The hour was late but the party was young. A dozen or so lJA officers and assorted other jugglers who attended the Winter Business Meeting were gathered that evening at secretary/treasurer Rich Chamberlin's house for merrymaking.

Infused with the same buoyant spirit that accompanies all jugglers' gatherings, we joyfully watched convention movies, admired Chamberlin's dozen original Harry Lind wooden clubs and refused to recognize that it was past our bedtimes.

 

The close confines and abundance of fine glass­ware in Chamberlin's house delayed actual juggling, but you could tell everyone was in the mood. Finally, about 11 p.m., under the pretense of doing research for this month's feature article on numbers juggling, I asked Michael Kass, lJA vice president, to juggle for me.

 

During my interviews for the article, people claimed that an increase in numbers of objects was accomplished by raising the height of the pattern rather than quickening the throws. About two throws per second per hand was the limit, I was told. Kass enthusiastically agreed to be my guinea pig for some timing experiments.

 

With stopwatch in hand, I counted throws as Kass tossed his best for science. The results shed very little light on the numbers article because Kass can only juggle five balls well. But he can do them very fast - faster in fact than two throws per hand per second.

 

In a series of about ten trials juggling at his absolute minimum height and maximum speed, Kass averaged slightly over 2.8 throws per hand per second. When he raised the pattern to its normal height, the speed dropped to 2.23 throws per hand pet second.

We were both thoroughly excited by our rudimentary experiment, and pushed on to record times for other patterns.                   .

 

A fast-as-possible three ball cascade yielded 2.25 throws per hand per second, about the same as a normal five. That result may imply something, but is only fodder for further research now.

 

I was curious about clubs, and Kass was happy to oblige. Despite the possibility of destroying valuable personal property and bringing severe and justified wrath upon our heads, he performed coolly and flawlessly.

 

Club cascades logically were a bit slower than ball cascades. However, it was interesting to note that club juggling with single throws was barely faster than with double spins - 1.8 per hand per second as opposed to 1.75.

 

Club tricks proved to cost vast amounts of time. Kass's continuous single back crosses, though they seem to be speedy, only require I. 25 tosses per hand per second. Continuous kickups, his beautiful trademark trick, left him plenty of time to yawn at only .65 throws per hand per second.

 

So the experiment concluded. Nothing but data was actually determined, but it's data I've wanted to collect for a long time. The measurement of juggling performance seems important to me in this high-technology era.

 

It seemed important in writing the feature article, and I fear the finished product suffers for lack of it. I was able to include only the number of objects that different people juggle, but could not find out interesting and potentially important details such as the height of their patterns and speed of their tosses.

 

Perhaps that information is trivial. After all, the bottom line is how many objects can be handled for how long. But my curiosity about the mechanics of the human body and respect for juggling demand that I record quantifiable observations of it.

 

I hope other people fee! the same way, and that part of the legacy of the IJA may be accurate data on juggling and jugglers of our time. Future historians, if no one else, will appreciate the effort.

 

......

 

Ambling through Newark Airport on my way back from the business meeting, I spied "New York" magazine displaying a mime-faced club juggler and pretty model intertwined on the cover. It was Fred "Garbo" Garver, IJA member, taking the lead in a multi-page photo essay of the latest fashions which combined professional models with typical New Yorkers, i.e. - cab drivers, policemen, graffiti scrawlers and hot dog vendors. Garbo qualified as a typical Broadway star, due to his 18 month appearance in "Barnum."

 

However, he has now departed that production to work with Michael Moschen and Bob Berky, staging shows of their own. The trio's fIrst venture will be a one-hour show at the Dance Theatre Work­shop, 19th St. and 7th Ave. in New York City, at 11 p.m. April 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and May 1. This summer, they will teach an Antic Arts Academy as part of the summer arts program at the State University of New York in Purchase. Toward the end of the summer, they will be in Scotland at the Edinburgh Festival.

 

Congratulations, Garbo! Be sure and tell 'em about the lJA out there in the big time!