Today Emma, my daughter, and I did our annual juggling show at her school. It went quite well, was well received, and was a whole mess o’ fun. (Pictures later if I don’t look too outrageously fat.)
Every year we’ve done it I do the trick where I place a cane on a balance on my chin, toss a hat up to it, and then juggle three clubs. I then drop the hat off the cane back onto my head. (As an aside, I’m happy to say that this is the first year I got through the entire trick without a drop of any kind.)
Anyways, I had been thinking this year that the beginning of Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra would be perfect for this trick. (This is the music played at the very end of 2001: A Space Odyssey when the fetus appears in the planet.)
I would slowly lift the cane from a finger balance to the chin landing it just as the first big Ba-Dum hits and then slowly remove the hat from my head and toss it up just as the second one hits. The placing of the cane is, of course, simple compared to the drama of the music and the tossing of the hat a perfect match for the music. Then the juggle goes on with the music leading up to the final double toss and the dropping of the hat onto my head.
Anyway, I thought the music and the routine would go together well.
What do you freakin’ know, but unbeknownst to me the gym teacher put that music on today just as I started that routine. I hadn’t mentioned wanting to use that music to anyone. It was unexpected and absolutely beautiful. And given that this is my penultimate bit, I was well warmed up and the whole thing went perfectly. When I tossed up the hat and Emma handed me the clubs and I started juggling them the kids went wild.
thats awesome. My sister and I had one too. We were just sitting on the couch and farted at the same time. It was crazy it was the same exact time. That is freaky.
Yes, thanks. Leo has it on his site Unicyclist.org, here labeled, “Tossing hat to cane held in balance”. Unfortunately today’s performance was not recorded on video.
So you do your routine to random music selected by others? Did you have your own music chosen and he switched it or do you just perform to what they play you.
What if it had been KC and the Sunshine Band or something like that? What if it was JC on his accordian?
Since we perform no more than twice a year, yes we do our thing to whatever music - or none - happens to be available and/or put on. JC on the accordian would be fine as long as it’s not that execrable Lee Greenwood song.
It is surprisingly effective and a great crowd pleaser. And unlike “eat the apple” - we do a simultaneous version of this - actually requires some skill.
Oh and by the way, Dave, we were able to include both Emma and me doing the high crossing doubles in an every other passing pattern that Emma learned back at the NYC juggling festival for her birthday.
I’m impressed with your juggling, with your hat and cane trick, and with your taste in music. But I am more impressed that you take the time to go to school with your daughter and perform with her. I bet you and she were the talk of the class after that.
thanx, that worked
i’m thinking, a hat hanging on the top of a cane might make for a pretty tattoo…
that’s a quick transfer from learning to perfoming
that’s the pass that comes out of the left hand, right?
i’ve been doing a lot of ‘three-count’ passing at the club recently
my left hand really sucks and needs all the work it can get
did something that vaguely resembles Jimmy’s Chocolate Blocks, but with doubles last week
i’ve also had a couple of people throw ‘Star Wars’ at me
the double followed by the tripple and the quad
good fun
Okay, not the actual performance but a quick and dirty rundown in my bedroom with cinematography by my 11 year old. (Faint music in the background by Green Day, apparently very popular among a bunch of 5th graders in Matawan.)
