🚀 go-pugleaf

I think that the reason most non-jugglers don't appreciate a pattern like
the 7-ball cascade, which we all know is difficult, is that it is a very
static pattern.  If you do it well, you hardly move -- your arms may be
moving fast, but not very far.  Do 7 balls for a minute and you look about
as interesting as a good statue.  Of course, if you can do even just 3
balls (or a tall unicycle!) and look like you're really struggling and
going all over the place and going to lose it any minute, but you keep it
going, then you've got their attention (for a while at least).

If you move your body, your legs, or your arms, then there's some motion
for the audience to notice -- they don't really notice the balls, they
notice you.  But if you just do the same thing over and over (like you do
when juggling 7 balls in a cascade), they're bored.

And, sure, "dangerous" thing like torches, knives and (ugh) chainsaws get
their attention.  As does telling a story or doing comedy.

In fact, probably most of you jugglers would get bored just watching
someone do 7 balls (or a team passing 9-clubs in a 1-count) for a long time
unless you thought that perhaps you were seeing something close to a world
record.

People don't watch just to see something difficult -- they want to see
something interesting or at least newsworthy (like a world record juggler),
not some static juggling pattern.  They don't come just to watch you show
off.

In other words, you need some life in your show to hold a crowd.
--
Martin Frost		Computer Science Department, Computer Facilities
Systems Programmer	Stanford University, Stanford, CA  94305-2140
me@CS.Stanford.EDU	(or mfrost@stanford.bitnet)