London Juggling Clubs
(probably more words than necessary, but there is a summary at the end, if you want to just read that)
After seeing someone ask about juggling clubs in London, I thought I'd best investigate. Maybe evaluate them with objective criteria like; venue ceiling height, friendliness, turn out, club passing opportunity, quality of the tea and biscuits, after juggle drinkage.
Monday was University College London (near Euston), the ceiling height in the portico was great, the North Cloister the next week not so tall. The outstanding thing was how friendly they were considering I hadn't met any of them before, turn out was 7 or 8, there was a variety of props being used, did some club passing, They had a large bag of props you could use and lots more stuff in a cage by the gym. There was no tea and cake, but luckily I had brought a flask of tea just in case. Another stroke of luck was the after juggling drinks were at the student union where drinks are £1 on a Monday night. #UCLJC
Tuesday could have been Spinning@, but I have been there before and found it to be one of the unfriendliest juggling clubs I have been to, maybe I had the wrong props or perhaps they don't like newcomers. The venue is quite cramped and has low ceiling, but I have read they are looking for a new venue so the space might improve. I decided I didn't want to go there again #spinningtheragfactory
Then I noticed that TWJC was the same distance away (time-wise) as Spinning@ from London so I decided to go there. I have for some reason read a lot about TWJC over the years so thought it might be interesting to visit it. There proved to be a few things missing on the TWJC website; like the fact that Tunbridge Wells Juggling Club isn't actually in Tunbridge Wells and consequently nowhere near Tunbridge Wells train station, there is no information on how to get to the club by public transport nor does it mention there is a car park accessed via Vale Road - to save you spending ages trying to find on-street parking nearby. If you were looking for faults with the website you could point out that the googlemap pointer on the site takes you the vicarage (100' away) not the hall, but as I am not looking for faults I will try not to mention that. There was a very nice TW Juggling Club sign in the hedge, which I am sure is easier to spot in daylight. Anyhow the venue is a good space, it is a friendly club, (I might have met one or two of the members before). There was club passing to be had. There was maybe half a dozen people, though they told me had I been there last week there would have been loads of people. I asked what time tea and biscuits happened and was disappointed to hear they didn't, my trusty flask of tea came to my rescue again. They had a case full of props you could use, some more fragile than others. After juggling we went to a Tunbridge Wells style pub, with delicacies such as home made jam and chutneys for sale and flowers on the tables.. #twjc
Wednesday is Oddballs Juggling Club in Camden, and they had Cake!! It may have been shop bought and yet again there was no tea, but this was a definite improvement. They had a good venue with high ceiling, about a dozen people there with various props. As well as the faces I recognised, they were friendly and there was kit you could use. Slightly unnerving was all the pins on the floor, maybe the room had been used by amateur acupuncturists or voodoo doll makers the session before. Did some very enjoyable club passing. On the way out I saw the police had taken my advice and lifted their blockade that had hindered my way to the juggling club, but no one was going for an after juggle drink. #OddballsClub
Thursday, I was tipped off there is a Juggling Club at King's College, London so I went to look it for it, not the easiest to find though the Student Union desk were very helpful. They do suffer the fate of many university societies that there venue is taken away from them at very short (if any) notice and consequently sessions get cancelled. The session is only an hour so not much chance to socialise, the venue is not huge and is upstairs. They had a turn out of maybe 10 people, many of them diabolists. Some fun club passing was made more exciting by having an open window just behind my partner, so any misbegotten clubs could find themselves falling to the road by London Bridge Station. They had a bag full of kit you could use and were planning society activities. There was no time for tea or biscuits, carrying a flask of tea was looking like being an essential part of juggling kit. Didn't appear to be any after juggling drinking happening, but I met a very good juggling friend there which was a definite bonus. #KCLCircusSkillsSociety
Friday according to some sources is Imperial Juggling Club, sadly I could not find them and the student union office closes on an evening so was of no use (I had been spoiled by the over helpful SU at Kings College). Luckily there are some museums nearby open late on Friday evening with splendidly high ceilings - sadly the security guards were not of the same opinion to the museum's appropriateness as a juggling space. They do have a café selling tea and cake, but is cheaper if you bring your own flask of tea. Considering their attitude to juggling in the museums I was not surprised to be the only person juggling there, didn't find any other jugglable kit to borrow.
I didn't go to All Saints Highgate on Sunday this time, but I have gone there the year before last, about 4 or 5 friendly jugglers, fabulous high ceiling and plenty of club passing. No tea or biscuits. #highgate
I did pop in to couple of juggling clubs on my way northwards to confirm this juggling with tea and biscuits/cake is not just a myth created by the Bristolian juggling community. And both Leeds Juggling Club (Hullabaloo) and York Juggling Club had tea, biscuits and chocolate cake (there was some discourse whether the cake was genuinely homemade)
So to summarise:
UCL: Monday Good ceiling height, very friendly, club passing, cheap after juggling drinks
TWJC: Tuesday Good space, friendly, club passing, posh after juggling drinks
Oddballs: Wednesday, good height, cake, club passing
KCL: Thursday, small space, short session, club passing
Don't try to juggle in museums or take your own tea into the café if you don't want to be asked to leave.
Highgate: Sunday, great height, club passing
If you are going juggling in London is best to take your own tea.
#londonjugglingclubs#clubreview
by Mïark, 2015-12-15 04:31:58