杂耍当中也是大有学问

So this is four four four zero.

Because juggling is a mathematical art, really. Colin Wright is a mathematician, who abandoned the traditional see-and-repeat approach to learning how to juggle, and instead developed a sort of sheet music for juggling, where sequences of numbers represent particular juggling moves.

So I do three vertical throws, a four from the left hand, a four from the right hand, a four from the left hand. I've run out of juggling balls. I've got none left. That's a zero. Click the fingers.

He came into the studio with his juggling balls which he introduced to us as George, Oliver, Penelope, Elinda, Greg and William. Well, do you not name your balls? I have names for mine. To explain how this mathematical system has helped him discover new juggling possibilities, I started our conversation by asking why he decided to do this in the first place.

When I was attempting to learn five, I gave up very quickly, 'cause it phenomenally difficult. And I discovered that nobody in the juggling club actually juggled five. But what they were doing were a variety of tricks with just three. So I said to people, "Yeah, show me, show me your trick with three." Some of them were really clean and obvious. But then they also started to do weird shapes in the air and patterns. There was one in particular, which is called "Mills' Mess". And when I went to try and write it down, I couldn't. It was almost impossible to describe. And when I finally did get a description after a few days of working with one of the chaps. It took two and a half sides of A4. And I thought, for a juggling trick that'd last for one second, there must be an easier way.