The Juggling Equipment Blog

Name: Eric Longequel
Country: France
Age: 28
Favorite prop: Balls
Started Juggling: when I was 10
Currently working on: 5 balls frontcrosses, but it doesn’t work!
Websites: ciepresquenulle – filophile – cieeaeo

Short Bio:
started juggling at ten, and became professional at 24. I leant about juggling on stage at la FAAAC (alternative selfmanaged circus workshops), and now work in 3 companies : Filophile (diabolo duet), Ea Eo (4 people, balls and clubs), Presque Nulle (solo, balls and diabolo)
Defining moment in my juggling history: seeing Morgan’s Cosquer’s act in Poitier, september 05.

Spoiler! »

Favorite Cereal: muesli with white and black chocolate.
3 things you didnt know about me:
1.Before I was a juggler, I was an engineer, working in medical imaging (X-rays and stuff)
2. My favourite juggling act, besides Morgan’s, is “Mars 07″ by Collectif Martine à la Plage
3. I can juggle 3 clubs
If I werent a juggler, I would be: Engineer in medical imaging!
Time it took me to learn 5 balls: Flash didn’t take too long, but 2 months before I could juggle for a few seconds.
Is juggling sport or art? It can be an art.
If I were a juggling equipment, I would be: Clubs : more chance to be juggled by a woman
Jugglers in my family: Nobody.
Juggling equipment that has not been invented yet: Balls that fall quicker than normal balls.
Famous juggler i’d love to pass with: Jean-Daniel Fricker.
after the invention of a time machine – what advice would you give to your younger self?
Forget diabolo, and work on balls ! And take dance lessons !

Name: Nate Sharpe
Country:USA (UK right now though)
Age:21
Favorite prop:Diabolo
Started Juggling:12
Currently working on: All the basic 3 low tricks (42, 42 sun, box, around the leg, etc.)
Website: www.steinsharpe.com

Short Bio:
Grew up in Massachusetts, learned to get a diabolo started from my dad at around age 8. Didn’t learn anything more until attending Circus Smirkus summer camp at age 12. Really started practicing after deciding to audition for the touring Smirkus show at age 16 with my brother Jacob. After another year with Smirkus, Jacob and I took our act to the Paris Festival, won a few prizes, and from there are career slowly started. Since then we’ve performed at numerous festivals, birthday parties, half time shows, and corporate events. We even tried our hands at street performing last summer and it was over too quickly.
Defining moment in my juggling history: Deciding to audition for Circus Smirkus

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Favorite Cereal:Kashi Go Lean Crunch
If I werent a juggler, I would be:A mechanical engineer. Oh wait…I’m both. Um. A hand balancer.
Time it took me to learn 5 balls: 2 years
Is juggling sport or art? I think juggling is whatever you make it. For some it is a hobby, for some it is stress relief, for some a serious sport, and for some an art form. I don’t feel the need to put it in any one box.
If I were a juggling equipment, I would be: Mr. Babache Finesse G2. Classic, lasts forever, ages gracefully.
Jugglers in my family: Dad and brother (Jacob)
Juggling equipment that has not been invented yet: The perfect diabolo sticks.
Famous juggler i’d love to pass with: Ofek and Segev Shilton. Jacob, me, and them could get some sort of crazy 14 or 15 diabolo passing pattern going.
after the invention of a time machine – what advice would you give to your younger self?
Don’t get discouraged by how freaking hard 3 low is!

Name: Hans Vanwynsberghe
Country: Belgium
Age: 29
Favorite prop: plungers
Started Juggling: 15 (age)
Currently working on: juggling 5 plungers while standing on the slack rope, and keeping a sixth standing on the head
Website: www.shakethat.be

Short Bio:

I discovered juggling at the age of 15, together with a friend Guy Waerenburgh, who also became a professional juggler. I got addicted to juggling as soon as I started. A few months later I already performed my first juggling shows together with guy under the name Gravité. A few years later Gravité performed on the European convention …  At 18 I decided to study engineering which I successfully ended 5 years later. While studying I started teaching juggling, trained as never before and made a solo juggling street show. Six months after graduating, while training on the trampoline, I broke my back. While recovering in bed I wrote a juggling encyclopedia: “addicted to juggling” At first I seemed to recover perfectly and four months later I already performed again.

However the pain in the back didn’t stop and even got bigger year by year. Two years later, during the creation of the ShakeThat show and during the making of the juggling DVD: “Addicted to Juggling”, I had to stay in bed most of the time and take painkillers all day long. While searching for a doctor who could explain the pain, it went worse and worse. Three years after the accident I had so much pain that painkillers couldn’t stop it anymore. I couldn’t sleep almost nothing anymore, gave up blood due to the overdose of painkillers, I was exhausted, pale and very skinny… Luckily I finally found a clinic specialized in Chronic pain which finally found the reason and the cure. It was a long process but nowadays I can live normal again, although I will never be able to stand or sit long and I need to train the back  every day.

Defining moment in my juggling history: At the age of 17, me and two friends locked ourselves up in a gym for one month, with only a camera, a television and lots of juggling-tricks. In one month we made our first good juggling show. 

Favorite Cereal: I love them all, except those breakfast cereals full of sugar.
3 things you didn’t know about me:
1. I speak about 8 languages (westvloams, dutch, english french, spanish and some romanes, italian, portugese and german)
2. I’m now working on a book about Gypsies in Western Europe.
3. I like to perform in third world countries. Walking from village to village with a backpack-show.
If I weren’t a juggler, I would be: children’s playground designer
Time it took me to learn 5 balls: from not being able to juggle three balls to having a good 5 balls, about a year and a half.
Is juggling sport or art? Juggling is an ancient art. Some jugglers have recently tried to create a sport based on juggling, but for an unknown reason they haven’t managed to create a name for there sport, giving it the same name as the art on which the sport is based: juggling. the acrobats who have done the same some hundred years ago with acrobatics, and which stands as an example for those “sport-jugglers” have found the word Gymnastics for their sport. Why can’t sport-jugglers invent a name for their thing so that this absurd and stupid discussion could stop.
If I were a juggling equipment, I would be: a plunger
Jugglers in my family: only me.
Juggling equipment that has not been invented yet: future will prove that lots of juggling props still need to be discovered know. I have some ideas …
Famous juggler I’d love to pass with: no one in particular. I guess anthony gatho or Jay gilligan.
after the invention of a time machine – what advice would you give to your younger self?
train more, but warm up before you get tendinitis.

Name: Bruce Sarafian
Country: United States
Age: 43
Favorite prop: Balls
Started Juggling: Age 10
Currently working on: 6 club juggling
Website: JugglingUSA.com

Short Bio:
I started juggling around the age of 10.  In 1991 I tied the WORLD RECORD for ball juggling.  In 1993 I was the new official WORLD RECORD HOLDER (as authenticated and listed by THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS) for the most balls at once ever!  I was very proud of this since the previous record had held since the 1930′s!  Since then I have broken a few more world records, have appeared in several commercials, have appeared on 2 different episodes of the syndicated show “DOUBLE DARE 2000″ on Nickelodeon, taped an appearance for an episode of ‘Experience Eldorado’ in 2009, and have been mentioned in many trivia questions including one that appeared on the TV show ‘Jeopardy’.  I have also been a performing juggler everywhere including all the major Central FL theme parks (Universal, Islands of Adventure, Disney, Sea World, MGM, Animal Kingdom, etc) casinos, tradeshows, 5-star resorts and special events of just about every kind.  Also on the list are numerous festivals, fairs, & corporate clients including Daytona Coke Zero 400, Space Coast Festival, New York Metro Balloon & Music Festival, Central Florida Fair, El Dorado County Fair, Anderson County Fair, Lenawee County Fair, just to name a few.

Defining moment in my juggling history: When I broke the 10 ball record with 11 balls in 1992.

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Favorite Cereal: Peanut Butter Capn Crunch
3 things you didnt know about me:
1. I once owned 2 Subway restaurant franchises.
2. It took me about 3 yrs to learn 4 balls.
3. I am not amidextrous but I am 50% right handed and 50 % left handed with general everyday things
If I werent a juggler, I would be: A car dealer.
Time it took me to learn 5 balls: 6 months.
Is juggling sport or art? Both but I would pick Art.
If I were a juggling equipment, I would be: A Unicycle (I think uni’s are very neat).
Jugglers in my family: No one else.
Juggling equipment that has not been invented yet: A helium filled ball that will slow down to about 1/2 the speed and let the juggler do 15 or 20 balls at once…..’
Famous juggler i’d love to pass with: Probably Popovich, he has always been one of my favorites…
after the invention of a time machine – what advice would you give to your younger self?
Just practice as much as you are having fun to get your skill as best as possible if you plan to do shows.

we have a new project here at our blog – we are going to start featuring one juggler from around the globe every week. we have started to send out questionnaires to prominent jugglers whom we kindly asked to fill and resend them. They were asked to tell us what their favorite juggling prop is, what trick they are working on at the moment and of course what their favorite cereal is.
The project will launch this Tuesday – come check out one juggler from around the globe!