juggling.tv

Today, I am going to show you how to take a "bit of clown" and use it's' power to change your life. You can change all this by letting a little bit of "clown" into your life. Hey, no big deal! It is easier than falling out of bed.

This came about through me and Tim messing about with antispin contact ideas and trying to work out how to antispin a fishtail. We came up with the antispin fishtail fountain and realised it could be done without antispin (obviously). Surprisingly the antispin version is easier as it doesn't try to fly off your hand as much. Starting in reverse do 1 beat behind you then go straight into a 180 fishtail carry upwards. As you come out of the 180 do 1 beat of forwards fishtail behind you and pull it out into a low 180 carry back the way you came. Repeat.

Aidan Burns' Scrambled V Variation (iB cB sA) General information: The feeder is "A", the juggler to the feeder's left is "B" and the juggler to the feeder's right is "C". The feeder counts "1 2 3" to make it easier to keep track of where we are in the pattern. On beats 1 and 3, A (the feeder) and B exchange a pass. On beat 2, A and C exchange a pass. Walking: After pass three, B walks on a 4-count to the left side of A. All the jugglers are relabeled (A -> B', B -> C', C -> A') and the new feeder A' starts counting the 3 passes, starting with B'. The manipulation: 1. "iB": The manipulator (M) intercepts a pass from A to B. The juggler who was B is new M, and reads from the manipulator line. The juggler who was M now is B. 2. "cB": M carries a club to B. 3. "sA": M substitutes a the pass from B to A. How to do this pattern: We start manipulating the pattern by substituting the pass from B to A on beat three. You can skip the tree bit if you like.

__1__2__3 A: ps ps ps ->B B: ps ss ps ->C C: ss ps ss -> A M: sC iC cC -> M The feeder is "A", the juggler to the feeder's left is "B" and the juggler to the feeder's right is "C". The feeder counts "1 2 3" to make it easier to keep track of where we are in the pattern. On beats 1 and 3, A (the feeder) and B exchange a pass. On beat 2, A and C exchange a pass. On 3, juggler B catches the pass and walks on four count (rotating the positions anti-clockwise). 1. "sB": The manipulator substitutes a pass from A to B. 2. "iB": The manipulator (M) intercepts a the self from B to B. The juggler who was B is the new manipulator, and reads from the manipulator line. The old manipulator, reads B's line. 3. "cA": The manipulator carries a club to A. All the jugglers are re-labeled and the new feeder starts counting the 3 passes.

This move is lots easier to do if you turn with the staff to slow down the spin. That said you will still probably hit yourself in the face learning it. When you are raising your arms back up to roll the staff down th inside of your arm, try to be as controlled as possible because that is the most likly place you will hurt yourself. Mind you if you already do staff another couple of knocks won't make any difference.

These are something i came up with while on a beach in Thailand so i have fond memories for this move. When passing the staff behind the back give it a little pop up to keep it spinning and to make it a bit easier to catch.

I learnt these trying to get the matrix. The way you lean and shift your body is very similar to how you would for a matrix but easier. I go in from a horizontal pivot because it gets the staff nicly in plane. Once the staff is on your neck lean away from the staff and let it spin around the back of your neck. Then do the same in the other direction to get it back round the front. Useing your shoulders to push the staff round can help.

It's easier to spin a ball on your finger than a hat, so click here to learn to spin a ball first. Once you've got that solid it should be easy to transfer the skill over to your hat. It's easier with a bowler as the hat will dent slightly and sit on the finger better.

Backcross to head catch - Throw the hat behind your back, and catch it on your head. Like most throwing moves, this is a variation on the Throw to head - so it's probably a good idea to learn that first! Hold the hat in your right hand using an inside grip, spread your fingers out nice and wide as you would for a normal throw to the head. Swing your arm out to the side, so that the crown of the hat is pointing downwards. Bring your arm behind your back and release the hat so that it does a nice, high, slow spin above your left shoulder. As the hat descends, look up into it and catch it in the same way that you would for a standard throw to the head. Top Tip: The catching part is easier if you turn your head towards your left shoulder just before the catch. Oh, and obviously learn this throw from both hands... From the TricksWithHats archive

Throw a pancake throw, and catch it with your other hand above head. The catch is easier if you stick your thumb forward like a coat peg. From the TricksWithHats archive