The 2009 Berkeley Juggling and Unicycling Festival
that's not a moon, it's a juggling festival
When
- Friday, September 18th 5pm to midnight
- Saturday, September 19th 9am to midnight
- Sunday, September 20th 9am to 5pm
Where
Berkeley High School
1980 Allston Way
Berkeley, CA
Greetings! The 2009 Berkeley Juggling and Unicycling Festival is nearly here, and we hope you can join us for our most exciting festival yet.
We have a new, larger venue, later hours, a show packed full of talent and, best of all, you! Whatever your game and however well you play -- whether you're just throwing that thrilling first beanbag or working on throw seventeen in a 5-ball Mills Mess, learning to pass or practicing 8-club three count, jumping downed trees or tottering along a wall on your girlfriend's unicycle -- the Berkeley Juggling and Unicycling Festival is the place to be. Meet some of the best jugglers and unicyclists on the West Coast and watch in awe as they ply their craft. Pass along the joy and teach someone a new trick. And if you're lucky enough to be just starting your journey with the circus arts, you couldn't find a better place to pick up the basics. Read on, and join us September 18th at Berkeley High School to kick it all off...
Locations, Maps and Transportation
i can take you as far as tashi station...
As you may have heard, we had some last-minute hiccups with our venue this year. Never fear! The variety show will maintain its traditional stage at King Jr High School, but we managed to secure a larger, more centrally located gym at Berkeley High School for daily juggling, unicycling and general fun. This relocation, though undoubtably an inconvenience for those of you accustomed to driving straight to King, means that we can finally keep the gym open until midnight on Friday and Saturday!
In addition to the extra space and late hours, our new location puts us closer to downtown Berkeley with it's pleathora of shops and restaurants, and is a mere two blocks from the downtown BART station. We encourage all attendees to carpool and use public transit if at all possible. Saturday morning, Berkeley has a large Farmer's Market just across the street with great food and a public plaza for any attendees who want to sample local produce and the Bay Area sunshine.
Variety Show
great show kid, that was one in a million!
The Berkeley Festival's public variety show has become a community event, attracting over 400 attendees last year! We work hard to provide a show with a variety of acts from the full spectrum of circus arts, and this year promises to be our best ever: after a two year absence, Frank Olivier will be returning as emcee, and together we have assembled a selection of performers from the incredible pool of talent here in the Bay Area.
The show is family friendly, fun for all ages and the best entertainment value you can possibly imagine! All show proceeds go directly to funding the Berkeley Juggling and Unicycling Festival and supporting circus arts in our community. This year, we are partnering with Climate Theater to make our event even greater! Aside from arriving with your props and positive spirit, attending the show (and convincing your friends to join you!) is the best way to support our efforts.
BJUF Variety Show
When and Where and How Much?
- Saturday, September 19th at 7:30pm doors at 7:10pm
- King Jr High School, 1781 Rose St., Berkeley, CA
- $10, General Admission

Franklin Olivier developed his unique off-beat brand of humor in San Francisco's comedy clubs, and has shared the bill with Dana Carvey, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, and many others. After three years on the Broadway hit show "Sugar Babies", Olivier has a growing number of television appearances including The Tonight Show, Comic Strip Live, and shows for PBS, HBO, BBC, Disney and more. He also headlines Las Vegas, comedy and theater festivals, and performs countless corporate shows.

With a background in music and theatre, Louise began training aerial silks in 2005. She performed on both coasts with Firefly Aerial Acrobatics and taught silks and static trapeze at The New York Circus Arts Academy. She currently resides in the Santa Cruz mountains with her rockin' husband, Corbin Dunn. She can be found teaching silks classes at Gravity Arts in Santa Cruz.

Draco the Juggler (Chris Garcia) was influenced and taught under the style of Matt Hall, a Japanese teacher and amazing juggler at his school, Silver Creek High. Draco was the vice president and president of the SC Jugglers his junior and senior year. After high school he became the 2008 CA Diabolo Champion upon winning first place at the Cal State Yoyo Contest in San Francisco. He is now head organizer of the UC Santa Cruz Juggling club and head organizer of the Santa Cruz Juggling Festival.

Hang onto your hats, Ryan, the current World Freestyle Unicycle Champion, is about to blow you away with a demonstration of freestyle unicycling at the highest levels!

Michael Davis is the original comedian/juggler of the New Vaudeville. For over 25 years he has entertained audiences with his wit and skill on the television, broadway stage and countless corporate comedy shows.

This eclectic and versatile Juggling Quartet combines stunning new age club passing with creative choreography and hilarious antics in an awe inspiring new stage routine that won them the 2009 IJA Team Championships Bronze Medal.

Kaori Matsuzawa has been riding unicycles for 13 years with unmatched grace. She was a competitor and a unicycle coach in her native Japan, and is now a full-time student at a California university. Kaori has won world championships in individual free style and pairs freestyle, and has been runner-up in group freestyle. She was also featured on Dan Heaton's "Defect" DVD. Kaori occasionally teaches unicycling in different countries and states.

Jean-Paul was born in Algeria, Africa to fourth-generation circus performers (trained in the European tradition) who passed on their art to their family. At the young age of 5, he made his debut as the youngest high-wire performer in the world in London, England. This was the start of a long and distinguished career showcasing his talents in numerous European and American circuses and variety shows. In terms of his current work, he prides himself on his shows being a variety act for all age groups–sophisticated humor for the adults and sight humor for the younger set.

Noah Malone is 14 years old and has been juggling for nearly three years; moving quickly from basics with a set of gift beanbags to practicing two hours a day. Noah won a five ball best trick competition medal in 2009, and came in second place at the World Juggling Federation 2007 training camp.

Practitioners of functional, organic movement coupled with a deep mind-body awareness for fitness and fun. The Athletic Playground will be showcasing the fruits of their labor.

The Stanford Juggling Research Institute presents their latest findings from the cutting edge of geeky, scientific juggling. We'll award a special prize to audience members who draw correct casual diagrams for all the patterns SJRI juggles.

Perhaps best known for his riveting performance in a supporting role in the cult horror classic, "It's Alive", at the tender age of eleven, Dan is also a first class juggler, a crack comedian and rather inventive with a simple can of tennis balls,
Schedule and Workshops
but with the blast shield down, i can't even see... how am i supposed to free mount?
You're never too old to learn something new! No circus arts festival would be complete without an assortment of workshops, and we have something for everyone again this year, from complex passing patterns and whip cracking to mountain unicycling and good old fashion balloon tying (just don't put your local clown out of business!)
While the general festival times noted below are fixed, please understand that the workshop schedules may need to be adjusted during the festival. We generally announce workshops to the gym as they begin, but please check with the front desk throughout the day for updates. If you'd like to run a workshop, contact us and we'll work with you to find a time.
Friday, September 18th
5:00pm | Festival Grand Opening |
5:00pm - 10pm | Open juggling, passing, etc outside or in the gym |
6:00pm | Unicycle repair workshop (Tom Holub) |
6:30pm | Beginners Juggling and Unicycling (props provided) |
7:00pm | Unicycle Basketball demonstration and pickup games in the gym |
8:00pm | Juggling master class (Jason Garfield) |
10:00pm | RENEGADE SHOW! (contact us to perform) |
12:00m | Gym closes - after hours juggling continues at the Prop Box (see front desk for address) |
Saturday, September 19th
9:00am | Festival resumes! |
9:00am - 7pm | Open juggling, passing, etc outside or in the gym |
10:00am | Big wheel unicycle rolling party to the Berkeley Marina |
10:00am | Slacklining (Dylan Fairbanks) |
10:00am | 180's, 360's and body throws (Jason Garfield) |
10:30am | Beginners Juggling and Unicycling (props provided) |
11:00am | Clubmotion: Club Wrist Traps (Johnston bros) |
11:30am | Understanding Siteswap (Jordan Campbell) |
11:30am | Beginner to Intermediate Hooping (hoops provided) (Natasha) |
12:00n | Advanced Diablo skills (Chris Garcia) |
12:00n | Unicycle Trials course opens |
1:00pm | Right and Left Handed Passing (SJRI) |
1:00pm | Mountain Unicycling basics (Tom Holub) |
1:00pm | Beginning to Intermediate Balloon Twisting (Alex Corby) |
1:30pm | Beginning Doubles Staff (Noel Yee) |
2:00pm | Movement while passing in a 3 person feed (Poetic Motion Machine) |
2:00pm | My First MUni Ride, Tilden Park (carpool/shuttle from King school) |
2:30pm | Beginners Juggling and Unicycling (props provided) |
3:00pm | Beginner/Intermediate whip crafting and cracking demo/workshop |
3:00pm | Beginning Contact Juggling: Learn the basics of balancing, rolling and isolating a ball.Beginner/Intermediate whip crafting and cracking demo/workshop |
3:30pm | Beginning Club Passing (Jordan Campbell) |
4:00pm | Club Multiplexing, beginner/intermediate, advanced topics at 4:30pm |
4:00pm | Beginning Poi and Poi Practice: Get the tips and trick that will set you on the road to technical poi. |
5:00pm | Freestyle Unicycle master class, Ryan Woessner, freestyle world champion) |
5:30pm | Club Swinging (Brian Thompson) |
7:00pm | Gym closes to prep for show |
7:30pm | VARIETY SHOW! |
9:30pm | Gym reopens after show is over |
12:00m | Gym closes - after hours juggling continues at the Prop Box (see front desk for address) |
Sunday, September 20th
9:00am | Festival resumes! |
9:00am - 5pm | Open juggling, passing, etc outside or in the gym |
10:00am | Mountain Unicycle ride, Joaquin Miller Park (carpool/shuttle from King school) |
10:00am | Clubmotion: Scissor Theory (Jeremiah Johnston) |
10:30am | Beginners Juggling and Unicycling (props provided) |
10:30am | Hoop Isolation (Brian Thompson) |
11:00am | Poi - Stops and Stalls: Learn the theory and practice of stopping your poi and add punctuation to your spinning. |
11:00am | Unicycle Trials course opens |
11:00am | Ball Spinning |
11:30am | Beginning Contact Staff (Noel Yee) |
11:30am | Beginners Hoop Dance (Jacque' Quirk) |
12:00n | Acrobalance basics (The Athletic Playground) |
12:00n | Intermediate/Advanced Club Passing and Theory (Chuck Fernald, jugglingfan.org) |
12:00n | Contact Juggling Show and Tell: Bring a ball and a trick and let's talk about whats new in CJ. |
12:00n | Beginning Partner Poi: Get started spinning poi with a partner. If you can spin a 3 beat weave and a butterfly you are ready to start doing them with a friend. Bring a friend... or we'll provide you with a new one! (Greg Maldonado and Maragaret Wommack) |
12:30pm | Top Hat manipulation and perhaps rope spinning (Larry Kluger) |
1:00pm | Juggling Competitions and Games! |
1:00pm - 4:00pm | Unicycle games, hockey, basketball, ultimate frisbee, tug-of-war, etc |
5:00pm | Festival ends - see you next year! |
Construction Zone: Learn to Juggle
you've taken your first step into a larger world
At the BJC, we firmly believe everyone can, and should, learn to juggle. Newcomers, the Construction Zone is for you! A juggling festival is the perfect place to learn how to juggle, whether the thought just came to you or you've been wanting to learn for years. We have a special area set aside that we call the Construction Zone, replete with basic props and helpful volunteers, where you can quickly move from your initial drops right into that thrilling first cascade.
Jugglers: volunteering in the Construction Zone is a great way to meet people and give back to the juggling community. Do you remember how exciting it was to get that first exchange? To finally get a cascade running? Now you can help others find the joy of juggling. Please see us at the front desk if you're interested in helping us staff the Construction Zone.
Vendors
elegant props for a more civilized age
We're lucky enough to have several vendors onsite to satisfy all your prop and equipment needs.
Serious Juggling and the WJF will be on hand throughout the weekend. Supporting our vendors is another great way to show your support for the Berkeley Festival; buy props for that new juggler in your life today!
Sponsors
help us, you're our only hope
In addition to lots of hard work by the festival organizers we owe a debt of gratitude to the Berkeley Unified School District for providing our home five years running. We would also like to give a special thank you to our non-profit sponsor Climate Theater, support them whenever you can!
Of course, none of this would be possible without you, the attendees! Y'all are the reason we put this thing on year after year, so do us a favor: have a great time and come back next year!