Weight training for injury prevention by Steven Ragatz

Warming Up by Steven Ragatz

Visualization and Juggling by Steven Ragatz

Numbers Training by Steven Ragatz

It is important to know your audience and to design an appropriate program. Shakespearian poetry does not go over very well at Billy's fifth birthday party... But, if it is poetry that I wish to perform, then it is my duty to find my audience, not force it upon an ill equipped one. That doesn't change the fact that my poetry act may or may not be good.

There are so many different situations that one can be put into as a performer that it is impossible to create a generalization to cover all of them.

"After all, it's not what you do, it's how you do it." This has truth to it, but, it too is not absolute. I have seen many entertaining feats that were simply done, with no real focus on "how". Ultimately, the deciding factor is simply - does it work on stage? If "yes", then it's in. If "no", then it's out. Determining whether or not it works involves listening to yourself and to the audience. If their reaction is what you want to create, then it works.

Many difficult tricks are interesting in their own right, without having to have a lot of theatrical slop thrown on top of them. The tension created by a master juggler, executing a trick that exceeds the audiences expectations, can be a very powerful, dramatic moment.

- Steve