JugglingSubculture.com

To celebrate the beginning of America’s Got Talent season here’s an interesting audition video from David DiMuzio.

David is the self-proclaimed world’s greatest singing juggler. We can’t think of anyone to challenge the title, so we say, way to go David!

Here’s hoping the producers enjoyed David’s audition, and that we’ll see him on the show sometime soon.

Here’s a heartwarming tale of a street performing juggler and a cat. It won the ASIFA Award of Excellence 2009 in the Best Professional Film category.

Enjoy!

We’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon within the juggling subculture. We call it the Trained Monkey Effect (TME).

Here’s how it commonly occurs:

First, a non-juggler discovers that you know how to juggle and that you’re better than the average “I learned in my junior high gym class” juggler.

Second, they demand a demonstration, tossing you the three roundest objects in your nearest vicinity. You indulge them with a couple of different patterns, an around the back or under the leg, a 360 finish and they’re genuinely amazed. They might even clap a few times.

What begins after this incident is the essence of TME.

From this point forward, every time this person introduces you to someone new they say, “oh, and he (or she) can juggle!” and then throw you random objects to entertain your new acquaintance. Wallets, cell phones, rocks, water bottles–nothing is off limits.

TME is often initiated by bosses, older siblings, coaches, or anyone with a hint of authority, making it even harder for the juggler to do anything but acquiesce to the request for cheap entertainment. In addition to personal introductions, TME often occurs at parties, before business meetings, or to break the ice at other large gatherings.

While some jugglers enjoy this kind of “dance, monkey, dance!” attention, many feel trapped by TME. These jugglers would rather not be put on display like a circus animal but feel obligated to comply with the request and thus begrudgingly perform for the impromptu audience.

What you see below is a clear example of TME. You can tell by the look on this juggler’s face that his off-screen, over-served friends egged him on to perform when this party became too boring. So he does. But his lackluster performance is a clear indication the TME is occurring.

When Wes Peden released the short juggling film Expectations, we were hoping it would be the first of many similar projects. It looks like our dreams have come true! Wes just released a new short film titled “Plaid.”

Here’s how he describes the film:

Plaid is a collection of juggling inventions and compositions made from the love of weird catches and style conscious throws. The film covers many controversial topics such as flipping, up catching, under the leg and backcross desegregation in relation to five club juggling, and what exactly the edition of purple handles has on modern 3 club juggling.

We are excited to see how Wes delivers his unique, art-infused juggling style in this new venture.

Take a look at the trailer for “Plaid”:

Here are two performances by Luke Clements on Britain’s Got Talent:

You can tell the judges enjoyed the apple eating, but they issued him a very specific challenge. Here’s what he came up with.

What a missed opportunity. If he could have found any way to get anything close to taking a bite out of that melon he would have moved on to the next level.

Also, the female judge Amanda made a great point that he should have led with his best stuff.

Sad to see yet another juggler “eaten” alive on a “Got Talent” show.

Colombia has been especially hard hit by the world’s current financial challenges. An article on CCTV.com explains that many Colombians in the city of Bogota are turning to street performing for two reasons: to make a living, and to make people smile in a desperate time.

Juggler Angel Rubiano said, “We keep working. As you see we are all in the mood to work, make some money and improve this art, despite the fact that the country is in crisis. We don’t want to be part of the crisis and we are working here to make you laugh and fill you with emotions and sensations.”

One of the ways they perform is by jumping in front of traffic at red lights and putting on a 30 second show. It’s a pretty intense form of street performing; and even though we’re pretty sure you’d get you thrown in jail in America for doing something like that, it makes us wonder about other outside-the-box ideas performers can make a few extra bucks in this difficult time.

Here’s a video of some red-light street performers in Bogota:

The Simpsons animators snuck a bit of juggling into another recent episode.

That’s two juggling cameos in the same month!
(Click here to see the first one if you missed it.)

David Rosdeitcher is one of those people you hear about whenever you say you’re a street performer. It usually goes like this:

“You street perform? I once saw a guy who could tell everyone in the audience what their zip code was. It was amazing! Can you do that?!”

It’s always a little humbling.

Here’s an article about Zipcode Man and how he got his start as a street performing juggler before finding his niche as a memorization phenomenon.

Makes you wonder what skill you have that could turn your act into something truly different and amazing.

Here are two videos from the popular Discovery Channel series Time Warp. The first is juggler Mad Chad Taylor juggling chainsaws. The second is the master himself, Anthony Gatto, showing off some of his signature skills. The super slow motion photography captures juggling from a whole new perspective.

I developed my juggling show in college. I worked on different skills, I practiced performing, and came up with a show that has worked pretty well for me over the last few years.

It’s a solid $200 show.

What does that mean?

Good question. Let’s put it this way; I feel comfortable that if someone hired me to do my show that I could fairly charge them up to $200. If I charge them less they’re getting a deal, but, given the production value, the skills I demonstrate in the show, and a few other factors, something wouldn’t feel right charging them any more.

But it’s a new year. And it’s time to increase the value of my show.

So, in 2009, my goal is to produce a $500 show. I imagine this will be a process that takes most of the year, beginning with an interesting thought exercise about what ads value to a juggling show.

Some of my initial thoughts:

1. Props: A $200 show can get away with dirty, old props that look like they’ve been juggled over rocks for 10 years. A $500 show would have clean, high quality props, that look like they’re kept in a hermetically sealed carrying case.
2. Skills: This is the difference between flashing 5 clubs and having a fully developed 5 club routine. It’s time to step it up a notch and put in some skills that could even impress other jugglers.
3. Production Value: A $500 show should have music, should have smooth logical transitions, should have staging of some sort, and in general look like a team of producers spent years crafting a solid piece of entertainment.
4. Shtick: My current show has some funny stuff in it. But it usually comes out off the top of my head. Although a $500 show would have plenty of breathing room for ad lib, it should also have a solid script that would be proven to reach all audiences.
5. Financial Investment: It takes money to makes money! What is a logical investment to produce a show that would be worth $500 a shot?

I know no one likes to talk about what they make, or what they charge for their juggling shows, but I appreciate you letting me open up like this. I’m excited about this challenge and welcome your input about what you think makes a show worth $500.