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JUGGLER'S WORKSHOP

FEEDS

Got two or more juggling partners? That's enough for a feed, but there's more than one way to feed a juggler. We'll describe some feeds that run the gamut from easy to much harder.

THE BASIC FEED

As you probably already know, a feed is a juggling pattern in which one juggler - the feeder-is passing to two or more other jugglers -the feedees.

The simplest feed involves three jugglers, with the feeder passing to the two feedees. Most often, the feeder passes a 2-ct (every right hand); each feedee passes a 4-ct (every other right hand) and gets half the feeder's passes. But a novice feeder can slow down to a 4-ct, in which case the feedees do an 8-ct (every fourth right hand). That gives the feeder an easier job, but it may get boring for the feedees, so you'll probably want to quickly work up to having the feeder do a 2-ct. The feeder can even go to doing a 1-ct or a different sort of rhythm such as in the 3-ct feed (we'll talk about these later).

LARGER FEEDS

A feed can have any number of feedees. They just form a line facing the feeder, who starts passing, say, to the feedee on the feeder's far left. Then on each right-hand throw, the feeder exchanges one pass with the next juggler down the line. Upon reaching the end of the line the feeder reverses direction and heads back up the line to the starting point, where the feed reverses direction again, and so on.

For the feeder, it's useful to keep glancing ahead to see just where the next feedee is. This is particularly important in feeds where the feeder has to turn or move noticeably to face the next feedee (say, with more than about three feedees).

Ideally, all the feedees should be the same distance from the feeder. With only two feedees this is easy, but with bigger feeds, the line of feedees should really be not straight but a circular arc, with the feeder in the center of the circle. A different and interesting way of having the feeder's throws all be the same length is for the feeder to move along the line and/or to have the feedees moving past the feeder.

THE FEEDEES' JOB

The feedees should watch carefully to match the feeder's rhythm, especially with more than two feedees where it's easier to get out of sync. Each feedee should try to throw to the feeder exactly when the feeder is passing. With a large feed, novice feedees tend to juggle at their own speed instead of at the feeder's speed and thus often pass at the wrong time, making the pattern less stable. The feeder should be treated as the conductor of an orchestra and all the feedees should follow the beat carefully. Being able to adjust your juggling speed is crucial.

As a feedee in a big feed, you should also watch the feeder so that you know when it's your turn. A good way to do that is to be aware of where the feeder is passing, especially as the feed gets close to you. You know that your pass comes right after the pass to your neighbor, so notice when the feeder and your neighbor exchange passes.

THE TYPEWRITER FEED

With more than two feedees, the standard feed cheats the two jugglers on the ends, as they get to pass only half as many clubs as the feedees in the middle. One way to solve this problem is to do a typewriter feed in which the feeder jumps back to the extreme left quickly after passing to the last feeder on the right (like a typewriter doing a carriage return, for those of you who remember typewriters).

CIRCLE FEEDS

The only difficulty with the typewriter feed comes from the possibly great distance between the two end feedees and the amount of turning the feeder has to do quickly to pass to the far left after passing to the far right. You can eliminate this problem by having the feedees form a circle around the feeder, who then just keeps turning to the right (see Fig. 1). In a circle feed, the feeder should locate each new feedee before passing.

It takes about eight or more feedees in the circle to make the distance between them not too unmanageable for the feeder (depending on the feeder's experience level). Although eight feedees in a circle will be doing only a 16-ct, each must pay close attention to the passing rhythm and know when it's time to pass.

We can make it more interesting by introducing more feeders in the middle. For instance, with two feeders back to back, eight feedees can do an 8-ct each, or with three feeders, nine feedees can do a 6-ct. Such multiple feeders must work to stay in sync since they can't see each other. A useful technique is simply to have someone count the rhythm of the passes out loud. With three or four feeders on the inside of the circle with their backs together and a number of feedees on the outside, the feeders have to move around the circle fairly quickly, trying not to bump into each other. To make this easier and to make the pattern yet more interesting, you can have the feedees moving slowly sideways around the outside of the circle in the opposite direction. (With multiple feeders, the feedees are actually feeding too and the distinction between feeders and feedees dissolves.)