BY THOMASL

 

These days a regional festival may attract upwards of 200 participants (see the

Summer, 1995 JW). The Annual Last-Ever Bloomington Euro-Style JuggleFest, November 10-12, was small, but it was a raging success. Birthplace of the internet newsgroup rec.juggling, training ground for Kapel gold medal winners, Bloomington, Indiana, is a good town for juggling.

 

After attending festivals in city and suburb alike and finding much to whine about (usually gym fees, which, after gas, barely left change for Taco-Bell), four years ago Bloomington started hosting their own. Bloomington JuggleFest was influential in instituting the free-for-all - no overt structure, but lots of free juggling, pizza, and prizes.

 

Only in Bloomington can you can lounge about scarfing pizza as fabulous prizes are given away, rubbing elbows with such talent as the World Amateur Yo-Yo champion Mark Hayward, the only Kapel Gold Medal Winner in IJA history, Jay Gilligan (who may well have collected more gold medals than anyone else in the history of the IJA), and Morten Hansen (who does outrageous tricks with everything within arm's reach). The Annual Last-Ever JuggleFest had it all: Peggy Reuss even provided the ASL interpretation of a "blink" show, just like at the big festival! The only thing missing was Fergie, but no one who saw the discussion of bean­bag stuffing technology will forget it. Renegade Tom Kidwell flew in from California to catch some bad weather and good juggling, and I've photos of him actually juggling and ball-spinning.

 

Friday it rained and Saturday it snowed, but it was too late to stop anyone who had already begun the long haul. First prize for the longest drive went to Waterloo; those crazy Canadians got a dash-mounted trophy compass, a map to navigate home to Ontario, and 50 bucks cold cash, U.S., worth even more in their native currency. Their presence (Robbie Berks is REALLY from New Zealand) made the fest international.

 

Jimmy Robertson and Jonathan Perry gave the Canadians evil looks, but all they got in return for their roadtime from Atlanta was 25 bucks and an on-the-road grooming packet compliments of AAA, which was actually a good thing because Jimmy needed that FinalNet Hairspray. The Pennsylvania people, including the Provance twins, were awarded our thanks, particularly valuable accompanied by $10, and a twin set of commemorative AAA playing cards, attractively packaged. Madison friends Melonhead, Steve Otteson, and Peter Kaseman had to drive all the way home through the snow with our warm thanks, sans prizes. Hard luck, given all the tricks Peter was doing, 5-club triple­singles and all.

 

The fest was intimate due to the weather and hasty planning - it was slammed together to coincide with last-minute scheduling of the "blink" tour, hence the only publicity was frequent postings on the internet newsgroup rec.juggling, a mention in a "blink" mailing, and invitations sent to past attendees. The date directly conflicted with the Quad City fest on the same weekend; Fergie is still not talking to us because of that. Iowa may have had the partiers, but Bloomington had serious jugglers and serious fun.

 

There were silly games, although most of the events in the eggstravaganza were largely omitted due to weather. The obstacle course was a highlight. Participants cascaded three balls, hopping on one foot to the basket, sinking a shot, joggling backwards to laying down, juggling over their heads, and racing to the finish line through a slalom of cones. Designated hoppers, sinkers and jugglers were allowed, and "team boink" (Mony Hansen as basehopper, Erin DeSoto as sinker, and Jay Gilligan as layabout) finished a shockingly slow sixth, behind winners Peter Kaseman, Laura Provance, Henry Radcliffe, Steve Holditch and Michael Crawford. It proved so popular that repeated heats were run. Raffle tickets were awarded.

 

The gymnastics room was open and available for free play, and Jimmy (Flight

Patterns minus Todd) Robertson, Erin and others flipped over it. In the main gym Mony defeated Jay, Lowell Vaughn, Mark Peachock and others in the five-egg enduro. Contestants selected their props carefully, but Jay's last few rounds were four eggs and a messy handful, and he was disqualified due to disintegration. Raffle tickets were awarded.

 

Following the traditional feeding frenzy of various gourmet pizzas, the long-awaited Tootsie Roll toss-n-turn competition took place. Contestants hold a Converse shoe-box filled with Tootsie Rolls, toss 'ern up, whip a pirouette, and catch as many as they can. Jack Kalvan still holds the world record from 1992, although Morty did not embarrass himself too terribly this year. Charlie Peachock attempted a double pirouette, and ended the competition in jugglernaut fashion by inadvertently dispersing all of the chocolatey treats to the crowd during his turn. No raffle tickets were awarded (but there were Tootsie Rolls everywhere!).