NOTES

 

* Performers at The International Juggler's Day on May 21 at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco included the High Street Circus, Grinn & Barrett, Kinetic Komedy, Prof. Gizmo's One Man Band and The Throw Brothers. Fred Anderson emceed the event and Barry Gould, Andrew Potter and Tomfoolery led juggling workshops.

 

* Comedians may want to check out the new publication, "Laughing Times." For a sample copy of the eight-page mini­magazine, send self-addressed stamped envelope along with $3 and your name and address to: Diane Carter; Marietta GA. Subscription rate is $18 for six monthly issues.

 

* Seattle performer James Jay received a commission to build a high-tech version of his Juggling Jukebox™ performance piece for an art-and-technology conference. The new multi-media installation wires a human juggler to vending machine electronics and interactive music composed by collaborator Bret Battey. The project was made possible in part by a generous equipment donation from Mars Electronics, a division of M&M / Mars. The piece was to premiere at "Beyond Fast Forward," October 21-23 at Seattle Center.

 

* At the 1994 annual meeting of the International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers, juggler and lawyer Bill van Zyverden introduced members to juggling. ''Juggling is not just a metaphor for life in general, but a look at how understanding can transform apparent conflict into harmony, a lesson more lawyers need to understand," he said. Van Zyverden created the IAHL in 1991, and it now numbers more than 425 members in five countries. He would like to hear from other IJA lawyers to share stories and plan get-togethers, and even to dream of a lawyers' juggling road show at Bar Association events! Write him at Middlebury VT.

 

* Mark Faje spent the summer on the road with the Jim Rose Side Show, performing as an opening act for the Nine - Inch Nails rock-and-roll tour. Faje's part of the 35-minute opening act includes throwing knives around Jim Rose's wife, Bebe, juggling bowling balls and balancing a lawn mower on his chin while he throws heads of lettuce up into it. Faje has been with Jim Rose since early in the year, including tours of Australia and a record­breaking appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. After the end of the Nails tour in December, Faje and the Side Show will tour Europe. Next summer they will appear with the Lalapalooza tour, and possibly go to Japan. Besides performing his act, Faje is working on bottle tricks and cigarette tricks, and is producing a behind­the-scenes commercial video of the Jim Rose Side Show.

 

* Back together again are 1992 and 1993 IJA Team Champions Benji Hill and Chuck Gunter. The pair worked over the summer for Premier Cruise lines, doing two shows on a four-day trip to and from the Bahamas. Hill has been working cruises since competing in Fargo, first with Robin Chestnut and then alternately with Adam and Jason Kariotis. After taking 10 months off to recuperate from injuries, Gunter began working again at a Florida amusement park this summer. His show included competition-level material like seven balls and five club backcrosses.

 

* Gary Vice 'of St. Paul, Minn., will juggle in some commercials on the Armed Forces Radio &: Television Service this fall. The public service commercials stress the need to balance food consumed and physical activity. Vice juggles food items such as an orange, roll, drumstick and bran muffin.

 

* Hovey Burgess has worked for the past four seasons as "chef de jonglage" with Circus Flora, choreographing and juggling in an ensemble piece. The current version includes club line passing and a ten person octagon passing around the villain of the show. Others involved in the routine are a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, Giovanni Zoppe, Cecil MacKinnon, Jean-Baptiste Taguet and Larry Pisoni. In former years, the juggling act has included a monkey and Flora the elephant, who were trained to help manipulate clubs. The show will be in Houston in mid-October, and in Scottsdale, Ariz., in December. Burgess, author of the 1976 book, Circus Techniques and namesake of the "Hovey's Nightmare" passing pattern, is also in his 29th year as instructor of circus arts at New York University.

 

* Los Angeles juggler Chad Taylor appeared on a Jay Leno's "Tonight" show in September juggling chainsaws by themselves and in combination with balls. His act included tossing a chainsaw behind his back and under his leg, and doing one chain saw and two balls on a rola-bola.

 

* The Twin Magicians, David and Paul Jackman, 34-year-old twin brothers from Fayetteville, N.Y., performed weekends at the second season of the Pocono Renaissance Faire.

 

Their four shows daily included magic, whips, devil sticks and fire-eating, while the Faire featured jugglers, Shakespearean plays, crafts, games, period music and a full armored joust. The 18-week Pocono Faire is the longest successful ren fair on the circuit, and ran from May through September.