Jorden's Journal

[Jorden]

-=Tues. April 22nd, 2008=-

Fashion show performance (short clip in intro):

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=591807960521

GRASS was a killer experience! Here's to:

RIT crew for throwing down an awesome event as always
Ontario shredders for repping so hard!
Tom for his wild and unpredictable sense of humour (and being a safe driver!)
Jay for his great writeup and always being well-spoken
Thanks for the bag -- no worries man, it'll be great!
Johnny for being the "God of modesty" (coined by Tom)
Danny, Matt K and Pat for improving a great deal and smoothing out their styles
Zach for his endless enthusiasm and rocket-speed shred videos!
Dave for making it, even for just one day
Paul for his friendship and hospitality, and filming my routine!!
Mike for being the most easy going, mature and friendly bagger I've ever met
Flash for constantly being on the top of his game and pushing all the players around him
Ianek for challenging all aspects of what defines freestyle footbag
Aric for putting me up for 2 nights and making us breakfast -- what a treat!
and finally...
Matt C for the schnazzy interview, being a true friend and constantly pushing the limits (Underhat handstand? Snapping ripwalk?? Whaa???)

To everyone else I didn't mention and those who didn't make it, you suck.

Saturday's performance was the best show I've ever done by far. It was the debut of my circus-style show -- and ended with a standing ovation!
Knowing jaded jugglers and hardcore footbaggers alike enjoyed it makes it all worthwhile for me. There were 6-ish drops but they were on dinky little tricks so it didn't take away from the performance too much.
There is so much I know I can do better. Better costume, better movement, better tricks, transitions, everything.
This is only the beginning. Stay tuned.

Can't wait to move to a place that actually cares about variety performers. Knowing I can make 6 times that of Hamilton hats (on a good day) in other places is driving me nuts. That won't be for another 6 months at least.

*Sigh*. Train train train wait wait wait.

Jorden

[Paul Agostinelli]

thanks to you jorden, for always pushing the sport and for representing footbag in the best way possible, you played the audience like a violin and the standing ovation you received was testament. keep pushing, cant wait to see what you come up with for cirque de soleil.

[Jorden]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=asmhO_PdY-o

[C-Fan]

To be perfectly honest, I was a little disturbed by how similar it was to Pete's video:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=CnqES24g2tE[/youtube]

Because of the similarities in the title, background, equipment, presentation, and editing, you really leave yourself open to comparisons with Pete's vid, and I think Pete's vid is better edited. I think a more original presentation would help you avoid these comparisons, and you'll come out looking better.

Also, from a promotion standpoint I think it did a good job of showcasing your technical skills, but did not showcase your viability as a performing act somebody would want to book. Showing people biking by, or having a dog walk into the shot, makes it seem like people are not interested in stopping to watch you. And having headphones on to me always projects a "do not disturb" message. A juggling/footbag audience (like myself) will be amazed by this vid, but if you are using this for booking purposes, I would re-shoot without headphones and maybe even with some friends making a crowd. You don't even need to the crowd, but definitely cut the bits with people just going by ignoring you.

[bdams19]

Jorden!! That video was awesome and the jump roping was incredible! I also agree with the things Ken said; they really distract the viewer from the video. I think other than the few distractions this was top notch.

[Jorden]

Because of the similarities in the title, background, equipment, presentation, and editing, you really leave yourself open to comparisons with Pete's vid, and I think Pete's vid is better edited. I think a more original presentation would help you avoid these comparisons, and you'll come out looking better.

Dude, I'm not trying to compete with anybody. That would be really lame.

I don't edit videos for a living, so obviously. It shouldn't be about the editing though.
We're very different people. Different tricks and completely different vibe on stage.

I conceptualized this video independent of Pete's. But by process of elimination they ended up somewhat similar. It had to be black clothing/dark background for optimal visibility. Hamilton is very dirty city and it was hard to find a dark wall that was clean enough to film. Stylized was a bonus.

Also, from a promotion standpoint I think it did a good job of showcasing your technical skills, but did not showcase your viability as a performing act somebody would want to book.

Yeah I'm aware of that. Video of my act will be used for that purpose.
That won't be for another couple months though. I needed something that represented the skills I use in the show for the meantime for smaller appearances and gigs.
Believe me, this video couldn't result in LESS work.

Showing people biking by, or having a dog walk into the shot, makes it seem like people are not interested in stopping to watch you. And having headphones on to me always projects a "do not disturb" message.

After playing solo for 7 years footbagging alone in silence becomes almost unbearable.

I was going for an urban/street feel. A glimpse of some training with a bit of playing to the camera mixed in.
This is mainly to show the footbag and juggling communities...and just in case a client wants to see what the hell I actually do.
Cuz just saying "a beanbag juggler" or "a hacky sacker" sounds very dumb, unfortunately.

JM

[jay7]

Wow Jorden!

Was that the video you mentioned before, that your circus school co-made?

At around 2:40, with you and the massive wall in the background, I think it would be a cool effect if the video did the "slow" zoom in.

Another note, McMaster offered me into their University, and it is very likely that I will accept it, because I only have about a month left to do so. What are your plans on, staying in Canada? I know you are thinking about leaving for bigger and better places.

The up-view of the juggling was something I had never seen before, and I think it was a big highlight of the video, despite the fact that it may have not been hard for you.

[Zac Miley]

First off, I thought all of those tricks were absolutely insane. Especially the last one (5 balls + 3 in your feet?)
I think a neat background like some sort of nature park could be neat for a future video though, rather than just showing yourself juggling on the street. Just an idea.

Thanks for making it, Jorden.

[Paul Agostinelli]

before i say anything, constructive criticism is a good thing and im not trashing ken at all.

I know jorden already addressed what ken said, but i thought i might add, drawing parallels between 2 videos is not a bad thing. likewise, seeing similarities between players is a normal thing in any sport. naturally since pete first started doing it, anyone else who tried doing multiples with their hands and feet were likely in some way influenced by pete.

if this were a bad thing, there would be only a handful of videos online by the most innovative players because all the other videos are simply amalgamations of the big players' videos. editing, trick selection, play style, choice of props (in juggling's case), name of the video, music choice, these are all things that everyone compares every other video they've seen to whatever it is they're watching.

should jorden not use similar bags to pete's for fear of parallels being drawn? this seems ridiculous to me as they obviously are the best suited bags to the task. its like telling every footbag player they should find their own shoe to wear, or a different kind of footbag all there own. in juggling there are literally hundreds of videos of each kind of prop you can think of, many of which contain the same, or similar tricks. i just want to point out how truly unique hand and foot juggling is.

i dont disagree that there are some definite similarities to what jorden is doing now and what pete has been doing, but jorden also does tricks that pete doesnt do, and vice versa, but again 90% of foobag videos posted are of people doing strings of tricks that they didnt invent, and combos someone else has already hit. is this a negative thing?


again no flaming i just wanted to put this out there





my own comments, some very original stuff in there that i have never seen anyone, or you, do. 4 ball mills to 1 on feet and 3 ball mills was probably what i found most impressive, i think you can get it back to your hand though. id love to see some long strings with different variations freestyled

p.s. there is a disc in the mail with your name on it.

[Kljopa]

Inspired.For sure.Awesome stuff, definatly seeing how it at will develop.More acrobatics, learn to backflip,perfect it.

Damn, really nice.Ill be building a different type of performance.Yours is awesome!


Props Jordren!

[Drew]

Cirque du soleil is currently in Phila, are you!?

[BuckRuckus]

That was a cool video! I've watched it 5 times now. BTW, what song is that?

[professor]

Can't wait to move to a place that actually cares about variety performers.

*cough**cough* Vegas *cough**cough*

Your video was awesome. All of your videos really inspire me to try some 4 limbs stuff.

[QuantumBalance]

Dude..

Was it coincidence that today XP SP3 came out fixing my computer, and I saw your video? Probably. But for an acid head like me it feels like the whole world is upgrading, we are entering a new era of progress.

What I mean to say is that was not just amazing, but emotional. I am really honored to know you, because I know you are going to be one of the best jugglers in the world (are you already?)

I really liked the video, I was a big fan of Pete's video too, but didn't find any similarities to be distracting.

I have one piece of advice that you can actually use though. Regarding the ending poses, it is a fine art to make those effective. The trick has to do with being honest and creative, and not just do an ending pose for the sake of it. If you are doing an ending pose that is an extention of a prior movement, it looks really good, like the hat stall to hat tip off. But some of the ones before that where you like jumped into a pose, seemed contrived (thats too strong a word).. maybe goofy or unnesciscary, but basically didnt help crowd connection. Its all good of course. This is a really tough talent. The ability to LOOK COOL. You are good at it, and can do it. But, the route you want to do, you obviously want to EXCEL at it. So, as much as I am going to regret this when you own me in EVERYTHING, take some hip hop, and breakdance classes my friend. You will thank me, and notice improvements in your ... is it called an act? Maybe we can call it an art, when you can stop acting. You are almost there. Remember skill vs style, style will always win, but when style is highly advanced, the more skilled person will always come out on top.

Well, I cant spell and I'm inferior, but maybe I can motivate you to be the best you can be. Watch some so you think you can dance, lol, that will help.

Peace out.

[qphox]

As everyone else, I was amazed, as I should be.

Though, I do want to agree with Sam on the point of some of the ending poses coming off as kind of goofy. I don't really have any "advice" to give you on the subject per se, but I think Sam was on the right track what with the importance of the ending being Genuine in its enthusiasm.

I'm thinking back to some video I watched (Europe on Fire? or something? maybe it was a vhs?) with a great yo-yo performance by some fellow...and basically whenever he finished a segment of his performance he'd have this GIANT smile on his face, as if to say, "Fuck yeah!" at everything he was doing. He didn't do a lot of poses, but you could just tell that this guy loved his freakin' yo-yo.


The similarity to Pete's video didn't even occur to me. I probably wouldn't worry about it.

Big ups Jorden, you know I love you.

[Jorden]

Yeah.

Thanks for the comments guys!

[Abe]

jump rope footbag was amazing

[BenRea]

You looked kind of like a little boy lost in the ghetto.


I enjoyed the footbagging though. especially the jump roping, i would expect that you are the only one in the world who can footbag and jump rope at the same time. People always tell me i should unicycle and footbag at the same time because i am pretty talented at both but i think it's pretty impossible, you should prove me wrong though.

[acxel22]

Hey Jorden,
Seeing you develop 4 limbs juggling in the past year really motivated me, and I`ve started to practice it slowly, and it's quite fun and challenging.

Thanks for being a continuous source of inspiration.

[PegLegHolly]

wow jorden. amazing! everytime i see something new from you, im speechless. ive had to go over the last bunch of pages to catch up, and i am just in awe of how you progress in all your talents.


ps. i was going through my worlds pictures and found an awesome one of you in 4 square. if i remember, i'll scan it in.


peace out, homie