You may have seen contact juggling if you’ve seen the movie Labyrinth. David Bowie seems to roll a clear ball over his hands like magic. Actually, it wasn’t David Bowie who was doing the manipulation, it was Michael Moschen. Although the idea of rolling a ball around a person’s body has been around for ages, it was Michael Moschen who began what is modern day contact juggling.

Contact juggling, as opposed to toss juggling, involves manipulating a ball without the ball leaving the body of the juggler. One of the most basic tricks, the butterfly, is done by rolling the ball over the fingertips of an open hand onto the other side of the hand (from the palm to the back of the hand, and vice versa). Then the ball is typically transferred to the other hand, where the process is repeated.

Contact juggling also includes rolling the ball up and down the arms. Another popular trick is the isolation, where the juggler moves himself while the ball stays in the same place. This can look very cool if done well.

Palm rolling is also popular with contact jugglers. The juggler will take two or more balls and roll them around each other in their palm, similar to the way Chinese iron balls are manipulated. However, the contact juggling balls used are typically bigger than Chinese iron balls. And many tricks can be done by rolling the balls in different ways.

One of the most popular contact juggling ball is the acrylic ball. Acrylic balls are clear and look like crystal balls. It is interesting to see them, because you don’t see much of the ball itself, you see how the scene behind it changes. It looks almost like a bubble floating around the juggler.

If you are looking for a ball for contact juggling, consider an acrylic ball or other ball specifically designed for contact juggling. It can be difficult to learn with any old ball.