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 uncrossing arm movement, which is independent of the siteswap being performed. Any siteswap with any number of objects can, in theory, be done in Mills Mess. It is merely a distortion of the pattern's shape. The standard Mills Mess has the siteswap 3, but Mills Messes of 441, 531 (tower), 534 (four props) and many others have also been performed. The three ball 51 (the shower), , 414 (half box), 315, and 612 (see-saw), as well as the four prop 4 (columns or fountain), 534, 552, and the five prop cascade, 5, may have the Mills Mess shape distortion imposed