Page 23 Winter 1990 - 91
2nd
Place in L A. Not Good Enough For Purcell by
Bill Giduz
Joel
Purcell hasn't put in an order for business cards yet. If he ordered
some at this point all he could print on them would be
"Second place, IJA Juniors." So he's waiting until next
July, when he plans to be able to label them
'Winner, IJA Juniors."
Many
jugglers might be satisfied with
what Purcell has already accomplished. The 15-year-old
Fairfax, Va., 9th grader has won the school talent show every
year since 6th grade, won the juniors division of the
Virginia Juggling Championships in 1988, and won the Kings Dominion
theme park employee talent show professional division prize. His win
in the specialty division of the Washington, D.C., Citywide Talent
Search last year led him to further auditions and an eventual place
in the lineup for the pay-for-view televised show, Amateur Night At
The Apollo Theatre. The show was taped in New York in November.
But
second place in the IJA Juniors last
summer in Los Angeles isn't good enough for Purcell. "I
have to improve my technique, work on form, and all the little
things that most
people don't practice, but which
amount to so much," he said.
His
second place routine in Los Angeles
was much better than eight place in Baltimore, but he's
hoping that in St. Louis his third try will be the charm. He
described his Los Angeles routine as "nothing great," but
it included three to five clubs, three to five rings and three and
four clubs. He believes rings are his strongest prop, and plans to
work hard on them this year. "I'll be doing six and seven
rings, and seven while spinning one on a leg," he said.
A
visit to Anthony Gatto in Las Vegas last
year inspired him to work on some combination tricks, also,
like juggling while bouncing a ball on his head. That one was
proving very difficult, but he was having success with balancing a
club on his chin while juggling.
His
coach, Benji Hill, has been stressing form as they work together
toward more difficult material. The philosophy is to limit the
motion of the lower body to help the juggler gain control with the
upper body. Purcell quotes Benji " If you can teach someone
never to move their lower body, they'll always keep their
balance."
He
began practicing six rings while standing on one foot and holding a
ring on the other, raised, foot. Same for seven balls and seven rings.
Purcell said "You don't have to be able make a lot of tosses to
get a trick solid that way. If you can do 20 throws standing on one
foot, you can do 40 when you put both feet on the ground later."
Purcell
also said he saw his biggest improvement in juggling last summer when
he worked full-time at Kings Dominion theme park. With five stage
shows a day, every day, improvement came quickly. During the school
year he kept a weekend job there until the park closed, and practiced
two hours a day in his school gym. Fridays are spent with the D.C.
Jugglers and Monday nights with the Baltimore Jugglers.
He learned to juggle from his father, who learned years ago in California. But the championships were all his own idea. "They're important because they push you to work harder," said Purcell. "I want to win the Juniors." |