No mad hatters in US Nationals

Tippers of toppers come out on . . .  you know where!

Hat manipulation topped the list of props that proved to be winners in the 1985 IJA U.S. Nationals Championship, with the top topper belonging to Andrew Head of Oak Park , Illinois.

 

The first-time, 24-year-old competitor danced around and under his bowler in a smooth routine filled with entertaining misdirection moves and body rolls. He began his seven minutes on stage with a single hat because, he said, four years of practice in front of a mirror showed him its tremendous entertainment value.

 

"It's a good ice breaker. You don't have lot of props cluttering up your relationship with the audience," he said. "It isn't technically the most difficult thing I do, but it brings out my character because of all the funny things you can do with it. Then when I did five clubs at the end it wasn't boring because people already knew my character. "

 

The judge's scores showed that second and third place finishers, Dan Holzman and Arsene, also used their entertainment skills to great advantage. Head scored 46.83 out of 50 possible performance points. Holzman tied with Head for tops in technique (37.83) but finished fourth in performance to win second overall.

 

Arsene's 43.5 performance points boosted his eight place technical score (31.17) enough to help him finish third overall.

 

The influence of performance points in the overall outcome of the championships was a sore spot for circus juggler Hugo Zuniga, who watched his sons, Victor and Manuel, finish lower than he expected with circus routines that featured large numbers of objects and a wide variety of props.

 

Hugo, who forms an act with his three sons that plays circuses in Mexico and America, cut his stage act short in the U.S. Nationals after seeing scores given to his two sons.

 

He explained, "My sons had good costumes, included pirouettes, five and more objects, variety of tricks, and the sort of things we thought counted. I was disappointed in their scores. It's very difficult to compete with comedy."

 

Zuniga was quick to add that the judging system was the only disappointment of what was otherwise, "the most exciting week of my life as far as juggling."

 

Head's characterization of a juggler whose hat has a mind of its own was based on some very difficult body rolling maneuvers. One saw him roll the hat on its crown a distance of more than six feet from one extended hand across his arm, behind his neck and down the other arm to the other extended hand. "There is a lot of touch with wrist and fingers," he said, "but I've practiced it so much now I can do most of it blindfolded."

 

Though the moves were difficult, Head's style made them fun to watch. He included comedic pauses where the hat ended up accidentally on his knee, foot, elbow and back.

 

Misdirection was another effective ploy, as he looked in one direction while the hat traveled the opposite way.

 

Following his hat work, Head's routine included the hat and a single ball and three, four and five club juggling. Attending his fourth straight convention, Head said he was surprised to win the $600 first prize and trophy. He believes the title should boost his year-old efforts to make a living solely as a Chicago-area entertainer.

 

Holzman, a 23-year-old from North Hollywood, California, who has previously finished as high as third in the U.S. . Nationals, also began his act with manipulation of a single hat. He added a cane, then a ball to introduce some pure juggling of up to five balls. He included a four ball juggle with one balanced on his head that was brought down to create a five ball cascade.

 

Arsene, a Chaplinesque French clown whose talents have enlivened conventions for several years, danced onto stage with hat and cane manipulation. He pulled five coins from his pocket and juggled them briefly, did three balls, brushed his teeth and balanced the brush on his nose. He concluded with three clubs.

 

Other competitors and highlights of their acts were:

 

-Michael Kass (24, Palo Alto, California) - A routine using only three clubs that included strong chops and plenty of his inimitable kickups.

 

-Ron Meyers (19, Bellevue, Washington) - A five ring pulldown over his head, a three cigar box pirouette, four boxes, three, four and five clubs.

 

-Bob Nickerson (Gallitzin, Pennsylvania) - In an act peppered with puns and jokes, this manipulator of eccentric objects did three pool cues, a bowling ball and two other balls while lying down, four basketballs and a tuba balance.

 

-Waldo (29, Boston, Massachusetts) ­ He bounced five balls onto stage and proceeded to do some cute and comic work with three and four balls. Another five ball floor bounce was lifted nonstop into a cascade.

 

-Hugo Zuniga (42, San Antonio, Texas ) - Did three clubs and jumped rope while bouncing a ball on his head.

 

-Manuel Zuniga (15) - In a flashy, sequined stage body suit, he came on to stage juggling three clubs very fast. He also did four clubs, five clubs, seven rings, five balls caught in a billiard pocket belt and up to six nested cups.

 

-Victor Zuniga (17) - Began with five clubs, then down to three that included a high flash under which he pirouetted three times, once before catching each falling club. Five balls with billiard pocket belt catches, a seven ring flash, two ping pong balls in his mouth with no hands and five catching and feeding them with his hands.