How to use a Crystal

If you've seen the Fushigi ball commercials on TV you may be wondering how they make the ball appear weightless like that. This lens will teach you the basics of the art of Contact Juggling. We'll explore what sort of ball to use, and some great tutorials created by members of the Contact Juggling community.

Let's get the myth out of the way immediately. There is no mechanism inside the ball. No liquid, no gyroscope, no electricity, no magnets, no motors, no magic. Fushigi is just a ball and nothing more. The illusion of weightlessness is created using an art form called "Contact Juggling" that's been around for more than three decades. It was pioneered by the perfomer Michael Moschen in the 80's.

You can do it with any ball that has a smooth surface with no noticeable tell marks on it.

Yep, you heard me right, you don't necessarily need a Fushigi brand ball to learn to Contact Juggle. In fact, I wouldn't recommend one at all for beginners... there are safer, more affordable options, but we'll get to that later.

In the meantime, here's Dawn from the Ministry of Manipulation, explaining why a Fushigi Ball is like an orange...