Juggling, World Records

World’s Fastest 5-Ball Juggler

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Group Shot with Witnesses and Crowd after Beating the Record

Today the 5 ball Guinness World Record speed juggling record of 330 catches in one minute was beaten by a 370 catch run at the Boise State Engineering and Science Festival!

3/15/2016 update: It’s Guinness Official (link to Guinness)!

The 2 minute Youtube video of the record:

Thank you to everyone (over 500!) who came out and I hope all you kids consider pursuing STEM degrees. Thank you also to the witnesses, timekeepers, photographers and videographers: I couldn’t have done it without you (credits below)!
This was the highest pressure show I’ve ever put on. It started with the official Guinness attempt – I had runs of 315 and about 300 catches, both over 50 seconds before a drop! I finally got it after several minutes of close calls and trying to calm my nerves. I then put on a 45-minute show promoting STEM education and emphasizing  the power of setting your mind something and working hard to pursue it. Some of the content came from Carol Dweck’s “Mindset”.

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Celebrating after beating the Guinness World Record

Image Gallery Highlights

SLICE of MIT News Coverage

Thank you to all who helped with the event:

Continue reading World’s Fastest 5-Ball Juggler →

Juggling, World Records

Second World Record Attempt Scheduled

A second Guinness World Record attempt is scheduled. On Saturday, February 6th , 1 PM at the Boise State Engineering and Science Festival in the Simplot Ballroom at the Student Union Building at BSU.

World’s Fastest 5 Ball Juggler, David Rush, All Ages, 1:00pm (45 minutes) (I) – Local technology professional and juggler on the side will share his STEM story told through juggling, culminating with an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for “most juggling catches in one minute (five balls)”.  The current record is 330 catches in 1 minute (5.5 catches per second).  BSU SUB in Simplot ballroom

The festival runs all day (9-4) with over 40 cool activities for kids of all ages. Come hear an astronaut speak, build your own circuit, design a catapult and see the freezing effects of liquid nitrogen.

http://coen.boisestate.edu/STEMExploration

As this is an official Guinness attempt, it must be verified by official witnesses. A couple folks who have graciously agreed to be the official witnesses:

Matt Freeman: Executive Director, Idaho State Board of Education

George Mulhern: CEO, Cradlepoint. Former partner, Highway 12 ventures; SVP, HP

Greg Alexander: Superintendent, Garden Valley School District

Juggling, World Records

Success! Blindfold World Record Set

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Success (on the first try)! 6 minutes 34 seconds of blindfold juggling to set the Guinness World Record for blindfold juggling of 3 objects.

Group Shot with clock

Let’s get more students involved and excited about STEM education!

The attempt took place on October 2nd a little after 4PM in the Basque Block in downtown Boise at the Cradlepoint block party. The 20mph gusty wind didn’t cause too many problems .

Now I just need to submit all the official documents, video and photographic evidence and wait for the official certificate from Guinness World Records.

I may have been able to keep going but when 300 people started cheering at the world record mark on my first run I got so excited I overthrew a ball and dropped it. My arms were pretty wobbly the entire run but I was able to count catches and focus enough to keep calm until the surge of adrenaline caused all loss of fine motor control.

Cradlepoint crowd

Check out the Blindfold Juggling Guinness World Record Attempt Image Gallery.

Video and Media Coverage:

Idaho Statesman Article

Idaho Statesman Video

Boise Weekly Coverage

KTVB News Channel 7 Coverage

KTVB News 7 Interview

Full Record Attempt Video (juggling starts at 6:05)

Special thanks to the team: Continue reading Success! Blindfold World Record Set →

Juggling, World Records

First World Record Attempt Scheduled

The date is set. Next Friday, October 2nd at the Cradlepoint block party in the Basque District here in Boise, I will attempt to set the Guinness World record for “Longest Duration Juggling 3 Objects Blindfolded”. It’s my first world record attempt to promote STEM education.

The current record is 6 minutes 29 seconds .

Continue reading First World Record Attempt Scheduled →

Juggling, MIT Blogs

Starting The MIT Student Juggling Club (and getting an education)

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When folks ask me how I got in to juggling I say I learned how when I was a kid but got really into it at MIT. I called it my stress relief, and there was a lot of stress. My freshman year I was encouraged by some of the folks in the MIT juggling club (it’s the oldest continually operating drop-in juggling club in the world) to start a student club since it could have access to rooms, money, official status, etc.

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Me with Arthur Lewbel (Founder of MIT Juggling Club and professor at Boston College, left) and Darin Marriott (world-record holding juggler, right).

Continue reading Starting The MIT Student Juggling Club (and getting an education) →

Juggling, MIT Blogs

Digital Death Lab

There’s a course at MIT called 6.111 (all courses are numbered and that’s generally how students refer to them). The official title was Introduction to Digital Systems Laboratory, but if students refer to it by a name, it’s called Digital Death Lab. It is intense, as are many classes at MIT, but this one takes more time than most. For the second half of the semester students pair off to create a lab project. My partner, Chris Wilkens (now a PhD research scientist at Yahoo) and I decided to create a juggling simulator (in our great wisdom as advanced undergrads we officially titled it “Interactive Virtual Juggling Simulator“).

David demonstrates the Interactive Virtual Juggling Simulator at the course 6 project expo.
David demonstrates the Interactive Virtual Juggling Simulator at the course 6 project expo

Continue reading Digital Death Lab →

Juggling, World Records

World Record Attempt Pre-Annoucement

I have a passion for STEM Education (Science Technology Engineering and Math). I also have a passion for juggling. They may seem to be totally unrelated, and for most, they probably are; but for me, they go hand-in-hand.

I’m going to attempt to break a Guinness World Record soon to promote an event and hopefully get more people interested in STEM while having some fun and pushing myself to the limit.

Juggling

It’s Not About The Juggling

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In my spare time, I’m a juggler, entertainer, and keynote. It’s fun, it’s exercise for both the body and the brain, and I found it blends well with my passion for STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

Juggling by itself is only moderately interesting. It can hold the attention of the average person for only a minute or two unless it’s being used to tell a story. Extreme technical juggling (i.e. 9 balls or a 7 ball 7 up 360) tells a story to jugglers who know how hard it is. But for the average person, 9 balls isn’t much different than 5 and eating an apple while juggling is probably more fun since they can relate to eating an apple.

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Continue reading It’s Not About The Juggling →

Promoting STEM education through my story and juggling

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