Thom Wall Workshop

  Just this Monday I was able to do a workshop with the renowned Thom Wall.  He's an amazing juggler and a part of the IJA (International Juggling Association) organizational staff.  To me he really summed up what juggling is all about.  He is very knowledgeable and works very hard to get better, all the time.  He doesn't seem to be afraid of messing up, which means he can always try something new.  He is also very willing to help others and share his time and knowledge if they want to get better at juggling too.  We only had to pay some gas money and even then he was grateful for that.  This is someone who could get away with charging a hundred dollars for a single workshop, from each person, and he came to our town for next to nothing.  I learned so much, and this was, without exaggeration, the high point of my month. 

Here's one of his jugging videos for anyone who's interested. 

Juggling on the Green

  Every Friday afternoon, weather permitting, there will usually be three to ten jugglers on the College green at Ohio University.  This has always been a standard part of my week, and I don't think much of it anymore.  We all juggle and chat, enjoying the sunshine.  There are often hula-hoopers who will join us and sometimes we will get distracted by someone setting up a slackline (a rope strung between two trees and pulled fairly tight, like a loose tightrope).  This Friday was a great meeting.  It was very nice out and we had enough people that we could juggle four person passing patterns. 
  There was an attempt to involve younger children; my half-brother was trying to walk through the four person passing pattern but ended up just crawling underneath the flying clubs.  My younger half-sister didn't really enjoy the juggling, but she was able to pick up quite a bit from the hoopers.  It seems that everyone who picks up a skill like this really enjoys passing it on and sharing their knowledge. 
  My dad made a really interesting comment at one point.  He pointed out how strange it was that everyone was watching us.  Not always sitting down and staring at us, but more often they would be watching as they walked by.  If we looked at them they would always whip their heads back forward and keep walking.  I guess I've gotten to the point where I don't pay attention to people anymore.  Not to sound mean, and if someone approaches me and wants to learn to juggle I will always offer them my help, but they don't matter to me anymore.  Worrying about people watching you, and what they will think, is a sure-fire way to keep yourself from practicing.  I got over that a while ago, but my dad's comment did make me remember that I've really retreated into myself when it comes to juggling. 

My real goal for this project then is to re-connect with not only a wider community of jugglers but with everyone and really open myself up to that interaction between a juggler and a person.  I'll let you know what I find. 

My Preconceptions About Juggling

  It would be obvious to anyone who knows me that I like juggling and already know a fair bit about it.  Even people who don't know me could probably guess that I know at least a little bit about juggling because just about everyone on campus has seen me juggling on my way to class before.  I already know everyone who juggles in my area, and many of them are close friends.  I am probably inclined to think more positively of them and our shared pastimes because of these things.  I am also going to be very close to those I am studying, although I may get a chance to visit a nearby group of jugglers in Columbus that I heard from recently.  Even if I go to that group where I am almost a total stranger I will still be visiting them as a juggler myself.  This status I have grants me an inside position with any jugglers I involve myself with.  This can be a blessing and a curse.  If I am careful to maintain my subjectivity while dealing with what I see and have seen it will let me get a very close internal view of the juggling culture.  At the same time I must be extra careful not to let my pre-conceived notions color my fieldwork. 

Objective Observation of the "Juggling Ritual"

  This is something that I often do, but never really thought about objectively before.  Am I weird for frequently engaging in the activity described below?  You tell me. 

  Often I will go into a large windowless room at the local student recreation center and bring a large bag made from flexible plastic polymers woven into flat sheets and bound together.  Inside this bag are all manner of strangely shaped and colorful objects.  Some are solid plastic boxes with no lid and a soft leather bound on the edges.  Others are brightly colored plastic hoops that are squished flatter than a quarter of an inch.  Round balls and soft beanbags are present by the handful and clubs that are shaped like elongated bowling pins are also in abundance.  I will then begin throwing these things into the air and catching them repeatedly until they are scattered all about the room.  Many times I will fail to catch them, or will try and throw them up and catch them in a specific pattern.  When I am not able to throw and catch them in a specific pattern I will keep attempting that pattern, sometimes even hurting myself and growing tired and angry.  The excitement I display upon throwing these objects up and catching them in the pattern I wanted is that of a young child who has gotten the toy they asked for on Christmas.  This ritual will often go on for hours until my fingers are bruised and my fingernails broken.  Eventually I gather all the plastic objects off the ground and back into my large bag and leave, tired but visibly happier than when I went in. 

  Is it strange to spend some of my free time like this?  Is how you spend your free time any less strange when you really think about it? 

First Critical Approach to Juggling

  Remember that most of these posts are going to be based on an English textbook, FieldWorking third edition.  This might make some of the posts strange or choppy but I'll do my best to make up for that.

  Juggling is a strange group because it is both very exclusive and very open at the same time.  It is exclusive in the sense that an outsider looking in is going to feel very aware of their outsider status.  This is because of the language and conventions that juggling is full of.  For example, things you juggle are called "props", "two-count" is a type of passing (along with almost any other number if you really wanted to), and a "flash" is when you throw up every prop you're juggling and catch it once.  Between not knowing what jugglers are talking about, and seeing people casually doing things that they don't really think they would ever be able to do themselves, it can be difficult to approach a group of jugglers. 
  At the same time jugglers are one of the most open groups I've ever found.  I usually make a comparison to magicians to illustrate this.

  Magicians will be careful about telling people how they do things because the secret behind what they do is how they do it.  If everyone knows the secret then it will not be nearly as impressive.  At the same time a juggler is willing to show anyone exactly what they are doing.  If you know how they do a trick you must still put in the same amount of time to be able to perform that trick.  The effort decides what you can do, not any insider knowledge.  When you combine this with the fact that most juggling is fun to do with multiple people and you quickly see why jugglers want to encourage others to learn as well.  When was the last time you saw a magician offer to do a workshop after their show and tell you how all the tricks were done?  Jugglers do that all the time, often even for free. 

  Because of all of this jugglers become both a welcoming, and difficult, group to approach.