JW: On the subject of audience response, can you describe your lines "YES!" and "PICK IT UP?"

EC: I found out early on that whenever I caught the plunger in a hand balance, or "A Dynamic Recovery", some principle would applaud and others wouldn't.  It was the dreaded "smattering of applause." I figured this was a moment that needed control.  So now I tell them what I want them to do and they respond. I tell them, "Whenever anyone makes a good Dynamic Recovery, the proper etiquette is to shout, as loud as you can, "YES!"  I catch it that way several times so it keeps peoples' attention. 

 

They're waiting for the moment.  "Pick It Up!" is my audience drop line. l found that regular drop lines were out of my character so, again, I decided to tell them what to do. I tell them whenever they see a Plunger in "The Wayward Position"  to shout, as loudly as they can, "Pick It Up!" and, SHAZZAM, they do it. Actually, a drop should be the start of another phase of the show. Something should be saved for the moment when the juggling stops. That's quite a moment when you think about it.  We get used  to it because we drop a lot. But in a performance, this wonderful motion is flowing along and then THUD!! It's like a surgeon dropping a scalpel. We just pick it up quickly and ignore it, but why not stop, stare, bend over the ball and say "Hey, are you all right!?" You've stopped jugging but you can keep entertaining.

 

JW: The idea, then, is to build tension in the audience and let them release it all at once. 

EC: This is less of a problem in magic shows. Good magicians (and jugglers) are very careful to have obvious moments for applause.  They stop, turn to the audience and hold their arms out, bow,  or whatever.  Taking applause is part of the trick in doing magic, since the trick usually has a built-in climax. In juggling it's very easy to run the tricks into each other without stopping to receive applause. Then the audience tends to applaud a little here and there. The effect, energy, or whatever doesn't really build but just sputters along.  Ideally, you want the audience to respond both loudly and together.

 

JW: Then you focus a lot on controlling the audience?

EC: Sure. look, if you told the audience to get up and turn around clockwise and sit down, generally they all would. The performer has all control and should know how to use it properly. An audience wants to be involved in having fun and looks to the performer to involve them.  You entertain, then they applaud or react to what you've done. Like a conversation, I talk then you talk.

 

JW: That might solve the problem I have of people not knowing when to applaud during my five ball cascade.  You build toward a point and then let them know it's time, right?!

EC: I really can't do five well enough to know...

 

JW: I'm told you have a "Theory of Entertainment" ...

EC: It's not a theory, it's just an idea.  It's that two things are always happening during a good show - the Mundane and the Amazing. These come together as the performer accomplishes amazing things in pursuit of mundane goals. Gulko's devil stick routine comes to mind. There he is accompanying the music with the devil stick when, slowly, his tie gets in the way.

 

JW: Yes, in the end his tie takes over the: world!

EC: Very nearly. The problem of his tie, the Mundane, leads him to accomplish the Amazing tricks with the devil stick. It was perfect! I loved it!

 

JW: I can see how you use this idea of the Mundane and the Amazing in your act. You'll have the very Mundane physics lecture going on at the same time as the Totally Amazing manipulation of the plunger. But what about a flashy technical act in the Vegas or circus style?  Where does your theory fit then?

EC: Oh, if you're a Jay Gilligan or Fritz Grobe (Juniors and Seniors winners at the 1994 Festival) you don't need so much theory. I think that kind of act is perfect with just the right pacing and presentation.

 

JW: Is there anyone else you'd like to suck up to?

EC: Oh, uh, lemme think. Oh, Hi, Anthony!

 

JW:  Do we understand correctly that you plan to publish a book on the plunger?

EC: Yup! It's in the works.  Hopefully it will contain every juggling trick you can do with a plunger. I'd like  not to leave anything out. I want people to have a complete record of the state of the art of plunging at their fingertips.  The moves and skills are broken down enough so that they can be learned by anyone, especially jugglers.  There will be detailed explanations and several cognitive paradigms of the various moves, rim digs, slips, slaps, hops and pops and basically beating....