The Prop Shop

by Eric Bagai

 

A juggling product review should introduce and evaluate new props, and compare them to existing products. It should never be merely a shill for manufacturers or an extension of the magazine's advertising department. But I'll start this column by breaking a few of the rules: I'll show you something that could disappear at any moment unless you act right now. If that sounds like a pitch, it is. But this pitch is to all the prop makers and manufacturers out there as well as the jugglers. Here goes:

 

SCENE ONE: You really want new clubs. You've got all the catalogs and you know exactly what foil & colors you'd like. The top­of-the-line Dube, Todd Smith, Renegade, Oddball, Henry, Beard, Radical Fish, and Spotlight clubs all look outstanding. Decisions, decisions. But (big sigh), no matter what you decide, you just can't afford to pay that much for props right now. Besides, you already have that set of perfectly serviceable and absolutely indestructible one-piece knucklewhackers. Don't give up, though. There's an inexpensive solution to your problem.

 

SCENE TWO: You've got the shiny new clubs and you love them. You even have dreams of people recognizing you across a crowded gym by the flash of colors in your 3-up pirouette. The problem is, you still use your old clubs instead. Why? Because you don't want to scuff or scratch your pretty new clubs and you know if you use them regularly they'll soon look like everyone else's ordinary, dinged­up clubs. There is a solution to this problem, too.

 

SCENE THREE: You've long ago recouped the cost of your flashy clubs through busking and gigs. They are old, familiar friends, and people do recognize you by your club colors ­ and that's the problem: Those colors just don't seem as interesting anymore, and the clubs really are looking a bit scruffy lately. This is too small an annoyance to justify buying a new set, but still, you're a little bored with what you have, and you'd really like a change. Once again, there is a solution.

 

UNIVERSAL SOLUTION: Club Covers. Inexpensive, durable, elastic covers, available in a wide array of color combinations and patterns. They fit snugly over your current clubs and protect them from the day-to-day damage of practice and performance. (Frank Olivier, Henrich Bothe, and Stevie G can also attest to how well they fit.) And when they get dirty, slide them off, hand wash and air-dry them, slide them on again: good as new.

 

Club Covers leave the weight and weight distribution of your clubs pretty much unchanged: a quarter-ounce heavier and slightly flippier-for most people this is not relevant. Your clubs will likely still mix with your usual passing partners, and they'll look good enough for anything up to a Las Vegas act. (I like the neon tiedye patterns.) They won't fit on American-style clubs, but they work just fine on all European-style clubs, including Radical Fish and Renegade's.

 

I talked to several testers after they'd had a few months to try them out. The unfinished ends of Club Covers, at the base and handle, do become slightly fuzzy. Otherwise, no significant complaints and a good deal of praise. Some use them all the time, some only occasionally. Nobody was willing to give them back. The price? $5 each.

 

THE BIG PITCH: The only real problem with Club Covers is that they may not be available for very long. Kevin Wilber, their inventor, pending patentee, and manufacturer, also has a 'real' job, a pretty wife, and a very young son, all of which makes for a 150% demand on his time. So, while he'd like to sell you some Club Covers, he'd like to sell you the rights to Club Covers even more.

 

For a while, at least, you can get them from Kevin. You can also find Club Covers at Serious Juggling. Or you can make Kevin's family (and a whole lot of jugglers) very happy and just buy the rights to the whole shebang.