, 1886-07-22
clNougvALLl, THE JueaLER.


Ah ~ ~
Few of His Tricks.
"Unless | nm developing n new trick
seldom practice now. lam n juggler. ]
invent my own business. That is one oil
my difficulties. New tricks are copied.
When find that | have an imitator l in
vent something else. For instance, q
thought came to me this morning, a trick
with a cigar and u cigar-holder. | throw
the cigar up and catch 1t in every position
in the tube of the holder. | shall practice
1t a month, perhaps for an hour or two a
day. | never give n trick without being
so sure Of 1t that / would bet n large sun
against failure. Simple juggling, such a:
one does with balls, one could do blind.
folded, so certain has the hand tbe
come. The hand follows the eye, but the
hand is the more important of the two
Suppose l ave half n dozen knives in the
air, l propel one so as to give 1t n half turn.
another "A turn, a third n turn and n half,
n fourth two turns, calculating the reyo
lutions Of each one as IL falls through the
air. Suppose one of them Is falling hori-
zontally, instead Of vertically, then one
gets out OF the way and let's it fall to the
ground.
an teaching a beginner one sets him to
work with one ball and one hand-the
left. 1t is like teaching a child to read.
lie begins with A b c, then forms a
word. So it is with the juggler's play
things. The left hand must be as facile
and as sure as the right. III you let your
pupil begin with the right hand it doubles
the difficulty for IKE left hand. / make 1t
a rule always to use for my tricks the or
binary articles OF everyday life. 1t is more
interesting to the public than elaborate
apparatus. They can go home and try 1t
themselves. take a candle and Il candle
stick, or two candles and two candle
sticks, or put an umbrella and a stick
through a number Of aerial evolutions.. /
even use n washing-tub. 1t is often CALLING
TO the performer to know that the public
do not understand the niceties and often
the extreme difficulties of a trick. To q We
them n lesson one sometimes purposely
breaks down once or twice just at the
critical moment. Then the third time the
applause is tremendous. AS a r'atter of
fact, one is certain to slip now and then.
1t is n very different thing performing in
n room by daylight and before the fiery
glare Of footlights.
Perhaps my most difficult feat is the
one ! am doing every night just now with
n knife and fork and raw potato. Sim
plicity again, you see. With the knife
cut the potato in two after keeping it up
for some time, then catch the two halves,
one on the knife, the other On the fork.
That. now, was suggested to me one night
at n supper where | was n guest. Give us
something. the host said; you can juggle
with anything A knife and fork were ON
my plate, and a cooked potato. was sue
cessful. 1t is the professionals most diff
cult task to find novelties. 1t is so with
all OF us in the show business. What is
there lefti l ask. Your insatiate public
has had trained fieas and trained flies.
There Is nothing left. You ask me about
training Don't drink, and smoke as little
rs possible. 1t is difficult, but it is neces-
sary. The eye and the hand are delicate
organs.n-Pal Mall Gazette Interview.