Mills' Mess Mills' Mess In toss juggling, Mills Mess is a popular juggling pattern, typically performed with three balls although the props used and the number of objects can be different. The pattern was invented by and named after Steve Mills. It is a well-known trick among jugglers and learning it is considered somewhat of a milestone, "a mind-boggling pattern of circling balls, crossing and uncrossing hands, and unexpected catches." The base of this pattern is a traditional reverse cascade, (siteswap 3 in siteswap notation), with an extra "mess" added by crossing and uncrossing arms. The effect created is that the balls
Mills' Mess pursue each other from one side to the other. It is also a windmill pattern which changes direction every three throws. Mills Mess was invented in the early 1970s (Between 1974 and 1975). Steve Mills was experimenting with many different variations that his teacher Ron Graham, Ron Lubman and a few others were doing in Central Park. Steve was inspired to do a two-handed variation of a crossing of the arm trick performed by Ron Lubman. Steve invented the trick while attempting to transition smoothly from right-handed windmill to left-handed windmill. About the naming of the trick Steve Mills adds: