Mills Mess
The Mills Mess is a popular juggling pattern, typically performed with 3 balls although the number and type of object can be different. The base of this pattern is a traditional cascade, (siteswap 3), with an extra "mess" added by crossing and un-crossing arms alternatively. The effect can look like balls pursuing each other from one side to the other.
The name of this pattern is very commonly misspelled, even by jugglers, as Mill's mess.
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Modern Origin
Though any toss juggling maneuver may very well have "originated" anywhere and may have been known in antiquity, Mills Mess was reportedly invented or (possibly rediscovered) in the late 1960s or early 1970s. As the story goes, Steve Mills, after he saw a juggler in Central Park performing a one-sided version of the trick, was inspired to do a two-handed version -- which looked like a 'mess' -- hence the name.
Unlike clowns, jugglers do not typically feel a need to claim ownership of their various routines and tricks, borrowing tricks and combinations is a common practice among jugglers, with skills being 'layered on top of one another' to produce new tricks.
According to Rich Mills, the juggler Steve saw -- and filmed -- may have been Ron Lubman, doing a trick in which the left hand would only go over the right, and (quoting Rich Mills) "Steve learned Ron's trick, expanded it to both sides, and the Mills Mess was born. I don't know who gave it that name though. Maybe it should be called the double Lubman"
Variations
The trick is slightly more difficult than the traditional 3-ball cascade. While impressive by itself, it can be made to appear even more complicated by combining it with other juggling tricks, such as chops, or by including it in a routine -- or sequence of other juggling maneuvers . Though most commonly performed with balls, bean-bags or other similar objects, the pattern is adaptable to rings, clubs, torches or a variety of other juggling props.
Five-ball variants of Mills Mess as well as five-ball versions of the following variations also exist:
Boston Mess
Boston Mess is a variant of Mills Mess in which the arms similarly cross and uncross, but the balls are thrown in Columns. It is performed with 3 balls, in a Cascade pattern (Siteswap 3). this creates the appearance of four columns juggled with only three balls
The "Lubman"
In this variant -- informally dubbed the "Lubman" by Rich Mills -- only one hand goes under the other. As described above, this is the trick which inspired Steve Mills to learn the Mills Mess. As described below, in the Learning Mills Mess the easy way section. this is also the first step to learn in progressing in skill from the 3-ball cascade to Mills Mess, or the "Double Lubman"
Rubenstein's revenge
Rubenstein's revenge is a variant of the Mess, in which alternating balls are retained in the hand for an extra 2 beats, while being "swirled around" the ball which follows the 'held ball', the following ball then becomes the preceding ball -- the ball which is retained in the hand moves backward through the pattern. A video link can be found in the external links to demonstrate this maneuver. As with "Inside Out", Rubenstein's Revenge is astonishingly impressive, while being only a few short steps "up" from the 3-ball cascade.
Inside Out
When combined with chops, the Mills Mess pattern is sometimes called Inside Out, from the appearance of the trick when performed -- the chops (a downward sweep of the hand which has just caught a ball) alternate from "inside" the pattern to outside the pattern" -- making it seem almost as if the balls are juggling the hands. This version -- while only two or three increments of skill more difficult than the traditional 3-ball cascade -- can astonish even a jaded juggling afficianado.
Learning Mills Mess -- the 'easy' way
A four step method of progressing to Mills Mess from a 3-ball cascade is to begin by throwing one ball from under the opposite arm rather than over it. The next step would then be to throw the ball caught with the opposite hand (on the throw 3 beats following the "under throw" -- this is the same ball as the first 'under' ball) under the opposite arm as well. The third step is to alternately throw each succeeding ball (only one ball goes under with the other two swapping places) under the opposite hand -- in other words (describing the "under" ball's movement):
- Right hand under, left hand catch, left hand under, right hand catch, right hand under, left hand catch, left hand under, right hand catch, right hand under, left hand catch, left hand under, right hand catch, left hand catch, right hand catch... A Mills Mess 'flash' - the complete pattern (at this point all balls have returned to their starting point).
As many a juggler will tell you, "this trick is easier done than said".
The final step is to bring the pattern closer to the center, and smooth it out, by moving the arm under which the opposite arm is throwing, closer to the midline of the body. Some jugglers describe this over/under/under/over motion as "doing the Hand jive" -- a reference to the hand move made popular by dancers, dancing to 1958 Johnny Otis' hit song "Willie and the Hand Jive".
Related articles
External links
- Description and history of Mills mess (http://www.juggling.org/help/tricks/mills-mess/history.html)
- Rubenstein's Revenge variant (http://www.juggling.org/help/tricks/rubenstein.html)