The Winter 1990-91 Juggler's World reviewed the recent book by George Gillson, Beyond the Cascade: Step-by-Step Guides to 88 Classic 3-Ball Juggling Tricks. For your edification, we are reprinting here selected tricks from Gillson's book. The tricks appearing here include some relatively simple variations as well as some more challenging and impressive ones, including Burke's Barrage. These tricks, including the diagrams, are reprinted by the kind permission of the publisher of Beyond the Cascade, Larry Swanson of Cascade Books,Seattle, WA.

 

Introduction

To make learning the tricks as easy as possible, each throw and each catch is described step by step, with accompanying step-by-step dia­grams. In this way you can almost see the trick slowly unfolding-like watching a slow-motion or, even better, a stop-motion juggling act.

 

As drawn, the diagrams represent what you, the juggler, see as you execute the trick, and the balls are numbered in the sequence in which they are thrown.

 

Reachunder

The Reachunder's key feature - a throw straight up that is aIlowed to drop low enough for an under-the-arm catch (!)--creates a distinctly new juggle with a personality all its own. And, as you shall see, the Reachunder then leads to another fascinating variation as well.

Start with the Cascade pattern. Then ...

 

(Figure 1). Instead of a regular throw, LH tosses 1 up a few inches and slightly to the left (!) and catches the ball incoming from the right.

 

(Figure 2). RH cascades 2 to the left and then reaches under the left arm to catch 1 descending at the fur left.                       .

 

(Figure 3). LH, meanwhile, has carried 3 to the cen­ter of the juggle space and tosses it short and low to the right, then goes back left to catch 2.

 

(Figure 4). RH tosses 1 straight up the middle, then catches 3 just to the right. Now repeat Steps 1-4, and so on.

 

The variation on the Reachunder that I mentioned above is achieved by simply changing Step 4 to produce a wonderful circling effect­a total transformation of the original pattern.

Here's the change:

 

(Figure 5). RH, having just caught 1 at the far left (Step 2), carries it low to the right and contin­ues the circular movement with a reverse cas­cade toss of 1 to the left; then catches 3 at the right middle.

 

Pistons

In this trick, as in Mills' Mess and similar patterns, the hands keep crossing and un­crossing. However, unlike those more advanced moves, there are no carries in Pistons. The hands cross to make catches, but each ball remains in the same column throughout, popping straight up and down. The juggle has a 6-step cycle, the tosses settling into a left  - middle-right, left-middle-right sequence. Of course, this order can be reversed, as can the way the arms cross (left over right, or right over left), as you will see.

 

Start with 1 and 3 in the LH and 2 in the RH and note: After each catch, keep that hand at that position until it makes a throw.

 

(Figure 6) LH tosses 1 up at the middle (and, on sub­sequent cycles, catches 3).

 

(Figure 7). RH tosses 2 up at the right and catches 1.

 

(Figure 8). LH tosses 3 up at the left, reaches over the right arm and catches 2.

 

(Figure 9) RH tosses 1 and catches 3.

 

(Figure 10). LH tosses 2 and catches 1.