Juggler@Play

Long time no see

2009-01-10T16:23:00.004+09:00

I recently sat down to practice some of the old stuff that I haven't touched in a few years. I was surprised by how much I forgot. This is a take of a coin card routine called the Matrix. At the end I tagged on the Jones Change, just for fun.

St. Paul's Grade School Rings

2009-01-01T18:37:00.004+09:00

Borrowing a gag from magic's classic Linking Rings, I had some fun with this volunteer. He was a great sport.

St. Paul's Grade School

2009-01-01T13:13:00.006+09:00

OK, so the original version of this video was to big to upload on blogspot. This is the Balls Routine from my show at St. Paul's in December. Sorry to fill email boxes. Thanks to Pete Bloedel for the lending of props for the show.
Enjoy.

RingMuse

2008-12-31T20:40:00.008+09:00

This footage has been sitting on my hard drive for several months now. It is just a practice, nay, play session from this past summer. I was juggling rings one day, and decided to play around with isolations. This is similar to contact juggling, but I think, much more difficult. It was my first time playing with it, so my technique and such is very poor, but I put it up as an update of what I am working on when I actually get spare time.

a la Fred Kaps 2

2008-11-17T11:07:00.006+09:00

This is a rendition of Kaps' Purse Frame routine. My handling still needs oodles of work, but I thought I'd throw it up as a progress report.

a la Paul Harris

2008-11-17T10:33:00.004+09:00

Paul Harris is one of the top thinkers in Magic today. This is a little monte like routine of his. Enjoy.

a la Fred Kaps

2008-11-06T21:53:00.008+09:00

I had a very rare chance to practice tonight. I've been working on this little piece of magic. It is the opener from Fred Kaps routine from several years ago. Look up Fred Kaps on youtube to see some of the best magic around. Enjoy.

Fudodo Thread

2008-10-25T21:26:00.004+09:00

They say the old fakirs in India used thread to tell the fortunes of people. They would break the thread into several pieces and if it came back together there was good fortunes coming. If it stayed broken, well, the meaning was pretty obvious. Whether or not you believe in fortune telling and 'magic thread' is up to you, but this piece of magic is beautiful in my mind. My handling is nothing unusual, but in Japan there is a small notion called 赤い糸(Aki Ito) or red thread. They say that there is a fine red thread that binds best friends (and lovers) together forever. No matter where they end up in life, they will always have each other through that special connection. So here I am, an American, doing an old Indian magic trick with Japanese imagery. Enjoy, The Hindu Thread.

Fudodo-Sponge Balls

2008-10-25T20:29:00.006+09:00

Sponge Balls are great. They are such a sweet, straight forward piece of magic. I've been doing this routine for many years now, mostly in my close-up magic work. The student in this clip was a great volunteer. Her name is Yoshi. Enjoy.

Fudodo Show - NewsPaper

2008-10-25T19:42:00.009+09:00

The torn and restored newspaper is one of the classics of stage magic. I love the visual rawness of it. Its very easy to understand that he is tearing the paper, and then puts it back together. No goofy looking props, no strange moves, whats not to like? The version of the Newspaper that I do takes it two interesting steps beyond the traditional effect. First, I ask the guest to select any page from the paper he wants to. Second, He SIGNS the paper. Thanks to the modern wizard, Richard Osterlind for developing these improvements on the old classic. Enjoy.

A Familiar Show

2008-10-25T19:15:00.007+09:00

I was recently asked to come back to one of the schools which I taught at for 3 years and give a performance. It was my fourth year in a row performing for this school. In the past, I normally juggled for this show, but this time I chose to do magic. It was nice to see the students and teachers again. This video is of a routine that I'm still working on a little. Enjoy.

I'm picky

2008-10-14T20:38:00.003+09:00

After a recent performance, some asked me, "How do you choose what you perform?"
They had seen me perform a few times at different events, and noticed that I have done a few different show sets.
The answer is pretty simple: I'm picky. I'm very picky with what I choose to present on stage. Especially with magic. My initial criteria for choosing magic to perform is, "Do I enjoy watching it?" There are so many magic routines and effects which I don't really enjoy to watch as a spectator. For example: cups and balls, I have watched dozens of different cups and balls routines live or on the internet. Look it up on youtube sometime. I find most of them very busy, and ultimately confusing for the audience. That frustrates me as a spectator, and it turns me off as a magician. The same is true for many coin magic tricks. They are to hard to follow.
So how do I choose what to perform, I need to like it as an audience member first.
The second condition comes in the method, the handling, sshhh...the secret. I need to enjoy how it flows and plays out. Can I adapt it to my style? This causes me to search and search for various methods. Yes, there are many different ways to make a ball disappear, or change the color of a card. Ultimately, the secret is not the important part, it is how you present the magic.

I recently added two new routines to my show - the Hindu Thread and Torn and Restored Newspaper. I enjoy these to effects very much. I feel that the thread is such a beautiful visual. And the newspaper tear is one of the awesome classics of magic. Both of them are posted in videos in earlier blog posts.

The opening and hindu thread

2008-10-05T20:05:00.003+09:00

This opening bit has been part of my stage stuff for a few years now. The thread routine, however, is new material. It is one of my person favorites to watch. The thread doesn't show up very well on this video, but you'll get the feeling at least.

Sponge Balls

2008-10-05T19:13:00.007+09:00

This is a routine I've been doing for many years. It was a staple in my close-up work for year. Turns out that it translates to the stage very well also.

Newspaper Tear

2008-10-05T16:26:00.003+09:00

Hat Work

2008-08-27T21:45:00.003+09:00

Dreams are a very personal thing. They run to the core of who we are. They follow the lead of our world view. Dreams can guide us. Dreams can also scare us away - if we're not ready to run after them.
This Hat work is part of a much larger - still in the dreaming up stage - routine.

Ode to the Typhoon

2008-08-27T07:47:00.003+09:00

My wife, Andi, and I were going for a walk yesterday. It was the first walk we've been able to go on for a few days. Japan has been receiving an abundance of rain thanks to several typhoons in the area. Near our apartment is a river and running along that river, up on a high bank, is a walking path. As we made our way up to that path we walked past an elderly Japanese gentleman standing, facing the river, singing. Although I did not know the words to the song, he was clearly inspired by the water.
When was the last time you were so inspired that you couldn't help but sing?

Shiga Festival

2008-08-12T07:32:00.003+09:00

I posted a video from the Shiga Festival in our neighborhood on Aug. 10th.
The footage was shot by a 4th grader, so its a little shaky - good luck.

Sharing Magic and Juggling in Southeast Asia

2008-07-31T20:23:00.004+09:00

In December of 2006 my wife, Andi and I went vacationed in Thailand and Cambodia. Of course I packed a few goodies to share with people we'd meet there.

Doing Sponge ball magic with some dancers in Thailand

Juggling rocks with my host brother in Cambodia

Sponge balls with an English class taught at a local temple
Card magic with my host brothers and sisters

Watermeloning

2008-07-31T20:13:00.004+09:00

Its harder than it looks. I got that mini watermelon as a gift from a friend and couldn't resist juggling it.
Go on then - go find something to balance on your head.

O-Ring

2008-07-26T15:13:00.004+09:00

A montage of some of my not so common Ring Juggling work. I used to work with a yoyo'er who played with various fringe flavors of juggling. He taught me loads of my diabolo and ring tricks.
http://doctorpopular.blogspot.com/
Check out his blog for more fun-ness.

2008-07-26T09:53:00.005+09:00

Diabolo is one of my favorite toys to juggle. There are so many variations and moves. Some of it in this video is classic - stick and string work, I also do a small of amount of solid loop and even play with a ring.

Underpasses

2008-07-26T09:44:00.003+09:00

It was a rainy day, but I just had to juggle, so I found a few good places.
When I was a kid, my bed room was right above my parents room. Late at night, I'd stay up and practice new tricks. I learned very quickly that when I dropped, my parents could hear it. So I would take all the blankets and pillows and sweatshirts and whatever I could find to pad the floor.

Welcome to Juggler@Play

2008-07-26T09:21:00.000+09:00

Greetings to all who read this.

My name is Dan. I'm a juggler, magician, storyteller, actor, artist, linguist, traveler, Christian, prankster. In this blog I hope to entertain you with stories from my life and my head. I'll be posting juggling and magic videos. I also plan to introduce you to various characters which have woven their ways into my writings and art work, and I may even share some hopes and dreams with you.
Please do leave me comments and critiques, and of course - check back often.