The Strip Teaser, 3
Andrew John Conway
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He's Young, He's Hot
Vladik Miagkostoupov walked into the IJA Festival with his father Anatoli
Tuesday morning mostly unnoticed. That was before an eye-catching warmup
session that included pirouettes with five clubs, six-club flashes, a
seven-ball cascade and a clean eight-ball flash.
He left posing for pictures, signing autographs and leaving onlookers to
wonder who is this tiny kid who could steal five clubs from his father with
apparent ease.
Not bad for a kid who just graduated from fifth grade here in Las Vegas.
If you missed his stint in the gym, you can catch another glimpse of
this rising young star at tonight’s Juniors’ Competition. He’s never
competed before. Asked if he’s nervous, the 11-year-old shrugged his
shoulders. ``Kind of’’ was his unconvincing reply.
Unconvincing because he appeared perfectly at ease just before the
Juniors’ try-outs Tuesday afternoon. While this will be his maiden
competition, he’s no newcomer to performing. He’s been a substitute
performer in the ``Rocketts’’ show at the Flamingo Hilton. The production
could sign a one-year extension contract at the casino/hotel effective in
December. If so, the show’s producers want Vladik to be a permanent part of
the show.
His 8-10 minute act at the Flamingo includes juggling five lighted balls
on a freestanding ladder.
Vladik gave a puzzled look when asked about his juggling heroes.
Eventually he said he likes Wally Eastwood, another Las Vegas performer.
Vladik started juggling 4-1/2 years ago, at the age of 6-1/2, just after
his family moved to the United States from his birthplace of Russia. His
father, Anatoli, performed with the Moscow Circus for a dozen years
starting in 1980. Consequently, Vladik has been exposed to various
performers since he was 1.
He said his father didn’t push him into juggling. He doesn’t remember for
sure, but he thinks he asked his father to teach him to juggle three balls
when he was 6-1/2.
Now his father, who performs at Bally’s, also is his coach. That
arrangement ``is fun’’ Vladik says. He says Dad isn’t much of a taskmaster
``unless I’m really lazy.’’ Vladik says he practices juggling at his Las
Vegas home an average of two or three hours daily. ``If he juggles every
day for five hours, he’ll be like a robot. If you practice with
concentration, two hours is enough,’’ said Anatoli, sometimes looking to
his son - who speaks perfect English - to provide the word he is looking
for.
Though Vladik says he’s interested in being one of the world’s best
jugglers and breaking world records, Juggling isn’t his only talent.
Ultimately he may be better known for another interest: acting. He’s got a
short spot on a JC Penney commercial that’s currently airing, and earlier
this week he auditioned for a General Motors car commercial. Television
sitcoms may be one future options, father Anatoli says.
If that’s not enough, Vladik also is an acrobat who does flips, splits and
handstands, and a dancer who performs occationally with the Las Vegas Civic
Ballet.
To his father, it doesn’t matter if Vladik chooses juggling as a career.
``I want to see him as a good performer, not necessarily a juggler.
``I’m proud of him, but he shouldn’t hear all of this,’’ Anatoli said.
``He is a good performer, maybe better than me. He is very shy and quiet,
but onstage he is very different.’’
Miscellanea
+ Let's begin with the bad news, then the rest will sound better. When the
Qian Brothers agreed to perform in the IJA's Cascade of Stars Show, they
were not aware that their contact with the Tropicana "Zaji" show forbids
them for appearing in any other show. Though the Qians contacted a lawyer
to try to find away around the prohibition, they were unable to find a
resolution. Therefore, though they deeply regret it, the Qians will not be
in the show. We hope you saw their informal demonstration in the arena on
Wednesday evening.
+ Now here's some good news... The IJA Championships this evening at 6 p.m.
features a great lineup of performers. Those who survived the preliminary
round, and their order of appearance tonight are: Juniors --Kevin Byland,
Luke Jay, Casey Boehmer, Cam Fleming and Vladik Miagkostoupov. Teams --
Tripp's Fall (Reid Belstock & Dextre Tripp), Blink (Jay Gilligan, Fritz
Grobe and Morty Hansen), The Cousin Brothers (Joey and Dan Cousin), and
Trio One Over Par (Thomas Hinte, Dirk and Daniel). Individuals -- Marc
Daniels, Jay Gilligan, Arnelio Diaz, Scott Sorensen, Francoise Rochais,
John Gilkey, Jochen Schell. Judges will be Barry Bakalor, Craig Barnes,
Barry Friedman, Jon Held Kathy Howlett and Arthur Lewbel. Buses will begin
taking people to the show hall at 4:30 p.m., and the last bus will be at
5:30 p.m. There is a cash bar at the hall for early riders who want to warm
themselves up for the experience!
+ The primary IJA business yesterday was board of directors elections and
the annual General Meeting. Eight members were running for three open spots
on the board, and winners were Art Jennings (108 votes), Braidy Brown
(102) and Deena Frooman(57). Jennings and Frooman were reelected as board
members, but Brown, a retired businessman and organizer of the IJA auction,
is serving his first two-year term. Others running, but not elected,
included Walter Szeezil (55), John Phipps (42), Andrew Conway (36), David
Cain (29) and Michael John (8).
+ The Teaser has obtained an early copy of the "Juggling" entry page from
the new hardcover edition of the Guinness Book, which will appear in
October. Featured prominently on the page in a sidebar story titled,
"Hurdle to Heaven?" is IJA joggler Rev. Mike Hout, who Guinness proclaims
as the world record holder for the 110-meter joggled high hurdles (18.9
sec.) The juggling section begins a new paragraph which explains the
difference between a flash and a juggle, and explains that Enrico
Rastelli's eight plate record is unproven, but historically accepted. The
rest of the records listed are: 12 rings flashed - Albert Lucas & Anthony
Gatto; 8 clubs flashed - Anthony Gatto; 11 balls flashed - Bruce Sarafian;
10 balls bounced - Tim Nolan; 8 plates flashed - Enrico Rastelli & Albert
Lucas; 7 torches - Anthony Gatto; 5 club duration - Anthony Gatto; 3 object
duration - Terry Cole (11 hr, 4 min); 5 balls inverted - Bobby May; and
joggling records held by Owen Morse, Kirk Swenson, Ashrita Furman, Tuey
Wilson, John Wee and Bill Gillen.
+ Life Member Tim Challis (Zoobie the Clown) may have traveled the furthest
to attend the festival, coming from his job as a computer teacher at the
American School in Kuwait. Even more remarkable is that this is the first
festival Tim has attended since joining the organization in 1978. "They've
always been here and I've been there, or me there and they here," he
explained. A former resident of Phoenix, where he performed with Frank
Sandler (Krankie the Clown), Timand his family have traveled the world
since 1984 teaching about computers in international schools in Indonesia,
Kenya, Saudi Arabia and now Kuwait. He doesn't perform much anymore, but
organizes a lunchtime juggling group in all his schools, and invariably
organizes its members to produce a year-end show for parents.
+ We bid a fond adieu to propmaker Todd Smith, who was forced to leave the
festival on a Tuesday morning plane back to his home in Cleveland to attend
to the imminent birth of his first child, a son that he and his wife,
Catherine, are naming Walker.
+ Don't forget to use your "Rastelli Buck" to vote in the People's Choice
competition. Write on the back of the buck the festival registrant who you
think most deserves an award, who gave you the biggest thrill. Your vote
must be filed by 4 p.m. Thursday. Look for the ballot box at the
registration table, and look for the winner of the award to be announced
Thursday night. Trophy creator Russ O''Brien from the Rubber City Jugglers
has created another top hat, but given it a Las Vegas feel with a few gaudy
baubles attached.
+ Extroverts will not want to miss the "show and tell" session at 4:30
Thursday. Boppo will direct participants in presenting their best
andcraziest single trick. Similar sessions have proved wildly popular at
Portland Juggling Festivals, but this is the first time it has been
imported into the IJA arena. See Boppo or Stuart Celarier for
clarifications.
+ There will be a defenestration workshop Thursday at midnight on the top
floor of the north tower. No prior experience possible. (Go look it up!)
+ Among those regrettably absent from this year's festival is Bob
Nickerson, who called Tuesday morning to send his regrets. This is the
first annual festival that Nickerson has missed since 1979. We are all
poorer to not hear the sound of bouncing basketballs this year... aren't
we?!
+ Wish a special happy birthday to Chad Patz today on the occasion of his
eighth. What's remarkable is that Chad has celebrated every one of his
birthdays at an IJA festival since the day he was born. Well, actually, his
seventh birthday happened a month before the Burlington Festival, but that
was the IJA's fault for moving the fest date into August. He and the other
six members of the Patz family have attended all of the last eight
festivals. They repeat a mantra in the car on their festival trips to help
Chad remember his heritage: "One in Denver, two in Baltimore, three in LA,
four in St. Louis, five in Montreal, six in Fargo, seven in Burlington and
eight in Las Vegas..." The day itself is usually celebrated with a couple
of small presents and an ice cream sandwich, but Chad hosts a more
traditional "unbirthday" party after the family gets back home. This is
also a landmark fest for Chad because he made his Renegade stage debut
here. With able assistance from the Butterfly Man, Chad did three and four
balls, three clubs, and a five ball flash on the first try Monday night.
+ Among those at the convention are four members of the Boehmer Family
Jugglers -- mom and dad Larry and Judy as well as children Casey and baby
Elizabeth. The other eight children stayed home! Casey, who was featured in
the Spring issue of Juggler's World (and will be featured in the coming
October issue of "National Geographic World"), will appear in the Juniors
Championships, but look for all dozen Boehmers to enter the Teams
Championships next year in Rapid City. Besides presenting the largest team
ever on an IJA competition stage, they may be among the most experienced.
The family presents 150 shows a year in the midwest, traveling to
engagements in their 12-passenger van. The 45-minute show involves
everyone, even the youngest, in group routines and solo spots.
Eight-month-old Elizabeth stands in Judy's hand, three-year-old Rebecca
stands on one lege in Judy's hand while balancing a pound puppy on her
head, and five-year-old Austin is already juggling thre balls. "We try to
present a family show," said Judy. "Everyone tells us afterward how nice it
is to see a family working together with everyone involved." The show also
includes a five-person club passing routine, gymnastics, unicycle riding,
balancing and globe walking. All dozen Boehmers are on stage for the
finale. They've been juggling as a family for four years, but never
dreamed where it would all lead when Larry, who works as a station
supervisor for Shell Pipeline Co., taught himself to juggle. It's
practically a business now, with Casey and eldest son Adam (20) receiving
pay for overseeing the practice sessions of all his brothers and sisters.
Everyone practices every day in the special juggling room of their five
bedroom, three story Victorian house in Jerseyville, Ill. They also join
the Wednesday meetings of the St. Louis Juggling Club when they can.
+ The IJA conducted another marathon auction yesterday. Auctioneers Braidy
Brown and Mark Allen (and their able crew of helpers) kept the bidding
going on almost 200 items for more than three hours and raised $2,237, the
second-largest amount ever raised. The top fundraiser was Anthony Gatto's
first clubs, hand-made by his father, Nick ($375). Some of the other
high-dollar items were Art Jennings's painting of a juggler ($120), the bed
spread hand-made by Roger Montandon's wife 50 years ago ($105), a piece of
Great American Juggling Company art($72), Sergei Ignatov's jacket and green
card ($57), and a photo of JoAnne Swaim watching David Letterman juggle
($35). The IJA appreciates the support of those who purchased items, and
all the volunteers who made the event successful. All proceeds from
festival auctions are designated for preservation of the IJA archives.
+ The drawing for the Alice Scott Morris full-color etching of a jester
doing five torches on a tightrope will be held Thursday night at
intermission of the Cascade of Stars show. Tickets are $1 and can be
purchased at the affiliates table, where you can also view the prize. The
etching (#176 of 350) has a $50 value. All proceeds help defray expenses
for the affiliate camping trip this weekend.
Betting Line
The Odds Are...
Minuscule that the State Gaming Commission will shut down the dice stacking
workshop.
A lead pipe cinch that the city vice squad shuts down the Renegade stacking
workshop.
5-2 that the city doesn't actually have a vice squad.
300-1 against the Hacienda allowing swimming in the pool after 6 p.m.
10-1 some juggler will swim in the pool after 6 p.m. anyway.
6-1 Boppo will turn today's Keno combination into a siteswap.
50-1 Mike Goudeau never eats apples off stage.
Infinitely small that Club Renegade will replace Seigfried & Roy when their
contract expires.
2-1 John Foss will challenge Sem & Teresa to a unicycle race up the side of
the Luxor pyramid.
10-1 Someone says "Street walkers? I said stilt walkers!"
2-1 the new Christian juggling group will call itself "The Back Crosses"
Somewhat lower a Jewish jugglers group will form and call itself "The
Passovers."
Shape Of The World
Here we are at day three, and the shape of the world is weird and unjust,
my friends. I can tell you that for certain.
What else can you say about a world where world-class performers are
relegated to children's side shows? The hot ticket last night was a free
one - (duh.) - upwards of half the audience at Dick Franco's 10:15 show at
Circus Circus were jugglers from the festival. The other half of the
audience was children and grandparents killing time while Mom and Dad
squandered their college educations. The cowered in stunned silence as the
juggling half of the audience erupted into vehement cheering, applause,
whistles, and those annoying little kazoos that were handed out Sunday
night at the banquet, bellowing for their hero.
The show was great, featuring lightning fast juggling and a performer who
knew that, just once, he wasn't a sideshow for the bored casino fringe, but
the main draw itself. Being in Vegas has shown us just how cruel the world
is to jugglers. I don't even have to mention Anthony's gig, do I? The only
hope in the pit of all this despair is Cirque. If you don't have tickets,
you should be on the standby lines tonite or regret missing it forever.
It's also a sad state of affairs if you want to make your affair legit.
This is Vegas, home of the easy wedding, but a quick survey of wedding
chapel prices by our undercover man (well, woman, actually) reported $100
hitchings. $120 if you want Elvis to sing. "I don't think I want to raise
my child in that kind of a world" she said. If you're in love and looking
for the juggler's discount, contact Mike Rossman, who turns out to be a
licensed minister in the Church Of Our Lady Of Endless Sarcasm. "Ten
bucks." Rossman said.
The only good news is on the gym front. A set of smug-looking hotel
security persons were seen to back away shaking their heads in amazement on
witnessing 40 or 50 people in the gym last night at 4 a.m. It's
heartwarming to see the hardcore getting down to the serious business of
chasing inhuman numbers as the last of the Club Renegade buzz wears off.
Keep it up, people.
What is it about jugglers and t-shirts? The coolest to be had at this fest,
in this reporter's humble opinion, are Fran Favorini's black and white
Calvin & Hobbes. Fran will let you borrow his markers and color yours in,
yielding a very spiffy t-shirt indeed. See him quick, while he's still got
a few left.
I've already been stiffed by a local. Some drunken cowboy bet me five bucks
last night that a few whisps of cloud on the horizon were a thunderstorm
brewing. Here we are today, and not a drop of rain, and Tex has
evaporated.
That doesn't stop Treasure Island from pumping mist onto folks catching
their pirates show out front. Here's another juggler-priced show that
you've only got two days left to catch. It's worth it just to say you've
been to a place that's spraying water into the air in the middle of the
desert.
Incidentally, a drive out of town will quickly illustrate that the casinos
know exactly where the money comes from. Anybody remember the oversized
TV's, lighted billboards, and endless hype at the airport? A secondary road
into town is, by comparison, bare. There was one aging neon sign, probably
from the department of commerce, saying "Welcome To Las Vegas," and that
was it. No money coming in by land from the south, I guess.
Tuesday was host to the second annual party of the rec.jugglers. Fifty or
so savage, drunken nerds of various sorts gathered in the hospitality suite
for three hours in the afternoon to find out what each other looked like,
and to scope babes at the pool from behind the glass of the spacious suite.
Andrew Conway rode shotgun over the party and kept the peace with vicious
bullwhip cracks. Also, for those of you who know him, Tarim stopped by
electronically from the U.K. via endless electronic wizardry on the part of
a few of the netheads.
The best story to come out of this gathering was Masaki Nishikawa's. A
resident of Japan, he learned how to juggle solely by reading tips and
advice from jugglers on the net. If you're not wired, you should sell
everything you own, buy a Mac, and get online immediately. It's that good.
Really. Would I lie to you?
From the "Ain't That Touching" desk, two notes were found on a table in
front of the gym, scrawled on purple scarps of paper. The first read,
"These three Airflites free to anyone who will make good use of them." The
note beneath it reads "Thank you very much, they are my only set of proper
clubs. I have been using home-made ones for months." The clubs were gone.
You're in a gym full of the best people in the world, never forget that.
I've gotta stop typing, I'm getting all choked up here. Maybe I'll just go
juggle. Hey, where the hell are my Airflites???
Peace,
-McD
The Strip Teaser is reaching its zenith as a jugglefest rag, thanks to the
increasing legions of jugglers coming to its aid. The top management deeply
appreciates those who have answered the call, and reminds would-be
contributors that today is their last chance to have their name enshrined
on the masthead below. After that, the Teaser is history. If you want to be
one of us, look for the guy who's looking forward to Friday, when the
laptop goes back to the rental agency!
Personnel du Jour
Gerry Tritz Senior Gaming Correspondent
Wallace Howard Paper Boy
Bill Giduz Chief Recruiter
Tripp Holmgrain Executive Producer
Laura Sponhaltz Bathing Beauty
Jerry Martin Statistician Extraordinaire
Dan McD Op-Ed Page Editor
Kevin Brandon QuarkMaster
Doug Harris Naming Founder
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Andrew con...@bdt.com
I have a home page - http://www.bdt.com/home/conway/