Top 40 Jugglers of 2013 – and even more epic journey

It’s that time of year again! You know, quarter of the way through 2014, so it’s time to share the final results of last year’s Top 40 Jugglers poll (as voted by you!).

For the 2013 chart I set myself a very difficult challenge: to release one video per juggler, with me copying a trick, sequence, or section of a live show, taken from a juggling video that was released in 2013.

As I finished them, I released each video on YouTube (and post them to Facebook) and let fellow jugglers guess who I was imitating.

Could I make it through?

Yes. Click here to see each video in turn as a YouTube playlist.

I had a lot of fun making the videos, but it was a lot of work. Besides the juggling, I had to copy some mannerisms of the juggler, and often getting those right was sometimes harder than the juggling tricks themselves. Not that the juggling wasn’t fucking hard at points too.

As I went I made a side-by-side comparison edit with my impersonation/tribute/copy shown beside the original juggling video clip. After releasing all the individual clips I recorded a commentary track and released the full video. Here it is:

Which is your favourite clip?

Hardest tricks for me physically:
* 8 club passing 8-up 2-stage 720 due to having limited time to get the trick, meaning Brook and I didn’t rest much between attempts.
* 11 ball flash. I found so draining on my arms that I couldn’t manage other jugglers’ tricks.
* Nathan Bigg-Peterson’s 5 club multiplex backcrosses. I still have a lump in my lip from hitting myself in the face with a club. Also I broke not one but two bulbs for my studio lights, and they’re not cheap to replace.
* Alex Barron’s 6 ball siteswap 999333 with the second 3 behind the head. I’m just not used to throwing balls high like that after years of juggling in my 4.2 meter ceiling studio.
* 8 club multiplex. It took three days and at that point I knew I wouldn’t be able to manage the 9 club version, as I could only practice the 8 club version at home. My hands got used to the grip by the end, but it was still very draining.

Summary:

  • 3281 votes cast
  • Wes Peden won with 179 votes. Haavard Hvidsten and Tony Pezzo both got 148 votes, but due to the sorting formula, ties are broken by the juggler going up the chart the most, so Haavard got second place.
  • 17 votes needed to make it onto the chart.
  • Wes has now spent more years at number 1 than all the other number 1 jugglers combined (6 years for Wes, 5 years for all other number 1 jugglers).
  • Jason Garfield became the first former number 1 juggler to drop out of the chart.
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