Flower/Devil Sticks

[Jolly Well]

Really wanting to work my juggling this year so taking a look at my skills list and dropping some of the things I don't enjoy and picking up others I've always wanted to learn.

Diabolo spinning just isn't very fun for me anymore so passing it along to someone else. I recently passed my stilts along to another as well. Chas is getting into balloons, so thankfully I can get away from those for a while as well!

So... that leaves me some free time to work:

Juggling - ordering new clubs soon. Still deciding on brand and type I want to go with.

Devil Sticks - I know nothing about them and actually played with my first set recently. Chas wants to learn flower sticks so we're going to make a go at them together - anyone have suggestions on brand/type of sticks to buy? Pros/Cons of each if you would...

Also getting to work on clowning more since I'm downgrading my act a bit. Excited about it and have gotten some skits together. Finally enough entertainers emerging in my area to form a proper troupe/alley over the next year - with luck we'll be coai proper by next spring/summer.

So... any experienced devil/flower stick jugglers out there willing to share advice. More concerned on the initial purchase than instructional stuff, as we had some success this weekend when we were allowed to dabble with the sticks of a performer.

looking for something that has longevity - both for advanced skill and general use; but is also user friendly for learning the trade...

[Fitzwilly]

Jolly,when the time comes for you to start working on your alley, let me know if there is anything I can do, like get you the information you need. I started a COAI alley a couple of years ago and there isn't much to it, and you get some perks.

[Jolly Well]

Thanks Fitz, I'll definitely do that. Street festivals have finally peaked enough interest amongst some locals that group performances are a definite possibility. So far just an interest in prop based stuff (juggling, diabolo, etc), but a couple experienced clowns added into the mix.

I'll take the jugglers and such though, as it is a start, and they've shown an interest in clowning and magic - so it spawns hope for a legitimate alley soon.

Brenda (who joined here recently - no posts yet) has been to University of Wisconsin's clown camp for a few years now, so will bring some experience that we'll be lacking - excited about getting her on board (here and locally).

[noname]

Jolly,

The very first thing I ever learned how to juggle was devil sticks, so if you have any questions feel free. I was even, for a time, sponsored by the Devil Stick company, "Mystix" to play and sell in front of toy stores and "Dead Head" stores.

As I posted elsewhere, the thing to remember is this, start on the ground and then, once comfortable, bring it up. Hit the stix as though steering a car in a very exaggerated way. Also, the higher up you hit the middle stick the faster and more control you have. When you hit it in the middle, control suffers as does speed. Try to keep it not too close to the middle and not too far on the top and you will have a lot of control.

Again, if you have any questions, just let me know, I would be happy to assist.

[Sir Toony Van Dukes]

I never heard the devils sticks called a flower stick. I had a set when I lived in an apartment. I would try while watching TV, but never managed to do more than a basic back and forth pendulum. I stopped when I got a dog as he didn't like to let me practice.

[Jolly Well]

Flower sticks are slightly different. They have weighted tassles on each end which slows the movement. Same basic function as a devil stick, but they seem to be more newbie friendly as they tend to rotate slower.

We ordered both types: Devil sticks and Flower sticks.

The flower sticks actually arrived today so we got to play around with them; no real comparison to devil stick use yet.

[noname]

Originally Posted by Jolly Well

Flower sticks are slightly different. They have weighted tassles on each end which slows the movement. Same basic function as a devil stick, but they seem to be more newbie friendly as they tend to rotate slower.

We ordered both types: Devil sticks and Flower sticks.

The flower sticks actually arrived today so we got to play around with them; no real comparison to devil stick use yet.

Devil sticks also move faster and demand more "skill" than flower sticks. With flower sticks it is easy to "fake it" because of the grip that is normally on the sticks themselves, devil sticks are less forgiving.

[Toodle C. Doodle]

Arguably the best flower stick company is lunastix. You cannot go wrong with Lunastix. I love my set. From them, the best beginner set to buy is the Master stix. They sell more expensive sticks but those are usually meant for faster harder tricks. You can still probably do every trick possible with the master set.

The number one free place to learn new tricks is Welcome to Stixguru.com. Although he is trying to sell a product, you can't help but really appriciate a guy who gives out that many free videos of tricks you couldn't have come up with on your own.
Devil Sticks are a whole lot of fun. There really is something to what they say about them putting you into a new or different state of awarness. I hope you have fun with yours.