The diabolo (/diːˈæbəloʊ/ dee-AB-ə-loh;[1] commonly misspelled diablo) is a juggling or circus prop consisting of an axle (British English: bobbin) and two cups (hourglass/egg timer shaped) or discs derived from the Chinese yo-yo.

A large variety of tricks is possible with the diabolo, including tosses, and various types of interaction with the sticks, string, and various parts of the user's body.

[2] Like the Western yo-yo (which has an independent origin), it maintains its spinning motion through a rotating effect based on conservation of angular momentum.

The earliest mention of the Chinese yo-yo is in the late Ming dynasty Wanli period (1572–1620), with its details well recorded in the book Dijing Jingwulue by the Liu Tong.

There are many names in the Chinese language for the Chinese yo-yo: The first known mention of a diabolo in the Western world was made by a missionary, Father Amiot,[3] in Beijing in 1792 during Lord Macartney's ambassadorship, after which examples were brought to Europe,[4] as was the sheng (eventually adapted to the harmonica and accordion).

[5][6] Amiot described it as follows:[3] It consists of two hollow cylinders of metal, wood, or bamboo, joined together in the middle by a cross-piece.

The diabolo was part of a presentation of Chinese culture edited by stenographer Jean-Baptiste Joseph Breton [fr] in 1811-2 (La Chine en miniature).

[3] 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.

"[16] However, Charles Parker acquired the U.S. license for the term diabolo in 1906, and the fad for the toy lasted until 1910 (caricatures of public figures with the toy made it to newspapers), when it was hurt greatly by a glut of unsold poor quality off-brand versions (costs ranged from one to eight dollars).

The toy was even removed from the Parker Brothers catalogue, a rare occurrence (its two-year return in 1929 also failed).

[18] The diabolo’s temporary fall from favour was commented on by the narrator of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time:[19] 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.A diabolo is described as "a double-coned bobbin that [is] twirled, tossed, and caught on a string secured by two wands, one held in each hand,"[16] and, more generally, as "an object that can be suspended on a string made taut by two held sticks".

"[21] A fast whirling kouen-gen produces "a shrill whistling sound...not unlike the note of the steam siren".

Noticeable differences between the two include friction involved, the amount of time the diabolo can spin for, and tension.

"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.

"[25] "Diabolo requires hard practice and highly developed skills"[26] Typically, the player pulls the stick in his or her dominant hand so that the string moves along the axle, turning it.

To spin the top, you raise and lower the sticks alternately, with a quick backward shift of the string at the end of each rotating impulse.

[25]Once spin speed is increased to a sufficient level that the diabolo is stable, the user can then perform tricks.

"[16] There are countless tricks and variations that fall outside the above categories; these are often more difficult and form the cutting edge of modern diabolo routines.

Although the number of tricks seems limited, people are finding more ways to perform with this style, including vertax genocides, infinite suicides, and many suns, orbits, and satellites.

Eric and Antonin (France) and Nate and Jacob Sharpe (USA) have contributed greatly to the development of vertax passing techniques.

Cirque du Soleil has combined diabolos with acrobatics during feature acts in five shows: Quidam, La Nouba, Dralion, Ovo and Viva Elvis.