By Glenn Rolfe

BETHANY BEACH — The first one was neat.

The second, twice as nice.

Try for a trifecta? Stayed tuned.

Carlos Mir, a 57-year-old juggling professional from Delmar, who first winged his way into Guinness World Records notoriety in the diabolo throw in 2015, is now Guinness’ recognized world recordholder in an event tabbed the helicopter spins with devil sticks.

A Jan. 31, 2022, email from London, England-based Guinness, a 67-year-old reference that lists world records of human achievements and extremes of the natural world, was confirmation. He recently received his framed certificate from Guinness.

Mr. Mir spun his record 113 spins in one minute May 15, 2021, in a taped attempt before judges and a gathering at the Bethany Beach Ocean Suites Hotel. It surpassed Guinness’ previous helicopter spin/devil sticks mark of 106 set by Aki Ueno in Koganei, Tokyo in July 2020. Staged during the COVID pandemic, Mr. Mir achieved this feat, wearing a clear, protective face shield.

Mr. Mir also holds GWR’s record for the highest diabolo throw — 78 feet, 5 inches — set in July 2015 alongside the Holiday Inn in Ocean City, Maryland.

“I am very proud of myself and those attempts,” said Mr. Mir. “I feel that the bragging rights are honorable because in our community, people as an artist, as a performer it is usually looked upon as a side gig or a hobby kind of thing,” Mr. Mir said. “To have the Guinness records and to do it as my living, I am very fortunate and very lucky to have that ability. It is something I am passionate about. To have the Guinness records shows that I am committed to it and shows that I have the strength and the ability to do this as a living.”

An attempt for a third Guinness record is in the works.

“So, my third Guinness record on the books is going to be the helicopter toss. You toss it in the air and catch it. It is based on height,” Mr. Mir said. “I have applied for that. No one has done it yet. It doesn’t exist yet. I have created the application process. Because I have created it, you have to put in a measurement. I put in 20 feet. So, I have to make 20 feet to make this Guinness World Record work.”

In practice tosses in the main lobby of the Bethany Beach Ocean Suites, where Mr. Mir is booked for public performances, he has reached or surpassed the 20-foot mark. “From in here I have hit the ceiling … then catching it,” he said.

So, a bigger staging venue with greater ceiling height may be needed.

“I am still working out the details of where that will be. It may be in Ocean City,” said Mr. Mir. “I would love for it to be in Virginia, because then I would have a Guinness World Record in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. But I doubt it, because I don’t have a facility. I’d like to share that with the companies that work with me.”

The journey to his helicopter spin/devil sticks record was long and arduous.

He had planned his attempt on Nov. 16, 2019, to coincide with Guinness World Record Day. But in late October 2019 his father passed away. “I asked to postpone to April 2020. Then COVID hit,” said the native of Bogota, Colombia.

In September 2020, Mr. Mir, having recently checked the GWR list, left the Bethany Beach Ocean Suites Hotel thinking he had set the helicopter spin mark with a 93 spin effort. But later that night it was discovered that the actual updated mark was 106, set by the man in Japan.

Back in the Ocean Suites lobby May 15, 2021, Mr. Mir logged 113 spins, nearly eight months later deemed official by Guinness.

“The hardship of this was that I brought in a lot of people multiple times, and I had not successfully done it the first time. I didn’t want to have people feel like they had wasted their time with me. And then to have people still come out the second time around was very honorable for me,” said Mr. Mir. “In all my life I have learned that you just keep trying and eventually it will come to fruition. I never get discouraged. I just say, ‘Okay, what do I have to do to get to the next level?’”

Confirmation documentation submitted to Guinness included two videos, a front and side view, and a slow motion version. “I also put a time control on the video so they (Guinness) could exactly calibrate,” said Mr. Mir. “Even though I had the timer visible, they really liked that I put in that control, because you can see that there is no editing.”

There was an additional delay for biography submission of a judge, Cory Clendaniel, a young juggling professional from Preston, Maryland.

The Guinness World Record site acknowledges Mr. Mir’s feat as follows:

“The most helicopter spins with devil sticks in one minute is 113 and was achieved by Carlos Mir (USA) in Bethany Beach, Delaware, USA, on 15 May 2021. Carlos used a set of orange/yellow/black/green Helix devil sticks, and successfully achieved this record in front of a small crowd at Bethany Beach Ocean Suites.”

Mr. Mir’s hope is to make the print pages of the Guinness Book of World Records.

“The way the book works is it is owned by another company, not by technically Guinness, the one that does the record judging,” said Mr. Mir. “So, they can’t put everyone in the book. What they do is they select certain people. In the juggling community they select like one or two people a year. They feature them in the book. What I have been told is it is better to have multiple Guinness World Records. Then they will usually pick you. That is what I am trying for, to get into the book. I am online. But to get in the book, for the juggling community, I felt I have to earn a couple more Guinness World Records. I would like to be in the book.”

Mr. Mir feels his two existing records are safe.

“When I hit 113 (helicopter spins), I felt that is a good effort,” he said.

In the diabolo, Mr. Mir feels confident he could go much higher, possibly 10 feet.

“If someone breaks my record, I am certainly going to go for it. Right now, I want to do this one, the helicopter throw,” Mr. Mir said.

His personal satisfaction was shared by his parents.

“For my parents when I got my Guinness World Record, they really looked at me differently, I feel. They paid for my college. They got me through school,” said Mr. Mir. “Then, I got into this arts world. They always thought my juggling was a hobby. And it was, but I turned my hobby into my career. I worked two jobs for many years, 18 and 19 years, my juggling and my career job. I was able to flip it as soon as I got that Guinness World Record.”

Interestingly, he says he occasionally hears jabs about juggling as his profession.

“It’s a shame that we can’t all experience that passion in their careers. I mean a lot of people do. But there is a lot that really are struggling in their regular day job. But then they are all telling you, ‘Why aren’t you doing a real job?’” said Mr. Mir. “I did labor jobs. I was a construction worker. I was an electrician. When I was in eighth grade, I used to clean homes. I labored for many years. I wanted to do something nice, so I got into non-profit. I worked 18 years in the non-profit community, sharing, helping, giving back. I want to be happy in my career.”

That happiness is juggling and entertaining. “And every routine is different,” he said. “The wind could be different. You may be at the same place, but people are different. It’s never a repeat, never repetitious.”

Typically, the busy performance schedule runs about five months, from late spring through early autumn. He continues to practice, hone skills and exercise throughout in the shoulder season.

“The struggle is making sure that I am not getting lazy,” he said. “And making sure I am eating right and making sure my body is healthy so I can do this job.”

This year, Mr. Mir is booked at the Bethany Beach Ocean Suites from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays, from May 27 through Sept. 30. Performances are free to the public.

As stated on his Cascading Carlos website — Mr. Mir is “juggling life day by day.”