Shake Hands Grip

The following article first appeared in the first-quarter 2007 issue of JUGGLE magazine, the official publication of the International Jugglers' Association. The publisher has kindly given permission to reproduce it here.

 

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Here are three different ways to hold a shaker cup, and some ideas on some basic manipulations you can do with these grips. Of course, you can build on these basic moves to create more intricate variations. Please don t think that these three grips are the only ways to hold a cup. Additional methods will be discussed in future Teach-Ins.

 

The most common grip is the Shake Hands grip. Reach out and imagine you are shaking hands with a shaker cup that is oriented with the mouth facing up. Your thumb is near the top of the cup while your little finger is near the bottom of the cup.

 

The basic catch with this grip is to hold the cup with the mouth up and let a second cup land and nestle inside the cup you are holding.

 

Hold the black cup in your right hand with a Shake Hands grip. Hold the white cup in your left hand with a Shake Hands grip. (see photo 1)  

Toss the white cup from your left hand so the white cup flies up and over to the black cup. The white cup spins one time while it is in the air. (see photos 2 and 3) 

Catch the white cup in the black cup. (see photo 4)

To give the audience the best view of the white cup turning in the air you should turn sideway as you perform this move.

 

Many thanks to David Aiken, The Checkerboard Guy, for modeling the shaker cups moves on this page.