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Crossed Arm Maddness

Mills Mess

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    Before you attempt Mills Mess Make sure to feel confidant with these tricks.

    Mills Mess

    This is one of the most baffling & impressive tricks to watch.
    Mills Mess is a crazy series of movements, where the juggler crosses & uncrosses his arms, while the balls chase one another through the air. Named for it's creator, Juggler Steve Mills, it's a favorite with jugglers, and audiences.

    I've heard of many different methods for a juggler to learn this move, many of them make this complicated trick feel even harder. The following description, is a fairly easy description of the trick. These instructions will get you 90% of the way to performing this very impressive juggling feat. The remaining 10% is just flair, and showmanship. If you make it through these instructions, you'll figure out the remaining 10% as you practice the trick.

    Before you begin, make sure you can perform a solid reverse cascade, and a solid juggler's tennis. These tricks are the base moves that you need to do Mills Mess.


    Before you tackle Mills Mess, you need to learn a new variation on juggler's tennis. In regular juggler's tennis, one ball is tossed back and forth over top of the other balls.

    This new variation is called "Underhand Tennis". As the name suggests, you will carry a ball underneath the other two balls, instead of throwing it over top of them.

    • When you catch the blue ball in your right hand, reach under your left arm and throw the blue ball straight up.
    • Then catch the blue ball in your left hand, and reach under your right arm, again tossing the ball straight up.
    • The remaining two balls just follow their usual pattern.
    • The Blue Ball should be making a big "U" shape, that passes under the whole juggling pattern.

    Once you can do an underhand tennis smoothly, you're ready to try Mills Mess.

    Start off by juggling a Reverse Cascade. Without stopping the reverse Cascade, add an underhand tennis to the pattern.

    • Every Throw will be an outside throw.
    • The blue Ball will make the same "U" shape, as it passes under all the other balls.
    • Once you get the hang of the pattern, slowly start to emphisis the crossing, and uncrossing of your arms. You may even find your shoulders weaving back and forth a as they follow the pattern. These movements are the finesse that makes the trick look so amazing.

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