How to Roll Cigar Boxes in Juggling

The cigar box roll is a deceptively simple trick that expert jugglers can make look very dramatic. If thrown into a routine properly, this is a useful way to break up your patterns and generally catch the audience off guard. You will be spinning the entire stack around like one propeller revolution. It takes some practice, but you can have it down in no time.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Juggling cigar boxes

1. Line the boxes up horizontally, end to end like you would for any normal cigar box juggling trick, with your fingers clamping the two outer boxes.

2. Turn the boxes upward slowly, so they are balancing vertically like a column.

3. Remove your top hand and grasp the bottom box. Take your opposite hand off the bottom, as it will soon hold the other box.

4. Rotate the stack so they fall into a horizontal line again. Just before they fall into their familiar position and it appears as if the boxes might break apart, take your free hand and clamp down tight on the open box. You have just performed a slow motion version of the cigar box roll.

5. Increase the speed which you rotate the boxes and your hands clamp. Eventually, the roll should appear as one fluid motion where it seems you are defying gravity by keeping these boxes from splitting apart.

6. Use large, dramatic sweeping motions after you have learned to speed up. This gives the trick the illusion of being very difficult and on the verge of dropping even more than before. Making something easy look hard is an old trick that creates excitement and wonder with the audience.

Tips & Warnings

• Incorporate the roll into your other tricks and patterns. This can serve as a bridge between tricks or just as a way to change the pace of your routine.