Of course, there was some juggling. The newly-crowned champions - Andrew Head, Ken Falk and Hill & Tison - led an IJA all-star cast and showed off juggling as crowd-pleasing entertainment.

 

A man who talked about the entertainment value of juggling all week was Randy Pryor, an instructor of juggling and magic and Disney Land royal court jester. He quoted from ancient wisdom in stating, "Yucks are bucks, flash is cash and when in doubt, sell out!"

 

Though the basics must be at your command on stage, Pryor said performers can improve marketability by "adding a line instead of adding a club" to their routines.

 

Many conventioneers were listening for that kind of advice. Brad Copeland, 14, from Minneapolis, has just begun a street career he hopes will last through his college years.

But he believes his seven ball flash and five clubs aren't selling as well as they could. He admitted, "I'm a technical juggler, but not a show person yet. I want to be funnier, smoother and more in control."

 

He might try working with a hat. The top three US Nationals finishers employed them well in their acts. None of the ten entrants used a devil stick, however.

 

Loathe to leave the morning after the Extravaganza, jugglers returned to the gymnasium after the show and played "Combat", practiced and visited as late as they could stand.

 

Little noticed in a far comer of the Emory campus as individuals left for home the next morning stood a monument erected in 1963 by the Gravity Research Foundation of New Boston, New Hampshire.  Placed there to honor the work of a former Emory biology professor, the plaque reads, "It is to remind students of the blessings forthcoming when science determines what gravity is, how it works and how it may be controlled."

 

Imagine what would happen to juggling in a world of controllable gravity. If you could control the gravity around you with a rheostat, what patterns could you paint in the void? The numbers challenge begins at 50 beanbags at the IJA Annual Convention in 2010!