Jeff Mason polished the act that earn­ed him second place in last year's championships and cashed it in for the $1,000 first prize in the 1988 IJA / Butterfingers Individual Championship.

 

Mason, now living in Minneapolis, used the same props - three balls, boxes and diabolos - but another year of practice brought to them a fine polish that won over the judges and audience. He performed with a fluid ease of motion and suave, calm demeanor that led some in the audience to call him a poet with his props.

 

"It had never gone that well in front of an audience before," said Mason, who was performing at the Minnesota Renaissance Fair most of the summer. He said winning at the convention has given him the confidence to try to make a full-time living off of his juggling after he finishes school in a couple of years. "It gives me a lot of hope for the future," he said.

 

A quite different demeanor won second place for Ryder Schwartz, a 21-year-old from Austin, Tex. Performing for the first time on the IJA stage, he jumped around happily like a puppet on a string, handling his props in a whimsical, herky-jerky, clowning fashion. Schwartz did hat tricks, then innovative moves with a hat, ball and cane, and worked up to a five club finale. Schwartz said gymnastics training since age 3 has influenced his juggling style.

 

Last year's winner, Benji Hill, gave a more traditional performance of balls, clubs and rings that showed a wide variety of technical tricks, but which was only good enough for third this year. Hill's solid shoulder throws with four balls were once again a crowd pleaser, as was innovative use of a remote-controlled jeep to bring his props on stage.

 

Hill said his routine suffered from a lack of practice time in the gym that led to an unusually high number of drops. He pledged to work harder and be back to regain his title next year, however. "I'm going to spend from tomorrow until 1989 coming up with a brand new routine and redeem myself, " he said after the competition.

 

Southern California's Tyler Linkin also came out with a stage performance of balls, clubs and rings that emphasized technical skill. Included in his fourth place routine was a five ball cascade dropped straight into a force bounce, four club flats and splits and doing three club back crosses with a fourth club balanced on his head.

 

Veteran nightclub juggler Jess Monroe, an American now living in Zurich and performing in cabarets there, did three hats, three balls, one ball rolling and cigar boxes.

 

1988 IJA / Butterfingers Individual Championships

1. Jeff Mason 45.4

2. Ryder Schwartz 41.8

3. Benji Hill 40.5

4. Tyler Linkin 40.3

5. Jess Monroe 33.1