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The Professor

Confidence Corner

After five years of program development, I can CONFIDENTLY report that it is possible to fully support yourself as a juggling instructor in the public school system. Under the auspices of The Juggling Institute, an organization we formed, a half-dozen of us are currently making a living by doing juggling programs in the public schools.

I have prepared a full report on our experiences for those seriously interested in the proposition. Send a stamped, self-addressed envelope and inquiry to: Juggling Institute, Edmonds, WA. It has been a tremendously demanding and exciting enterprise. The story below should give you a better idea of whether or not it's the type of thing for you!

Let me say from the outset that this program did not emerge fully developed from the head of Zeus. It began with one year of free teaching. We next charged $35 per day, and gradually the price rose as our professionalim developed. Now the four of us charge $500 per day.

Our schedule is something like this... Alarm rings. Peek out the window. Raining hard and blowing. Yuk! CrawI back under covers for just a minute or two to build up energy, then stagger into bathroom for appropriate wake up ceremony.

It's a 90 minute drive to Bellingham. Arrive at 8 and unload everything from the van. Four pickle buckets of beanbags and one of balls, a box of scarves, rings, clubs, cigar boxes, devil sticks, the stereo, Won's tightrope, the Juggling Institue banner. Won hops up on my shoulders and we hang it high. We've arrived!

First class is the toughest. "Hey man, I ain't gonna juggle!" " Jugglin' stinks!" "Can't we shoot baskets?" By the end of class, attitudes change completely. The word is out. "These folks are crazy!" "This class is fun!"

At elementary schools, we start with scarves and go on to bean bags if the class is ready. Sixth grade's a snap, fifth not too hard, fourth has some problems, and we try not to do third or lower. If we have to, though, we concentrate on pre-juggling skills, like balancing a feather on the nose, playing catch with scarves and trying different ways to throw and catch one or two objects.

As the day goes by the attitude improves. By lunchtime we are celebrities, and the kids are juggling everything they can get their hands on.

'Check into motel and hit the hot tub. Sleep like dropped props 'til 7 a.m. Back at school, day two. Everyone can juggle scarves, and most pick up beanbags right away.

Start club and ring classes in wrestling room. First day music is our taste. Second day we let kids bring tapes and suffer with Heavy Metal. By end of day we know half the kids by name, and have identified our volunteers for show.

We stay after school to set up for show and practice.

Day 3, Wednesday. Go straight to school and run through show checking sight lines, sound, lights and blocking out space for our black light finale. Kids come in excitedly to Fame. Activity coordinator leads flag salute while we huddle backstage in ceremonial hug. "Keep smilin'!" says Kezia, as the student council president announces:

"You've seen 'em on TV; you've worked with 'em in PE; Now here they are, live and in person, Proffessor Confidence and the All Star Juggling Review!"

What can I say, it's a great show, a balance between silliness and skillfullness that has lots of high points and brings literally dozens of volunteers on stage.

But the work is not over when the show ends. While everyone else cools off and cleans up, I dash down to the gym to meet the second period students. Now it's question time. "How old is John Webster?" . 'How does he get out of school to do this?" "How long have you been juggling?" Then it's time for our last juggle together. Everyone wants to get up on the tightrope, juggle pins and work cigar boxes. We leave struggling scarf and beanbag jugglers to the PE staft:, and focus our energy I on those kids doing best.

By the time school is out we are exhausted, but now have lots of volunteers to carry gear to the van. We sign autographs and drive off reluctantly.

Like I said at the beginning, this plan wasn't born full-grown. To get in at our present level, I estimate a prospective instructor would need I the following items:

1. A written plan

2. Promotional materials

3. A booking agent

4. About $4,000 cash

5. Training

6. Equipment

7. Accounting system

8. Forms

9. A show

10. A partner

11. An education

12. A vehicle

13. Persistence

CONVENTION WORKSHOPS - If you want to put on a workshop at the Santa Barbara convention, let me know now! If you can identify someone who is an expert on a certain topic, give me a name and I'll issue the invitation. The performance workshop will be held Tuesday night. This is a great chance to try out your act in front of an audience of jugglers. The audience will rate your performance, and only you will see the comments. If you get a good response, you may want to enter the competition or try out for the Public Show!