Great routine. Apropos of Garfield, I forwarded the link to a couple friends before reading the thread. My message was, “A juggling video. Not cutting edge difficulty-wise (as professional juggling goes), but way cool.” In other words, I agree with the view expressed by most folks here, and on the download site (scroll down below the “video screen”), that Bliss’ is just plain the better show.
My biggest gripe with the Garfield video, btw, was the lighting. A great technical performance and I feel like I missed half of it.
This is a common flaw in juggling video footage. I’m sure that the instances of this in Jason’s bit were intended to poke fun at the same in Bliss’s video. The Bliss video was probably just shot by someone not used to videoing jugglers.
Bliss was OK, but, I see better 11 year old jugglers round these parts. There was a kid from Slovakia that used to come to the juggling groups here in Prague. He’d do a routine on a round raised platform about 1m (3ft) across. He started with 3 balls then moved up to 7, juggling them up in the air and then bouncing them off the round platform. Up and down, up and down, all while tap dancing to music. I’ve tried to find a video, but failed…It was awe inspiring that this kid was that talented.
As for showmanship, I have always loved Michael Moschen. His 3 ball act to music is sampled here. Here is a video with him not juggling to music, but making the beat with the balls. Heck, check out all of the video clips.
I didn’t watch it with the music and just thought it was okay. Maybe I’ll watch again when I’m not at work.
The thing that impressed me the most was the guy never sweats. TV lights are hot. He’s wearing a long sleeved shirt. He’s moving frantically for about five minutes… yet does not perspire. I perspire just thinking about it.
I agree with Garfield that the juggling tricks he did were pedestrian. He took simple throws and catches, swings his head and hands in such a way as to make them seem more difficult.
After a half minute I was wondering when he was going to dispense with the warmup and go to the tough stuff. Couple that showmanship with legitimately difficult tricks and you have something big.
I actually stopped the video about a minute in because I was getting so bored. He very, very, very, very good; however, the routine was boring to me. Of course, I don’t know juggling, so I can’t tell sublime expertise (for lack of a better term) from mere showmanship. Juggling three balls with one hand certainly impressed me!
I have a short video of Masaki Hirano juggling that just about made me crap my pants first time I saw it. I saved it from the site that had it and…c’mon Google!..this should be it. The video quality ain’t so hot, but still worth watching, IMO. To me it’s almost like there’s a real absence of showmanship, which I like. When the bendy arms get going, I’m speechless.
Granted, the OP’s video is outstanding, maybe not my cup of tea. Insulting it reminds me of people who insulted Anna Kournakova’s tennis ability when she was only ranked in the top fifty tennis players. (Or something like that.) Yeah, there’s fourty-nine whole people better than her, so she sucks! :rolleyes:
I understand Garfield’s dissing, but I have to wonder about something – did he have any drops during his routine? After all, it was shot from multiple cameras with the soundtrack dubbed in afterward. For all we know, this was two hours worth of footage spliced together just to show up Bliss.
I’ll not argue that about who the better technical juggler is, but I wonder if Garfield could pull that routine off in front of a live audience?
No. No, he’s not. He’s good, but he’s merely good. He’s only good compared to the general population. Compared to other jugglers, he’s ok. He would never even pass the screening to get IN to a competition at a big juggling festival, for example. You should see the shows and competitions at one of the juggling festivals I’ve been to… they ALL perform to music. They’re ALL more impressive than this guy. Garfield has no showmanship, but that’s sort of his schtick. There are a ton of jugglers out there with amazing performance abilities who are also amazingly good jugglers. The Chris Bliss video is good entertainment. It’s not incredible juggling, though, in either skill or showmanship.
For serious impressive, check out the Flying Karamazov Brothers, who not only juggle TO music, but they often play the music as they go.
Most people’s exposure to juggling is some stuff at the circus, the occasional street performer, and the guy in the office who juggles tennis balls on break. Juggling is a lot more than that. I have seen kids my son’s age who can juggle 7 things. Having seen Vova and Olga Galchenko perform, I think it’s fair to say that watching them would blow you away.
FWIW, to my eye, there were a few spots where the edit jumped in a way that suggested multiple takes. I don’t really hold that against Garfield, though. This was a rant, not something he was putting out there as defining his art. Thrown together quickly and therefore, not surprisingly, not perfect. But, there is something to what you say on Bliss’ side (which, remember, I consider the better show). Performing live in front of a large audience, there’s only so much risk that it’s prudent to take.
I just watched that video. I didn’t recognize the name but I recognize the guy. He was at the IJA festival in Davenport, Iowa last summer. He’s good, for sure! That bendy arm thing… that’s crazy. It’s like Mills Mess with an extra (impossible!!!) twist every throw. Scary stuff Last year at the IJA festival there were a ton of Asian competitors and they sort of… took over the festival. There were even jokes being made that the J in IJA (International Jugglers Association) should stand for Japan. There are some amazing Japanese jugglers out there right now.
Yeah, it freaks me out. It’s like that bendy pencil thing where you shake it and it looks rubber. That guy’s arms just like they shouldn’t be able to bend that way, and I can’t even begin to understand which hand is throwing which ball.
IMO, this is precisely correct. I even came in here to say the same thing (although I was going to say Yngwie Malmsteen.)
Then there’s the ass-kick factor. After watching Bliss, I want to buy him a beer and talk to him about juggling (a subject about which I have no abiding interest.) After watching Garfield’s contemptuous ass, I just want to slap the shit out of him.
When I watched the video the first time, my initial response was “Heck, I’ve seen my brother-in-law do all those moves.” But as the video went on, I got caught up in how he was managing to express the music through the juggling, even if the juggling wasn’t particularly challenging. Complaining that the tricks are rather pedestrian (and they are) is missing the point. It’s like complaining that there aren’t any quad toe loops in an ice dance competition. Sure, the pairs figure skaters do bigger tricks than the ice dancers, but they’re competing in a different event.
Last year at the IJA festival there were a ton of Asian competitors and they sort of… took over the festival. There were even jokes being made that the J in IJA (International Jugglers Association) should stand for Japan. There are some amazing Japanese jugglers out there right now.