Hello All, I am a magician but I do do some juggling. I can do a three ball cascade and many three ball tricks. I also can do 4 four ball synchronous, working on an synchronous.

I have been gathering information on juggling five balls but in some of the instructions they say to practice for five balls, do a three ball flash! What is that? Flash?

Is a shower different than a cascade? Or are they the same?

Thanks for any help!

Hi Mark, a flash is where you throw all three balls into the air so fast that your hands are empty for a second or two. To do this, juggle a low cascade and throw the three balls in to the air like boom, boom, boom. When I was learning five, I would flash 3 and clap with the time I had. You should also check out Boppo's numbers notes Here! Yes, a shower is different than a cascade. When doing a shower, one hand throws the balls up (probably your right hand) and the left hand passes the balls quickly to the right.

Hope this helps,
Phil

Ok, so if I read this correct, a shower is where the balls chase each other around in a circle?

Thanks for the help! All of the juggling I do has been self-taught from stuff I have seen; I had no idea what it was called!
:clownjuggling:

Yes, that's correct.

Thanks for the quick answers philipi56!

Know of any good juggling books that might help me learn 5? Even more tricks with 4?

There is a really good book called the Encyclopedia of Ball Juggling. It is written by Charlie Dancey and has everything from 3 to 7 balls and passing.

Philip

Thanks Phillip, I'll check that out. Know of any place I can get a good deal on it?!

There are a couple used on Amazon.com and it really doesn't matter if it's used because it will get worn any way. Here's the link.

Also try: here and here are good places if you want it new.

Here is the book's home page if you would like to have a little more info.

Hope this helps,
Phil

Try The Complete Juggler by Dave Finnegan—covers 3, 4, 5 balls and more.

Charley Dancey's book is good too.

Beyond the Cascade by George Gilson is great for more sophisticated three-ball stuff and he has some useful tips for starting out with five.

There are other books out there but buy the time you can do everything in these three, you'll be ready to work in Atlantic City!!

I ended up buying The Complete Juggler by Dave Finnegan and this looks like a great place to start. Not only can I learn the names of some of the things I learned by copying others, I can learn some new stuff!

Finnegan's book is an excellent place to start—has information on a very wide variety of juggling forms. I'd still recommend the Charlie Dancey books though. They cover a much wider range of topics, once you progress past the basics of The Complete Juggler.

Also—I'm not sure if anyone mentioned it or not—but The Juggling Information Service is an excellent resource. Click the "Juggling Help" tab and it takes you to FAQs on quite a few juggling-related skills.

Another great online resource is http://www.jugglingdb.com. Check the juggling wiki for tricks and you can also ask questions on rec.juggling, plus they have a local club finder and information on up and coming events all around the world.

Great site for juggling.
Paul

Another great site is:

http://www.twjc.co.uk/tutorials.html

It explains loads of great tricks in a nice, clear way.