Knife Juggling Redemption

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KnifeyMcKniferson

Joined
Jun 22, 2009
Messages
71
Hey there.

The name's Josh. Some of you may remember me - though I hope not too many of you given our introduction.

A while back (maybe a year or two ago?) someone posted an early video of me doing some very basic knife tricks while attempting to do a cheesy comedy bit in one take. I responded, it got heated, and I'll not deny I was a bit of a prick in how I responded to some of you.

So, year or two later, I've come quite some way in my knifing, and I'd like to do two things:

1: Apologize for not being a perfect gentleman when first we met. If this means nothing to you, don't worry about it. But if you remember me, please accept my apology for my being an abrasive ass.

2: Part of why I was an abrasive ass is because you guys had cause to question my discipline and how seriously I took the art. I was hoping, along with my apology, maybe a few of you would change your mind.

Basically; Look at this, and tell me what you think. If you think something mean, you can go ahead and tell me that, too. I promise to grin and take it :)

[video=youtube;k4zhp3ZCpKU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4zhp3ZCpKU[/video]

So... What do you guys think?

---

PS: Sorry to the one person who messaged me since I disappeared: I didn't think I would be too well received, so I self-imposed a hiatus. To answer your question, no, I do not now, nor have I ever, played WoW. But that may be because about a decade ago I was hopelessly addicted to Everquest, and after I got clean of it, I knew not to mess around with another variant of the same drug.
 
I thought it was pretty impressive and certainly better than I can do.
 
Don't take this the wrong way but what exactly is it you're showing us? To me, it looks like you've learned to play a game of catch with knives. Is this just practice until you move on to juggling? Part of a larger side-show act?
:confused:
 
Aye, larger side show act is a good way to put it. It is a bit of a misnomer, you're right; I also "juggle," but it didn't make this video, so this is basically just a game of catch with knives.

I thought it should stand alone separate from the juggling, as it's impressive in its own right.
 
If I get a tool in my hand, say a hammer or a screw driver, I'll flip it a few times before I use it. My knife, not so much. Crazy video, and nice choice of music!
 
Allen: Ah. Duly noted, sorry; Didn't see that.

I don't actually like to use throwing knives for this kind of thing, anyway. Different design, less dramatic appeal. Less danger in the catching aspect if you use a more traditional throwing knife, though I can see how that could be seen as more of a pro than a con by most people. Obvious exceptions being throwing stars and the like: I'm not nearly stupid enough to step in front of one of those.

Biker: Thanks, yeah, I did a google search for "open source nine inch nails", and turns out there's a remix album that's just that. Mana from the skies for people looking for soundtracks.

[quick edit] I'm not saying its NOT dangerous to catch traditional throwing knives; Obviously the sturdy ones are incredibly dangerous. The "less dangerous" comment is referring to sharp surface area. A lot of the throwing knives I see used in traditional throwing acts are almost spear-tipped. If you get stuck with the spear end of one of those things, you have a bad day to say the very least.

But when I see people doing catching acts with them, it's generally one person throwing into a target like they normally would, and the person catching getting it just before it hits. Extremely controlled. That's not to say that what we're doing is wild; The person throwing has more to do with the catch being good or not than most would think. There's just a lot more variance in the throws here than we've seen elsewhere. I think it's the base of a pretty strong act.
 
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Impressive to say the least. I wouldnt be able to catch the handle on most of those throws. If these were live knives (sharp), I would be more than likely with a thumb-pinky left hand, and a missing right. Just saying.
 
Might want to slice some paper with the knives and then throw them if you want people to think they are sharp. The cutting in the video could be done with a ruler.
 
nice catches. I'm not quite sure on how well that will work on a stage though. Out of curiosity, how well are you guys at passing clubs? (I may have a couple of ideas/suggestions)
 
Thanks for the kind words. As to the sharpness, they're serrated knives, but they're not dulled. It's actually two sets - Two 8" silverstone bread knives, and two 9" offsets from a kitchen supplier whose name I've forgotten, and the stamp on the blade has long since faded. I'd actually love to know where they came from so I could order more - I'd invite the same models but sharp again.

The silverstones aren't top-quality knives - I literally bought them at a buyout box store in bulk because I needed knives that I didn't care if they broke for a long stint of practicing we did in a massive concrete warehouse - but they're more than sharp enough to take off a finger if I were to put my hand out in front and swipe down like I do at the apple... I'm just never going to do that... hah. If you watch carefully in HD, you'll see that we spin it in such a way to minimize the chances of a blade-side blow being on the sharp side. It does happen, don't get me wrong. In fact, we shot our first practice in about a year a while back, and it ended with Brody sustaining a pretty minor bleeder. Thankfully, we did get that on camera. Go ahead and watch it if you're not bothered by a little blood, and no background music. Only found where I packed two of the knives at the time, but it does show me shaking the rust off of some of the juggling bit as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqQ0jtBcMP8

I can try paper next time, but as I'm sure you all know, serrated may not quite be up to that. Especially with the offsets; That's the set I learned on about 5 years ago... in a commercial kitchen... over steel and concrete. So it would be fair to say that the offsets have been dulled by age, and the process of trial and error. The bread knives, though, are still ridiculously sharp for bread knives.

Tripton: I've been trying to talk Brody into letting me lop one off on camera for over 2 years now, seriously... He even told me once that he had one that was getting weak, and agreed to its destruction on a later date - and then he backed out! It saddens me... Maybe if we take up a petition, he'll let me sacrifice at least one to the cause!

Johnny: First, thanks. Next, I agree, wouldn't hold up on stage by itself at all. We're moving it more towards shock accents to other content. For instance, I'm gearing up on an intarweb cooking series. When someone wants to learn how to make a fantastic chicken alfredo pizza from scratch, they're going to be caught off guard by the knives used in the process suddenly flying on and off screen with seemingly wild abandon.

As for passing clubs, no clue. You sound like more of a professional than I, sir; To me, this is one of many parlor tricks. I'm a jack-off of all trades, master of few. Wouldn't be opposed to trying/learning, and in fact, I'd be very interested in any ideas you may have for me. Learning is good, I like learning. But my entertainment prospects longterm are as much comedy and infotainment as it is "watch how many carny tricks I've managed to teach myself." I tip my hat to someone who has the balls to get the specialty insurance needed to throw knives at each other with innocent bystanders present. I've done that many times, don't get me wrong... I just would have been totally screwed if I wasn't so awesome, and somehow managed to spike a spectator in the throat.

Squishware: That's so funny, I have several friends who play ultimate frisbee. Whenever they say I'm crazy for this, I poke a little fun at them back, calling this "ultimate knifing." None of them will play with us... I don't know why not...
 
Hi Mike. I get asked that a lot... The most common question from family members, for instance.

The best answer would be, I picked up some basic knife flipping tricks back when I worked as a line cook to scare waitresses. When I left there to restart my old consultancy (the guy with the dreadlocks and I are freelance marketing consultants for my firm - people usually don't expect that from the videos... or the tiedye... or the hair... or my tendency to not wear "real pants...), I offered the head chef money for the knives. He gave them to me at half what the new ones cost him, because "some asshole dinged these up, and I can't in good conscience sell them at full value, even to that asshole."

So I neurotically practiced my knifing over the years as a way to stay grounded between work.

So... I don't really know why. I just know that I do, impulsively, and it's just going to progress until I do something so cool that I don't think I can top it, or until one of the not-too-frequent, but they happen, injuries ends up doing something bad enough to make continuing seem unsavory.
 
Well like with club passing, if you are juggling with a partner, generally you throw with your right and catch with your left. I'm not sure exactly where in the Mass area you are, but if you look you can find some juggling clubs in the area that could give you some pointers/help with the act. I will say that it's still damn ballsy to use kitchen knives for juggling, most jugglers use the Dube juggling knives
JugglingKnives.jpg
Now they juggle nice, but they really don't look the look if you will. (that and at around 60 bucks a piece, I'll stick with my Imisca machetes)

If you want some advice, I think that you should talk to Ses Carny, http://www.sescarny.com/ I think that he still lives out in the Boston area but he is worth talking to, and if you get some time off, run out to Coney Island for the sideshow school.
 
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Holy sh... The evil clown of which you speak impresses me. I was reasonably sold by the creepy makeup, then I watched his demo reel.

I'm in Maryland, not Mass, but I have some friends up that way, and half a chance at picking the brain of a pro carny actually does seem worth making a road trip. Thanks for the link; Hopefully he's as personable as he is fantastically crazy.

As for the knives... Those do look interesting. Unfortunately, as you say, they also look exactly like props. Pretty awesome props, but at 60 bucks a pop, as you say, I have other knives I don't mind throwing. And if I'ma buy new ones, I can get copies of the ones I learned on for $25 a pop... If I can just find a restaurant with a catalog who will order them for me. Oh, and whatever the hell they actually are. Hold on.

Camera's dead, can't find the charger, but I do have a relatively crappy image of the knife in question.
knifeypreview.jpg

So it's a 9" serrated offset, its got a soft-grip textured handle, I don't remember the name of the company, but it's a kitchen supplier, as I got him and his brother from the line I used to work.

Does anyone have any idea what it is? Cause a dozen of these would make me a happy camper, and would make our goals of the catching world record a lot easier to approach.

[edit] Oh, and you were mentioning "throw with your right, catch with your left." We actually do practice that; Last year got quite good at throwing and catching from the left, even. We just didn't get enough time with it down before winter for muscle memory to take, turns out. This year it became pretty clear something essential didn't carry through hibernation, and throws and catches from the left have a 50/50 consistency rate on a good day.

Practice, practice, I know. We'll get it back.
 
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Ok, when I posted I forgot where Mass and MD was. (night shift will do that to you) (I also lost my original post too)

Allright, anyways, you might want to find the Lucky Daredevil Thrill show, they are out of the DC area and also run the Palace of Wonders v enue. Also I would suggest finding a juggling club in your area, they might have some really good advice for you and could possibly get you in doing some club patterns with them. (nothing like getting into a 6 person passing pattern to really see how well you can concentrate under pressure)

Also try some clubs, you can just see how things rotate better, they fly slower than a knife, and a lot easier to see. Once you get used to rotation in throws, catching is a lot easier.
 
Ack! Sorry, got sick as a dog for a week, and didn't check anything but work email.

Sani-safe, you say? I'll look them up. At this point, if I could even find something similar, I'd order a big box. We're already doing sets with two differently-weighted kinds of knives, so I can't imagine a third could really throw us off that much.

I looked up the "Lucky Daredevil Thrill show", and will try to get in touch with them. Thanks. The scary clown does look truly awesome, but DC is a lot closer than Mass.

I am not at all opposed to working with clubs, but I may try to find some and practice a bit prior to finding a juggling group - Honestly, I'm not entirely sure the passion (for lack of a better word) will transfer to more traditional juggling. I mean, I always sucked at football, baseball, basketball... Was pretty good at wrestling in high school, but any sport that involved catching generally ended badly.

Hell, just last month a friend of mine tried to teach me to throw and catch a football. It ended badly. Really, really badly.

I don't know why, but until I picked up a knife and decided it needed to flip through the air, I had practically zero success lifetime at catching anything at all... So... I'll go find me some clubs and see if that'll take? But if it's not sharp and shiny, traditionally, I have a hard time picking it out of the air.
 
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