The afternoon competitions were held outside a city theater on a portable stage. There were no awards, and hundreds of locals gathered as the zaniness unfolded. The games included balancing an egg on a bottle cap atop a broom stick, sprint joggling, juggling on a water bottle, French bread and cheese juggling, five ball juggling and demolition juggling.

 

Participants clowned their way through the competitions. For instance, one odd­object juggler pocketed the cheese after his first try and complained to the officials that someone had stolen it. One of the egg balancers deliberately knocked his egg into the audience, but only after first switching the real one for a plastic look-alike. A veteran five ball juggler found himself striving for a win against a rookie juggler of 15 months. The older told the younger that his mother was calling and secured the win.

 

The Public Show spotlighted talent from eight countries. Judging by the hefty applause and resounding laughter, it was a delight to the 1,000 who attended. There were no problems with light or sound, no acts duplicated others, and the show flowed like it had been rehearsed for days.

 

The hat was passed at the show's end to buy drinks and snacks for a Sunday afternoon surprise. A few impromptu workshops were created on the final day. As the evening approached, jugglers took one last shower in the downstairs facilities and went their separate ways. Many spent the night in Laval to eat and drink a final communal meal in the same restaurant.

 

All the jugglers seemed to have the same feeling. It was a fantastic weekend of open juggling and easy-going activities. Goodbye Laval, hello Frankfurt!

 

Character development, more than technical juggling tricks, was highlighted at the Public Show of this year's European Juggling Convention.

 

Master of ceremonies Alberto kicked off the entertainment by people juggling, as he directed three volunteers to weave across the stage. Here are bits of spice from each of the acts which appeared:

 

Jerome Thomas, a French juggler with a snappily choreographed cabaret style, stung the crowd with his precision, repeti­tion ball juggling. He performed elbow catches, danced, and showered four balls while he balanced another on his head.

 

Camelle aux Etoiles, a three-person French troupe, juggled the psychological symbols of a ball, ring and club. They delighted the crowd with a line juggle of nine large white rings.

 

Tim Bat, proper, comical English performer, devil sticked his umbrella and walked the dog with his yo-yo. Tim exited with his umbrella handle caught on his ankle. 

 

Sem Abrahams, a Dutch technician, jumped rope on his unicycle and did a sitting-chair balance on a bottle resting on a table.

 

Amy Adams showed United States club swinging with fine symmetrical motion. Her ribbon swinging glided and snapped across the stage to music.

 

Moshe, a California performer, taught the crowd to say "wow" as he did his cigar box routine. His torch swinging with a blackout brought a lot more wows.

 

Joe Eargy, an Israeli mime, spotted the audience after cleaning a window. Joe lifted weights, climbed a ladder and nearly fell off the high wire.

 

Institut Francais de Jonglage, the convention organizers, appeared a few times performing a fast two-person slapstick passing routine, sword swallowing, rotating post and "Y" passing patterns.