INTRODUCTION TO XJUGGLING Technical juggling skill has reached an all time high but the hardest, most radical tricks are always done in practice long before they are ready to be performed on stage or in juggling competition. What if there was a place to exhibit these cutting edge tricks? At the X Games, the most exciting competition with the biggest tricks and the biggest risks is the Best Trick Competition. Inspired by that contest, in 2006, Ben Tolpin and Jack Kalvan coordinated the first Extreme Juggling Best Trick Competition. Forget the polished juggling routines and entertainment gimmicks. This isn't about pretty, this isn't about perfect; this is about the glory of landing THAT trick; the trick that no one's pulled off in competition or maybe ever even seen before. What would you do if you had a minute to do just one trick, drops didn't count against you, and all you have to do is pull it off once? Just once! Watch the best jugglers in the world pull off huge tricks or just crash and burn! Q&A Q: You want to make juggling like the X Games? A: We want the excitement of the X Games. In skateboarding you have your main competitions, the street and half pipe. You're given a time limit to try to put together the best run and you're judged on style, difficulty and diversity of skill. But then, at the end of the day all the skaters gather around the street course or the half pipe and the gloves come off. It's the Best Trick Competition and it's easily the most exciting competition in skating. This is where you're going to see skating at it's most raw and most pure. These are the tricks that are too difficult or too dangerous to go in any routine. The best trick is where Tony Hawk threw the first 900 in skateboarding, it's where Darrin Shapiro threw wakeboarding's first double front flip, Taig Khris threw inline skating's first double back flip. Q: How does it work? A: For each event (3 clubs, 6 balls, 4 rings ...whatever) competitors take turn on the stage with no time in between. They will have three slots of twenty seconds to pull off the biggest, baddest trick they can do. Drops don't count against you. You can try as many tricks as you want in your time, but only the best one counts. We'd rather you try something extreme and fail, than succeed at some lame trick we've all seen before. All you gotta do is pull it off once within the time limit. Judges will be considering four main factors:      Difficulty -- was this trick hard?      Crowd reaction -- did it wow the audience?      Creativity -- have we seen this before?      Style -- did it look cool? This isn't artistic juggling. This isn't sport juggling. This is rock star juggling. The crowd is going to be screaming for someone, will it be you? Q: What's "extreme" about juggling? Is it juggling something dangerous or doing stunts? A: No. Juggling chainsaws is extreme, but this competition is not about gimmicks. It's about skill and creativity, and pushing the envelope. It's all about the tricks. And the time limit means there's no time to waste. You just gotta do what you think will win. You'll get excitement, emotion and drama. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, all in short, fast paced competitions. This i a fun competition where jugglers on the cutting edge can shine. What's "extreme" is the skill, risk, and creativity you'll see in this competition. Q: Why does the world need another juggling competition? This is getting ridiculous! A: What's ridiculous is limiting self expression. We think this will speak to plenty of jugglers and that this competition will really push the envelope. The WJF got some exposure for juggling on ESPN2. We want to add to what we feel is still missing; more action, emotion, and the drama of competitors going balls to the wall and risking everything. Traditionally, jugglers in competitions have had to play it safe so they don't drop and embarrass themselves. The problem is that then most of the jugglers have this relaxed, in-control, play-it-safe style, which leads to the non-juggling public not appreciating how difficult it really is. Most non-jugglers can only judge how hard it is by what you are juggling (like something dangerous) or how hard you make it look. Anything else averages out as mildly interesting. The excitement comes from seeing a juggler barely pull it off, or struggling to get control. Q: Is XJuggling a new juggling convention? A: No. The IJA Festival has providing the venue for the first competitions. In the future, other organizations may also host this competition. Q: Is this some kind of a joke? A: Do I look like I'm laughing?