very rapidly so that the stick resting on the papers is lifted slightly by the current of air caused by the upward movement of the broomstick.”
Based on these two descriptions of the trick, I decided to give it a try. The video below shows the results.
As you can see, I was unsuccessful in duplicating the results achieved by Cinquevalli and Gintaro. Please feel free to attempt it yourself. I’ll add any videos sent to me showing it successfully done below. Just be careful with the blades and a heavy stick!
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).