Talk:Danceys Devilment
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Will Graves
Start with 2 balls in each hand; throw a ball from your left (height 3), then multiplex the two balls in your right under it, so that they both arc towards the left hand but one is about 4 times as high as the other (that's the 53 in the siteswap); you catch the lower multiplexed ball in your left (so that now you have 2 in your left, 1 in your right and one coming down fast towards your left), and release it back towards the right (at height 3) BEFORE that higher multiplexed ball reaches your left; as that ball reaches your right you throw a 3 right to left, which is in fact the identical (though mirrored) throw to the one that started the whole darn thing.
The key to the timing of the trick is good separation between the multiplexed balls. The reason is that after you throw the multiplex from one hand, say your right, then go "catch first multiplexed in left then throw ball from left then catch second multiplexed in left", you have to have ample time between the two catches of the multiplexed balls. You can either get this extra time by reaching high and grabbing that 1st multiplexed ball out of the air, OR (substantially more elegant and keeps the beat, not to say less hectic and less prone to mistakes) make sure you have good separation in the multiplex throw. The original pattern's siteswap calls for the multiplexed balls to be '53', i.e. one the height of a 3 ball cascade and one the height of a 5 cascade of the same tempo (approximately 4 times as high if I'm not mistaken, at least that's what it feels like). The key to good separation (for me) is wrist action - and a lot of it. Simply flick your wrist at the moment of the multiplex release, thus imparting more momentum to the "fingers" ball than to the "palm" ball (keeping the balls somewhat separated on the hand itself also helps). You can also use your thumb and pinkie to rub against the 2nd ball as it leaves the hand - this is usually the best method for me albeit still somewhat unreliable.
After you get the throw sequence and the timing right the Devilment itself is a synch: I find it best (from a cold start) to hold 3 balls in my right hand and 1 in the left, and start with an underarm column multiplex thrown with the right under the left arm (alternatively start with 2 in each hand and precede the multiplex with a left to right height 3 throw). From here on all multiplexes will be thrown underarm and straight up (well, it does look rather better when you take the extra effort and throw the multiplex so that the lower ball is reverse cascaded towards the center, but straight up is a good enough approximation for starters). Unwind your hands and your left hand will naturally grab the lower multiplex ball on its way out; continue the movement ("rewind" your hands inthe opposite direction - now the right hand will be on top) and throw the ball you just caught reverse cascade style towards the center (you can also throw the other ball you hold in your left - though I find this rather awkward and rather get rid of the ball recently grabbed); As your left hand rushes back to the left to catch the descending higher multiplex ball, your right hand orbits the ball just thrown and you go through precisely the same hand twirl and ball exchange as in the Rubenstein Revenge (do a 2 ball Revenge, without the outside U ball, and I'm sure you'll get my meaning). As you go through that move your left, now holding two balls, arrives at your right side (arms crossed, right on top) and throws a multiplex (a straight up 5 and a reverse cascaded 3) to restart the cycle.
From a standard 4 async fountain the simplest transition (for me) into the Devilment is to miss a throw (thus having two balls in the hand that missed the throw), and in the following beat throw a crossing 3 from the other hand. From this point the infamous underarm multiplex throw will happen almost of itself.
I'd like to point out that Charlie Dancey's Encyclopedia of Ball Juggling does not completely describe the trick. Instead, it mentions that he dreamt of a 4- or 5-ball multiplexing pattern using Rubenstein's Revenge hands. I bought the book in part because I thought it'd have a description of this trick. It didn't. However, the book was well worth it anyways.
How odd! Does anyone out there know if another edition of the Encyclopedia of Ball Juggling actually describes Dancey's Devilment in detail? If not, then who invented this trick to which the name has been given?!
I have wondered this often myself. I think I'll ask Dancey himself....
Dancey responded that he did not invent the trick. He just always wanted to have an alliterative juggling pattern named after him. So he came up with the name "Dancey's Devilment", but never bothered inventing a pattern to go with it.
Later he created the story about the dream and put a "Dancey's Devilment" entry in the book. According to Dancey, several versions of "Dancey's Devilment" have been invented by different people.
Scott Dossey
In the latest edition of The Encyclopedia, Dancey writes:
"To my amazement people took this seriously and Dancey's Devilment has taken on a life on it's own. Supposedly sane jugglers all over the world argue about the exact details of the trick. If you search the internet you'll find videos of people actually doing it. Strangers have walked up to me at conventions, done weird stuff with balls and then asked me if they have got it right!
I have no idea! The fact is that I have a trick named after me, that I can't actually do! If you want to learn this trick you'll have to work it out for yourself!"
Kasper Feld
