The time to beat was 17.99 seconds. We were pretty confident we could do it. The only reason we were even close is we popped 11 balloons instead of 10. Fortunately, our timer was counting the balloons as they popped and stopped the stopwatch after 10 balloons, which was only 15.25 seconds.
The previous record holders for the fastest time to pop 10 balloons between 2 people chose to pop the balloons between their torsos with the hugging method. We thought about it but never actually practiced that method. The hip-check method proved more than effective for our liking.
For all our other throwing and catching records, the ambidextrous Loose Cannon Jonathan “Hollywood” Hannon is the thrower. I’m the juggler and I catch. The problem was I couldn’t maintain a full minute plank consistently enough to practice and make the official attempts for the record.
The record was for the most alternating catches in one minute while holding a plank. I learned my lesson. Not only because I had to throw instead of catch, but after we did it we realized it was only a “one person” record which means he’s the only one who gets credit for it. Thus, Jonathan has his first “solo” Guinness World Records title.
We swapped roles and he caught 66 of the throws in alternating hands to break the previous record of 38 alternating catches while planking in one minute.
I have since started a new workout regimen and over the past <2 months have completed over 10,000 each of pushups and situps so my core strength doesn’t embarrass me again like that.
The Loose Cannon “Hollywood” Jonathan Hannon and I had to defend our Guinness World Records title.
This was for the most wet sponge hits to the face in 30 seconds. We originally set this record right at the start of the pandemic with 43 wet sponge hits in 30 seconds. Jonathan threw 54 but we had 11 misses, so we knew there was room for improvement on our first try. Our record was broken later by a run of 47 in 30 seconds.
We may have been able to wait for warmer weather but I decided warm water would be good enough. I didn’t factor in that it would take as many attempts as it did and by the final attempt I was happy when the wet sponges hit me since that’s how I warmed up my very wet and cold clothes.
Our final run resulted in 51 wet sponges hitting me squarely in the face in the allotted 30 seconds.
Merry Christmas everyone! (So this record took a little longer to process than expected to it’s Christmas again in February).
This was a record created this December to ring in the Christmas holiday. The time to beat was 1 minute. After getting the rules, I realized it was going to take me a lot longer than 1 minute to be satisfied with this record.
I balanced a 5 ft+ Christmas tree on my chin for 1 hour 30 minutes 5 seconds to break this Guinness World Records title.
It took a little longer for both Guinness and me to get the record and the footage processed so it’s going live now. Enjoy!
Jonathan and I now hold both the 30 second and 1 minute Guinness World Records title for most beach ball passes.
In 2020 we took down the 30-second record, now we have the 1-minute record with 157 beach ball passes in one minute. Yes, it took practice. Yes, it took many tries. But no, it’s really not as death-defying as… well, really any other record (other than the risk of the ball bouncing in the street and getting run over by a passing car).
We didn’t quite double our pace of 84 in 30 seconds but we’re pretty happy with the result.
In other news, my wordle today was: not a wordle, but a picture of a pyramid under the sun… but it was my wordle! (also played in hard mode).
I completed my goal of breaking 52 Guinness World Records titles in 2021. This week’s record video is one of them and a recap of a lot more.
I ran 100m in 14.33 seconds. While that isn’t too hard by itself, it becomes a lot more difficult while blindfolded. It’s nowhere near as hard as the 100m blindfolded run I did while juggling (in 16.29 seconds) but still hard enough it required some practice. (Don’t practice alone with an actual blindfold on!) I feel like this one should be officially broken by a blind person – the catch is that the guide can’t be a physical guide for the Guinness record – only audio.
It kicked off on January 4, 2021 stacking wet bars of soap with my neighbor Jonathan “Hollywood” Hannon and went up from there. We also bounced ping pong balls; caught apples, grapes, and marshmallows in the mouth; and defended our ping pong balls in shaving foam record.
I crossed the 200 Guinness World Records broken milestone with one of the 5 hardest for the most kiwis sliced in one minute using a samurai sword while standing on a swiss ball. I revisited my very first record – longest duration blindfolded juggling, this time extended the record from 22 minutes 7 seconds to 32 minutes 7 seconds.
I also broke a couple of records with my wife (including her first official one) and had several juggling records.
I finished off the year by wrapping my neighbor with a neighbor for the fastest time to wrap a person in wrapping paper, team of 2.
Today I’m back where it all started, revisiting my very first Guinness World Records title from October of 2015: the longest duration blindfolded juggling.
As many of you know I’ve been promoting STEM education for over a dozen years and 7 years ago I wanted to break a Guinness World Records title to create a tangible example that if you set your mind to a goal, believe in yourself, and pursue it with a passion, you can accomplish virtually anything. It has led to a wild ride.
Funnyman juggler Niels Dunkier held the record at 6 minutes 29 seconds and actually got me back into juggling by tipping me off to juggling balls I wasn’t allergic to after I met him on a Disney cruise. (Most juggling balls used to be filled with millet seed that I developed a terrible allergy to). When I finally broke the record in front of a live audience, I was so excited that when the crowd cheered I overthrew a ball and immediately dropped it extended the record just 5 seconds to just 6 minutes 34 seconds.
I came back one year later with a 22 minutes 7-second run. No one has touched that number in over 5 years.
Dubbed the blindfolded juggler by Hoda on the Today Show, I’ve gone on to break several other blindfolded world records, including some of the hardest I’ve faced: like The fastest mile run while juggling blindfolded: 7 minutes 54 seconds. (and over a third of a mile for furthest distance on foot juggling blindfolded). Even harder: the fastest 100 m dash while juggling blindfolded: 16.29 seconds. You have to stay in your lane!
Others include the fastest blindfolded juggling with 454 catches in one minute, faster than any other known cascade juggler with their eyes open. Most consecutive blindfolded juggling catches on a unicycle, and on a balance board. And some silly ones like the most socks removed in a minute while blindfolded (and yes, I practice multiple times for that one).
So after a 5-year hiatus and returning to my very first Guinness World Records title. I give you, a video I expect no one to watch in its entirety on normal speed: the longest duration blindfolded juggling – with a new mark of 32 minutes 7 seconds.
The Loose Cannon Hollywood Hannon let his family wrap up this record. His wife wrapped and his son got wrapped.
The record was for the fastest time to wrap a person with wrapping paper (team of two). Dude Perfect of YouTube fame previously held this record at 1 minute 58.9 seconds. I thought it was going to be easier to break than it was. The whole body has to be covered neck to toe and the arms and legs have to be wrapped individually. The biggest catch is the paper can’t rip. If it rips, the attempt is disqualified. People aren’t boxes and conforming the paper to the angles of the body without ripping the paper is a serious challenge.
After I don’t know how many attempts over multiple days, we finally pulled off a 1 minute 43-second run without ripping any paper or breaking any of the other rules. Eirinn was our first subject but the older brother Joey stepped in for the final attempt. This is Lisa Marie’s second official record and while Joey holds another record, he doesn’t get credit for this one.
So it turns out that pushing a balloon with the face is deceptively difficult.
I first tried this record a couple of years ago and after several failed attempts at making it no more than a few feet, I gave up and didn’t try again. Considering that a balloon is about the same density of air it could be inferred that moving through the air would offer significant resistance to a balloon’s desire to move (this is the super scientific way to say it). The rules also state the balloon has to remain in contact with the face at all times and you obviously can’t use your mouth or nose to bite or suck the balloon to your face.
I’d recently broken some 10 m records and was looking for others I might try with the tape already on the ground and found this one again. I decided to go after it with a growth mindset and despite way more failures and tries than I might care to admit for such a simple-looking Guinness World Records title, I finally got it. 4.93 seconds to push a ballon 10 meters with my face.
This is the furthest I’ve ever gone for a Guinness World Record: 35 miles.
The record was for the farthest distance traveled on an electric unicycle while juggling. I’ve had it on my list for years but I didn’t have an electric unicycle. My friend Matt McGuinness picked up one at a pawn shop a while ago. This is typical of my friend. Also typical is he also bough a 2-wheeled Segway that you steer with the knees (no handlebars) and that’s what he uses to get around so he offered me his electric unicycle.
On the first day I tried it I could barely get on and go around the car. By the second day I could ride it without holding on to something else. Within a week I was able to ride it 10 miles while juggling and the battery died. Even though the record was recently broken at about 2 miles (it was 1 when I applied), I decided I wanted to try for more. Riding an electric unicycle is also super fun so I was excited to practice.
I contacted eWheels.com who were super helpful and offered me a Kingsong unicycle to ride. It had an advertised range of 35 miles and a top speed of 17 MPH. I was happy to go faster than the 10 MPH the other one I had since it’s a distance-based record, not time. They even put on the big foot steps since they knew I was planning to stand on it for a long time. And it turns out the hardest part of this record for me was keeping my feet from falling asleep. I had to practice lifting up my heels and toes alternating as well as sliding my feet around to keep them awake. Note that you must maintain the exact same amount of weight on each foot the entire time or the unicycle falls over.
After several long practice rides I was ready to make the official attempt. I rode around the track with a camera mounted to my helmet and two fixed cameras on tripods. I was a little nervous for the first few laps which made my juggling a bit wobbly but after a couple miles I settled in. My feet ached and I had a couple nasty itches on my arms that wouldn’t go away, but it all went to plan. The record fell in less than 10 minuts and then I kept going for another two and a half hours.
The pace was pretty consistant for the first 25 miles before the battery started to go. At 30 miles it went even faster and the pace was dropping off precipitously. I wasn’t going to be able to finish another mile so I jumped off after the 141st lap and 35 miles.
By the numbers:
141 laps
2 hours 29 minutes 30 seconds
~32,000 juggling catches
Average pace: 4 minute miles
Average speed: 15 MPH
30 low battery warnings
1 dead battery
Promoting STEM education through my story and juggling
