I recently began learning to juggle. (Lessons free at funnyjuggler.com) It seems to go with whistling although you can’t do both at once. I have numbness problems in my right hand similar to Stewy Smoot, and I found that thread very interesting. Juggling seems to help the numbness go away quickly, so after 20 minutes or so of whistling, I juggle a bit. (I started with oranges, but they’re not tough enough. My limes have survived hundreds of drops. I juggle sitting down so they don’t fall as far.) I’m a dreadful juggler and a fairly new whistler, but both are improving. Unfortunately, while juggling could never replace whistling I find it almost as addictive. I’ve already ordered my first set of practice juggling balls. (Do I have JBAD?)
I whistle and juggle because I enjoy it, and to be an interesting grandad. (Although you actually get quite a lot of exercise juggling, mostly chasing the limes and crawling under things to recover them etc.) No public performance aspirations here but do whistling buskers ever use juggling as an interlude? Just a thought.
On 2001-11-01 13:43, tuugaalik wrote:
I recently began learning to juggle. (Lessons free at funnyjuggler.com) It seems to go with whistling although you can’t do both at once. …
Hmmm… If you bought selection of clark sweetones or generations in assorted colors, you could use tape to cover the the finger holes: top hole on the blue, top 2 holes on the red, top 3 holes on the green … etc. then you could juggle the whistles placing one in your mouth as a hold. You could play a tune by varing your juggle to swap the right colored (and toned) whistles to your mouth. Kind of like when a juggler eats one of the apples he’s juggling.
Now doing that all on a uni-cycle would really impress the grand kids ;o)
When I was in junior high school (long before I got a whistle!), I learned to juggle. I used pieces bricks to start with, because they were handy at the bus stop (the house next door was under construction), and they encouraged me not to drop them!
Shortly thereafter, the Juggling for the Complete Klutz book/juggling set came out (launching the entire Klutz line), and I embarked on the quest for the Ultimate Juggling Bags. I settled on Koosh balls as just about the perfect juggling balls..though nowadays, I’ll just pick up and juggle just about anything that’s vaguely round. This caused some consternation with my wife when we were at the grocery store early on in our relationship. I picked up some eggs and started juggling them…and didn’t realize that I’d never told her I could juggle! Her eyes got wide as saucers, and she about knocked the eggs out of my hands trying to catch them. The thought I was just being a smart-aleck and tossing the eggs up in the air. I don’t know where she’d get the idea that I was a smart-alek from…
Been on the “perfect ball” quest myself for a while. Handball or Raquetball balls work nicely. They have enough springiness to “pop” well from hand to hand but if you drop them then you have to chase them about the furniture for an hour or so. Oddly enough the balance on generation C’s is pretty good for juggling, that way you can get some good out of them. I tried doing the “end the trick by catching whistle in lips & playing” but gave it up after a chipped tooth!
Lacrosse balls are just about perfect, but not good for indoor practice. Klutz beanbags are good for there. Keep practicing- it is worth it.
Once you can juggle 2 balls in one hand, you can play a tabor pipe with the other…
It’s great to hear from other whistling jugglers (juggling whistlers?). Actually I didn’t begin whistling until I retired from circus.
The reason for this reply is a tip for learning to juggle.
When you practice, you might try standing right up against your bed, facing the mattress. You’ll find that no matter what kind of ball you use, (lacrosse, handball, etc.) they won’t bounce nearly as much, and you won’t have to bend over so far to reach them.
By the way, it is quite possible to play whislte on slack-rope, or rolla-bolla, should you become addicted to circus also.
It’s not a surprise that there are a number of juggling whistlers, as musicians tend to learn juggling faster than most.
Wishing you all the best.
Kindly,
Mark Sackett
Making willow whistles and juggling were two things a non-athletic ranch kid did. So you see, there is a correlation. In those days you could unravel socks and wind your own juggling balls, and wrap them with friction tape. You wind the yarn around a rock for the proper “heft”.
Oh well, Count me in, whatever we’re calling it. I’m good for juggling 4 balls solid, short runs with five, and passing up to 7 clubs, and 3 or 4 Overtons…on a good day.
You wanna know how to scare a whistle player? Forget the eggs (although that is fun at grocery stores and parties, isn’t it Greg?), instead, try wipping out your Copeland Low whistles and start hurling those things around - this is a sure fire way to give all (non juggling) whistle lovers within eyesight a coronary. Hee hee.
Now, if Jessie would just let me use her O’Riordan Low whistles as torches…I’ve got my Coleman fuel and a lighter right here…
Loren “Call the fire dept. 'cause Jessie’s trying to light ME on fire right now!” B. =;^)
[ This Message was edited by: Loren on 2001-11-01 19:58 ]
You shoulda saw the look I got a bout a month ago at the grocery store, Loren…I was juggling some jars of baby food, and the lady stocking the aisle was occasionally eyeing me warily. I then put the baby food that I was juggling in my cart, and reached way back in the shelves between some jars to get the last jar of vegetable beef stew. My sleeve caught another jar of baby food as I withdrew my arm, dashing the jar to the floor. Of course it shattered in a million pieces. And, of course, the lady stocking the shelves wasn’t watching, so she assumed I broke the jar juggling. How embarrassing!
I began juggling walnunts under a footbridge at Purdue’s Martell Forest. . .stained my hands, whonked my head a few times, finally got the hang of it. I have since moved up to seckle pears and dried figs. Something about throwing food around, I guess.
WOW, looks like we can start a Jugglin board here!
Visiting Hobgoblin in London recently I realised there was a similar feeling to visiting a juggling shop - perhaps there is a thing called JBOA disorder (juggling ball Obsessive Aquisition Disorder).
I used to have them lying around the house where now are whistles.
The advise about practicing over a bed is a really good one - you don’t want back problems from picking up drops!
Another thing beginning jugglers always do is move their hands and arms UP to catch the balls. RELAX! Gravity is a law on this planet - they will come to you. Keep the hands down. Gives you time and keeps the strain off your shoulders.
Wishing it was summer again - my ceiling is too low to practice the 5-ball cascade that i never quite got to…
By golly, what an interesting bunch of people contribute to this site. Five ball cascades huh? Wow. I knew you guys would have terrific ideas, but now I have to save up for a unicycle, tabor pipes, more balls and everything. And what about my WHOA budget? Oh well. Now, if I just knew how to tap dance…
another one!
I can do 3 easy, 4 is definitely out. Not much luck with the unicycle. But I can ride a Penny Farthing. I wouldn’t try that with the whistle though, falling off from 5 ft up in the air is bad enough without having to worry about sharp objects.
Cheers,
jb
Okay, I have to confess that I too am a juggling whistle player. But 3 objects is the best I can manage right now. I am in awe of you 4,5,6 and 7 object jugglers.
Long before I got into whistles, I tried to juggle and failed miserably. I made the attempt to learn because I watched, shocked, one day while my father impressively juggled some tennis balls. I never knew he possessed this skill.
It galled me - a young girl then - that my father, whom I considered a very serious man not in the habit of doing “fun” and “cool” stuff**, knew how to do this cool thing which I didn’t. I thought, if he can do it, so can I.
I was wrong.
**My father plays the recorder and oboe. I rest my case.
[Joke! Don’t kill me, recorder/oboe players]
