The History of Diabolo

1
The History of Diabolo
2
Basics

• Juggling prop consisting of a spool which is
  whirled and tossed on a string tied to two sticks
  held one in each hand
• A huge variety of tricks are possible using the
  sticks, string, and various body parts.
• Multiple diabolos can be spun on a single string.

3
History

• Diabolos evolved from the Chinese yoyo which was
  originally standardized in the 12th century.
• The term "diabolo" was not taken from the Italian
  word for "devil" "diavolo" but was coined by
  French engineer Gustave Phillippart, who
  developed the modern diabolo in the early
  twentieth century, and derived the name from the
  Greek dia bolo, roughly meaning 'across throw'.

4
Basic Tricks

• Toss The diabolo is thrown in the air and then
  caught.
• High toss The diabolo is thrown high in the air
  and caught.
• Trapeze/stopover The diabolo is swung around the
  stick and caught on the string.

5
Basic Tricks Contd

• Cats cradle In this trick, you start with the
  trapeze, then put your left stick in between the
  first and third string. Then throw the diabolo in
  the air, and while you do that the string will
  form an X. Then you catch the diabolo on the X
  and then throw it in the air again and catch it
  on the string.
• Backside The diabolo is caught using the
  "bottom" of the string.

6
Basic Tricks Contd

• Suicide/stick release The performer temporarily
  lets go of either stick (depending on their main
  hand) and spin the stick 180 degrees then catches
  the stick again.
• Grind The diabolo hops on to the stick then to
  finish the diabolo slowly slides downwards on the
  stick then down to the string.

7
Basic Tricks Contd

• Sun The diabolo is swung round in a large circle
  and finishes with a twist of string above the
  axle. An anti-sun is done in the opposite
  direction to undo this twist. There are many
  different types of sun this is the most basic.
• Around the leg Leg is put over strings and
  diabolo, diabolo is swung under and over the leg.
• Cradle The line is tangled to form a shape and
  the diabolo itself is tossed on or in the shape.

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Basic Tricks Contd

• Orbit The diabolo is tossed and caught
  repeatedly to make it go round.
• Over (body part) orbits/satellites These are
  advanced orbits that go around the neck,
  shoulders or body. Arm and leg orbits are
  considered the easiest.

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Other Ways of Diaboloing

• Contact diaboloThis is a relatively recent style
  of diabolo that is gaining popularity. It
  utilizes the diabolo so that it has little or no
  spin at all. Then it can be caught and passed and
  manipulated with different parts of the body
  instead of just the sticks and string. It has new
  possibilities and new ideas are arising from
  this. Examples include catching the diabolo
  between one's arm and the stick before throwing
  it back. Tricks with multiple diabolos have also
  been developed.

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Other Ways of Diaboloing Contd

• Monobolo Monobolo is a variation of the diabolo
  where instead of having two diabolo cups, there
  is only one and a weight on the other side. The
  monobolo can be used in the same fashion as
  normal diabolos. However, if a monobolo is put
  into excalibur, or horizontally, monobolos can be
  manipulated to be like a spinning top.

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Other Ways of Diaboloing Contd

• Loop diaboloInstead of having two sticks
  connected by a string, the diabolo is manipulated
  on a loop of string held around the hands. This
  opens up a variety of new tricks such as
  suicides, suns, whips, stopovers, trapezes, two
  diabolos and vertex. Yo-yo type slack tricks can
  also be performed in a loop.