And talking of Show Biz - and entertainment...

And of course, many of these technicians don’t yet have the other bit – performance – where you can take essentially simple (uncomplicated, not easy!) stuff and actually entertain people!

I was juggling in Stomu Yamashta’s Red Buddha show when we got to Switzerland, and went out one evening to see Kris do this act in front of 4000 people – then had to go back and do my act. He had so much CONTACT with the audience!

Unusually enough, in this modern world of individuals, Kris got his act from his dad Bela, and if you got lucky you might have seen them doing synchronised juggling (I got stoned and I missed it , at some convention or other!) Here they do cigar boxes.

Chinese juggling acts have always depended on direct transmission of exact routines and moves, rather than what we call ‘creativity’. Both have their values. Hats and balls – all together now...

One beautiful body language tribute to W.C.Fields in there – the man who didn’t just out-juggle people, but added the CHARACTER to juggling...technique appeals to jugglers (geeks, maybe) but character and humour and contact appeals to ‘normal people’.

And, again, he did this stuff in his youth, but took one last chance (when the movies arrived) to film some highlights for posterity (that’s you and me) at the age of 54! And this they call an alcoholic. Go figure.

I stole more from this routine than from all the technicians...I had to really work hard (no DVDs, no internet, no repeat viewings) when I glimpsed these movies in specialist cinemas... If you think this stuff is easy, just try balancing a stick on your foot for a while, then kick it to the other foot, with a spin. See you in a year.