Contact Juggling

So I have been a contact juggler since the beginning of the millenium. See Contactjuggling.org for what it is or watch a video clip:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=27579611

So Contact juggling is what I am remebered for doing more often than not. In highschool I was "the kid with the balls" never mind that they are acrylic. At the (Tampa) Bay Area Renaissance Festival I am "the Bester Jester." And on the rare occasion that I am spotted at Busch Gardens, Tampa, I am the self proclaimed "Ambassador of fun."

It has taken me eight years of steady practice and dedication, but I am finally a contact juggling performer. I practically deserve an honorary doctorate.

The problem with this skill, is that it is more like meditation than a show. I love it. And I am recognized as acomplished (though not the best by far). In spite of my years of servitude to this art I could never make a living just playing with my balls.

*sigh*

Holiday&Origional Balloon figures

The Amazing Kenny making his first Balloon Chronical about new figures.


We'll share a "simple" Reindeer:


He is almost like an advanced dog, but instead of floppy ears, his antlers can be used to create cartoon eyes. He is perfectly fine without the nose and hooves but if you have the time, it goes a long way towards a more artisitic figure.




Duckbilled Platypus: "Because I can"
I refer to this as "gods curse on balloon artists" it has the bill of a duck, webbed feet, a flat tail and the males have poisonous ankle spines. The hardest part of this figure is to use one balloon as both bill (ear-twist, eartwist, loop, shape) and hind legs (loop,loop). You nead to know, or learn, how to break a balloon and retie. The eyes and pupils can be left off.



Challenge Yourself, Make something BIG!
I had a balloon trainee that said he wanted to use his newly learned "weave" skill to make a larger project. I said "sure" we have a pack of 250 balloon and three hours to kill. Lets make a castle.
We decided that evening, that amount of balloons and work is worth at least a dollar per balloon. Here is a $250 castle:

Juggling Balloon Man

I am a juggler, I have been, intermittently since the turn of the millenium.

As such, I tend to throw things a lot, everywhere I go.

There is a prop bag within walking distance, Always.
This would include a plethura of things:
Metallic and Crystal Spheres for contact juggling
An assortment of juggling balls
Rings (brightly colored circular manipulators)
Cigar Boxes (brighty colored oblong cubical manipulators)
Clubs (of the juggling kind, not the ones that play loud music and serve alchoholic beverages)
Fire skewers (suitable for flame-play and fire eating and or breathing)
generally unicycles and rola-bolas are too cumbersome to fit into travelling bags but they are around somewhere.
But the most recent and exciting addition is balloons.
No, not the big round ones that teenagers suck the helium out of to talk like mikey mouse.
The long skinny ones that clowns have used for the last eighty years to make poodles.

I have joined an unheard of community. One that supports and artform as dynamic as it is temporary. Balloon Twisting. Yes, for seven months I've learned to twist and tangle little peices of plastic to resemble some amazingly ridiculous things.
Sure, I do, dogs, cats, birds, hearts and flowers.
I also create juggling bears on unicycles, giant monkeys on trees, repleat with bananas and/or coconuts. Once, in a fit of boredom I made a six foot chinese dragon out of a little air and colored latex.
I'm not the best, I'm not even that good compared to some.

But the most important thing that I do, is not what I make, or how many things I can juggle.

It is the smiles that happen as the result.