Books
Manipulative Miscellania - Reginald Bacon
US Library of congress catalogue card No. 84-50557
Covers many manipulation skills with hats, canes, plates ball spinning and all sorts of other objects. It's little hard to get hold of at the moment as some sources claim it is currently out of print. However, at the time of writing, Dube are listing it in their catalogue.
The Complete Juggler - Dave Finnegan
ISBN: 0951324020
A good introduction to the basics of many forms of juggling. It includes a chapter on almost every style of juggling that you can think of, including hat manipulation. However the tricks it covers are a little limited in scope. Not really worth buying just for the hat section, but if you know someone with a copy it's worth borrowing for a bit!
Juggling - Rudolf Dittrich : Found by Raphael Lasar
Library of Congress Catalog Card No: 63-19154
This book also appears to be out of print, and contains very little about hat manipulation. It describes the throw to head, how to expand the throw to the head so that you use two or three hats, and lastly how to juggle three hats in a shower pattern. It doesn't give a tremendous amount of detail, but is amusing mainly for it's attitude.
"Your head will catch it at a crazy angle which will go perfectly with a clown costume - if you are wearing one!" - genius!
Manual of Juggling - Max Holden : Found by Raphael Lasar
First published in 1947, last known reprint 1978 by Magic Inc. Chicago. Doesn't appear to have any catalogue number
This out of print book contains two pages of fairly vague (In some places anecdotal) descriptions of hat, cane and cigar manipulation.
Whilst it's a very interesting read (from a historical point of view) it isn't easy to get hold of (Try www.alibris.com and www.ebay.com for copies) and doesn't contain anything about hat, cane and cigar manipulation that isn't better covered in Manipulative Miscellania.
However, it is one of the very few books that contain any information at all about hat spinning, which appears to be a reprint of an article from "The Jugglers Bulletin".
Videos
Urban TUMBLE
This excelent DVD from "Dan the Hat" has now been released! Filmed on location in the UK (Brighton, Exeter and London) it's a very exciting video, showcasing a style of hat manipulation unique to Dan. It really is unlike anything else listed here!
The Urban TUMBLE Trailer (11.1mb zip file) is also available which gives you a flavour of Dans style.
If you want to order a copy, email danthehatman@hotmail.com
for more information. Priced at £13.99 (£2 P+P) it's a bargain!
Hat Juggling with Andy Head
This video is quite short, with a running time of only 36 minutes, but it covers a reasonable amount of material. It starts off with a short routine from Andy, and an interview with him before moving on to the tutorial section. He covers a number of simple tricks and their variations as well as thoughts on costume, character and how to link tricks together.
Unfortunately from a tutorial point of view, it is a little lacking. There is little in the way of close-ups of grips / slow motion segments, and Andys descriptions can sometimes be a little on the vague side, leaving the viewer to try and unravel what is going on.
The video includes snippets of Andys hat routine including 1, 2 and 3 hat tricks, some lovely hat and cane work and a nose balance with an over sized baseball cap. Although unfortunately most of these are left unexplained.
Overall, it's still worth watching (If only to marvel at his haircut!) but it's no substitute for actually talking to a hat juggler.
Mr. Wiggles poppin video Vol. #3
Available from www.mrwiggleshiphop.net
This hip hop/breaking orientated video contains a section on hat moves. I haven't seen a copy but Rob Perez has, and has this to say about it...
"The hat trick section is 2 min. long but full of tricks. I really couldn't say how many because he's constantly doing some kind of trick with the hat. Throughout the tricks he uses different kinds of hats and also mixes dancing with it."
So it sounds worth a look if you ask me
