I have two great juggling videos to share: two jugglers, each great in his own way.

First: Alexander Koblikov. He is a great professional juggler, currently with the Big Apple Circus. He has a smooth evocative style with a small number of balls, starting with simple contact moves, but growing to flawless five-ball work. Then he can show off raw power with nine-ball multiplexes. A very impressive combination of both ends of the professional spectrum:

Kota Hayashi is very different. He’s an amateur juggler, performing at the International Juggler’s Association convention. He isn’t wearing any particular costume, his act has no story. He’s not a poker-faced artiste, and he only juggles three balls. He’s a good juggler, but more importantly, he just obviously loves juggling. His enthusiasm is infectious. As you watch his act, it gets a bit ridiculous. You start to think, this is silly. But really, isn’t juggling silly to begin with? Why do we throw objects around in fancy patterns? There’s no point to it, other than our own amusement. Kota’s act is a visible embodiment of the pure pleasure of mastering an absurd skill for its own sake.

Skip ahead to 1:05 where Kota starts:

And because I can’t stop watching juggling videos, here are two bonus jugglers showing two more completely different styles:

• Olivia Porter has charming Chaplinesque way of working with three balls that put her at their mercy in a baffling world.
• Tony Pezzo is insanely talented, with his own style of twisty multiplexed numbers street juggling.

Glossary:

• multiplex: throwing more than one ball at once from a hand
• numbers: juggling more than three balls
• contact: using a ball without leaving contact with your body, usually by rolling it