Seann McKinney in Juniors:

Unbelievable! 

By Russ Kaufman

Sean McKinney, a 17 -year old juggler from San Diego, is a seasoned street performer who took first place in the Juniors Championship by treating the crowd to a high-energy, technically well-rounded juggling presentation. McKinney has been juggling for seven years, and had competed at two past festivals: Los Angeles in 1990 (taking 5th place in Juniors), and St. Louis in 1991 (taking 3rd place in Juniors).

Juggling to the sound of "Unbelievable" by EMF, McKinney started his presentation by a three club pirouette, and soon after threw  two clubs high as he held the third club with both hands, leap-frogged over that club, and tossed it around his back in time to catch the other clubs and continue juggling. Going to four clubs, McKinney balanced the fourth on his chin and dropped it into the pattern and did triple spin patterns.

Switching to balls, McKinney did three and four ball patterns, doing four balls continuously over both shoulders. He then did a seven ball flash and ended balls with an impressive seven ball multiplex pattern. Going back to clubs, McKinney did a five club cascade, then a three club Mill's Mess pattern, and finished three clubs by doing a one-high front somersault and then a one-high reverse somersault.

McKinney did six, seven, and five ring patterns, then alternated from four to five rings, taking the fifth ring in and out of the pattern from his neck. He finished rings with a six ring multiplex pattern.

He finished his presentation with hoop juggling, juggling three hoops around his back. McKinney took four hoops and spun them on his thigh, neck, and arms. A five hoop cascade pattern ended his performance.

Second place in the Juniors went to Ben Tolpin of Wilmington, Del. Tolpin displayed a lot of comedy, creativity and personality on stage. Starting his routine by riding a unicycle and comically crashing on the other side off-stage, Tolpin demonstrated his technical competence by doing a Mill's Mess, around the back floor bounces, and a shower over his head (all with three balls). He did head rolls going ear to ear, and balanced three silicon balls on one side of his head, and later balanced a ball on different parts of his body.

Tolpin did three clubs with continuous chin balances, and a comic bit by putting all three clubs on one foot for a kick-up which didn't work because one was stuck on his sneaker by velcro! He then did kick-ups with both legs, and had a nice move spinning one club on his thigh, which then dropped to his foot for a kick-up. He finished his routine by doing three balls in one hand, then six balls in both a alternating and simultaneous fountain.

Brian Patz, a 16-year-old from Albuquerque, N.M., finished in third place. Patz opened with a cigar box routine, and was the only junior to use these props in this year's competition. He then went to four clubs, doing double then single spins. He did a four club spread pattern, and three clubs overhead. While kneeling, Patz did triple spins and a shower. He did a Mil\'s Mess pattern with three clubs, chops with three clubs, and finished clubs by doing five, at one point throwing one of the clubs under his leg. He did a seven ball flash to the theme music from "My Three Sons," and did a five ball cascade and a five ball shower. Finishing his routine with rings, Patz juggled seven rings and collected them on his neck, and did six rings, which changed color from blue to white.

The Juniors Championship was emceed in both French and English by Daniel Gulko  and Delphine "Adele" Node-Langlois. Adele, wearing clown make-up, provided comedy and musical accompaniment on her squeeze box. Gulko showed his diversity by doing devil sticks, a three ball routine, and a routine with the red tie which eventually entirely engulfed him! So entertaining and complete was Gulko's performance that he was later awarded the Founder's Trophy, which was presented by Art Jennings, I.J.A. board member and founder.

Other entrants were:

Adam Kariotis and Sean Blue (tied for 4th and 5th). Kariotis had some good moves with balls, including a double pirouette with three balls, a five ball half shower, a five ball multiplex that went into a five ball cascade, and a five ball pirouette finish. Blue started by spinning two balls on the forefingers of each hand with an exchange of the top balls to the opposite bottom spinning balls. He also did a four club shower flash, juggled three clubs while bouncing a ball on his head; did four, five and six ring patterns; and finished with seven, eight, and nine ring flashes.

Jay Gilligan (6th). He started his presentation by juggling three clubs onto the stage and mounting a unicycle simultaneously. Jay did a seven ball flash, a break down with six rings, a somersault with three clubs, four into five clubs with the fifth first balanced on his head, and a six club fountain pattern. He ended his act by riding a unicycle without being on the seat and juggling five clubs; then balancing the unicycle on his chin while juggling five clubs.

. Joey Cousin (7th). He did a five ball cas­cade, a five ball shower, five ball multiplex, and five ball fountain with two in one hand and three in the other. He also did the only six ball crossing pattern in the Juniors.

Kent Walker (8th). The only Canadian in the Juniors crowd, Walker balanced a chair on his chin while juggling three clubs, bal­anced a ball on a large stick on his forehead while juggling five rings, and balanced a club on his chin while juggling four clubs.

Mark Kolbusz (9th). Kolbusz did a Mill's Mess pattern with three clubs to "Star Wars" music, six and seven ball flashes, and a five ball multiplex pattern with a pirouette thrown in for good measure!

Jay Casper (10th). Casper opened by doing five balls and catching the balls on a belt with pockets on his hips and back. He also juggled four tennis racquets, and three knives while riding a unicycle. He juggled three ping-pong balls from his mouth, a four club walk-around shower, and finished his act with a five club shower flash.