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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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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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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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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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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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15-03-2015
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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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3211
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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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06-12-2015
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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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15-03-2015
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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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15-03-2015
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This is one of the videos that was filmed for our former site, TricksWithHats, which never went live. So it doesn't have a write-up and is presented here for posterity.
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06-12-2015
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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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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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While walking forward grip the front of the brim (using any grip you like) with the right hand and the back of the hat with the left. Stop when your right foot is forward and lift up onto the toes. Hold the hat still above the head and pivot round so the left foot and hand are now in front of you. You can continue walking or turn back and forth on the spot.
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15-03-2015
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Place the back of one hand against the front of the crown and the palm of the other hand against the back of the hat. Lift the hat off and roll the hands round each other so that the hat tumbles through one complete spin as you carry the hat down to waist level.
Reverse the process to return the hat to the head.
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15-03-2015
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Place the inside of the elbow against the forehead and duck your head down out of the hat. The little drop to the side in the video clip is based on a move normally done with plates.
This trick links nicely to levitation.
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04-12-2015
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This is a combination of parts of two other tricks, so it would probably help to learn them first. They are the Arm Roll and the Wipe Up
Start with the hat on your head. With the right arm, do the first part of a wipe up, just to the point where the hat comes off your head. However, instead of carrying it out to the side, push the hat back on your head so that the bottom of the brim comes into contact with your shoulder blades.
Use your upper arm to push the hat off and to the left, so that it can roll down your arm as though you were doing an Arm Roll, catching it in you hand as you do so
One variation that Mike is fond of, is to grip the front part of the crown with the crook of the elbow. Mike claims this gives him more options, and more control over where the hat goes. Try it, it may work for you too!
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15-03-2015
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2 male Chinese acrobats performing with tridents. I do not know which troupe they are from.
This skill is sometimes called Fei-cha. It is a traditional Chinese acrobatic form. The tridents have loose elements at the head, which creates the characteristic jangling noise.
From a video titled Chinese Acrobatic Feats.
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04-09-2015
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Solo female Chinese acrobat performing with tridents. I do not know which troupe she is from.
This skill is sometimes called Fei-cha. It is a traditional Chinese acrobatic form. The tridents have loose elements at the head, which creates the characteristic jangling noise.
From a video titled Beijing Magic Shows.
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04-09-2015
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