Slim Teams Field Leave Bronze Medal Unclaimed

 

The Dew-Drop Jugglers, who have been performing out of Minneapolis for the past 10 years, entered their third IJA competition and got their first win.

 

Once again they performed a themed routine, following in the spirit of their earlier Indiana Jones and cat burglar efforts. This time their director, Ochen Kaylan, gave them a "Mission Impossible," challenging them to entertain the audience long enough for their employers to capture a villain. They did so by manipulating and passing diabolos between each other, and then passing clubs. They worked several patterns with nine to twelve clubs, including eleven back-to-back and a stack with nine.

 

They begin their eighth year of performing on the main stage at the Minnesota Renaissance Fest at the end of August. Their regular act includes comedy juggling with machetes, torches, cigar boxes, unicycles and diabolos. They were disappointed that there weren't more teams entered in this year's competition. "We want to earn a medal... but then again, I feel like we have!" said Lunzer.

 

The silver medal team of Tripp and Fall are Dextre Tripp and Reid Belstock of Denver, Colo. They felt that their slapstick juggling was well received last year in Las Vegas, and were eager to show off some new moves here.

 

Their act involved chairs, acrobatics, tumbling and a lot of high-risk knockabout. During the earlier rules review session, when they were told that acts could not hurt an audience member or a judge, Belstock interrupted to ask, "Uh, can we hurt each other?" Their act opened with some quick three club action, then three clubs and a chair, and moved to three chair manipulation. They finished with three clubs and a chair.

 

The two have worked together occasionally for three years, but mostly each man performs solo. Tripp's act is mostly rope walking and balance on a chair and ladder. He does juggle on footplates atop the ladder and on the tightrope. He began his career in school plays, and learned juggling at age 14. He was working within three months at the Minnesota Renaissance Faire, and has been at it professionally for all of the 16 years since. Most of his work is still at Renaissance faires.

 

He and his wife, Juliet, have a four-year-old son, Jivar. Juliet also performs on the Renaissance circuit, appearing as a mannequin doll who comes alive to sing a song when tipped by a patron.