Multiplex - Five balls the easy way

by Larry Vaksman

Yes, Virginia, there is a (relatively) easy way to juggle five balls - and three or four in one hand and six or seven or more in two hands. It's called multiplex juggling. Okay, it is cheating, but it looks very good! With this method any good three ball juggler can learn to do five or six without busting his bazonga. Because in multiplex juggling, you throw at least two balls at the same time.

 

Paired Multiplex

Simply do a three ball cascade substituting one, two or three balls with one, two or three pairs of balls to do four, five or six balls. I recommend weighted tennis balls, but bean bags are next best. Balls that bounce are less effective, but still useable.

STEP 1: Put two balls in one hand. Throw both at once so that they define a nice straight vertical line. You must direct the top one with a push upward and twoards you from the fingers while the bottom ob­ject is thrown low with the palm. Learn to catch this pair, first with the same hand (this may be easier), then with the other

hand. Catch the bottom ball first, of course. Let it slip back into the palm again, making room in the hand and fingers to catch the top ball.

STEP 2: Put one ball in the left hand and the pair in the right. Do an ordinary left­to-right throw a bit higher than usual with the single ball. Then throw the pair from right-to-Ieft as described above. You want to catch on the outside and make inside underhanded throws just as in a regular (as opposed to reverse) cascade.

Once you can do the above and the reverse (the left hand throwing the pair), you are ready to juggle four balls in a three ball cascade. Then work on an exchange of two pairs and go for five and six.

Up to eight balls, four in each hand, can be done in paired multiplex. Can anyone out there do tripled multiplex?

My next column will deal with split multiplex, which you will find easier to do if not to describe. But for now, get busy and juggle more balls!