Haggis and Charlie

Haggis and Charlie are a comedy juggling act formed in 1984 by Haggis McLeod and Charlie Dancey. They learned their skills together at the Walcot Village Hall juggling workshop in Bath, England. Their first performance was a busking show that took place on the waterfront of Bristol Docks. Haggis and Charlie performed regularly on the streets of Bath in their early years together. They have been seen almost every year at Glastonbury Festival and became something of a tradition at the Winchester Hat Fair.

Their show consists of just a few routines which have remained more or less unchanged over a period of 20 years. They are most well known for their "Seven Club Routine" in which they start with seven clubs on the floor and attempt to pick them up into a seven club passing pattern with plenty of comic difficulties before they finally succeed. This piece was influenced and inspired by the work of the Amazing Mendizies and Mr. Adams and Mr. Dandridge, two acts that were more or less contemporary with McLeod and Dancey's formative years as jugglers. The Seven Club Routine was, in the late eighties, one of the most plagiarised street juggling routines in the world, with Haggis and Charlie being one of the most well-known offenders.

They were also involved in a successful world record attempt on 26th June 1994 when 826 people, juggling at least three objects each, kept 2,478 objects in the air, at Glastonbury Festival.

For a brief time the duo became a trio, when Pippa Tee joined the act, which was renamed Haggis & Chips (short for Haggis & Charlie & Pippa).

Haggis and Charlie are seen less frequently now, though they still, occasionally, make an appearance. Their publicity used to mention that "it's not so much the dazzling display of devil-may-care dexterity - it's more the complete clash of personalities!"