NOTES

* The 30th season on Sesame Street was celebrated in a prime-time ABC television special called "Elmopalooza" on February 20, and songwriter/juggler Sky King appeared with her cameo three-club juggle. Sky has been writing music for Sesame Street for five years, and the special included several of her tunes. 

 

* Advertising during The Super Bowl included three brief (very brief!) juggling sequences. One was a Coca-Cola commercial which included a man juggling three torches for less then a quarter of a second. A Caribbean Cruises commercial included a juggler with torches on a unicycle. The third was a rerun of the Coca-Cola commercial. Considering that the price of Super Bowl commercials was $1.3 million for every 30 seconds, the half-second of juggling cost those companies $21,666.66! 

 

* In other TV juggling news... two jugglers were spotted passing balls on the back of a bus driven by the title character, Dharma, on the January 21 edition of the ABC situation comedy "Dharma and Greg." 

 

* Andrew York of Bedford, Mass., was one of about 450 high school seniors nationwide to score a perfect 1600 on the SAT test... but he says he's prouder of his juggling! An article in the Jan. 13 edition of the Lowell, Mass., ''Sun" newspaper included a photo of York juggling in the hall of his school. Andrew said he picked up juggling last summer and practiced with such fervor that he performed it at a school function. "I'm a showoff at heart," he told the reporter.

 

* Jody Reynolds, comedy juggler, unicyclist, magician and mime is performing throughout this year aboard the Oriana and Arcadia cruise ships in the Mediterranean, then on world cruises with Crystal Symphony. 

 

* One of 20 national finalists in the annual Oscar Mayer Talent Search won the honor by standing on a balance beam juggling three clubs while he sang the company's famous jingle. This finalist, 12-year-old Chris Hazzard of Groton, Mass., has been juggling for two years. "It keeps me buff," he told a news- paper reporter. As a finalist, Hazzrad won (free trip to compete in Florida against other finalists for the honor of representing the company in its TV commercials. 

 

* Moshe' Cohen spent six weeks last fall in Mexico and Nepal performing and organizing for the group "Clowns Without Borders." In the Chiapas region of Mexico he organized a three week tour for the Circos de Manos, then taught workshops and performed at a "Reunion de Especialistas de Teatro agas. Alternativo" in Mexico City. During a month in Nepal he per- formed in Bhutanese refugee camps with the Desastrosus Cirkus from Barcelona, and did shows in Tibetan settlements and schools in Katmandu and Pokhara. Clowns Without Borders sends performances to refugee camps and zones of conflict worldwide. Their motto: "No Child Without A Smile." Cohen is currently seeking a few volunteers to go to Nepal and teach Tibetan and Nepalese schoolchildren juggling and other circus skills. For more information on Clowns Without Borders, contact Cohen  San Francisco CA.

 

* Jochen Schell has been touring America with Cirque Ingenieux, presenting a ring routine in the first half of the show, working from one to five, and two diabolos in the second half. 

 

* Kit Summers will fly to Germany next summer to display his collection of juggling photos at Roland Weise's new Internationales Artistenmuseum. Summers invites people to send him promo shots or other juggling photos before that time so he can include them in the exhibition. Address material to Kit Summers, Trainer PA. 

 

* Lazer Vaudeville celebrates its 10th anniversary this year with PBS airing its  "Drumble" piece on the national series "Classic Arts Showcase."The current ensemble of Carter Brown, Cindy Marvell and Seth Bloom continue to conduct a packed schedule of travel and performance. Visit their web site. 

 

* Gil Pontius ("Dr. Stardust") and Jennifer Thompson are traveling New England presenting the nutritional education show, "Foodplay." 

 

* Bruce Mannirs was selected by Cleveland Magazine as one of Cleveland, Ohio's,50 "Most Interesting People of 1998." Among those named in the magazine's January edition were politicians, sports stars, and local TV/radio personalities... and only one juggler! The magazine focused on Manners' two contrasting (and sometimes conflicting) occupations - comedy juggler and NASA engineer.