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New Guinness Editors Downplay Juggling in 1991 Edition

The 1991 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records doesn't feature juggling nearly so prominently as the 1990 edition of the reference book.

That's because control of the publication was repurchased from an American licensee by the central Guinness organization in Britain this year. The British group chose to standardize the American edition with other editions worldwide, according to Gene Jones, Guinness World Judge for Juggling.

Gone are the half-dozen photos of jugglers, including skiing jugglers, surfing jugglers, box balancers and jogglers. Jones explained that most of the endurance records which appeared in the previous editions are still listed, but they are drastically condensed.

The "Juggling Records" section of the new book only occupies about 6-1/2 column inches, and contains no pictures at all. The 1990 edition had 12 pictures and took up five whole pages of a smaller-format volume. But Guinness 1991 does include 16 entries. There is only one new listing, for eight plate juggling (Rastelli and Lucas). There are also a few updated records - Jas Angelo's 8 hour, 57 minute continuous three ball cascade and some new joggling marks. But the rest are all familiar entries, from Rastelli's and Lucas' 10 balls to Tony Ferko's seven ping pong balls with the mouth.

Records are also listed in a much abbreviated format than in the past. Last year's book was written in narrative form that often included the place and circumstances of records. This year's edition includes only names, quantities and dates. Many strictly "achievement" records were dropped, Jones explained. Those missing include cigar box balancing, shaker cup juggling, snow ski juggling, surfing juggling, cigar box pirouettes, hoop spinning and juggling on a pogo stick. "The new management is looking for more quantifiable, endurance records," Jones explained. "They're much stricter in the way they interpret things that should go into the book."

Jones said he expects the juggling section to grow again as he develops a relationship with the current editors and gets a better feel for their interpretation of records.                   

 If you're interested in Guinness records, contact Jones at New York NY.