Saturday, July 08, 2006

How He Got His Pseudonym



Here are some pictures of Juggling Freak doing what he loves to do. He juggles everywhere we go. These clubs that he's juggling here -- he loves these things, but they aren't really very portable. So, normally, he takes some juggling balls with him whereever he might happen to be. I can't tell you how many little old ladies he's freaked out in the grocery store by asking, "Honey, will you put my balls in your purse?" The little old ladies invariably turn around, aghast, wanting to chastise him for speaking so rudely in public. And, then they see him, with an outstretched hand, full of juggling balls, and me with an open purse.

And ah, Wal-Mart! The scene of his oft-repeated World-Renowned Toilet Plunger Juggling! He's made many a child stare like zombies, entranced by the whirling Toilet Plungers. Adults, too. They all seem captivated that my husband can made household plastics spin like windmills. You know he's becoming famous when all the little girls besiege him at Girl Scout camp: "There's the Juggling Guy!"

Juggling is not just an amusement trick for him. He really enjoys testing himself -- to see how many catches he can do, working on perfecting a certain trick or move, constantly trying to better what he can do. Not bad for a guy who taught himself to juggle, and with nothing more than a book and determination. He's his own worst critic, though. He sees what hard tricks some professional jugglers can do, and he despairs that he'll ever be that talented. What he wants people to know is that juggling is not just for sideshow barkers or carnival clowns. There are quite a few people out there who juggle as a serious sport -- and they want people to judge them for how well they can execute a spin, or by how many balls they can juggle, or how they transition their tricks from one to another; and not by whether they can juggle and eat an apple at the same time. Juggling for him is not just about pushing himself to be better, but also to let people understand that it's not just for the circus anymore. And *I* get to hold his balls.

5 comments:

Scrivener said...

I love the image of JF standing in the aisle of Wal-Mart juggling plungers!

KLee said...

Scriv -- he doesn't just juggle plungers, though...produce, bags of rice, basketballs, canned goods, and even once Cornish Game Hens. The management really frowns on that, though. Especially with the bruisable produce. I imagine the corish Game Hens would hurt if you dropped one on your foot.

APL -- he actually came to juggle for all the kindergarteners at my school last year. He's afraid that he's not good enough to entertain older kids, but he figures that kindergarteners would get a kick out of it. They thought he was hysterical. He brought his clubs, balls, and the rings. The kids thought they were in heaven. I'll tell him you thought he rules. He'll be happy to know that. :)

ccw said...

Love the pictures!

All kids love to watch juggling and most adults as well. It must be fun going places- you'll never lack for entertainment. :)

purple_kangaroo said...

I took juggling for PE in high school, with a book and video. Loved it. Even learned to juggle three apples while eating one (you're right, it's not that high on skill level and is more for the wow factor). I hardly ever do it now, but this post makes me want to pick it up again.

Anonymous said...

Purple Kanagroo.

Go Here: http://www.jasongarfield.com/videoclips/5apples.mov

It's a video of Jason Garfield (Best juggler in the world) doing the "Eat the apple" bit with 5 apples. He did it as a joke as part of longer (and hilarious) segment on his "Juggling Master" series of videos (which I proudly own.)