Juggling is an art that requires dexterity and agility that dates to the most ancient of times. The words juggling and juggler derive from the Middle English jogelen ("to entertain by performing tricks"), which in turn is from the Old French jangler. Juggling is a physical skill involving the manipulation of one or many objects (such as balls, clubs, or rings) at the same time, most often using one or two hands but also possible with feet, and may be practiced individually or in a group, and in the air or on the ground. The object is always to keep the items in motion, with the juggler re-launching each as it falls. Juggling is frequently practiced in combination with other circus disciplines (such as the unicycle) and comes in several flavors from basic balancing to high contact manipulation. Among the outstanding international cast is Frederich "Boul" Zipperlen from France, a creative juggler and contortionist who emerges from what looks like a giant cellophane ball to perform an act that combines dance, juggling, acrobatics and balancing, set to a jazzy beat.

He emerges in the ring from a gigantic cellophane ball and begins a beguine of dancing, juggling and balancing that dazzles the audience. He contorts his body into graceful knots while crystal balls fly from his fingers into the air. One lands on his head and moves smoothly from forehead to ear, then ear to neck, glides down his arm to the elbow's bend, then up again to a bicep bump.

Boul (his nickname in French means... you guessed it, "ball") specializes in balls. Now he juggles five, and, catching one on his neck he juggles the rest until they come to a soft landing on his back and, like neat little soldiers, march down the length of his spine. He smiles and suddenly three balls move under his leg, merging with two others into a five-ball cascade. Next, he does a knee catch and a forehead balance, his body drops into the splits and twists artfully into a neck stand with a ball spinning on a finger of each hand.

Contortions now begin in earnest. With one ball held tightly between his feet he vaults into a handstand, his feet dip in a gradual arch to his head. The ball drops to his neck while his body lowers to a resting place, chest on the ground. The crowd is suitably impressed, imagining the hours of work involved in mastering these seemingly effortless maneuvers.

A court jester moves behind him holding a hat. Boul bends backward from the waist and shoots five ping-pong balls, rapid fire, in an arc. They plop safely one after the other into the waiting bowler. It's his favorite trick. (Orrel Lanter, Juggle Magazine)