"We just juggle every Saturday and Sunday at around noon in the Wedge, right after [lunch]," says Karl Kuehn (MEA '99), who's more or less the veteran of the group. He's been juggling for two years, but long before that he was given a set of "juggling puffins" by a neighbor as a joke. "I never got anywhere with them, so I sort of gave up on them until about two years ago, when I bought my first set of balls. Since then, Karl has taught himself to juggle "just about anything you can hold in your hand," from balls and clubs to "two beanbags and a stick of deodorant."
Michael Michaud (Biochemistry, '99) is also self-taught, and has been juggling for just over a year. "I just started juggling baseballs in my bedroom," he says. All of the things he juggles are "makeshift" - not really meant for juggling, including his official Little League baseballs, $.60 rubber balls from the toy store, and... bowling trophies. "Yeah, that's how I taught myself to juggle clubs." He's also juggled rings and uses real clubs now. The weirdest thing he's ever juggled? "Kitchen knives," he says with a grin. "They weren't really sharp, and I didn't juggle them in front of my parents. I wanted to do it just because I could, you know?"
Somehow, kitchen knives just don't top this next feat: a baseball, a pool ring, and a twelve-pound bowling ball. "I kept it up for nine throws, 'cause catching that bowling ball was just really difficult," he recalls. "The bowling ball I have here is fifteen pounds, so I wouldn't even attempt it," he says, laughing.
"Most people who juggle bowling balls are doing seven pounders, which are hard to find," explains Karl.
"You can buy them from bowling alleys, though," Mike points out.
The two just began passing, or juggling the same items together, last week, and they are starting to get the hang of it, despite the fact that Karl is right-handed and Mike is left-handed. "That makes it difficult when we pass," explains Mike, "because one of us always has to pass with our bad hand."
"The ultimate art to juggling is being able to juggle with both your right hand and your left," says Karl. So, they just keep on practicing. Mike feels his right hand is improving with time.
Another juggler, Atticus Gifford, arrives with his clubs and balls. He's only been juggling for seven or eight weeks he says and "he's already in clubs!" exclaims Karl. "Yeah," Atticus says sheepishly, "I had a lot of free time this summer."
What other items would these guys like to juggle? "Rubber chickens are the ultimate clubs," says Karl. Atticus has some rubber chickens, but he has to prep them first by putting wooden dowels inside them to make them stiffer. "I think actually napalm-covered chainsaws are the ultimate," says Atticus with a devilish grin.
"We don't do any flaming stuff though, because, for one, it's really expensive, and for the obvious reason that if you catch [a flaming torch] wrong, it really really hurts," explains Karl, who has actually checked into the prices of such torches, as well as machetes, which cost $45.00 a piece. "People who do machetes really have a death wish," he says.
These three, joined by another, sophomore Stefan Caporale, talk about juggling incessantly, never digging at one another, always asking questions. "The really nice thing about getting together like this is that we all have different tricks that we know. I can teach [them] things and [they] can teach me new stuff. Like Mike knows a lot of clubs stuff, but I know some tricks that he doesn't know," says Karl.
Mike agrees, "Yeah, like he knows a lot of behind the back stuff. I still can't get some of them. One of the tricks I can do that he can't is balancing the club on my nose." He demonstrates, first balancing a club on his nose, then juggling the two remaining and allowing the third to fall off his nose into the juggling pattern. Meanwhile, Karl demonstrates three behind-the-back maneuvers.
Teaching others to juggle is difficult, Karl says, because everyone does it differently. For instance, while both Karl and Mike can juggle four balls, they use different techniques to build from two to three to four. "Someone can show you a trick," Karl explains, "but they can't tell you how to do it. They can lead you to the right path, but you have to go up that path yourself." One example he gives is how he learned to catch a ball on the back of his neck: "I saw someone else do it, figured out how they had to have done it, and I just did it. It took a lot of practice."
The group finds that they can also teach one another tricks virtually unrelated to juggling, like devil sticking. Both Karl and Stefan have sticks, but they are different; while Stefan's is straight and narrow, Karl's is much wider at the ends. "His is a lot faster, a lot more responsive. Mine spins slower, and gives me more time to do [tricks]," explains Stefan. Atticus and Mike both want to learn devil sticking, and have toyed with Karl's and Stefan's sticks.
Mike's other hobby is making balloon animals, which he taught Karl to do last weekend. "It's really cool," says Karl of this rather rare and fairly expensive hobby. Mike says he bought a book on the subject while still in high school and just started making the toys and handing them out to people.
It's obvious that these guys enjoy their juggling and really learn a great deal from one another. Stefan says, "I tried to start a club last year, but I couldn't find an advisor." Karl says he could probably find one, but for now the group just enjoys hanging out every weekend after lunch for a couple of hours. Others are welcome, of course, either to bring their own balls and join in the fun or just to watch and learn.
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