This year, the Junior Championship was hosted by one of the most amazing comedic artistes I have ever seen. Two, actually, because Daniel Gulko was joined by his new partner, Adele. It was truly great nouvelle comedic theatre, and not only worthy of the Founders Award, but worth the price of admission, as well. I thought my head would explode during the tie piece, and I wouldn't have even minded if it had.

The Juniors were full of talent, too. The level of trickiness has been rising seemingly exponentially. Three club kickups by kids juggling under two years???!!!!!? Nine rings flashed???!!! !! Cmon, give me a break!

The placing of the top two could have gone either way, depending on whether you would rather emphasize creativity or juggling tricks. Sean McKinney, the winner and my personal fave from last year's Juniors, was taller, more confident and dazzling. But second-placed Ben Topin had a beautifully cohesive and entertaining routine, and completely charmed the crowd.

Unfortunately, the competition seemed open to all who applied. Some kids were fine jugglers, and showed a lot of heart and tricks on stage, but didn't have the polish which made for a winning performance. No one who didn't stand a real chance of winning should have been included...

And that goes double for the Senior Championships! C'mon guys - I've SEEN it before! And I didn't think it was that great last time, either. Take a page from Mr. Moschen's gripe book, and make it fresh.

It took an hour to get into the theatre for the Senior Championships, due to a blown fuse. Once inside, it was old home week on stage, kinda like watching home movies. Look, there's Uncle Larry again! And Cousin Bob! Nice to see old friends, but geeezzzzz, if you're gonna perform, at least be able to do the tricks. It was a gimmicky show, too. Bob's props should have gotten a medal. The crowd cooperated with Larry V's cue cards, and enthusiastically cheered on cue, but wouldn't stand for it in the end when instructed to give the big "0." Yep, a real family evening, just like Thanksgiving, with plenty of turkey for everyone.