When Duncan Philpot moved into his university dorm at the start of his post-secondary journey, he didn’t expect to meet a juggler on his floor, nor learn how to juggle from him and the club at his school.
Now a professor of sociology at St. Thomas University, Philpot is gaining a reputation for the skills he has honed over 23 years of practice, including T.V. and convention appearances.
“I got into mostly just trying to learn the basics through ball juggling. And then eventually I learned clubs and rings. But about three or four years into practicing, this is what actually got me into juggling,” he said while holding his favourite juggling object, the diabolo.
When his juggling became more serious, Philpot noticed that the complexity of the tricks fed into his study skills as well, helping him to practice breaking down complicated concepts and learning.
Hoping to transfer this benefit to interested students, he began teaching a juggling class every Wednesday at 12 p.m. in January of 2025 at the J.B. O’Keefe Fitness Centre on campus.
“I had been wanting to join a club for years here in Fredericton and there is no club because no one has tried to start one. So I thought, ‘Okay, well, someone’s got to start something.’”
After talking to Mark Gifford, STU athletics coordinator, the class was a go.
“It’s just a way to stir interest in juggling here at STU,” he said.
Sarah Desmond and her roommate Emma London are the two consistent students of the class. They decided to join after seeing Philpot juggle in the gym.
“It felt slow at first,” Desmond said of her progress. “I kept dropping them. And then randomly, one night, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m dropping a bunch less.’”
Both are fourth-year students at STU; the two value the class as a weekly activity to look forward to as a break from their studies.
“We planned to go, but also happened to be in the gym,” said Desmond. “We were like ‘there he is … our champ,’ It was like a right place right time kind of thing.”
Outside of the fitness centre squash court, Philpot is known to show off his juggling in his STU lectures.
“I do it to emphasize that learning is not something that one automatically gets. [Juggling is] something one will have hiccups, that will have things that you have to do over and over again … some [students] were impressed, some politely clapped, I think most of them think I’m weird.”
He added that the complex tricks require a certain level of athleticism and that the practice itself can offer a beneficial stress outlet to students. For him, his favourite part is seeing how it all comes together, challenging himself to see how much better he can get.
His advice to aspiring jugglers is to stretch your muscles and ease up on the expectations of ‘proper’ juggling, to do the tricks you find fun or think look cool. Philpot said, “It will always bring you back to the practice.”
