Robert
When I saw you do the 5 ball reverse cascade at club renegade in 1987 you knocked my socks off, because I was a rookie in 87. I agree with you completely funny is necessary to make money, and you have got to be born with funny.
Alfonso

Al,

"Born with Funny"??????????????

You must be joking?

Nothing funny about me until I walked out on a stage (street corner, really)... there is no way you can convince me that being funny offstage guarantees funny onstage or vice versa (as in my case) ... mostly I'm just using stuff I heard before or wrote specifically for that bit ... and yes, there are times when people laugh and I'm actually being serious (happens a lot) .... you see, when you have a nasal quality to your speech like I do (translation:big nose) ... it makes it sound like you have an attitude.... which after being in the business for 35 years or so ... you do!

No, a serious juggler or a serious anything is usually just somebody doing what he loves ... a lot.

"No, a serious juggler or a serious anything is usually just somebody doing what he loves ... a lot."

Agreed completely!

James

So Robert
You are more of an actor than a comedian. The first thing I did with my juggling skills was I took it to a comedy club, my first night at the comedy club the manager pulled me aside and said "you are funny, but you need two laughs per minute to work here, so I went home and started writing jokes.

We call them LPM's ... in the comedy clubs during the early ‘80’s Amazing Jonathan and I used to compete who got more ... he always won.

I like to think my LPM's came from the deeper, more sophisticated side of comedy (an Oscar Wilde sort of thing without the gay) ... and Jonathan, well, I always felt he had a tinge more of that trailer park nouveau riche thing going for him in his LPM's than I did.

Of course, he's rich now ... very rich.



"It's all about the LPM's Butterfly" (repeated twice)

-Jonathan Szeles (1979 at the Holy City Zoo)

I can pass clubs but only while I'm alone.

I woulder if your could pass things off a pitch back.

Anton

Why thank you, Cap'n!

Means a ton coming from you!

Quote of the day:

Gravity sucks!

Prof. Piper

This thread is awesome! On a personal note I do not perform juggling often anymore, but when I did I thought of myself as very serious. I did 5 clubs and seven balls in my show. I also did a 3 club routine with many good tricks as well as unicycling and rola bowla. I never met anyone to pass with until I had my 5 cub pattern down fairly solid. To this day I don't know mills mess. I tried to learn several times and came up with some great ways of doing it wrong, but when I'd show it to other jugglers they'd say it was neat but not quite the correct way. So I never learned. Yet I would have said I was serious.

When I learned to pass I thought it was amazing. A whole new world. I really should get the balls out and practise mills mess again. It is a bit embarrassing that I never learned it properly.

I'm feeling a bit inspired. Thanks