Here follows a mostly serious glossary of juggling terms. A few are TWJC specific but most refer to the juggling community in general. Many terms such as trick names aren't included as much more detail can be found in the 3 Ball Tutorials & Diabolo Tutorials sections.
Any glaring ommisions? Get in touch.
A
Acrylics
Transparent balls made of acrylic used for contact juggling. Also called crystals.
Adagio
Form of acrobatics & acrobalance where moves are performed in a slow & controlled manner.
Aerotec
Manufacturers of glowing juggling props particularly the globall, gloclub, glostaff & diaboglo. The company started off making globalls as a sideline to fund research into an alternative energy project but it quickly became a full time business.
Alban Elved
See String Danglers.
Albatross
Popular American style juggling club manufactured by Henry's.
Albert
Trick throw mostly used in club juggling made between the legs with both feet flat on the floor from the front to the back. Named after Albert Lucas.
Alegria
Touring show from Cirque Du Soleil. The word is Spanish for 'jubilation'.
B
Balloon Chain
Huge chain of modelling balloons decorated with various balloon sculptures traditionally made while waiting for the Public Show to start at a convention. The idea is to get the chain to go all the way around the theatre. The tradition first started at the BJC in Nottingham, 1997.
Barnum, Phileas Taylor
Legendary showman from the golden age of circus. Frontman for Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth. Famous for the line, "There's a sucker born every minute."
Bean bags
Small sack of material filled with some grain like filling, excellent for Juggling as they are easy to catch & they have a dead drop.
Beever, Ben
Highly accomplished numbers juggler who has flashed 12 balls. Extremely good at siteswaps with large numbers. Has also worked with the Gandini Juggling Project.
Bell
Each of the 'cups' of a diabolo is known as a bell.
Berry, Bill
The tall half of Team Rootberry. World record holding sword swallower, technical three ballist & has 'juggle' tattooed on the inside of his lip.
Bibi
Highly technical club passer from Ethiopia, passes with Bichu.
Bichu
Highly technical club passer from Ethiopia, passes with Bibi.
Bird Juggling Project, The
Club passers with exceptionally good taste in performance music.
Biverticycle
Ridiculously difficult to ride type of giraffe unicycle which has two wheels stacked one above the other. The rider has to pedal backwards to go forwards.
BJC, British Juggling Convention
Read: What do you do at a juggling convention?.
Black Light
See UV.
Body
The wide bulbous part of a juggling club. American clubs tend to be much fatter than European styles, so clubs are referred to as 'Americans' (fat bodied) or 'Europeans' (slim bodied).
Bohemian Rhapsody
Epic song by Queen, the lyrics are often sung during renegade at BJCs (tune usually missing).
Bone, Peter
Numbers juggler & siteswap guru. First person to flash thirteen balls.
Boppo
Very good numbers juggler. One of the first to flash 11 balls. One person credited as the inventor of siteswap.
Bowie, David
Singer who played Jareth the Goblin King in the film Labyrinth (IMDb listing). David Bowie did not perform any of the contact juggling sequences. Instead Michael Moschen was ducked down out of camera shot contorting his arms into position & making all his moves blind.
Burrage, Luke
Creative juggler & renegade favourite who is always at or near the centre of the UK juggling scene.
BYJOTY, British Young Juggler of the Year
Competition & show started by Luke Burrage at BJC 2005 in Perth to showcase & nurture young British juggling talent. Now set as a major fixture of the BJC.
C
Cake, Chocalate Slab
Delicious piece of chocolatey goodness that Andrew often bakes for TWJC members.
Cascade
Basic pattern for an odd number of props. Props chase the shape of an infinity sign (8 on its side).
Catch, The
Much loved British juggling, new circus & street theatre magazine which was once published at a highly irregular rate but at a consistently high quality. The Catch was produced by Stuart & Jan & edited by the cheeky Diabolo whose real identity is still a mystery. Sadly no longer running.
Causal diagram, Causal notation
A visual notation system for juggling patterns. Gives a visual indication of what the pattern will look like, very useful for working out passing patterns. Not to be confused with a ladder diagram.
Ceilidh
Scottish folk dancing first introduced to the Juggling Convention crowd at the Edinburgh EJC. Fantastic fun.
Chili Vodka
One of the three official drinks of TWJC, along with tea & double vision cider. Less a drink more a test of endurance. Introduced by Dr Bob, 'enjoyed' by Devilstick Peat, made famous by Peewee.
Cigar Boxes
Usually a set of three boxes, two are held one in each hand while the third is gripped between the other two. The boxes are then thrown & turned in various ways.
Circomedia
Bristol based circus arts school.
Circus Space, The
London based circus school.
Cirque Du Soleil
French Canadian new circus company who have turned out a huge number of simply astounding productions (Read a little about Quidam & Saltimbanco) the like of which has never seen before. Visit their website www.cirquedusoleil.com.
Club
- Juggling prop consisting of a handle & a bulbous end (known as the body), derived from the Indian Swinging Club juggled by throwing from the handle so that it completes a number of spins before being caught by the handle again. Originally made of wood but now made of lightweight plastic. Often called 'pins' or 'skittles' by non-jugglers.
- Regular meeting of jugglers for the purpose of juggling, sharing ideas, swapping tricks, playing games & general socialising.
Combat
US term for Gladiators.
Combination Trick
Any trick that combines multiple different skills eg. juggling with your hands while balancing an object on your chin while standing on a rola bola.
Contact Juggling
Very graceful & hypnotic form of juggling where a ball is rolled around the hands, arms & body remaining in contact with the performer throughout. Invented by Michael Moschen & made famous in the film Labyrinth (IMDb listing) where Michael played the arm of Jareth the Goblin King as he rolled his magical crystal orbs. Labyrinth's creator Jim Henson said that "Contact juggling is the closest thing to real magic there is".
Corteo
Touring show from Cirque Du Soleil. The word is Italian for 'cortege' which is a ceremonial procession.
Coulrophobia
Fear of clowns.
Cradle
Branch of diabolo tricks where the string is woven into a pattern.
Cross
Pass made in a passing pattern that travels from one side to the other eg. For two jugglers stood facing each other, a crossing pass is one thrown by one juggler's right hand & caught by the other's right hand.
Crystals
See acrylics.
D
Dancey, Charlie
One half of famous comedy juggling duo Haggis & Charlie, author of 2 of the best juggling works available: the Encyclopaedia of Ball Juggling & the Compendium of Club Juggling. Excellent cartoonist.
Dark Crystal, The
Fantasy film by Jim Henson & Frank Oz. Famous in the juggling community because it features some creatures known as 'the Landstriders' which are tall four legged beasts more commonly known as 'stiltwalkers on crutches'. See The Dark Crystal (IMDb listing)
Davies, Roger
Very advanced unicyclist who runs the British end of www.unicycle.com.
Dead Drop
A prop that doesn't roll away after being dropped is said to have a dead drop.
Devilstick
A large brightly coloured stick & two smaller rubber or silicon wrapped handsticks. The main stick is batted back & forth by the handsticks.
Diabolo
- Chinese spinning top popularised in England during the Victorian times. Well known as an 'egg cup on string' by non-jugglers. Nothing to do with the devil at all, the name comes from a verb that roughly translates as 'to throw across'.
- Editor of The Catch.
Dietz, Thomas
Machine like juggler from Germany, runs hard siteswaps with lots of props. Famous for juggling 5 balls for "one hour!" during renegade at the European Juggling Convention in Svendborg 2003.
DM
Brand of unicycle made by Dave Mariner.
Double
Throw of a club with 2 spins.
Double Vision Cider
One of the three official drinks of TWJC, along with tea & chili vodka. Potent cider made by the Double Vision Cider Co. in Staplehurst.
Dralion
Eastern themed touring show from Cirque Du Soleil. The word comes from the 'Dragon' & 'Lion', the two main symbolic animals in Chinese culture.
Drop line
Witty response made by a performer to make light of the fact that they dropped.
Duicide
A diabolo trick where both handsticks are released & caught in some way.
DX
Unique juggling ball produced by Beard that is a hybrid of a stage ball & a bean bag combining advantages of both. Personally I think the DX leans more towards the stage ball end of the spectrum.
Dynamic Balancing
Michael Moschen's preferred term for contact juggling.
E
Eberhardt, Colin
Webmaster of the IJDb.
EJC, European Juggling Convention
Read: What do you do at a juggling convention? & substitute 'European' for British, 'Europe' for 'Britain' etc.
Erricsson, David
Acrobatic juggler who makes up half of juggling duo Erricsson Laver with Rod.
Excalibur
"Excalibur is a stupid name for a sword, let alone a style of diabolo!"
- Dave Barnes, 2005 See Vertax instead.
F
Feast
Multiperson passing pattern in which every juggler passes to every other juggler. Not to be confused with a handfeast.
Feed
A multi person passing pattern where 1 juggler passes to 2 or more other jugglers.
Feedee
A juggler who is passing with the feeder (the feedee may or may not be a feeder themselves).
Feeder
Person who passes to more than one person in a feed.
Fence Monkey
Person who puts up fencing during a convention.
Fergies, Fergie bags
A high quality & much loved bean bag manufactured by Michael Ferguson. Sadly no longer in production.
Ferguson, Michael, Fergie
One of the top posters to rec.juggling, numbers juggler & retired manufacturer of Fergie bags.
Fletcher, Jamie
Awesome three ball juggler from Bristol.
Force Bounce
To bounce a ball by throwing it directly at the floor.
Fountain
Basic pattern for an even number of props. Each hand independantly juggles half the number of props without crossing them over.
Frebourg, Tony
Amazing French diaboloist & ball bouncer. Does three diabolos on the string while doing the splits.
Freemount
To get on a unicycle without holding on to a wall or something for support.
G
Galchenko, Olga
Prodigal juggler from Russia performs with older brother Vova.
Galchenko, Vova
Prodigal juggler from Russia performs with younger sister Olga.
Gandini, Sean
Co-founder of the Gandini Juggling Project. Was once booed for being too artistic & is now one of the most inspirational figures in the juggling community.
Gandini Juggling Project, The
Company founded by Sean Gandini & Kati Yla-Hokkala. Famous for combining juggling with dance to produce highly innovative & artistic performances. Also acclaimed for their work with siteswaps & other mathematical techniques which have introduced many new tricks & patterns to the community. Also perform some of the best club & ring passing ever seen.
Gandlau, Hella
Champion freestyle unicyclist from Germany. Very beautiful.
Garfield, Jason
American numbers juggler famous for his aggressive onstage attitude. Star of the popular Jugglemaster videos, Founder & president of the WJF.
Gather
Finish for a passing pattern where one juggler stops throwing passes & collects all the clubs so that he or she finishes holding all of the clubs that were used in the pattern.
Gatto, Anthony
World champion numbers juggler holds most of the juggling world records. Came to England for the first time to perform at the BJC in York, 2000.
Gatto, Nick
Anthony Gatto's stepfather & mentor.
Get the Shoe
Astounding comedy juggling duo from Germany consisting of Jochen Pfeiffer & Florian Müller-Reißmann. Combining takeouts, passing & martial arts action in the style of the Matrix.
Gilligan, Jay
Highly innovative & energetic juggler from America, has spent time with the Gandini Juggling Project & features heavily in the Peapot videos. Famous for being able to bend his right elbow backwards & being able to do ring passing patterns with one eye closed.
Giraffe
Tall unicycle where the pedals & wheel are connected by a chain.
Gladiators
Highly enjoyable family of Juggling Games played with a variety of props.
Grainger, Kaleigh
Champion unicyclist, performs with partner Leigh Wilkins.
Grant, Donald
Famous & extremely fast diaboloist from Scotland.
Grind
Diabolo trick where the diabolo is caught & spins on one of the handsticks.
H
Hall, Matt
Very friendly & popular juggler from the US. Very good at kendama, two diabolos, cigar boxes & breakdancing. Came second at the IJA championships in Reno 2003 making him the juggling world's favourite loser.
Hand Feast
Passing pattern in which every hand passes to every hand of every juggler in the pattern (complicated).
Heathcote, Guy
Top diaboloist, yo-yoist & devilstickist. One of the few people responsible for popularising 2 diabolos back in the day.
Heckle
Something shouted out to/at a performer by a member of the audience.
Heckler
Person who heckles.
High, Low, Goal, Crush, Bane
Traditional post-convention game first started by the Madison Jugglers & was popularised with the help of the Carmine Street Irregulars. Just get together with some fellow festival attendees & share the highlight, lowlight, goal (& to what degree you achieved it), crush & bane of your convention.
Hover
To stay in the same place on a unicycle by continuously riding back & forth over the same spot with the wheel doing no more than half a revolution.
Hurry
Term for a move usually in club passing where you are forced to make two throws from the same hand in quick succession, for example when a passer throws a crossing single pass in 3 count the receiver has to catch & throw the crossing pass with the same hand s/he has just passed with.
I
Icarian Games
Form of foot juggling act where the juggler manipulates an acrobat rather than an inanimate object.
Idle
See hover.
IJA, International Jugglers Association
Organisation formed to promote juggling, helped start off the European Juggling Convention. Has now been adversely affected by internal politics & is largely ineffectual outside of the US. Membership buys a list of other members, Juggle magazine & the opportunity to go to the IJA festival.
IJDb, Internet Juggling Database
The major internet portal for the juggling world, created by Colin Eberhardt.
Indian Clubs
Wooden clubs originating from India swung for exercise as a gymnastic sport in the 19th century. Indian Clubs are considerably heavier than modern plastic swinging clubs. The more ornate indian clubs are often collected as antiques.
J
Jennings, Ben
Extremely smooth 3 ball juggler. Also plays the oboe.
JIS, Juggling Information Service
The first major juggling website built when the web was young. Sadly neglected & is now extremely out of date but still contains some interesting resources.
Jonglierkatakomben
Famous juggling studio in Berlin that offers training space & workshops.
Juggling
Some very long & boring discussions about the definition of juggling seem to take place regularly on rec.juggling, (mostly by people trying to revise the definition to exclude poi) however the 2 definitions I like most are:
- The manipulation of objects in a skilful show of manual dexterity (dictionary definition).
- The art of doing what doesn't need to be done in the most difficult way possible (more accurate definition from a usenet post).
K
Ka
Show from Cirque Du Soleil resident at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.
Kee, Viktor
Highly creative & athletic juggler from the Ukraine most famous for his routine in Cirque Du Soleil's Dralion
Kendama
Advanced cup & ball game from Japan.
Kick up
Range of tricks usually performed with clubs where the prop is thrown with the foot.
King, Joe
Devilstick Peat's assistant.
Komaro, Maksim
Star of Peapot productions.
L
Labyrinth
Film by Jim Henson responsible for popularising Michael Moschen's then unique contact juggling. Also a very good film. See Labyrinth (IMDb listing).
Ladder diagram, Ladder notation
Visual representation of a juggling trick showing the paths of the props as a set of entwining lines round a ladder. Not to be confused with causal diagrams.
La Nouba
Show from Cirque Du Soleil resident at Disney World, Florida. The name comes from the French phrase, 'Faire la nouba' which means to party, or to live it up.
LAP, League Against Poi
The League Against Poi webpage (archived by Danny) was the front for a spoof organisation that was dreamed up mid 2000 while poi was becoming popular.
Laver, Rod
Record holding ping-pong ball juggler who received a standing ovation at the BJC in Nottingham, 1997. Also an excellent hat juggler. Also performs with David Erricsson as part of juggling duo Erricsson Laver.
Legos
Branch of tricks usually performed with clubs where the props are held in different ways then moved or thrown & held in another. Named after the Danish construction toy Lego.
Lift Bounce.
Method of bounce juggling where balls are thrown upwards slightly before being allowed tob bounce off the floor.
L.I.H.M.
Labour Intensive Hand Movement. Delicious chocolate/caramel/biscuity stuff made by my mum & enjoyed by TWJC members. Cut into bars which are signified by a labour intensive hand movement.
Lucas, Albert
Highly technical American numbers juggler who is very good at juggling while ice skating, most famous for not being able to perform in front of witnesses feats he has claimed to achieved in practise.
M
Mad French Posse, The
Team of top diabolists from France consisting of: Antonin Hartz, Baptiste Durand, Eric Longequel, JiBe, Priam Pierret, Lutin, Tony Frebourg, Trash & Vux. Check out their own website: Art of Diabolo.
Manipulator Hat
Brightly coloured & very durable felt hats for hat manipulation made by Nils Poll.
Mansell, Mini
Regular BJC prereg supremo, UK EJA representative, UK_jugglers & jugconorg moderator, IJDb clubs section moderator. The hardest working man in juggling.
Mariner, Dave
Unicycle manufacturer since 1969, made the first production unicycle with a splined axle.
Mcleod, Haggis
Half of comedy juggling duo Haggis & Charlie, star of top instructional videos: Teach yourself juggling & Club passing & juggling, instructor at Circomedia. Exceptionally good hat juggler & always wins the 5 ball endurance competitions at conventions.
Mills Mess
Very elegant 3 ball pattern where the arms cross & uncross. Invented & popularised by Steve Mills. Mills Mess Tutorial.
Monkey
Person who does the juggling part of a take out routine.
Moschen, Michael
Highly creative juggler who invented contact juggling (which he prefers to call dynamic balancing), very protective of his work & is said to not be pleased by all the people copying his work.
Multiplex
Practise of throwing two or more objects from the same hand at the same time.
Mystere
Show from Cirque Du Soleil resident at the Treasure Island Hotel, Las Vegas.
N
Noice
Gandini for 'Nice'.
Numbers juggling
Pursuit of juggling one more ball/club/ring.
Numbers juggler
Juggler who practises numbers juggling.
O
"O"
Show from Cirque Du Soleil resident at the Bellagio, Las Vegas. The first aquatic show from the company featuring underwater acts alongside traditional circus routines.
Objuggle
Word sometimes used in rec.juggling posts. It is an amalgamation of 'obligatory' & 'juggle' & is used to bring hopelessly off topic threads or flamewars back on topic. As such including an 'objuggle' is an effective way to deal with trolls. For example "objuggle: 531 with the 3 thrown Behind the back & the 1 Handed behind the back".
One hour challenge, the
Popular renegade spot where someone tries to run something without dropping for a whole hour. First started by Thomas Dietz running a five ball cascade in 2003 at the EJC in Svendborg
Orbit
Circular carry of one or more props around another.
Oxymoronocycle
Another name for a biverticycle, so called because it is a unicycle with two wheels.
P
Paul, Little
Ex-juggler who is responsible for trickswithhats.org, the phrase "have a cup of tea & a slice of cake", introducing a large portion of the juggling community to the rather good B3TA & most of the noise on rec.juggling.
Pass
A throw of a prop from one juggler to another.
Passing
A form of juggling where props are exchanged between 2 or more jugglers. Club passing is by far the most common & is the reason why most juggling clubs & festivals exist.
Peewee
Part of comedy duo Stickleback Plasticus & a regular compere at Renegade.
Peapot
Production company responsible for the videos: 3 balls different ways, radical club news. Starring Maksim Komaro, Ville Walo & Jay Gilligan.
Peat, Devilstick
Much loved jester famous for his devilstick skills & his devilstick striptease routine. Looks like Jesus.
Pirouette
- Action of spinning round once.
- Popular European style juggling club manufactured by Henry's.
Poi
- Two balls attached to two pieces of string which are swung around in rhythmic patterns. Poi were originally swung as part of a traditional Maori dance. Poi swinging was a way of keeping fit & developing flexibility.
- Short for pointless (unless done EXTREMELY well).
- Savoury food consisting of pastry & some sort of meat &/or vegetable filling found in Birmingham.
Poll, Nils
Danish juggler who makes the very popular manipulator juggling hats.
Poncett, Cecille
Wonderfully fluid & graceful juggler from France. Can juggle 5 clubs without making any audible noise. Spent time with the Gandini Juggling Project.
PX3
First juggling club with a plastic rather than a wooden dowel through the centre. Originated from Italy.
Q
Quad
Short for quadruple. Throw of a club with 4 spins.
Qualify
Juggling n props for 2n catches is said to be a qualifying run. The term comes from the IJA numbers competitions where competitors have a time limit in which to juggle a number of props. If the competitor manages twice as many catches as the number of props they are juggling they qualify for the next round.
Quidam
Touring show from Cirque Du Soleil. The word comes from Latin & means an anonymous passer by.
Quin
Short for quintuple. Throw of a club with 5 spins.
R
Radical Fish
Brand of juggling equipment, known for their unusual designs. Radical Fish clubs tend to promote a love/hate reaction in jugglers.
Rastelli, Enrico
Legendary Italian juggler of the 1930s, famous for juggling 10 balls & many impossible balancing & ball spinning feats. Loathed cascades & juggled odd numbers by juggling an odd number in one hand & an even number in the other.
Rawlings, Steve
British comedy juggling legend. Compered the Public Show at BJC2007 in Nottingham. Famously shot himself in the hand by accident just before a show.
Recursion
See Recursion.
Rec.Juggling
The usenet newsgroup dedicated to juggling & all things related. Can be accessed via the IJDb News Portal.
Reduced Public Show Company, the
Traditional renegade act parodying the Public Show in a highly condensed form starting at the BJC 2002 in Whitstable.
Renegade
Special show held late at night at juggling conventions where people from the audience get up & perform a bit like an open mike spot at a music or comedy club. The tradition first started at the 1986 IJA Festival in San Jose by the Renegade Jugglers of Santa Cruz, California.
Root, Jonathan
The short half of Team Rootberry. Top bounce juggler (9 balls on his own, 13 with Ben Jennings) & advanced scuba diver.
Runaround
- Popular pattern where two people share a three object Cascade which stays in one place while the jugglers continually walk around each other in circles behind it.
- See Wild goose chase.
Running Feed
Passing pattern in which the feeders & feedees swap rolls as they move position.
S
Saltimbanco
The first big touring show from Cirque Du Soleil. The word is Spanish for 'joy'.
Scarves
Lightweight squares of material used for Juggling, often used as a teaching tool because they float down slowly rather than fall.
Shower
Any pattern where all props follow each other round in some sort of circle without directly crossing each other.
Siamese
Style of juggling where two people stand side by side as if joined at the hip & juggle a pattern using one arm each (usually the outside arms).
Silicones, Silis
Very high quality juggling balls made from silicone invented by Frank Radtke. Great feel, excellent bounce, beautiful finish, easy to clean (only stained by coffee) but very expensive.
Silks
See Scarves
Single
Throw of a club which spins only once.
Siteswap
Mathematical notation system for denoting juggling patterns.
Sofa, under the
Popular hiding place for juggling balls to hide after being dropped.
Solstrom
TV series produced by Cirque Du Soleil featuring many acts from their main shows plus other artists.
Sport Juggling
Style of juggling promoted by the WJF. Big numbers, lots of pirouettes, don't move your feet.
Stage Ball
Rigid sphere that doesn't go out of shape. So named because they are popular among stage performers because of their consistent visual shape. Juggling stage balls allegedly makes you a more accurate juggler because they are less forgiving than beanbags.
Straight
See Tramline.
String Danglers
Alban Elved, aerial dance company who died on stage at Whitstable in the most spectacular fashion imaginable.
String Dangling
Art of hanging from a rope attached to the waist via a harness. Made Famous by Alban Elved.
Suicide
Diabolo trick where one or both handsticks are released & caught again in some way.
T
Tarim
Much loved passing guru from the UK. Champion of ambidextrous patterns & does not juggle four count. Talks about himself in the third person.
Tea
One of the three official drinks of TWJC, along with Double Vision Cider & chili vodka. The stuff of legend.
Team Rootberry
Multi award winning & much loved juggling duo consisting of Jonathan Root & Bill Berry.
Thuds
Term for beanbags coined by More Balls Than Most, named after the sound the beanbags made when dropped to the floor.
Tiemman, Bruce
See Boppo.
Tomahawk
Special throw for club passers where the club is thrown over arm with reverse spin like the axe of the same name.
Tommy Baker
Top basketball juggler. Had to slightly change his performance name to avoid confusion with the Dr Who actor.
Tramline
Striaght line throw from one juggler to another in a passing pattern eg. For two jugglers stood facing each other, a tramline pass is one thrown by one juggler's right hand & caught by the other's left hand.
Trebla
The reverse of an Albert (hence the name). A throw made between the legs from behind while both feet are flat on the floor.
Triple
Throw of a club with 3 spins.
U
Unicycle
A one wheeled bike with no handle bars.
Ultimate Wheel
A wheel with pedals.
UV, Ultra Violet
Special light that makes UV active props & material glow brightly.
V
Varekai
Touring show from Cirque Du Soleil. The word comes from the Romany language & means 'wherever'.
Veale, Sam, Sam I Am
Top juggler, diaboloist & stand up comedian. Looks like Tim Henman.
Vertax
VERTical AXle. Style of diaboloing where the axle of the diabolo spins vertically rather than the normal horizontal.
W
Walker, Toby
Elusive juggler from Wales who showed up & amazed everyone at the BJC in Durham, 1999. One of the best technical jugglers around, Toby is famous for his extremely solid 5 club mills mess. Performed with the Gandini Juggling Project.
Walking Globe
Large ball that a performer balances on top of & has to walk backwards to roll forwards.
Walo, Ville
Star of Peapot Productions.
Wang
The application of too much momentum to a throw of a prop (usually a club during club passing), resulting in a throw of excessive height &/or length &/or spin after catching the prop without having a sufficient hold to remain in control of it.
Wei-Liang Lin, William
IJA & WJF champion diaboloist from Taiwan. Has a hugely infectious smile.
Wild goose chase
See Runaround.
Wilkins, Leigh
Champion unicyclist, performs with partner Kaleigh Grainger.
Wimpy
Pattern for an even number of props made up of synchronous crossing throws.
WJF, World Juggling Federation, the
Organisation set up to promote sport juggling. Holds high profile competitions with complex scoring systems to determine who is the best juggler. See www.thewjf.com
WJVF, World Juggling Video Federation
Randomly held competition organised through Rec.Juggling, where people are invited to make the best juggling video based on a theme.
X
Y
Yabe, Ryo
Unbelievably slick & highly technical diaboloist from Japan. Stormed the public show at BJC 2006 in Bodmin
Yla-Hokkala, Kati
Very graceful juggler & co-founder of the Gandini Juggling Project.
Z
Zen wrestling
Noble test of skill for two people. The combatants stand face to face about half a metre apart with their feet together. Combatants then place their palms together & then try to make the opponent lose balance by pushing or absorbing a push. No grabbing or any other contact is allowed. Requires a great deal of anticipation.