Arbitrary? Capricious? You bet! Here’s part two of our “Top 10 things” of 2011!
5 Quite a catch!
At NYC’s Juggle This! Festival, Reeses made what was, perhaps, the catch of the year. You can see the whole photo set here.
4 Marcus Monroe!
Marcus Monroe’s off-Broadway show was a bit hit! Produced by Hollywood legend Lucie Arnaz, Marcus’ show combined juggling, comedy, and something called “The Knorch”.
3 Kyle Johnson’s yellow balls
Kyle Johnson put together one of the prettiest juggling videos in a while after spending the summer attending festivals in Europe. Watch below!
2 PINK SHORTS!!!
Jacob Sharpe’s Pink Shorts video brought sexy and juggling together like never before. And yes, it’s ok for men to wear pink hot pants.
1 Unicyclists are the enemy within
Did I mention this list is arbitrary? Well what could be more arbitrary than picking yourself as the number one “thing” of 2011? This year, I was featured on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report in a segment titled “Unicyclists: The Enemy Within”
It’s that time of year again. Around the world, publications everywhere are posting uninspired “Top 10” articles. What a bunch of hacks. Well, we’re no different. Dube Juggling is proud to submit our completely arbitrary list of “Top 10 Things” of 2011. This week, items 10-6.
10 Bird on ball
If anything has the power to go viral, it’s an animal doing something cute or unusual. This particular bird shows off some serious balancing skills.
9 Freestyle canoe
What’s the only thing better than an interpretive movement-based routine performed in a canoe? Doing it to Chris DeBurgh’s “Lady In Red”. Confused? Don’t be. Just click below.
8 Extreme sitting
Who says sitting is a passive activity? Part skateboard, part bar stool, the SportHocker proves that extreme sitting is the wave of the future.
7 Physics of clown cars
We’ve all seen the clown car gag, but have you ever wondered how it’s done? This article from Car and Driver explains exactly how they fit so many clowns into such a tiny car.
6 Will Ferrell juggling on The Office
If you missed Will Ferrell’s hilarious pantomimed juggling routine on NBC’s The Office, you’re out of luck. NBC removed that YouTube clip. Luckily, our friend Michael Karas stepped up to reenact this mimed juggling act with actual balls. Great work, Michael!
By Kyle Petersen
When many people think of New York City, they imagine a metropolis filled with a wide variety of performance artists and creative types. Despite the fact that the Big Apple has long been a haven for the artistically inclined, street performers (or buskers) have often been marginalized, castigated and even outlawed.
For much of the past century, buskers have been treated as a quality of life problem along the lines of panhandlers, broken windows and graffiti. In 1935, New York City issued a formal ban on street performing that existed until the 1970s. Even today, New York street performers face intimidation and harassment from the authorities and have been subjected to citations and arrest.
Unfortunately, the plight of New York street performers is not unique. Around the world, buskers face difficult circumstances. The Busking Project is an organization dedicated to promoting awareness of the benefits of street performers and advocating looser restrictions of street artists. As the organization explains:
Street performers face huge day to day challenges, from bad weather and restrictive laws to the simple mission of making enough money to survive. We’re here to give them a platform, to give encouragement to those who have just started, to help inform people about the benefits that buskers provide (and thus relax stigmas against them and, eventually, laws).
The Busking Project is currently involved in producing a documentary to raise awareness of street performers across the globe. The group has visited 40 cities in 5 continents and has recorded over 200 performers. TBP is looking to producing a “feature length documentary, a photo narrative book and continue our commitment to creating, encouraging, and supporting a global community of street performers through our website”. Unfortunately, the group is still in search of funding. You can help by visiting their Kickstarter campaign and pledging a donation of $1 or more. Below, you can see a video clip of some of their great work:
