- mix through to 30 second title sequence The Top 40 Favourite Jugglers of 2003 as voted by YOU!

-music fades

Hello and welcome! My name is William Williamson and over the next 30 minutes I'll be running down the top 40 Most Popular Jugglers of 2003! Find out how your favourite jugglers were rated by the latest online polling. We'll be looking at them all; from the greatest names from history, through the manic, siteswap obsessed numbers freaks of today, to the shining young stars of tomorrow.

During the rundown we'll also be casting an eye on some of the interesting personalities found outside of our top 40. In the "Jugglers Dropped" sections we'll get to see some big names that were nominated but didn't manage to get the votes needed to score in the final rankings.

Kicking off tonight's proceedings, skimming into Number...

-visual sting and V.O. "40"

Bruce Tiemann, most affectionately known as Boppo by the juggling community. He was the second person to ever flash 11 ball and was once listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for juggling 7 clubs. He is also credited as being one of the inventors of the now popular mathematical juggling notation called siteswap.

-cut to interview with title "Colin Wright - the other inventor of the now popular mathematical juggling notation called siteswap."

"Yes, you should meet Boppo! There is a reason why he is such a good juggler, it's his arms! Talk about being blessed with most helpful of an orangutang's features. I once asked him to pass me the salt at the local fish and chip shop, he didn't get up, he just reached the entire length of the restaurant and grabbed it from where he sat. Move over, Inspector Gadget!"

-visual sting and V.O. "39"

CJ Smith Junior burst into the limelight in the summer of 2003 placing second in International Jugglers' Association's Junior Championships. He beat off stiff competition from the likes of Leo James and Olga Galcheko but failed in his quest for gold.

-cut to interview with title "Donald Grant - legendary diabolo performer and author."

"Aye, aa've never heard of him! The young scallywag was probably just after the prize money anyhoo. How come noboy voted for me in this here poll? Can aa get a prize or summin?"

-visual sting and V.O. "38"

Citing bendy-armed-juggling-scoucer Dave Kelly as his main inspiration, Barak's mind boggling 3 ball tricks land him a spot in the top 40. Having mastered such feats as mills mess blind behind the back, his latest goals consist less of juggling tricks and delve into the realms of other more important life skills. He was last seen trying to tie up both of his shoelaces at the same time, one knot in each hand.

With his arms crossed.

Behind his back.

And without looking.

-visual sting and V.O. "37"

Another IJA medalist, this time from the seniors camp. Matt Hall breakdanced, juggled balls and whipped diabolos to earn a silver medal, international fame, respect and, most importantly, a cheque for $500. As one of the few senior medalists from the IJA stage competitions who isn't a professional juggler, it was the biggest gig of Matt's life. Taking a break from teaching Japan to young Californian students he trained extensively with Team Rootberry to achieve his long term goal.

-cut to interview with title "Eric Urhain - inventor of twisty armed trick Erics Extension."

"I told Matt that while he was training with Bill and Jonathan to 'accidentally' break Bill's arm. But, no, he wouldn't listen. And look where it got him! If he took my advice he would have clinched that gold medal, instead he had to endure his best friend taking it from him..."

-VT insert "Jugglers Dropped part 1"

Closely missing out on a placing in the top 40 this year was a large number of well known jugglers. Sorry, Little Paul, you didn't make the grade this time. A new website and prolific posting to rec.juggling only gets you so far. A release of a DVD of hat juggling tricks, on the hand, would do you wonders next year.

-visual sting with V.O. "36"

If you have an oversized dorito Chip and you want to know just what to do with it, Pat McGuire is your man! Dressed in a funny blue outfit he performed with the international sensation that is Cirque du Soliel, rolling balls in hypnotic patterns all over a curved piece of metal which looked strangely like... well, a dorito chip. Following his days in the Cirque he has pursued a solo performing career, winning awards at international circus competitions including the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain.

-visual sting with V.O. "35"

Following right on the heals of his one time dorito chip juggling partner comes another ex-Cirque juggler, this time in the form of Steve Ragatz. Though Steve is very well known for his juggling skills, he wound his way into the hearts of our juggling poll-takers by his constant barrages of good advice made freely and readily available online for all to read. There is nothing this man can't help you with, from 5 club backcrosses to getting comfy with the ladies by juggling a 3 ball cascade!

-cut to interview with caption "Luke Burrage - editor of the IJDb Help Database."

"For a long time I wanted to make a huge online resource where jugglers could read advice on just about everything to do with juggling. My only problem was that I didn't have much helpful to say at the time, what with the chronic drink problems and all that. Instead I stole all of Steve Ragatz's posts to rec.juggling and used them... he's not going to see this, is he?"

-visual sting with V.O. "34"

In at number 34 is one of those jugglers who can inspire you without ever having seen them. Peter Bone has never performed his juggling, he is best known for discarding all goals in life in pursuit of a single achievement. After a discussion on whether or not anyone would ever "qualify" 11 balls he set his sights on doing just that. His current personal 11 ball record has passed the official world record and stands at 18 catches! When not trying to set new world records he does anyway, seemingly by mistake he managed to flash 12 balls, becoming the forth person in the world ever to do so.

-visual sting with V.O. "33"

Jugglers of a feather seem to flock together, at 33 is another numbers juggling legend. Bruce Sarafian was the first juggler to ever flash 11 and 12 balls. With little else to do in Florida except watch rocket launches, he decided to confound NASA scientists and meteorite early warning systems by perfecting such juggling feats as the 8 ball shower. He was last spotted on the 10 o'clock news in Moscow, single handedly delivering food parcels to the International Space Station without his feet ever leaving solid ground.

-visual sting with V.O. "32"

In at 32 is the self confessed, ultimate juggling geek that is Scott Seltzer. For years this man was the only member of the IJA outside of North America, hailing, as he does, from Israel. When he isn't cataloguing his juggling video collection and throwing about his youngest family members he finds time to practice some wild tricks including 7 club juggling and 9 ball flashes. After realising numbers juggling was far too difficult to beat everyone else at, he opted instead for a completely different challenge and easily won the 3 ball juggling competition at the Israeli Juggling Convention.

-cut to interview with title "Ewan Crichton - ex-non-ex-juggler."

"I met Scott a few times, but I remember him most for causing me to crash my car while taking him to the airport. One minute we were talking about siteswaps and the next BWHAM! we crashed into parked car. It was his fault, you see, not my driving. If I wasn't driving him to the airport I would not ever have not seen that not unstationary vehicle."

-visual sting and V.O. "31"

Chris Chiappini is a young juggler from New Jersey, USA. He started juggling at the age of 10 and won the IJA junior championships at the Montreal festival in 2000. Not only is he an outstanding juggler, he is also a famous bassoon player and is in demand the world over for his soothing renditions of classic love songs.

-cut to interview with title "Mike Armstrong - current second greatest hat and cane manipulator in the UK"

"I challenge anyone to listen to Chiappini's version of Unchained Melody without at least getting a lump in their throat. And when he plays Uptown Girl... *sniff* I just... look, can you stop the camera rolling?

*sniff*

Please?"

-VT insert "Jugglers Dropped part 2"

Another juggler not to make it into the top 40 this year was none other than Charlie Dancey. The street performer and author has been a strong favourite in the past but due to not releasing any new books in the last few years he has slipped a long way. Come on Charlie, how about an update combined edition of the Encyclopaedia and Compendium?

-visual sting and V.0. "30"

Here we are, entering the top 30 for the first time, and the first juggler we meet is Ivan Pecel. Ivan is one of the most popular comedy jugglers currently performing in California but telling jokes and throwing rubber chickens isn't where all his talents lay. He is also a very accomplished technical juggler and can most recently been seen in an appropriately named video "Things You Can't Do" doing things you can't do.

-visual sting and V.0. "29"

Sean Gandini, the founding member of the Gandini Juggling Project, a name that brings many differing images to many different people. To some it conjures up memories of grand pieces of performance art, a stage full of strangely uniformed jugglers mixing dance and music with traditional circus skills to form a unique style that astounds and delights... to others it brings forth the thought "What the f*** is that guy on?"

Ever enthusiastic about juggling and life in general, Sean is a veteran performer and visionary who has worked with some of the finest international juggling talent creating ground breaking routines that are so complicated it takes a degree in maths and a PhD in particle flow dynamics to understand what is going on. Stranger still, Sean and his troop regularly perform these numbers to members of the general public who actually enjoy them.

Sean's life long ambition is to support ageing rocker Meatloaf on a world arena tour.

-visual sting and V.0. "28"

Long before there was a Sean Gandini there was a Bobby May, a great juggling innovator and one of the first ever jugglers to be filmed by cinecamera. Footage exists of Bobby May performing a 4 club routine which would be technically advanced even today... and he does the whole thing with a club balanced upside down on his head. In a continuing upside down theme, Bobby's trademark trick was to stand on his head and bounce juggle 5 balls off a drum, an unbelievable feat never performed by anyone before or since.

-cut to interview with title "Karl-Heinz Zeithen - juggling historian, speaking through a translator"

"Karl says 'I once met Bobby May and shook his hand. I was amazed at just how short he was but then realised he was kneeling on the floor. When I asked him why he showed me that he didn't actually have any legs from the knee down. Instead he had fashioned two wooden peg legs which I instantly recognised as being in the shape of juggling clubs. He informed me that the juggling clubs he used, and because he was one of the first ever club jugglers, popularised among other professional performers, were in fact false legs. Apparently wood turned false legs were the perfect shape and weight to juggle, resulting in the sleek yet bulbous shape of juggling clubs today. You can't improve on Nature, Bobby said, and so we all naturally juggle objects styled upon our own shin bones and calf muscles.

Or at least I think that is what Karl is saying..."

-visual sting and V.0. "27"

From the shape of things in the past to the shape of things to come, not many jugglers have influenced the more than Ville Valo. With video releases from Peapot Juggling showing extreme creativity with 3 balls, clubs, rings and bounce juggling, Ville has done more than his fair share of inspirational juggling. When he isn't trying to work out how to get the cigars out of cigar boxes he spends his time contemplating Zen Buddhism, the Kabala and all things Karmic. His philosophy in life, and in juggling, is to be gentle at all times, never applying too much force in any one direction without almost equal force in the opposite.

-cut to interview with title "Maksim Komaro - fellow Peapot juggler and creativity guru"

"... except for clowns. When Ville sees a clown all that good vibey karma s*** goes out the round window, I sometimes can't hold him back! Actually, sometimes I don't even try to hold him back, as all of us dislike clowns to a certain degree. But for Ville there is a kind of mad awakening in his soul and demons have to be exorcised. When he sees a clown, that is. Or a postman. For some reason he has the same reaction to postmen. Maybe it is the way they walk and whistle that does it."

-visual sting and V.0. "26"

In at 26 is Ben Jennings, the long haired 3 ball wizard of mystery. It is true that Ben is the only British juggler to ever win an IJA Gold Medal but what people don't know is that Ben is in fact the only British juggler to ever enter an IJA competition. In the future we look forward to other British jugglers upholding this 100% success record.

-VT insert "Jugglers Dropped part 3"

Luke Wilson, one half of Luka Luka and headline performer at the EJC this year didn't quite make the final cut. Even so he remains a major influence in European club juggling.

-visual sting and V.0. "25"

And finally, after the testosterone charged first 15 in our chart, we encounter our first female juggler! Cindy Marvel is without a doubt the first lady of juggling in the United States. Not only an expert club juggler, Cindy also combines ball and drum juggling in an originally titled routine called Drumball.

Her popularity was boosted this year by writing the EJC review for both the JUGGLE and KASKADE magazines.

-visual sting and V.0. "24"

In at 24 is club juggler extrordinairre, Evgeni Biljauer. Evgeni discovered juggling independently when he dropped half a dozen eggs onto the floor when he was just a young farm hand. Before the eggs hit the hard gravel of the yard he had caught the first egg, then the second in his left hand, then as the following eggs descended he threw the first ones up again... of course, all 6 eggs finally broke but the idea of juggling was sparked in his mind.

At the height of his career, Evgeni was performing effortless looking routines with 5 clubs including such tricks as 5 up pirouettes, 3 up forward rolls and backcrosses flowing seamlessly into 4 clubs and a head balance. 20 years before Anthony Gatto was juggling with 4 clubs and a ball, Evgeni was performing those same tricks twice daily, including a pirouette under 2 clubs and a bouncing ball. Living in a small farming community means Biljauer had to run home from the circus just minutes after each show to feed his father's pigs.

-visual sting and V.0. "23"

If there is one stage that produces more favourite jugglers than any other it is the IJA junior championships. In at 23 is the latest gold medalist, Jon Brady. After competing a few years ago he caught the eye of juggling coach Benji Hill. After training together extensively for two years, Jon performed an almost perfect routine in Reno, 2003. He dropped on stage just once, a sure sign of a juggler working well within their skills... and if he was performing 7 balls and 5 club pirouettes, you've got to ask where the limits of his skills reaches!

-cut to interview with title "Matt Hall - IJA championship loser, 2003"

"I'm glad he wasn't performing in the seniors category, I'd have been completely screwed. On the other hand, I'd like to see him try to perform a two diabolo hyperloop suicide whipcatch..."

-visual sting and V.0. "22"

Paul Ponce is in at 22. A technical juggler of the highest standard he, stuns audiences across America with his mastery of tricks such as 5 club backcrosses.

This year he performed in the Cascade of Stars show at the IJA festival. He closed his act by a high energy hat juggling routine, showering up to 6 over the audience.

-visual sting and V.0. "21"

Scotty Cavanaugh is a comedy juggler who does a mad trick with a chair, a bucket and tub of maggots. He tips the maggots down his shirt, then gets a member of the audience to smack him across the head with a chair until he is rendered unconscious. Laying in a pool of blood, the maggots eat the substance of his shirt as the audience sit an uncomfortable silence. Then Scotty blinks or twitches a finger, showing he is conscious once more. The audience goes wild!

A bizarre act idea but one that sells quite well on the other side of town.

-VT insert "Jugglers Dropped part 4"

Ryo Yabe, diabolo and devil stick master from Japan. Sorry.

-visual sting and V.0. "20"

Into the top 20 we go, with "Benjibot" Adam Kariotis. At the IJA championships, the year when a junior took the senior gold, Adam performed a routine which won him the junior gold, but would have beaten the best of the seniors too.

He is currently working on cruise ships, performing hack acts to audiences who are so close to death they... um... something that they don't mind him using stolen material, or something like that.

-visual sting and V.0. "19"

Finally we return from the USA to Europe for our 19th most popular juggler. German Thomas Dietz has been juggling since he was an infant and if his current skill level is anything to go by he has hardly put down his props since he started. Not only can this juggling wonder run patterns like 8 ball half showers and 7 ball cascades with ease he also enjoys performing seemingly impossible tricks for audiences across the continent.

On the Renegade stage at the European Juggling Convention, Thomas performed a short routine with 5 glowballs. The compare that night, knowing Thomas could do much better, asked him how long his 5 ball record was. The challenge was set at 30 minutes so Thomas took up position on the edge of the stage and juggled a 5 ball cascade while the rest of the show continued about him. When half an hour passed there were calls of "One hour!" from the audience so Thomas obliged. At 1 hour and 35 seconds, Thomas performed a 5 up pirouette and collapsed on stage from exhaustion.

Of the two people to ever juggle 5 balls for over an hour, one of them does it on stage. Arise Sir Thomas "One Hour" Dietz.

-cut to interview with title "Mini Mansell - Renegade stage veteran"

"I think that if we get one of those drinks containers that strap to your back with a pipe to your mouth, and rigged it up on Thomas he could sip energy drinks all the way through and next year maybe... just maybe... we can get him to go for 2 hours! That is, if we can find him when he is sober..."

-visual sting and V.0. "18"

Smooth juggling Kris Kremo comes in at number 18. Being born into a family of juggling performers gave Kris the head start he needed to become one of the most sought after juggling acts today. A legend in his own lifetime, Kris doesn't use flashy club tricks or numbers juggling to win appreciation from audiences round the world, instead he uses 3 balls, 3 hats, 3 cigar boxes and a shed-load of easy-going attitude.

-cut to interview with title "Little Paul - manic millenary manipulator"

"Kris Kremo... just a bit good!"

-visual sting and V.0. "17"

At 17 we find French juggler Denis Paumier. Denis is considered by many to be the finest in the new breed of innovative and experimental performers. Other people say he just wants to be Michael Moschen so much it hurts. No matter whose opinion you listen to there is no denying Denis' manipulation and performance skills. Whether you like grown men playing with twisty bits of plastic on stage or solid runs of 6 club juggling, Denis has it all.

Denis Paumier has also spent years developing a new juggling routine notation system that has so many different levels and functions only two other people in the world admit they understand it. And the rest of us think they are lying.

-visual sting and V.0. "16"

Beating his fellow Peapot juggler by over 10 places, Maksim Komaro enters our chart at 16. Nobody in recent years has come up with more unique ways of juggling balls and clubs than Maksim and he shows little sign of slowing down. Sharing his best creations with the world through a popular video series made him the most incorrectly pronounced juggler to date.

Maksim doesn't just make up original tricks, he performs them in original ways too. Mixing his own juggling, a partner's dancing and, quite improbably, a collection of plastic buckets he creates routines of the likes the juggling world has never seen before.

-cut to interview with title "Andy "poi-boy" Bachelor - juggling enthusiast and Peapot fanatic." v "I went to a 5 day workshop with Maksim and in the first morning we juggled for 3 hours with just 3 balls, filled with hundreds of tricks not one of us had ever seen before. I know I'm a crap juggler but all of the other students were dead good, and even they were astounded by Maksim."

-VT insert "Jugglers Dropped part 5"

Ofek Shilton, 8 year old juggler from Israel and International Juggling Orchestra conductor. Keep working on those 3 diabolo tricks and 5 clubs juggling, grow a few more inches and you'll cruise into the top spots next year, no problem.

-visual sting and V.0. "15"

One third of the mass of Team Rootberry, Jonathan Root is the diminutive partner of Bill Berry. As a team they return to the IJA championships and pick up their yearly medals and prize money.

While taking breaks from juggling at theme parks and casinos, Jonathan Root likes to breed floppy eared rabbits and runs half marathons for his favourite charity, the "Ex-Miss Rodeo America Rehabilitation Fund", which he runs from his mother's basement.

-visual sting and V.0. "14"

At 14 we find the second female juggler in our chart. Francois Rochoise is a past IJA championship gold medalist, best known for shunning clubs in favour of batons, with which she performs long runs of 6 on stage. That and stripping off half her clothes during her routine.

-cut to interview with title "Jake and Marty LaSalle - two people, not just one with a mirror."

"She is the only reason why we attend the IJA convention, and has been for the last 6 years."

-visual sting and V.0. "13"

Lucky 13 is Toby Walker. Toby was a completely unknown juggler from Wales until he appeared in the British Juggling Convention public show in 1999. He astounded the audience with amazing club juggling tricks with 3 and 4 clubs before picking up 5 with which he became a legend overnight. Tricks as long runs of backcrosses, quad spins to flats and mills mess, which most jugglers find impossible with 3 clubs, Toby performed with 5!

After appearing with the Gandini Juggling Project in the Millennium Dome for a year, Toby retired from performing and spends all his spare time pushing the boundaries of club juggling beyond what is normally considered the upper limit of human abilities.

-cut to interview with title "Sean Gandini - frizzy haired, ice-cream loving juggler."

"Toby is probably the second greatest technical club juggler in the world but the way he uses his skills to come up with tricks and combinations is unequalled. I'm currently producing a new dvd called 'Toby The Best' where you can see some of his greatest tricks for the first time and a 7 club run of over 75 catches. Not bad for a fork lift truck driver in a Tictac and Vimto factory!"

-visual sting and V.0. "12"

There is an elite group of just four men who are considered by the majority of jugglers as the all time greats. In at number 12 is the first of this celebrated quad, Sergi Ignatov.

Sergi is a veteran circus perform who is still performing now at the age of ninety seven. In his prime Sergi would perform 11 rings on stage, long runs of 7 huge stage balls and effortless 5 club routines. Now he has toned down his act to ease his ageing arms but still puts most young jugglers to shame with runs of 9 rings.

-cut to interview with title "Adrian Hopper - member of the general public."

"I was watching 'You've Been Framed', that show with 'hilarious' home video clips, and saw this juggler do about 20 rings. As he stepped forward to catch them all... he fell off the stage! What a clown!"

-visual sting and V.0. "11"

In at number 11 is another of the four best jugglers ever. Using flamenco influences, acrobatics and a hugely charismatic stage presence, Francis Brunn is one of the most exciting jugglers to ever perform. At the end of the vaudeville era of jugglers he took ball bouncing, spinning and juggling to a level previously unseen. Now, years after he stopped performing, some of Francis' individual tricks have been equalled or surpassed but nobody has come close to his precision, flamboyance and grace.

'Brunn's Impossible Trick' and 'Brunn's Combination Trick' will remain for all times as feats very few other jugglers will ever have the skill to even practice, let alone perform, establishing a long reign for Francis as one of the greatest of all time. Brunn now works as a circus show producer, still combining traditional flamenco and juggling into vibrant new performances.

-cut to interview with title "Sam "I Am" Veal - ball spinning and juggling master."

"I met Francis Brunn in his New York apartment, way after I thought he was dead. He is in fact alive and well, and he showed me the most amazing trick. Francis put an empty beer bottle over his index finger, flicked it off and caught it on his middle middle by inserting it through the hole while it spun. He continued in the same fashion all the way down his fingers and back, first time, without a drop! Forget catching heel-kicked balls on other spinning balls, that should be his Impossible Trick!"

-VT insert "Jugglers Dropped part 6"

Michael Moschen, inventor of dynamic manipulation and the real star of the film Labyrinth. So close, yet so far.

-visual sting and V.0. "10"

Now, time to take the chart into the top 10 most popular jugglers. Taking a break from the traditional legends of juggling and looking for a future big name we meet Michael Karas. Michael first caught the eye of the juggling world by publishing online a huge series of original 3 ball tricks called JuggINgSANITY. Could he keep up his good form and continue to bemuse us all with his flexing creativity muscle? The answer is yes!

Where most young jugglers are happy to try and mimic technical wizards like Anthony Gatto, and fail, Michael Karas instead looks to innovative jugglers like Maksim Komaro, and succeeds in making such original styles his own. Michael Karas has already proved himself as a master of juggling creativity and is now working on his first live performances.

-cut to interview with title "Warren and Dave - pirouetting juggling rivals."

"At last, a breath of fresh air in the otherwise stagnant young juggling scene. Karas really stands out as a future big name! Greater than Warren's and almost as large as mine."

-visual sting and V.0. "9"

Surrounded by myth and legend, Enrico Rastelli! Dead long before any modern jugglers were even born, Enrico's skills have echoed down the years to place him among the four greatest of all time and ensure his number 9 position in our chart today.

A typical Rastelli act would consist of tricks like bouncing 2 footballs on his head at once and mad combination tricks. One classic is juggling 5 plates while bouncing a ball on his head and spinning a ring on his leg... while skipping over a rope swung by two assistants.

Many other difficult juggling tricks, world firsts and records are attributed to Rastelli which will never be confirmed. Even so, while only about 10 seconds of cinematic footage of him exists today, what survives shows enough skill to add credibility to most of these claims.

Enrico died at the age of 17 when he slipped on a smashed egg, dropped in the circus ring by a clown performing before him. Though unconfirmed, this was the spark that ignited the current rift between jugglers and clowns that exists today.

-cut to interview with title "Haggis Mcleod - street performing urchin from the turn of the 20th century."

"Once, when I was training as a clown in a circus in Italy I met Enrico Rastelli. I shook his hand just before he entered the ring for that fateful last performance. Seeing the greatest juggler in the world brought low by clowns made me hang up my blue wig and throw out my red nose for ever."

-visual sting and V.0. "8"

In at number 8 is pierced and tattooed Bill Berry, the larger half of Team Rootberry. Not content with just one IJA gold medal at the Reno festival for his team performance, he also went on to win the gold for the senior's individuals and the 3 ball competition.

Bill has been well known for his 3 ball juggling prowess but won over the judges this year by swallowing a sword and juggling 5 clubs at the same time. What does the future hold for this juggler from California? What challenges can he conquer next?

-cut to interview with title "Dorothy Finnigan - world traveller and performer."

"I once heard two guys chatting. One said 'When I first saw Anthony Gatto I was really surprised at how small he is. He is tiny. I was expecting a huge, long armed juggling monster.' 'No, said the other, 'the huge, long armed juggling monster is Bill Berry.' How I laughed!"

-visual sting and V.0. "7"

Number 7 on our chart is Ben Beever, or Siteswap Ben, as he is commonly known. While many siteswap and numbers jugglers hide their skills from the world, practising only in their bedrooms, Ben has performed extensively in the UK and Europe, obtaining a cult following. By showing off huge siteswap, multiplex and numbers juggling tricks on stage, Ben has single-handedly promoted the sale of more Aerotech glowballs and Barnesy Bags than all other jugglers combined.

Ben has many world records, being the second person to ever flash 12 balls and one of the first to ever pass 17 and 18 balls. He has written extensively on siteswap notation and the mathematics of juggling and published his own book on the subject. He is now training to be a maths teacher yet continues to be an inspiration to fellow jugglers.

-cut to interview with title "Peter Bone - another numbers and siteswap juggling expert."

"Ben is the kind of juggler we all love, he doesn't do it for money or anything, he is so good at it because he had nothing better to do while at university. How cool is that? Without Ben, I'm sure there would be no other high level numbers jugglers in the UK, we just wouldn't have known that kind of thing was possible."

-visual sting and V.0. "6"

Falling just outside of the top 5 is Viktor Kee. This juggler from eastern Europe has polished his performances with a long-term residency at Cirque du Soliel. Victor doesn't juggle his way through his routine, he dances, tumbles, slides and slithers, the balls flowing over his hands and body as he does so.

The guys love him for his juggling skills, the girls love him for appearing on stage almost naked, with just a single sequin strategically placed to cover his privates. The only reason he can get away with it is that he is a really good juggler, usually closing out his routines with long runs of 7 balls. But who wants to see boring old numbers juggling when you can see a human snake contact juggling 5 balls?

-cut to interview with title "Viveca Gardiner - Yankee juggling enthusiast"

"Hmna, hmmna... *SIGH*..."

-VT insert "Jugglers Dropped part 7"

Albert Lucas, who tries so hard, bless him, fails to make it into the top 40 this year. What more can he do? Break another world record, invent a new sport or just pull his white socks further up his legs and hope for the best next year?

-visual sting and V.0. "5"

Into the top 5 most popular jugglers of 2003! Luke Burrage was first noticed by the juggling world not because of his juggling skills but because of his website. Then he got into numbers juggling and became known for such tricks as 10 and 11 ball flashes.

Over the years he started performing, mixing up skills on stage at various juggling conventions. In 2003 he managed to perform at all but one juggling convention he attended, which was quite a number, including hosting the Renegade stage at the EJC.

Never quite sure what Luke is going to do next, on or off stage, he keeps everyone on their toes while pursuing a vigorous course in self promotion. He has recently taken up acrobatics but continues to juggle, creating new tricks and routines. He is also the fifth person to ever flash 12 balls.

-cut to interview with title "Peachy and Cindy - dreadlocked jugglers from Nottingham."

"Luke Burrage? Better than Haggis!"

-visual sting and V.0. "4"

At number 4 is Jay Gilligan. Jay was introduced to the juggling world through his early interest in unicycling. He soon swapped his wheels for balls, clubs and rings.

Fast-forward to 2003 and we find a seasoned performer who tours the world entertaining and bemusing jugglers and public audiences. Nobody has ever worked out if Jay really takes himself as seriously as he'd like us to believe and his unique mix of stylised and improvised antics on stage keep everyone guessing just what this man is on. The legendary performance in Edinburgh where he walked in circles stabbing a loaf of bread with a fork has elevated him above all other jugglers in the "WTF?" rankings.

With such a distinct character and performance techniques it is almost too easy to overlook the fact that Jay Gilligan is a hugely talented technical juggler. Not many can juggle 7 rings or 6 clubs as easily as Jay, and not many other jugglers could perform an entire routine with 6 balls.

-cut to interview with title "Mini Mansell - European Juggling Association Secretary and UK representative."

"I once offered Jay a drink and he said 'No, I don't drink.' I said what about a soft drink and he said 'No, I don't drink.' Not at all, I asked? 'No, not at all. I get all the moisture I need from the food I eat...' A complete nutter, it must be said. A good juggler though, so we'll let him off. Have you seen the Peapot videos?"

-visual sting and V.0. "3"

The brother-sister team of Vova and Olga Galchenko have secured a joint place as number 3 in the most popular jugglers of 2003. After training extensively in their home country of Russia, Vova and Olga gained their first international fans at the British Juggling Convention in Whitstable in 2002. With their combined age younger than most jugglers in the audience they astounded everyone with solo and passing skills seemingly way beyond their years.

They continued to perform at various conventions in Europe while training at home even harder, videoing their progression all the time. Making these videos available online ensured they stayed in everyone's minds even when a long way from the stage.

Their club passing skills seemed to have no limit as Vova and Olga broke the world records in 9, 10 and 11 club passing. Aged just 15 and 12 years old at the time, people predicted only great things for these two, the youngest jugglers in the chart so far.

This year they journeyed to the USA for the IJA competitions and won two medals between them, bronze and silver. Then they took their skills to Europe and performed in the EJC public show. Now living and training in America, Olga is honing her 3 club combat skills while at the other end of puberty, Vova is discovering the darker side of 24 hour juggling convention halls and will surface in mid 2004, bleary eyed but ready for action.

-cut to interview with title "Thomas "One Hour" Dietz - speaking through an interpreter."

"Thomas says, 'Olga is good at combat but she won't be the greatest until she stops her habit of doing one up pirouettes to turn around, as that is her main weakness. Also she needs to work on walking in sideways circles during the early parts of the melee, this is what I do and I have yet to lose a game of combat ever.' He adds, 'Vova is beyond hope. He is now far too old to become a great combat player.'

He also said a word I don't feel comfortable translating."

-visual sting and V.0. "2"

Muscle bound Jason Garfield comes in at number two. An IJA competition favourite, this year he took a break from competing to perform his own feature length show. In it he combined technically perfect juggling, comedy and insults thrown at just about every juggler and audience member except himself.

Off stage he inspires the same jugglers who he insults and has spawned a whole generation of kids who think the ass catch is the greatest trick in the world when in fact Jason only does it to show off his toned rear end.

Many rated Jason has so highly this year for one main reason: not releasing another Kung Fu film. While his Juggling Master series was met with universal appreciation, asking his fans to sit through his dire feature film actually made a large dent in his votes, causing him to miss the top spot in the chart.

When not ranting against his arch nemesis, Benji Hill, Jason performs on cruise ships and releases videos of himself juggling harder tricks than anyone else in the world. Or almost everyone else...

-cut to interview with title "Anthony Gatto - a better technical juggler than Jason Garfield."

"Hi...um, oh yeah... Jason, you suck, I rule! Bring it, baby! Is that what you wanted me to say? Hey how come I've not appeared on this chart yet?"

-visual sting and V.0. "1"

Finally, here we are at the top spot and it's no surprise that we find Anthony Gatto the favourite in 2003. What can we say about Anthony that hasn't been said before? This year he has continued to improve and improve, refining his stage show and taking his practice sessions to yet another level.

This year he performed at the IJA festival and made a large number of videos available on his website. Also on his website he created a stir by labelling tricks so hard that only jugglers like Vova Galchenko can attempt as "easy" and re-writing the FAQ to include such answers as "Probably because I really am the best. My dad told me so."

Gatto remains untouched as the greatest technical ever and he knows it. We don't hold it against him so we give Anthony Gatto the award of "Most Popular Juggler of 2003"

-cut to interview with title "Jason Garfield - almost the most popular juggler of 2003."

"I respect Anthony's juggling skills, but not his methods. Anyone who has to sacrifice a hen each night and a cockerel every Sunday to Satan, just to keep himself at the top of their field, shouldn't be allowed to profit from their enterprises. What kind of an influence on young jugglers is Gatto if he uses the dark arts to sustain his very essence..."

-closing montage and bubble music under V.O.

And so we end our journey through the most celebrated juggling personalities of 2003. What will the results be next year? Will we have a whole new list of young jugglers attacking the placing? Will Gatto's spark burn out early? Will Luke Burrage's ego spontaneously combust? Will Olga and Vova split and go their separate ways, retreating into apparent obscurity?

Who knows, but come back next year, vote, and tune in to find out who is who in the Top 40 Most Popular Jugglers of 2004.

I hope you've enjoyed the show, my name is William Williamson, goodnight!

-mix through to end credits.