How I Learned "Rubenstein's Revenge" In 10 Minutes

Introduction

"Incredible!", you say? "Impossible!", you say? "Doubtful", you say? "Just tell us, juggler boy!", you say? "Enough with the Dan Holtzman Impression!", you say? Well, "Dan Bennett!", I think he’s funny, OK?

I have been juggling since 1980, although the first nine years I had no contact with other jugglers, and progressed no further than the basic cascade & reverse cascade with varied objects. It wasn’t until I went away to college at UC Davis that I found a group of jugglers who introduced me to all the possibilities juggling offered: Clubs, Cigar Boxes, Passing, Contact Juggling, Bounce Juggling, and Numbers. (Wow! 3 in one hand is possible???) As an exchange student in Denmark for a year, I had my first exposure to street performers, Diabolos, and an incredible performance of torches on a giraffe unicycle, which inspired me to learn all three.

I bought Beyond The Cascade when it first came out, and wondered at all the fancy-named tricks it had in it. I had just learned "Mills Mess", but the rest were all new to me. After hours of reading, I began to understand the complex scientific notation used to "simplify" and help us understand 3-ball tricks. But, even realizing where my hands were supposed to go, I couldn’t visualize what the end result looked like.

The biggest problem I have with the book is that, although it does one of the best jobs of describing tricks, it doesn’t tell you how to learn them. In 1993, I met Rick Rubenstein himself, and getting up some courage, asked him to show me "his trick". He kindly obliged me, explaining that it was really George Gillson that had named the trick for Beyond the Cascade, and he didn’t think much of the name. He proceeded to perform the trick, emphasizing the various nuances that he felt had been lost on most people who had learned it from the book. Unfortunately, they were lost on me, too. As I watched his arms twisting so unnaturally, my eyes blurred and I couldn’t concentrate or even figure out where to begin.

Forget Beyond The Cascade. Forget "Burke’s Barrage". Forget that silly preconceived notion that this trick is beyond your reach, unless your arms aren’t long enough to make cross-armed throws and catches. In that case, it is literally beyond your reach, don’t bother. Also, you should have "Mills Mess" down fairly well, first.

So how did I learn it in 10 minutes? Well, at the 1996 Isla Vista Juggling Festival, I was talking to this guy Adam about complex slam moves when another guy walked over and asked Adam to teach him "Rubenstein’s Revenge". Watching in disbelief, I told myself it couldn’t be that easy as Adam showed him these simple steps:

The 10 Minute Method:

First, hold your arms parallel in front of you, right over left, about a foot apart, with palms facing each other. (One ball in each hand) Then, making no throws, uncross your arms and re-cross them, left over right, thus moving the balls in a clockwise fashion. As your right hand comes up under your left arm, throw the ball straight up. (your right hand now remains in this crossed position until the end of this move) Continue the clockwise motion of your left hand moving under the thrown ball and back over the top of it. At this point, throw the ball in your left hand as you would in the second throw of "Mill’s Mess", and claw the first ball. Catch the second ball in your right hand, leaving your hands crossed, left over right.

There, you have just made two throws and two catches, you’re halfway there! Now repeat the first step, going the other way. Uncross your arms and re-cross them, moving counter-clockwise this time. As your left hand comes up under your right, throw the ball. (your left hand now remains still) Continue the counter-clockwise motion of your right hand - circling around the thrown ball and then releasing the held ball to claw the first one. Got It? It should look like this: Step One Video (178 kb)

Now repeat these two steps until you can run them together fluidly. Make it smooth Video (84 kb) It should have the same sort of "figure eight" feel to it as "Mills Mess" - with a weave and a claw tossed in for good measure. Once you get to that point, the third ball will fit in with little or no effort. Add the third ball Video (157 kb)

At least, that’s how I learned it in 10 minutes. If it’s still not clear to you, it’s because I didn’t explain it well on paper. Remember - I didn’t learn it by reading, either.

I’d be happy to show you what I mean in person. What I Mean Video (68 kb) You can find me almost every Friday at the Orange Juggler’s meeting. I’m the extremely tall guy who always has a prop in his hands and appears to be consumed by it’s power - but don’t worry, I’m just making up for a week of pushing paper, phones, and keyboards.

Or, if you must, have a look at this video of Rick Rubenstein himself. He's doing the trick he was named after. (or was it the other way around?) Actually, Rick says he's not a good example, because he doesn't do it quite right. Honest!

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