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L.A. JUGGLERS' FORUM

Juggling is thriving in the Los Angeles area! I would like to relate the story of the Los Angeles Jugglers' Forum in the hopes that It will encourage other juggling groups to organize and/or expand.

This September I began working at the Variety Arts Center in Los Angeles, which is a large theatre club comprised of three different theatres, a library, and numerous lounges. Using the 1978 IJA Convention as my inspiration, I tried to convince the management that a weekly juggling workshop would be an ideal activity. It took a while to get approval, but on the first Monday evening in November, I was allowed to begin. I decided to call the event a Jugglers' Forum rather than Workshop because I didn't want to structure It like a class. This flexibility allows people the freedom to come at any time and move along at their own pace, asking for help when they really want it.

Anyway, the first session began with three people in the lobby. The next week there were seven people, then eleven. The fourth week we moved the Forum upstairs to the small cabaret theatre and cleared out the chairs. Seventeen people showed up. We printed up some flyers to pass out, and on the sixth week I began printing a one page weekly newsletter telling about events of interest to jugglers. No admission was charged, but a hat was left conveniently at the entrance. With the contributions that were given I bought books on juggling. Then I convinced the management to allow me to serve refreshments. They even donated the refreshment money. This allowed me to start buying some more props, since up till then all equipment used was my own. We also began having demonstrations of juggling and other related skills, such as baton twirling, rope spinning, tap dancing, comedy acrobatics, balancing, and hat manipulations. A local cigar store agreed to save cigar boxes for us.

I won't drag on with all the details, but eventually the Pasadena Community Arts Center did a press release for us and we got some press coverage. Attendance went up to an average of almost forty jugglers per week, and the club moved us up to the large dining room usually reserved for dinner theatre performances.

The Jugglers' Forum is now in its eighth month. We have been averaging almost fifty jugglers every Monday night, even during the gas shortage. The people who come are of all different backgrounds and many have never juggled before. There are also many regulars such as Daniel Rosen, John Luker, and Jim Ridgley, who are excellent jugglers and do a lot of passing. Members of the Jugglers' Forum have bought well over a thousand dollars' worth of juggling equipment in the past few months, and we are now printing a Jugglers' Forum T-shirt. On June 25th we are holding a banquet and show at the Variety Arts Center , and we will be

donating fifty cents from every admission to the UA. Everyone who comes to the banquet will be asked to juggle three balls before entering. If they pass the test, they get a dollar discount!

That is basically the brief history of the Jugglers' Forum. Of course, there are numerous details and occurrences that have been omitted. A few basic principles that I believe were instrumental in the growth of the program were that I guaranteed people that they could learn to juggle in one session, and almost everyone did. Each person received a prize when they completed their first three ball cascade.

I made sure to hold the Jugglers' Forum every week so that people knew they could count on it being there. Having a fixed location, rather than being outdoors, is a big advantage. The Variety Arts Center is usually dark on Monday nights, so it didn't cause them to lose any other activity. Even though there have never been any mandatory dues, people have kept contributed enough money to keep the Jugglers' Forum going. This was very important, especially in the beginning. Every cent that was contributed was spent to buy something that jugglers could use or find interest in reading.

I have never been a juggling fanatic. I just find it to be very enjoyable and useful in any performing situation. In conclusion, I would like to say that there have been many wonderful people who have helped me keep the Jugglers' Forum going, and that there is a marvelous brotherhood that seems to flourish among those who share the juggling experience. Beginners enjoy the thrill of learning something they thought was impossible at first, and experienced jugglers constantly press themselves to achieve greater excellence. I would like to invite any juggler passing through Southern California to come and visit us on a Monday night, and I encourage all jugglers to communicate with us and we will let you know of our development. I would also like to thank the newsletter editor for allowing me this space.

Enthusiastically submitted, GENO, SANTA MONICA , CA.