JW-Vol49-No1-page24

IJA's Vegas "Non-Fest" Proves Perfect for Juggler's Vacation

by Donna Koczaja

I just returned from the IJA Winterfest in Las Vegas, and despite the fact that I was sicker than sick, I had a great time.

I didn't start out sick. In fact, I was fine when I enthusiastically began my journey. I had a short layover in Dallas, and was pleasantly surprised when I met Art Jennings in the airport there. He noticed the clubs I had with me and asked me if I was going to that "wing-ding convention" in Las Vegas. I proudly told him I was, and we had a nice chat. What a lovely way to begin my first IJA-sponsored festival!

I arrived at the Showboat in the afternoon on New Year's Day. There were only a handful of jugglers there, but I was assured that plenty more were on their way So, the first night of the festival was extremely relaxed, and I took that opportunity to explore the city with my friend Bryan Olson.

Indeed, the following day, as well as during the remainder of the festival, there were many more jugglers. In truth, the juggling space we were given was poor - the ceiling was barely high enough for a decent triple, the chandeliers hung even lower, and the lighting was weak. But no one seemed to mind too much, and these conditions made some of the feats I saw even more amazing.

Wally Eastwood was in attendance juggling nine rings under the low ceiling on his knees. Anatoli Miagkostoupov and his son Vladik were there doing lots of six and seven club juggling. The juggling standard has risen substantially in recent years because the five club jugglers were too numerous to mention by name. Not only was there five club juggling, but five club backcrosses and I believe I even saw a five-up pirouette.

Other folks in attendance were: Charlie Frye, who was seen producing cards from the air, and Penn Gilette, who stopped by before his show and did some multiple person club passing with several people, most notably, John Wee of "Passing Zone." Dan Bennett was there between cruise-ship gigs. I heard that most of the IJA board was there; Art Jennings told me that there was quite a lot of business to take care of for the upcoming festival in Pittsburgh.

I'm mainly a club-passer, and that's how I spent most of my juggling time which, unfortunately, was hampered greatly by my cold. I did manage some wonderful passing with a young fellow named Vince DeLaughder from Kansas. He showed me some lovely new passing tricks, one of which involved throwing two clubs behind the back simultaneously. I, too, shared a trick or two with him. Also, I did some passing in a feed with Rick Rubenstein and my friend Bryan.

Bryan had just relocated to California (from Maryland), so I hadn't juggled with him for some time. I had great fun meeting, socializing and passing with Duane Starcher, who came from British Columbia. Since the festival we've been able to correspond electronically. He assures me his own bout with a winter cold was not passed on from me.

I didn't juggle as much as I'd have liked, but I did watch when I couldn't juggle. There was a lot of passing, though I didn't see too many large multi-person patterns going. Perhaps the size of the room prevented it. There was also a lot of diabolo action happening, though I can't say much more about it since I'm diabolo ignorant. Out in the lobby I also observed some dice-stacking. Other than Myron Wilcox teaching some children, I didn't see any devil stick work.

I'd guess that there were about 50 jugglers there at any given time, though the identities of those 50 changed frequently. IJA secretary/ treasurer Richard Dingman informed me that were were 106 jugglers altogether. People came from near and far. Among those who traveled farthest were Gregor Kiock from Germany (who demonstrated some beautifully elegant three club tricks) and a young man named David Susskind from Brazil who was looking for folks to pass with due to lack of partners at home.

Three prop vendors augmented the festival: Ben Schoenberg's Serious Juggling, The Juggling Arts and the Golden Jester. The IJA was selling great full color t-shirts for $10 which had three large dice in a cascading pattern on them.1 snatched up one for myself and also one for my fiance', who couldn't attend.

It wouldn't be a trip to Las Vegas without seeing the entertainment. Bryan and I made a failed attempt to see Cirque du Soleil (tip: get your tickets early!), but we did manage to see Lance Burton at the Monte Carlo, and Penn&Teller at Bally's. Lance Burton (with juggler Michael Goudeau performing during intermission) did a wonderfully polished magic show, but my favorite show was Penn & Teller. Where else can you see a card trick done with 27 pound aluminum cards and two fork lifts? "Mofo the Psychic Gorilla" was there, and Penn performed his broken bottle juggling routine. These "bad boys of magic" closed with their "bullet catch," and then they stayed to greet the audience after the show.

As a whole, the festival was relaxed. There were no workshops, public shows, or competitions. Actually, I'd say that it was more a "vacation to Las Vegas with an option to attend a juggling meeting any time" than a "juggling festival." I don't mean this in a derogatory way, because for a juggler this is an ideal vacation, don't you think? See you next year!

Visiting Brit Finds Vegas Inexplicable

by Ian Adcock

Trying to describe Las Vegas to someone who's never been there is like trying to explain sex to an eight-year- old. They may understand what you're talking about, they they've got no idea what it feels like!

Imagine a big tower - a bit like the Seattle Space Needle, but bigger - then try to imagine a roller coaster at the top of it going around the outside. That's- Stratosphere. That's Las Vegas. Imagine the absurdity of being able to eat enough food to feed some entire countries for $3.95. That's Las Vegas. Imagine going bowling in the middle of the night in the world's largest bowling alley with some of the top jugglers in the world. That's Las Vegas Winter Jugglefest.

I was asked to write this, out of the blue, three weeks after the event, so I wasn't taking any notes (or should that be "I wasn't taking any notice!"). So this will not be a thorough list of names, accomplishments, and achievements. I thought about re-hashing my review of two years ago for The Catch (issue #12), which I thought was pretty good, but I couldn't do that. Not only for reasons of literary integrity (whatever that is), but also for historical accuracy - Las Vegas is everchanging, expanding and intriguing.

The Hacienda disappeared the night before I arrived, under a hail of pyrotechnical extravagance. Demolition is too small a word for it. Explosion is too common a word for it. It was an implosion. At 9 p.m. New Year's Eve, midnight Eastern time. A massive marketing missive, saying "Come to Las Vegas," using a Vegas kind of vocabulary.

Saturday night / Sunday morning outside of the New York hotel we noticed flocks of sea gulls. All over the sky, flying this way and that, encircling and enchanting. This is the desert, just before dawn, but nowhere near reality. This is Las Vegas, and it makes you smile. They've put a roof over Fremont Street, or at least four blocks of it.

But not just a roof. An experience. The Fremont Street Experience. Just another free show on the hour, every hour - but the only one of its kind in the world, of course. Where else in the world would they think of turning the sky into an audio-visual spectacular?

Drugs? No thanks, I'll take Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, over at Circus Circus the song remains the same. Still a very silly place. Still giving away the world's worst baseball caps. (No thanks, the one I got two years ago has yet to make contact with my head.) And still "continuous circus acts daily" means 10 minute shows with 20 minute breaks in between. And Dick Franco is still flawless.

In keeping with the location, this is a juggling festival like no other. No workshops, no public show, no competitions, no Renegade, no parade, no frills. Just jugglers, just hanging out and having fun. And if you're a juggler who likes hanging out and having fun then this is the place, look no further. (OK, there is Hawaii in February, but that's different!)

Finally, a concession to those of you who like the more traditional style of review... Dick Franco, Wally Eastwood, Vladik, Anatoly, Dan, Rick, Rob, Gregor and Maureen - they were all there. But Anthony wasn't.

By the way, I would like to point out that I have never tried to explain sex to an eight- year-old!