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Author Topic: Jochen Schell  (Read 12176 times)

Spinningray

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Jochen Schell
« on: September 19, 2010, 08:45:10 AM »
« Last Edit: September 19, 2010, 08:48:24 AM by Spinningray »
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ta0

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2010, 10:04:55 AM »
Jochen is so good in providing drama and a great spectacle.  Obviously the main inspiration is the Japanese spinning top art (e.g. the sword and the fan balance) but he has included modern top stuff: I have seen him do a corkscrew (with a topdog).

I hadn't seen the second video.  It is interesting that he spins the topdog counterclockwise but the larger tops clockwise.  I have a video of him doing monobolo with a very flat one that almost looks like the second top: I need to check in which direction it spins. 

If I recall correctly, he is German but lives in England. So there IS some top spinning in that country.
« Last Edit: September 19, 2010, 11:50:54 AM by ta0 »
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lincolnrick

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2010, 10:42:57 AM »
I enjoyed both videos thanks Spinningray for finding these.  I found it odd that the second video was titled "Plate spinning on a sword"  ??? I also noticed he switched rope/string with his koma, big to start, smaller for tricks.  Really well done with the live band.
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ta0

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2010, 11:58:03 AM »
I just checked his site and it seems he is back living in Berlin, Germany.

I think this is the first topdog I see custom dyed/painted:



From his site:

"When Jochen Schell saw the Japanese artist Koma Zuru in a French Circus in 1988 he was impressed and wanted to know more about the subject. Mr Schell met Mr Zuru but he had to find his own way with the tops. Over the next couple of years Schell used his lathe to build and experiment with many different shaped spinning tops. While practicing his skill with the tops themselves Jochen gave careful thought to the character and presentation that he would adopt for this new act. As he had when he built up his Diabolo act and his Ring act, his focus was on the creation of uncommon stage pictures. The importance of the "single sequences" (as opposed to the more mobile transitions) brought him around to the more traditional "gentleman juggler" character. But from there he couldn't help but add the darker twist that is his own personal touch."
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Eric

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2010, 02:33:33 PM »
Cool stuff, thanks Alan!
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the Earl of Whirl

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2010, 03:21:11 PM »
Lots of drama.  Wow!
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Larry D.

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2010, 03:59:37 PM »
Excellent videos.
Jochen sure knows how to capture an audience and maintain a high level of drama with visual appeal.
Thanks for posting it Alan!
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pplgrande

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2010, 11:32:22 PM »
Awesome videos, thanks for posting
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Neff

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #8 on: September 20, 2010, 12:16:17 AM »
bunch of awesome.  so... y'all think the top on the sword was magnetized?
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MarkHayward

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #9 on: September 20, 2010, 01:08:16 AM »
Nope.  I say there is a groove in the sword.  I'm guessing, but A) how else could it be done so easily? and B) when you see the end of the blade it looks really wide to me.  Has to be a groove.
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the Earl of Whirl

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #10 on: September 20, 2010, 02:09:29 AM »
I always wonder why in the heck Jochen Shell even throws tops.  He looks so unhappy when he does it.  Not me.  I'm smiling my tail off when I throw!
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Spinningray

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #11 on: September 20, 2010, 02:14:34 AM »
My guess is a step change in diameter at the very tip of the top. The edge of the sword is riding on a tiny shoulder of the step change in the tip. The sword has a small straight section right near the tip. When the top slides down to the tip, he just balances so that it stays within that small straight section of the sword tip.
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Daveid

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #12 on: September 20, 2010, 05:01:28 AM »
well, i think it's grooved, magnetized, and has a step change in diameter.
if the question had been "how would you do it?" first i'd say "very carefully" and then i'd use a step change in diameter on the tip of the top.
in about the 4:50s on the video you can see the tip of the sword and it does look really wide and flat... at the end of the run when he hops the top off the end, the motions are really smooth, so if it is magnetized it's really slightly magnetized...
i dunno, magic saliva?
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robtsou

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #13 on: September 20, 2010, 09:53:21 AM »
I always thought there was a groove in the tip, maybe in a small ball bearing captured at the tip.  I've seen one koma performance and it was really neat but didn't get to see the koma up close.
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Takeshi

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Re: Jochen Schell
« Reply #14 on: September 20, 2010, 11:37:03 AM »
Those videos were awesome, but I couldn't help but visualize what it must be like trying to explain to security at the airport why he's got a samurai sword, lol.

"Why don't you understand, it's simple, I walk a spintop down the blade of the sword and then balance it on the tip, THAT'S why I carry the samurai sword, geez!"

lol, o.k. probably not like that, but I just like the thought.
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