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At some point, your hat will end up on the floor and you'll want it back in your hand. You could just bend down and pick it up (boring!), use a normal foot to head (less boring, but relatively easy) or you could use this little move... (Far more studly way to kick a hat :-)
Place the hat on the floor, to your left, crown downwards and the opening tilting slightly towards you.
Point your right toe, and bring it behind your left leg. Place your right toe into the opening of the hat, and give it a quick upwards flick. With luck (and practice :-) you can make the hat jump up into your left hand.
Top tip: If the hat isn't quite in the right position, you can use your right foot to move it around a bit before kicking.
Bonus points: Do it without falling over about 20 times whilst filming the damn clip for your website...
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After getting the hat to your foot (the knock to foot is the most common way, but there are plenty of others) you can hop and quickly remove your foot from the hat. Quickly get your throwing foot onto the ground and place the other foot inside the hat. As you can see from the video the hat stays fairly still and it's you that does all the movement.
This video of the hat being spun as it is thrown between the feet should give you some ideas for variations on this trick.
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04-12-2015
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Grip the front of the crown of the hat and remove it from the head. Hold the hat vertically and spin it outwards while pushing the hat up with the finger tips. After one spin catch the hat in an outside grip.
With a bit of extra practice you can do this with two or three spins or do it in "slow motion".
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04-12-2015
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Full arm roll - Roll the hat from hand to hand along outstretched arms
Hold the hat with the crown back in an outside grip in your outstretched right hand. Flick the hat so that it spins up onto the arm and rolls across the back of the neck (make sure the head is ducked forward out of the way) and down the other arm.
As the hat reaches the other wrist bend the hand up and catch it in a inside grip.
Make sure the arms are sloped so that the hat is always rolling "downhill", and practice, practice, practice - this is a difficult trick.
From the TricksWithHats archive
00:04
2016
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04-12-2015
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Full arm roll (backhand release) - Roll the hat from hand to hand along outstretched arms
Hold the hat with the crown back in an inside grip in your outstretched right hand. Flick the hat so that it spins up out of the back of your hand onto the arm and rolls across the back of the neck (make sure the head is ducked forward out of the way) and down the other arm.
As the hat reaches the other wrist bend the hand up and catch it in a inside grip.
Make sure the arms are sloped so that the hat is always rolling "downhill", and practice, practice, practice - this is a difficult trick.
From the TricksWithHats archive
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2780
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06-12-2015
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Hold the hat by the brim with your left hand so that the crown of the hat is facing away from you. Take the stick in your right hand.
With a flick of your wrist, throw the hat up slightly so that it starts spinning anti-clockwise. As the hat descends, hit the brim with the stick slightly to the right of center, such that the stick curves slightly upwards and outwards. This will cause the hat to spin as it rises into the air. As it descends again, repeat the hitting action.
The idea of the basic spin is to keep the hat in the air by hitting it repeatedly with the stick in this manner. I find it helps if you look at the top portion of the inside of the hat.
Adjusting the spin rate and direction:
Hitting the hat nearer the center will give you a slower spin and more height, nearer the edge will give you a faster spin but less height. Obviously striking the left side of the brim will reverse the spin and cause the hat to go clockwise.
From the TricksWithHats archive
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2850
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24-01-2015
[1]
Headstop Cascade - A three hat juggling pattern where each hat is thrown to the head.
This is a series of Throw To Heads, alternating hands, but immediately after you make the throw, you have to take off the hat on your head with the throwing hand.
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Place your palm flat on the back of the head for a neck chop and knock the hat upwards with the little finger side of the hand.
A few tries and you will see how much force is required to get it to spin 3/4 and land on your foot. You need to flex your foot as much as possible to stop it slipping off.
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04-12-2015
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Hold the arm out to the side and move the head so that you are looking directly along the arm.
Use the neck chop to knock the hat and a let it roll down the arm. Catch it with an inside grip.
Raise the arm up and flick the hat back along it. Tuck the chin in beside the shoulder as the hat gets close and it will pop back onto the head.
The key to this trick is to move your arm so that the hat is always rolling "downhill".
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04-12-2015
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One handed forward tumble - A one handed version of the forward tumble
First learn the forward tumble.
With practice you'll soon be able to quickly switch your grip and make it run one handed, as you can see in the video clip above.
From the TricksWithHats archive
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1938
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04-12-2015
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Onehanded, Continuous Tumbles - The hat keeps tumbling, in your hand, continuously, infinitely, forever, or at least until you stop.
This trick is an extension of the Tumble - so go learn that one now.
You'll notice that after you have performed a tumble, you are holding the hat the wrong way round to perform a second tumble immediately after it. This is where the extension comes in.
During the first tumble (which is a standard tumble), the hat rotates 1.5 times. The second tumble is similar, but the hat is thrown without a change in grip, it still does 1.5 spins, which means that it is now facing the same way as when you started!
Inorder to give yourself space for the second tumble, it feels like you need to throw it a tiny bit higher or faster.
Try to make it all flow together into a continuous movement, the hat shouldn't ever pause, the hand acts more as a guide to keep it rotating in the right direction.
A nice variation on this is to tumble the hat infront of you, switching hands between tumbles.
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1801
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06-12-2015
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Use a palm-up fork grip at the back of the hat and remove it, straightening the arm. As the arm straightens twist the wrist and take the ring finger off the brim. Spin the hat so that it moves between the middle and forefingers, then transfer the grip to the forefinger and thumb and continue the spin for as far as you can.
Reverse the "twiddle" to place it back on the head.
The main video clip for this trick doesn't show the fingers in any great detail. See the closeup version (120K mpeg) for a better view. For best results you might want to set your video player to loop the clip.
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1664
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15-03-2015
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First learn the Screwdriver
When that move flows easily simply "twiddle" the hat as you learnt with that trick, and hold the hat as still as you can while you move your body around it.
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1726
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15-03-2015
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Slide the back of the hand up your face to remove the hat with an inside grip. Do a forward tumble as you bow to your audience, and stick the hat back on your head as you stand up.
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Steve Rawlings showed me this trick in Birmingham and said that he used to do it in every show, but now that he's older (and a little rounder :-) he can't get it every time any more. Steve uses a china plate for this trick, but it works with hats too which is why it's here! :-)
Take the hat in your right hand, using an inside grip and hold it so that the crown of the hat is facing to the left.
Throw the hat virtically with some spin, and then do the following while the hat is in the air...
Put your right hand between your legs
Take the hand around the back of the right leg
Stand on your left leg and move the right hand & foot behind the left leg
Then, catch the descending hat in your right hand, from that position. Without falling over.
Top Tips: Practice the "tangle yourself up" bit first without the catch. Keep your eye on the hat as it decends, practice loads...
Luke Burrage managed to get this on video within 30 minutes. I've been trying for weeks and can't do it. It's pretty hard.
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The hatstand made its debut at chocfest 7, where I was compering. After a period of prototyping and refining, I built the version that worked. I demoed this a couple of times then it broke. I replaced the elastic and set it up for the big day, used it on stage and it worked, then broke next time I used it.
Be prepared to spend significant tinkering time in between uses, and for frequent breakdowns. That said, it's never let me down when I've needed it.
All in all I've found it a great way to get chicks[1], if you don't count the long evenings spent honing the design and strewing the house with geeky construction equipment, and the fact you'll be laughed out of most nightclubs if you go in wearing a topper. But on stage it works, and it has drawn admiring glances from fellow jugglers and even won us a bag full of croissants on one occasion.
Sweavo, June 2003
[1] facts may vary
From the TricksWithHats archive
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3182
1
24-01-2015
[1]
The Shuffle - Another three hat juggling trick - this time it's the half shower
This is a variation of a jugglers' trick called the Half Shower.
Start with one hat on the head, and one in each hand, held in an outside grip. Throw one hat across the body, flat, with no spin. As soon as you've let go of this hat, take off the one on your head with your now-empty hand. The other hand slaps/places its hat onto the head, just in the nick of time to then catch the first (thrown) hat. You should now be back where you started.
The timing is a little odd for this one, but just remember "Throw.... take....place....catch", and you'll get it.
From the TricksWithHats archive
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The Shuffle (Fakes) - A variation of The Shuffle.
First learn the shuffle, and then watch the video - you'll work it out!
From the TricksWithHats archive
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Throw to Foot - Throw the hat to your foot as if it was a hatstand.
Hold the hat crown up above the shoulder with an inside grip.
Lift the leg and keep it straight, flexing the foot as much as you can. With a flick of the wrist throw the hat straight to the foot with a single spin.
This trick looks best if the throw is as straight as possible.
Foot to Head is a nice return trick from here.
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15-03-2015
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Hold your hat crown up in an inside grip with the fingers spread as wide as you can. Throw the hat gently towards your head with a bit of spin.
Look up towards the hat as it spins and move your body (and feet if necessary) so that your head is beneath it. As the hat lands, nod your head forward so that you are looking straight ahead.
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Thumb Spins - Spin the hat around your thumb
Hold the hat in an inside grip and spin it so the top of the brim stays in contact with the thumb. After a single spin catch it again in an inside grip.
Once you've mastered singles try longer spins. This trick is very versatile and can be used to add lots of flourishes. Try adding one in anywhere that you use an inside grip, or just throw one in with your hand outstretched or up above your head.
From the TricksWithHats archive
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2020
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15-03-2015
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Tumble - Tumble the hat over the back of the hand
Hold the hat crown up in a outside grip. Swing the hat inwards and let go so it can roll up past the thumb onto the back of the wrist. While the hat is above the hand keep the wrist bent so the fingers are pointing outwards and lift the fingers as high as you can. The fingers will touch the inside of the crown and allow you to catch the hat in a inside grip.
To repeat the trick throw a half spin and catch the hat back in a outside grip or do a Reverse Tumble.
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04-12-2015
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Twiddled Big Circles - A trickier but nicer version of Big Circles
Big Circles is a big, visual trick, but the grip change can be slightly ungainly. The twiddle that this trick adds gives a similar effect but has a smoother, if slightly more difficult, change.
Mike and LP disagree on the best way to do this - LP's way, shown in the video clip above, is to do a finger twiddle, as described in the Forward Twiddle when the hat is at the top of the circle. Mike uses a Thumb Spin to adjust the grip.
Try both and decide which feels more comfortable to you, there's little point getting both smooth as they look identical to anyone except a hat manipulation geek, and there aren't many of them in the world!
From the TricksWithHats archive
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1815
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15-03-2015
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Upward twiddle - Twiddle the hat directly above the head
Use a palm-up fork grip on both sides the hat, and lift it off the head and straight up. Remove the ring fingers from the brim and twist the hat between the fore and middle fingers. Stop the spin by gripping the brim between the fore fingers and thumb.
You can either place it straight back on the head, or reverse the twiddle on the way back down.
From the TricksWithHats Archive
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04-12-2015
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Upward twiddle (one hand) - Twiddle the hat above the head.
Grab the hat in a palm up fork grip. Lift the hat straight up, remove the ring fingers from the brim and twist the hat between the fore and middle fingers. Stop the spin by gripping the brim between the forefingers and thumb. Bring it straight back down to the head.
From the TricksWithHats archive
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06-12-2015
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