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IJA historian lists recognized superlatives

Dennis Soldati, IJA Historian, has compiled the following list of juggling superlatives. Anyone with new information on performances in any of the categories should contact Soldati at Rego Park, NY. The following records are officialIy recognized by the IJA.

5 Clubs for time: The present IJA convention competitions record is 3:27.7 set by Peter Davison in 1980. However, Sergei Ignatov has juggled 5 clubs for 16:20. This was in Russia, timed by his wife and witnessed by a half-dozen performers. In his act, Ignatov juggles 5 clubs for a couple of minutes in a routine that includes difficult variations.

7 Clubs: Three jugglers have performed with 7 clubs in public. Albert Petrovski did 7 clubs in the mid-1960s. Sorin Munteanu performed 7 clubs: with the Circus Willy Hagenbeck at least as early as 1975 (He also performed with the circus in 1973 and 1974.). Jack Bremlov currently performs 7 clubs in his act.

11 Rings: Three jugglers have performed 11 rings in public. Albert Petrovski did 11 rings in his act for three years from 1963 to 1966. He performed them in the U.S.A. when he was on tour with the Moscow Circus. Eugene Belaur was able to do 11 rings but I do not believe he performed them when on tour in the U.S.A. Finally, Sergei Ignatov performed them when on tour in the U.S.A. with the Moscow Circus, making 22 throws (each ring twice) and finishing by pulling each ring down over his head one at a time.

7 Rings for Time: At present, there is no established record of 7 rings for time. However, there are many jugglers who are capable of doing 7 rings for several minutes. In fact, there are jugglers who perform long routines with many difficult tricks using 7 rings.

10 Balls: Enrico Rastelli is the undisputed holder of this record.

8 Plates: Enrico Rastelli is still the undisputed holder of this record.

5 Ping-Pong Balls with Mouth: Gran Picaso's act was highlighted by juggling five pingpong balls using only his mouth. This was done when he performed for the first time in America with the 101st Edition of Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1971. It is believed that Picaso can do 6 ping-pong balls for a flash (each ball once only), but he has never performed this publicly.

6 "Frisbees": In his act, Gran Picaso has thrown out 6 "Frisbees" with one hand and been able to catch all six in the same hand when they return. Actually, Picaso does not use "Frisbees," but small yellow plastic soup plates that respond in a similar way.

Number of Objects doing Headstand: Bobby May has juggled 5 balls while doing a free headstand on a table and having the balls rebound from a drum placed on the floor. He performed this trick for many years in his act, and in 1953 did it on the TV show, "You Asked For It."

Plates Spun Simultaneously: Atiiar Molnar has kept 50 plates on long rods... at one time. It takes over 9 minutes to keep all the plates going at once while he walks up and down the rows starting new plates and keeping the others going. This was performed on the TV Show, "Circus," aired Aug. 3, 1979 in New York City. Atilar may have done more plates since that time.

Consecutive Pirouettes while Manipulating Cigar Boxes: Kris Kremo is the only juggler who can, while manipulating 3 cigar boxes, leave all three in mid-air in front of his body, then perform four consecutive pirouettes and catch all three before they hit the floor.

Heavyweight Juggling: Valeri Guryev juggled 3 "cannon balls" weighing 12 kg. each (total of 78 pounds). He performed this feat while on tour with the Moscow Circus in the U.S.A. and it is a regular part of his act. Among jugglers, any round object that weighs 6 pounds or more is called a cannon ball. Guryev juggled his for a number of throws, not just a flash.

Number of Objects While Unicycling: Freddy Zay juggled 10 rings on a unicycle and regularly did 8 as part of his act.

Tarmac the Magnificent

Anonymous

Eventually most toss jugglers will learn to balance something on their chins / noses / heads. It is good so to do. A balance skill is maintained with little practice. It provides a change of pace and rest in the middle of a strenuous routine. Finally, it feels good. Standing still and straight, staring up at the end of a broomstick rising vertically from one's chin relaxes the body and centers the mind. It is like meditating on a candle flame or mandala.

"Machines, ledgers, dancers, athletes balance. Just as centering or balance augments various skills, so it may awareness... just as balance centers, do you," writes Paul Reps in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.

The following is a beautiful balancing stunt - no trickery -- in which you clutch the foot of a sherry glass in your teeth, balance a ball in the glass, balance another ball on that ball, balance a stick on the second ball and balance a third ball on that stick. Yet all this is no harder than balancing a broomstick on your chin. The "trick" is that there is only one true balance point.

(This trick comes from that excellent book Want To Be a Juggler by that excellent man George DeMott (published by Roger Montandon). This is not a modern "how-to" book, but a treasure trove of old vaudeville, music hall stuff. I recently wrote George (See IJA roster for his address) asking for advice and got a long letter in return answering all questions. with the bonus of a new-to-me trick involving seven cigar boxes and a whiskey bottle!

Get a thick sherry glass and put layer upon layer of clear tape on the top and bottom of the base to protect your teeth, or always insert a handkerchief in your mouth when you do the stunt. You can use your normal juggling balls for the trick, but they are heavy for the teeth, so you might get three hollow rubber balls. For the stick, I used a thin dowel about a yard long, whittling down both ends so that thread spools would fit snugly over these ends, held in place with a little glue. To each of these spools, glue a bottle cap big enough so that your ball can rest on it easily, not falling off at the slightest lurch.

Now put the glass in your mouth; put a ball in the glass. Put another ball on the top of your stick and carefully raise that stick up vertically so that its bottom is above the glass-and-ball. Holding stick with one hand, place the third ball on top of the ballin-the-glass, and place the stick-and-ball on top of that third ball. The only point of balance is where the two balls meet, and this balance is easy to maintain for anyone who can steadily balance a broomstick on the chin.

The effect is terrific, giving the impression of a double or triple balance. I once described this trick to a Russian-Cockney juggler; he patiently explained why it was physically impossible; I got the props and demonstrated. The next night the SOB had it in his act, using gilded props and a larger golden ball on top!