History of the club?
Jake Darrow tried starting a juggling club in 2005 by himself with no luck for many months. That was until he learned that a friend of his sister’s knew a juggler named Joe. Joe had a brother, Ben, who had been juggling (passing) for years as amateurs. The three of them joined & started doing local festivals to try and garner interest in the club which met at a local YMCA center. Through one of these festivals, the group met the mother of Casey who would become a key member of the club. We secured a good time to meet and thanks to the YMCA and the general public, word of our club spread. Also, some local TV remotes promoting our club helped get the word out. The publicity reinforced that our club had some talent to offer and that experienced jugglers could learn some things as well. From there, we met some very good jugglers in the area and we soon learned that the Green Bay area has A LOT of talent. Our problem has always been getting these key people to consistently come on a regular basis.
Describe what your juggling space is like?
We juggle in a multipurpose room at one of the Green Bay YMCA facilities. We use the space for free (even those without memberships) in exchange for teaching Y members who are interested. We also juggle at an annual Y event called “Healthy Kids Day” as part of the trade.
How many "regulars" do you have at your club?
We have about 7 or 8 regulars, depending on the time of year. Plus there are always a few Y kids that show up to juggle or try out the diabolos. They love those things.
What is the age range of your Juggling Club participants?
Most of our regulars are adults, age 21 to 50, while a couple are kids/teens. The kids who attend that are at the Y with their families are typically middle-school age.
Who was the last traveling juggler to stop through?
The last “traveling” juggler was Doug Sayers who stopped by a few years ago when he was working on Cirque du Soleil’s Saltimbanco promotional tour. We promoted that Cirque was going to be at Club and we had almost 100 people show up for our meeting that night, mostly non-jugglers who were curious. Other jugglers who we know from the Green Bay area who don’t normally come to Club also came out of the woodwork for that. Go Doug!
Clubs or balls?
We focus on clubs for the most part.
What brand of clubs do people juggle mostly?
Are you just jugglers or are other circus arts practiced?
Most attendees stick to juggling, diabolos and a little unicycling. There is interest in other circus arts but no one is trained.
Do you have any performers at your club?
No regular performers attend our club. The regular attendees are pretty much hobbyists. Some of us will do strolling gigs, demos, or workshops on occasion. We’ve found that most of the juggling performers from our area don’t actually come to Club. They know about it but for whatever reason, they don’t show up.
Are the non-performers content with not performing or do they aspire to perform?
Content
What professional jugglers do people at your club admire?
Jake Darrow has always admired “Bobby May”. He was the first ‘advanced’ juggler that Jake saw and it opened up some new possibilities for him to explore with his own juggling. This was before the internet and was actually seen in a video tape checked out from the library. “Bobby May, or he May not”.
What is the mode of transportation for your jugglers to arrive at juggling club?
Most jugglers arrive to Club by car. The rest arrive by car, and then ride their unicycle through the parking lot and into the building.
What's the weirdest thing that has happened during juggling club?
Silver actually threw a decent pass with clubs! :D
Is there a club consensus on the World Juggling Federation?
The two main organizers have very different views on the WJF:
Casey Rentmeester’s view:
Casey has been to several WJF events and has worked for Jason at a few of them. He thinks it is great that the WJF promotes the technical aspect in juggling which is necessary in any form of the skill. By holding competitions and judging juggling as a sport, it creates a whole new perspective on it. The stereotype that “all jugglers are clowns and belong in the circus” is absurd to Casey and he likes that the WJF works to expand people’s perspectives on that belief.
Jake Darrow’s view:
The WJF takes my hobby, my fun stress-relieving hobby, and turns it into a sport with deductions and then adds siteswap to it. I grew up with the IJA which promoted the fun along with the skill of juggling. The performance / showmanship was the focus, not that I have to stand like ‘this,’ and if not, it is a deduction; I have to do this trick this way because that is the rule, etc… The overall goal of the WJF is commendable in trying to teach the difficulty of juggling and the skill involved in the routine but I know that trying to describe juggling to my family & friends who are not jugglers…they simply do not get it. Trying to describe a 3-count passing pattern to my parents gets blank stares of “huh?” Also, the bylaws of the WJF is controlled by one man, Jason Garfield…the profits of the WJF also go to him. I always feel like he is using my passion for juggling to make a buck by selling WJF events to ESPN whereas the IJA is made up of a committee of volunteers to try and promote juggling. The slim profits go back to their organization.
Does your club organize a festival?
Ratio of males to females?
Mostly male, maybe 90% over the history of the club.
Recent fun passing patterns you've been working on?
We have been working on 2-person 6-club 3-count tricks, plus 2-person 7-club doubles endurance.
Give a name shout-out to all of your jugglers.
Jake Darrow., Matt “Silver” Skarvan, Liz Kierin, Jay Merline, Jane Merline, James Merline, Bryce Jensen, and Casey Rentmeester. We could probably list off another 20+ decent or good jugglers who either use to come on a regular basis or only came once or twice.
Do you all hang out together outside of juggling club?
We used to in the past more than we do now.
Drunk juggling club story?
Jake only has one, from his 21st birthday (10 plus years ago)---after doing the 21 birthday shots, he tried juggling 5 balls, just to see if he could and did so for 2 minutes without a drop. Other than that we don’t really drink & juggle.