So – you can juggle, and you’d like to pass on your skills to others. Maybe you’ve taught some friends or a family member to juggle, with varying degrees of success, or perhaps you’d like to work with young people or groups with special needs. This document is a brief guide to some of the things you might want to bear in mind before, during and after you teach a circus skills workshop. DISCLAIMER: This is based on my own personal experience, and is not meant to be a definitive guide.

Do you have the right skills?

Members of the public (non-jugglers) assume that if you are a juggler, then you can juggle anything, spin a plate and ride a unicycle, all at a high level of competence. You don’t actually need to be an expert at every skill but it’s important to have at least a basic level of competence in everything you try to teach. You should be able to pick up any of the equipment you take along for others to use and demonstrate the basic skills as well as two or three tricks – you may well find that someone who comes to your workshop can already juggle three balls and wants to learn four, for example, and it can be embarrassing to admit that you can’t actually do it yourself.

A rough list of the skills you will need is as follows. Obviously this depends on what equipment you take with you.

1. Ball juggling – basic 3-ball cascade, a few basic tricks such as ‘under the leg’, columns and tennis. You might also want to learn to demonstrate four balls even if it isn’t particularly solid.
2. Spinning plates – be able to spin them on the stick, add some speed by gently hitting the edge, transfer them onto a fingernail, and throw them up off the stick and catch them again.
3. Diabolo – starting the diabolo and getting it spinning (both right and left-handed), correcting the spin to keep the diabolo level, throwing the diabolo and catching it again, ‘over the foot’ and perhaps ‘suns’ and ‘stopovers’.
4. Devilstick – Not the easiest prop to learn, but you should at least be able to keep it going in the basic pattern and maybe flip it over so it spins more than half a turn before you catch it again.
5. Object balancing – You should be able to balance an object such as a devilstick or juggling club on the flat of your hand, on a single finger, on your foot (albeit briefly) and if possible somewhere on your face (the chin is recommended).
6. Club swinging/poi – Learn a few basic moves if you can – the current popularity of poi at festivals and concerts means that a lot of people want to learn.
7. Pole spinning – as above. Remember the safety implications.
8. Club juggling – It’s unlikely that you will have many participants who will be able to juggle clubs, but it’s nice to be able to demonstrate a basic cascade.
9. Juggling rings – a basic cascade, plus a few of the odd tricks such as spinning rings on your finger to make a pretty pattern.
10. Cigar boxes/spinning a ball on a finger/yo-yo/staff twirling – all these and any other more rare skills really depend on whether you take the equipment with you. If you can already do some moves with these props, then take them as it adds variety.
11. Unicycle – The learning curve for this is so steep that it may not be worth taking unicycles to a workshop, but if you do it’s important to know the basic principles. Safety is also an issue.
12. Strap-on stilts – Easy to teach but very time-intensive (you can really only teach one person at once) and possibly dangerous. You MUST make people wear suitable kneepads.

Do you have enough equipment?

This depends on how many people you’re teaching, obviously. One person can probably handle up to 15 students during a one or two hour workshop, so for that number of people the following list of equipment would be appropriate:

1. 50 juggling beanbags or balls. It’s good to be able to let everyone try juggling 3 balls at once. The balls can be the cheapest you like – soft square or trapezoidal beanbags are fine.
2. 5-10 spinning plates & sticks. You should also have some spare sticks (or make them from thin wooden dowel) as they invariably get broken. Use a pencil sharpener to put a blunt point on one end.
3. 5-10 diabolos & sticks. These are very popular as they are very easy to get going – however if you’re going to have to buy equipment, they are not cheap in quantity. Don’t be tempted to buy cheap, light diabolos as they make things much more difficult – if necessary buy smaller diabolos of a decent weight rather than large, light ones. Take extra string!
4. 2 or 3 devilsticks & sticks. They can be used to learn object balancing as well.
5. 1 or 2 sets (3-6) of juggling/swinging clubs.
6. 3 or 6 juggling rings
7. Anything else you’d like to teach – cigar boxes, yo-yos, unicycles etc.

A common pattern is to divide the workshop (either in terms of people or time) between ‘learning to juggle balls’ and ‘everything else’ – thus you don’t need enough of ‘everything else’ for everybody.

Make sure you have sturdy containers for the equipment – you’re invariably going to have to carry it somewhere and you need somewhere to keep it while it’s not being used. If you can fit it all in one big box that’s great. You can make separate compartments in the box for devilstick & diabolo handsticks and spinning plate sticks out of cardboard or plastic tube (the ones that contain posters are ideal). If you can get hold of a sack trolley (a L-shaped thing with wheels on the bottom) to move the heavy box(es) that’s great, otherwise don’t be embarrassed about asking for help when you get there.

If you’re taking your own equipment as well, perhaps to demonstrate something, don’t let it get mixed up with the rest – otherwise you’ll find someone using your expensive equipment and possibly damaging it, and you’ll have to explain that you have to take it away from them again, which can be problematic.

You might also want to take along some books, details of where to buy circus equipment, and details of nearby juggling clubs, for those who might want to take things further.

So what do you do?

Everyone has their own pet methods for teaching circus skills – if you have absolutely no idea, the best bet is to ask someone who has done a lot of teaching how they would do it, and then adapt this to your own skill level and attitude.

It is best to start the workshop with a brief demonstration of all the skills, perhaps with a few silly jokes and tricks. Remember the participants want to have fun – and they’ll learn quicker if they do. Explain that you’re a juggler (not a clown), perhaps tell a story about how you first learnt, and how much fun it is. It’s also sometimes useful to explain that you’re not a teacher like at school, you’re just a juggler.

Be patient and don’t get frustrated. Everyone learns at a different speed and this doesn’t affect how good they might eventually become. If someone is really getting nowhere, try taking them back a step, or try a different prop. Don’t try and force it. Be pleasant, be friendly and smile as often as you can!

Bear in mind that children under 7 don’t usually have the requisite coordination to learn juggling – you may have to explain this to parents or teachers. They may thus get frustrated and bored.

Common misconceptions and comments

1. “Don’t you have to be really coordinated to juggle?” / “I’m too clumsy to learn, I’ll never get it!” Explain that anyone can learn – and although juggling can improve your coordination you don’t need to be particularly skilful to start.

2. “My brother/mother/uncle can juggle! They do it like this!” Perhaps they can – but more likely they can ‘shower’ 2 balls, throwing from one hand only. Explain that this is juggling (don’t criticise, be positive) but that it’s really hard to juggle 3 that way (demonstrate if you like how fast a 3-ball shower is) and thus most people learn the 3-ball cascade instead.

3. “How many can you juggle?” / “What’s the world record for juggling?” / “My mate can juggle 5/13/206 at once!” Be honest. If you’re working on five but can’t do it yet, say so. The world record is (depending on who you believe, and whether you’re talking about balls, rings or clubs, or whether you believe a ‘flash’ is actually juggling) around 11 to 13 objects at once. Their mate probably can’t do what they think he/she can, but be polite and don’t criticise them. It’s even possible that they can actually do what they say.

Discipline

Strangely enough, most circus workshop participants enjoy themselves so much that they forget to mess around or cause chaos, often to the surprise of their helpers/youth workers/teacher. However, you don’t need to put up with any nonsense – you’re doing a job, as professionally as you’re able.

Try and make sure that there is someone there who knows the participants who can help with discipline if necessary – don’t let them disappear for long tea breaks. If you need to leave to use the toilet you may come back to find someone has hurt themselves or someone else or that some of your equipment has ended up on the classroom roof! You shouldn’t leave young people alone anyway for this reason. If necessary plan for regular breaks.

If your approach is laid back and relaxed, you will tend to find that the participants don’t “play up”. It really doesn’t matter if the odd diabolo hits the ceiling or beanbag is thrown under a table – however if you don’t like the look of something, say so. One thing to watch out for is ‘baseball’ with a juggling club and a ball – don’t allow this to happen – they’re meant to be juggling, not playing baseball/cricket.

If you need to have a quiet word, if possible take the culprit aside and talk to them individually. Don’t shout and above all do NOT use any kind of physical contact (even taking someone’s arm) to make a point. If a persistent offender begins to disrupt the workshop, ask them to leave as they’re spoiling it for everyone else. Again, you’re not a teacher so you don’t need to put up with it.

If you need to make an announcement to everyone, you can get their intention with a couple of loud handclaps. Try not to shout if you can – often a calm, quiet voice is more useful as people have to be quiet to hear it! Some people can develop the classic ‘teacher’s voice’ for these situations which can be very useful.

Although most of the above will only apply to young people, there can be cases where adults are just as rowdy. Remember, they asked you to come, so you can always say something if you’re feeling uncomfortable.

When clearing equipment away there are a few useful ideas:

a. Make sure you show everyone how to tie up diabolo strings after they have finished using them. Do this several times if necessary, it saves a lot of time for you later.

b. Get everyone to sit down, where they are, and then nominate some individuals to go round and collect all of a particular prop, which you can supervise.

c. Don’t let people throw everything in a huge pile into your equipment containers – try and organise it as it’s put away so next time you start with a clean slate.

Safety tips

Although most circus skills are pretty safe to learn, there are a few things to bear in mind:

a. With older participants you might want to do a 5-minute warm-up – simple things like rolling the shoulders, shrugging the shoulders, rotating the wrists and clenching and unclenching the fingers. This should help prevent any aches and pains from the repetitive nature of juggling.
b. Tell smaller children that the spinning plate sticks have points, and no-one should run around with them as they might get in someone’s eye. If someone does, don’t let them use a spinning plate.
c. Some juggling rings and plates can have sharp edges (especially when new) so watch out for this.
d. Hard plastic one-piece clubs can smack into faces. Try not to use them in workshops with younger people.
e. Don’t let anyone try to balance anything on their nose, as it may slip into the eye. Use the chin instead.
f. Stilts and unicycles have their own safety implications – talk to someone experienced in teaching these for details. If in doubt, don’t take them.
g. Bear in mind that whatever you do, some injuries will just happen. The organisation you are working for should have provisions for first aid, ask them if necessary. You might want to consider doing a first aid course yourself.
h. Don’t ever, ever do a workshop while under the influence. It can also be quite unpleasant for workshop participants if you smell of beer or cigarettes, not to mention what impression of jugglers you give out, especially to young people.

Insurance (UK only)

Some venues will require you to have valid public liability insurance (PLI) – if you’re teaching on a regular basis you may need this anyway for your own protection. There is an article at www.jugglingdb.com on PLI with full details, but the short answer is to contact the following:

Country Mutual Insurance
Huntvita House ,
32 Haygate Road ,
Wellington ,
Telford , TF1 1QT
Tel: 01952 641321
www.countrymutual.co.uk

They offer a policy of £2,000,000 cover for approximately £160 per year.

With the increasingly litigious culture in the U.K., and the proliferation of companies offering assistance (for a price) with making personal injury claims, it’s good to know that you are covered.

How much can I charge?

This will depend very much on who is paying! You certainly shouldn’t do too much (if any) work for free – you’ve taken time to learn the skills, you may have bought a lot of equipment, not to mention travel costs etc.

Try and charge something for every workshop, even if it’s just a token amount or travel expenses. Ask other people what they charge to get an idea of the current market rate (try not to undercut other people working as hard as you do). Remember if you don’t charge, then next time the organisers try and book a workshop, they won’t want to pay. Charges should rise accordingly with the time spent, but it’s common for discounts to be given for several workshops at the same venue, or on subsequent days. Every customer and situation is different, but try and be consistent. If you do a lot of work for charities or non-profits they will ask for lower prices ‘because it’s for charity’. Use your own judgement on this but bear in mind they don’t get a discount from the phone company, or the guy who hired them the bouncy castle!

Write out a proper invoice for the workshop and present it to the organisers at the end. You will need to make sure that you pay the appropriate tax and National Insurance – if you’re going to do this on a regular basis you might want to consider talking to an accountant.

Where can I learn more?

The best way to learn is by studying how other people do it. Try and help out at workshops run by someone who has been doing it for a while – you can even take notes if you like.

There are also some books that are worth reading:

“Circus in a Suitcase” – Reg Bolton ISBN: 0932720080

A great introduction to teaching circus skills from the man who more or less invented the term ‘Community Circus’. Available at juggling shops or on www.Amazon.co.uk for around £5-6. R.I.P Reg.

“The Complete Juggler” – Dave Finnigan ISBN: 0951324020

Some people like this book, some don’t – but it is a large compendium of tricks with lots of different props. Good for putting in your prop box in case people ask what else there is to learn – and your mind goes blank! Also a good section at the back about setting yourself up as a ‘professional’ juggler and teacher. Available at juggling shops or on www.Amazon.co.uk for around £10.

There is also a vast amount of information on the Internet, as well as ways of contacting other jugglers for advice about teaching.

I’m ready!

It can be incredibly rewarding teaching circus skills – you may see people develop into incredible jugglers, or you may just put a single hour of fun into people’s lives. Remember that you may be the first juggler they have met – so their impressions will be formed by how you teach them and how you appear.

There’s an old saw (reprinted in Dave Finnigan’s book) that is appropriate here. It goes something like: “Look like a hippy…act like a hippy…get paid like a hippy” – while there are plenty of nice hippies around, some of whom are great jugglers, the message is that you get back what you give out. The more professional your approach and behaviour, the more people will respect you and remember you, and the more likely they are to persist with their juggling – and you never know, one day they may teach you a trick!

Charlie Hull, 5th November 2002/revised 7th July 2006/revised 6th September 2006
www.gripcircus.com