Members of the Lane Community College advanced juggling class |
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Page 8 May 1980
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The
Oregon Reportt Juggling
classes at Lane Community College in Eugene are in their fifth year.
Although we lose a person here or there for various reasons, the
nucleus of the advanced class has remained the same for three years
and the class continues to grow slowly and surely.
Emphasis
in the advanced class is on group club passing variations. The
facilities feature a high ceiling as well as tile floor and good
lighting. Being inside, weather is not a factor. Anyone passing
through the Eugene area is strongly encouraged to stop in and join the
class. Beginners meet at 7 p.m. on Monday, advanced at the same time
Wednesday.
Some
of the people in the advanced class include yo-yo champ Tom
McKoy, ball champ Roberto Morganti, Larry Wakeman and Vaughn Avery,
the best mime in the Northwest. Some high points of the classes
include juggling movies, exposure to a large collection of
juggling-related artifacts and juggling under four-foot blacklights. The
FKB chainsaw massacre The
Flying Karamazov Brothers, who call Eugene their second home, did an
improved (more juggling, less talking) and more complex juggling act
here at WOW Hall recently. The act involves juggling a chain saw
running at full bore!
At
first, a small battery-operated toy chain saw is passed around amongst
other objects, only to let the imagination of the audience down. But
later, alas, a real and very large size chain saw is brought out and
thrown back and forth with both hands, its engine belching clouds of
gasoline fumes and eardeafening, piston-slapping noises that
completely drown out any verbal appreciation or applause the audience
may show.
To
test the reality of the chain saw, a piece of wood is cut on stage.
Other juggling riffs in the act include an original FKB song in which
each juggler has different noise-making objects attached to the
wrists.
Each
person juggling has a certain rhythm to follow so that, combined, the
result is a song. Before the day of the show, I passed clubs with the
FKB and found out they are putting together an entire symphony for
proficient club jugglers to try out at a convention.
Other
events around this area include some new jugglers with the Shrine
Circus, the Harlem Globetrotters featuring Steve Mills during
intermission, a juggler named Happy Jack doing three and fourball
variations under blacklights touring with vibes player Gary Burtoo.
Dig
deep down in your pocket and put a little 'change' in your juggling
act By
Cary Schachter Amarillo, TX I
am not certain jugglers are more nervous than the population in general,
but they sure tend to keep their hands occupied. In fact, for some it
borders being an embarrassing compulsion.
We
have all been interrupted in unconscious juggling by the angry scowls of
grocers who claim that we are bruising the pomegranates, or the frowns
of hostesses who do not consider juggling the Wedgewood amusing, or the
petulant rebukes of spouses or friends who fail to see the beauty in
cascading patterns of their keys, rings, pillows, plates, or whatever
else just happens to be at hand.
So
what's a nervous juggler to do? All I can suggest is that he or she
should find a portable, ever present juggling prop, one that even the
poorest juggler usually carries. My first choice is money.
Not
the soft stuff that we never seem to have; rather, selected,
top-quality, slightly devalued, U.S. minted coins: quarters or halves
when you're flush, nickels or dimes when you're pressed, and pennies
when you're just flat busted.
Of
course, being a small change artist can have its problems. The most
serious is the common complaint that money will slip through your
fingers. Yet thoughtful practice can minimize the loss, if you folIowa
few basic principles.
Fingers
should be tightly squeezed together, and catches and tosses should be
made from the palm. A dark background should be selected, and the
pattern should be kept low and tight at first. Avoid dimes at all
cost, and do not juggle near floor furnace gratings or other
money-swallowing obstructions.
Now
you are ready. Pillage your piggy bank, pinch your change purse, or do
whatever you need to do; but get three or four quarters, put them in
your pocket, and have them always present to entertain idle hands.
If
this remedy is followed, you will never suffer the embarrassment of
offending those whose possessions you seize for impromptu props, and
you can avoid that frantic search for acceptable juggling materials that
usually results in selecting something inappropriate anyway. Instead,
you can calmly produce your petty cash and occupy your nervous hands
with clever manipulation of money. |
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Members of the Lane Community College advanced juggling class |
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