Ingram Crosson has devoted the last 15 years of his life to juggling.

The president of the Crimson Jugglers, an organization on The University of Alabama campus, he teaches others the art of juggling. During his time juggling, Crosson, a senior majoring in Spanish, has learned to juggle knives, fire and even shoes.

“Shoes are a little bit difficult,” Crosson said. “I’ve had people who’ve given me random objects like a shoe, an apple and an eraser. Pens are probably the hardest. They’re not heavy enough to fling around.”

Only about five members of the Crimson Jugglers’ 15 members had prior juggling experience before joining the group. Many are new to juggling and learn through practice.

“Most people hadn’t had any experience,” Crosson said. “I could teach you the basics in about 30-45 minutes, and if you practice for a couple hours, you could get the basics down.”

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When people are first starting out, Crosson said practice is important for both learning and retaining acquired skills.

“I was able to learn at such a young age that being able to juggle is second nature to me,” Crosson said. “I feel that those who are learning now, it is something they can lose touch with. It’s kind of like riding a bike, you never really forget how to, but you get rusty. ”

Greg Pace, a junior majoring in biology, said juggling is a fun hobby that anyone can pick up if they dedicate themselves and have fun.

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While Pace doesn’t typically try to juggle dangerous objects, Crosson occasionally experiments with more dangerous items. He said he has to balance his nerves when juggling knives of different weights.

“Usually when I have three knives of different weights, one knife is about two inches and a few ounces, and I have a meat cleaver in the other hand,” Crosson said. “Those aren’t balanced very well. That’s about the only time I get nervous.”

In the spring, the Crimson Jugglers will try to get involved with local schools to teach elementary children how to juggle. Juggling teaches coordination skills that elementary school children can benefit from.

“It helps hand-eye coordination,” Crosson said. “It helps people to survive without being clumsy. It’s a discipline in a certain way.”

Pace said he encourages everyone to learn how to juggle, whether through the Crimson Jugglers or another source.

“It doesn’t take much time,” Pace said. “If you don’t know how to juggle, it’s easy to learn. People can teach you. It’s a lot of fun. It doesn’t take too much time.”

Juggling helps people learn from failure, Crosson said.

“You have to give a certain amount of time to it to be able to persevere in it,” Crosson said. “You drop the ball a lot. There’s a lot of failure involving juggling, so if you can persevere, that’s something to say. If you’re having an off day and you need a smile, juggling is a good way to kill 15 minutes.”

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