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Andrew Head Leads Senior Individual Medal Parade

by Bill Giduz

Chicago 's Andrew Head made it twofor-two in IJA championships by winning the only silver medal given out among six entrants in the Senior Individual Championship. Head was the first place winner in the same championship the only other time he entered, in 1985 in Atlanta .

He showed the St. Louis audience a three part routine to music, opening with some whimsical, fast hat work accompanied by a sprightly jazz piano tune. He brought a tall stool on the set, swung it up

onto his head in place of the hat and shifted it from side to side on his head. He added a ball to the hat and stool for some three-way manipulations and head rolls.

The second part of the routine was club swinging and three and four club juggling. Though his tricks were not as technically difficult as those of other competitors and he had six drops, Head was the most charismatic figure of the night, with an expressive face, big smile and quick and quirky movements around the stage. He finished his routine on a blacked out stage, juggling three luminescent balls to a smokey vocal rendition of the song, "Moonglow."

Head and his wife of a year-and-a-half, Kim, make up two-thirds of a performing trio called "The Thing With Two Heads." They present a cabaret show with Kim singing jazz, Head handling the object manipulation and their partner, Curt Henning, as musician.

The judges awarded three bronze medals for other acts.

Dana Tison of Baltimore won a bronze for a technical routine to fast-paced Christian rock music in which he demonstrated considerable prowess with balls, clubs and rings. He opened with a five ball routine, then did several tricks with seven. He did five and seven rings, three, four and five clubs, and finished with an eight ring flash and pull down over his neck. The act was peppered with pirouettes, half-pirouettes and movement around the stage, including a pirouette under seven rings. He had 11 drops.

Jason Garfield won bronze for another technical routine to music. It opened with five balls, then moved to seven. He did five rings and seven rings with a pull down over his neck. Next was a four club routine, including a two-high double pirouette. He balanced one club on his forehead and did solid chin rolls with the other three, then juggled five clubs. He finished with a three club routine that ended in a three high double pirouette. He had six drops.

Tuey Wilson of Minnesota presented the most varied routine of the evening, and also won a bronze. His musical routine opened with ball spinning, culminating in a backward roll with one ball on a mouthstick and another on each index finger. He presented considerable skill and innovation with three shaker cups next, swinging his arms quickly to make dramatic and unusual catches. Wilson finished with a comic rendition of "the big trick." He came on stage loaded down with balls, rings, a mouthstick and ball pedestal. What initially appeared to the audience as an accidental drop of his mouthstick turned into an intentional comedy of drops of most of his props as he attempted to position them for the trick. After much fumbling, he finished in triumph with a ball spinning on his mouthstick, another balanced on a pedestal on his head, a ball spinning on his right index finger, two rings rotating on his right arm, two rings juggled with his left hand and a ring rotating on his right foot. He only had one unintentional drop during the routine.

The other entrants were Scott Burton and Bob Nickerson. Burton suffered about 20 drops in a a routine to music with three and. five balls, three boxes and three to five clubs. Nickerson had three drops with a talking comedy routine in which he juggled clubs; baseball bats and golf drivers. He also did many tricks while spinning a giant hula hoop around his waist, including balancing one pool cue on his head and another in each hard simultaneously. He finished by juggling three basketballs and shooting baskets while standing on a rola bola.