Diabolo


The diabolo is a juggling or circus prop consisting of an axle and two cups or discs derived from the Chinese yo-yo. This object is spun using a string attached to two hand sticks. A large variety of tricks are possible with the diabolo, including tosses, and various types of interaction with the sticks, string, and parts of the user's body. Multiple diabolos can be spun on a single string.
Like the Western yo-yo, it maintains its spinning motion through a rotating effect based on conservation of angular momentum.

History

Origin

The Diabolo is derived from the Chinese yo-yo encountered by Europeans during the colonial era. However, the origin of the Chinese yo-yo is unknown. The earliest mention of the Chinese yo-yo is in the late Ming dynasty Wanli period, with its details well recorded in the book Dijing Jingwulue by the Liu Tong. The book refers to Chinese yo-yos as "kong zhong".
Diabolos are made of different materials and come in different sizes and weights.
There are many names in the Chinese language for the Chinese yo-yo:
  • t=扯鈴
  • t=響簧
  • t=（抖）空竹
  • t=空鐘

    Spread to the West

The first known mention of a diabolo in the Western world was made by a missionary, Father Amiot, in Beijing in 1792 during Lord Macartney's ambassadorship, after which examples were brought to Europe, as was the sheng. Amiot described it as follows:
It consists of two hollow cylinders of metal, wood, or bamboo, joined together in the middle by a cross-piece. Each of the cylinders is pierced by a hole in opposite directions. The rope loops around the crossbeam. By holding this rattle in the air, and moving it with speed, a rapid current of air is established in each of the portions of the cylinder, and a snoring is heard, similar to that produced by the German spinning top.

The diabolo was part of a presentation of Chinese culture edited by stenographer in 1811–2. The toy's popularity waxed and waned throughout the 19th century. In 1812 the diabolo "was all the rage"; then it "enjoyed an ephemeral vogue" until it "finally fell into discredit" some time before 1861. Some consider the toy dangerous; injuries and deaths of players and bystanders have been claimed; and Préfet de Police Louis Lépine once outlawed the game in the streets of Paris.
The name "diabolo" was coined by Belgian engineer Gustave Philippart, who developed the modern diabolo in the early twentieth century, although credit has also been given to Charles Burgess Fry or Fry and Philippart. The ODE gives the term's origin as from ecclesiastical Latin diabolus via Italian, reflecting the older name, "The devil on two sticks".
Strong derives the name from the Greek dia bolo, roughly meaning 'across throw': "In Greek, the term 'diaballo', means to throw across. It comes from a combination of 'dia' meaning across or through, and 'bolla' or originally 'ballo' which means to throw..." However, Philippart's intention is clear in his 1905 patent, where he gives it the alternative French name Diable, "Devil". The term "loriot" was also used in England early in the twentieth century, as well as "rocket-ball". The earlier name "The devil on two sticks" is sometimes still seen, although nowadays this more often refers to another circus-based skill toy, the devil stick: "In time 'diabolo' was retained for the spinning version of the Chinese stick toy while the hitting version of the stick toy was rendered into English as the Devil Stick."
Philippart claimed Diabolo to be his invention. In reality, he had improved a Napoleonic toy, which in turn had originated long ago in China." However, Charles Parker acquired the U.S. license for the term diabolo in 1906, and the fad for the toy lasted until 1910, when it was hurt greatly by a glut of unsold poor quality off-brand versions. The toy was even removed from the Parker Brothers catalogue, a rare occurrence.
An earlier occurrence of the fad, in Paris, is mentioned in Nature in 1893. The Wright brothers became enamored with the toy during a lull in a trip to France they had taken to market their Wright Flyer III airplane.
The diabolo’s temporary fall from favour was commented on by the narrator of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time:
One morning … I was taking a short walk with Albertine, whom I had found on the beach tossing up and catching again at the end of a string a weird object which gave her a look of Giotto’s Idolatry; it was called, as it happened, a ‘diabolo’, and has so fallen into disuse now that, when they come upon a picture of a girl playing with one, the commentators of future generations will solemnly discuss, as it might be in front of the allegorical figures in the Arena Chapel, what it is that she is holding.

Design

A diabolo is described as "a double-coned bobbin that twirled, tossed, and caught on a string secured by two wands, one held in each hand," and, more generally, as "an object that can be suspended on a string made taut by two held sticks". The Chinese yo-yo, often considered a type of diabolo, has been described as "a short round wooden stick with two round disks, 1.5 cm thick with a space between them, attached on either end of the stick...It will rotate on a string, each end tied to a thin stick," and as "two hollow discs of light wood, with openings in the sides, united by a peg tapering to its center".
As with the yo-yo, the design of the diabolo has varied through history and across the world. Chinese diabolos have been made of bamboo. Wooden diabolos were common in Victorian times in Britain. Rubber diabolos were first patented by Gustave Philippart in 1905. In the late twentieth century a rubberised plastic material was first used. Metal has also been used, especially for fire diabolos. "Parker Brothers used steel for the bobbins , with molded rubber ends, and also made some versions out of hollow Celluloid--which, because of its 'frictionless' properties, spun even faster than steel." Holes and metal strips alter the sound of the spinning diabolo, but create friction.
The size and weight of diabolos varies. Diabolos with more weight tend to retain their momentum for longer, whereas small, light diabolos can be thrown higher and are easier to accelerate to high speeds. Rubber diabolos are less prone to breakage but are more prone to deformations. More commonly used are plastic-rubber hybrids that allow flex but hold their shape. The size of the disc or cone varies, as do the presence and size of holes in the discs or cones which may alter the sound produced. In yo-yos a cone is known as the butterfly shape. Regardless of the presence, size, and shape, "once a diabolo is spinning, the friction of the spinning diabolo against the string creates a whining sound; this is called 'making the diabolo sing.'" "When played hard, the yoyo will give out a sharp shrill sound...The shrill sound would add an exciting atmosphere to the festivals...A skillful player can use a pot cover as a yoyo ." A fast whirling kouen-gen produces "a shrill whistling sound...not unlike the note of the steam siren". Diabolos with only one cup are also used.
The axle can be either a fixed axle or a bearing axle. The former does not spin, while the latter variety spins in one direction. Noticeable differences between the two include friction involved, the amount of time the diabolo can spin for, and tension. There are also certain tricks that are only possible with one type of axle.

Basic principles

The most basic act of diabolo manipulation is to spin it on the string. "The string is placed between the circles, but in order for the diabolo to balance, it must maintain a spinning motion, much like a yo-yo." However, "considerably more skill is needed to twirl a diabolo...than the Yo-yo it resembles." "Diabolo requires hard practice and highly developed skills"
Typically, the player pulls the stick in his or her dominant hand so that the string moves along the axle, turning it. "The player...swing the string right and left." By doing this repeatedly and rapidly the diabolo rotates faster. The diabolo spin can be accelerated more quickly using various methods: the 'whip' rotates the diabolo faster by moving one handstick in front of the user's body and past the other handstick, the 'wrap' rotates the diabolo faster when the user wraps a loop of the string around the axle. Both methods increase the amount of string contact with the axle in any given time.
Once spin speed is increased to a sufficient level that the diabolo is stable, the user can then perform tricks. "Skillful players can set it whirling at a rate of 2,000 revolutions a minute, it is said." Depending on how long a trick takes to perform, the user will normally have to spend some time increasing the spin speed of the diabolo before performing other tricks. Skilled users can perform multiple tricks while maintaining the spin speed of the diabolo. "A skilled person catch it, hurl it fifty or sixty feet into the air, then catch it again with little effort."

Tricks and styles

Fundamental tricks

NameDescription
TossThe diabolo is tossed in the air and then caught. The diabolist can do a turn in place or a skip over the string while the diabolo is in the air.
Trapeze/stopoverThe diabolo goes under a stick and the stick touches the string, making the diabolo swing around the stick and land back on the string.
Cats cradle/spiderwebThis trick starts with a trapeze. The stick not in the trapeze is inserted between the strings on either side of the stick in the trapeze. The diabolo is tossed into the air, and the strings form an X. The diabolo is caught on the X, and then it can be tossed and caught again.
Suicide/stick releaseAny trick in which the performer releases one stick, and catches it again. The stick may swing around the diabolo.
GrindThe spinning diabolo is balanced on a stick.
SunThe diabolo is swung around in a large circle around both sticks, finishing with 2 twists of string above the diabolo. A sun in the opposite direction undoes this twist. There are many different types of suns; this is the most basic.
Orbits/satellitesThe diabolo orbits around a body part such as the leg or waist.
Knot/magic knotThe line is tangled so as to create the illusion that the diabolo is knotted. It can usually be released with an upward toss motion.
Elevator/ladybugThe diabolo climbs up the string; this is done by wrapping the string around the axle and pulling tight.
Coffee grinderThe diabolo is caught on the underside of the string, and then the string is looped over one stick. From there, the diabolo is tossed multiple times over the stick.
UmbrellaThe diabolo is swung and jerked side to side over both sticks, forming the outline of an umbrella.
FilesThe performer puts both sticks in the left hand, swings the diabolo over the finger and back onto the string so there is a trapeze-like tangle, throws the sticks under the finger and catches them again.
Steam engineThe performer pulls the string down the side of the left stick and holds it with the left hand, then brings the right stick over the left and inside the loop created. The right stick is moved in a small circle pushing at the loop, which makes the diabolo jump.