By David Cain The day after the 2026 IJA Festival ended, Barry Friedman, Arthur Lewbel, and Mardine LeBliss came to visit the Museum of Juggling History. Less than an hour after they left, I received an email from my twin brother Scott, who co-owns the museum with me. He excitedly told me that he had just found an estate sale …
New Photos and Video of Angelo Piccinelli
By David Cain Angelo Piccinelli was an Italian juggler born in 1921 in Brussels, Belgium. He was one of the first jugglers to perform with modern-style rings, juggling eight in performance at the age of 19. Angelo was the first juggler that Francis Brunn saw, and Brunn would modify Piccinelli’s combination trick where he juggled three rings with one hand, …
Review: Venardos Circus’ “Alice”
By David Cain On August 19th, 2026, Scott Cain, Rick Robinson, and I attended a showing of Alice, one of the two touring productions of the Venardos Circus. Alice is an Alice in Wonderland-themed, world class one ring circus production. The pre-show started 45 minutes before the official start of the circus and was done exclusively by a name familiar …
Newly Found Historical Juggling Tidbits – Part 1
By David Cain The IJA Newsletter was published from 1949 until 1981. The Newsletter contained mostly news of juggling sessions, visits among members, dates and places of working jugglers, notices of sick and convalescing members, address changes, obituaries, IJA business, announcements of conventions and officer reports. One of the most interesting parts of the IJA Newsletter were remembrances of members …
Bag Punching – An Obscure Vaudeville-Era Juggling Skill – Part 2
By David Cain As I stated in Part 1 of this series, I have a very broad definition of juggling. Not only do I include toss juggling, but also ball spinning, trick roping, plate spinning, object balancing, cigar boxes, devil stick, poi, diabolo, boomerang throwing, and numerous other types of object manipulation. But from 1900 until at least 1960, the …
Bag Punching – An Obscure Vaudeville-Era Juggling Skill – Part 1
By David Cain I have a very broad definition of juggling. Not only do I include toss juggling, but also ball spinning, trick roping, plate spinning, object balancing, cigar boxes, devil stick, poi, diabolo, boomerang throwing, and numerous other types of object manipulation. In fact, my most famous video, filmed 18 years ago, is titled 61 Types of Juggling. If …
Sharing Lottie Brunn’s Scrapbooks and Photo Albums – Part 4
By David Cain Lottie Brunn (1925–2008) is generally regarded as the fastest female juggler of all time. She and her brother, Francis, were born in Germany and came to the United States in 1948. She performed eight rings at the age of 14 and had a phenomenal career performing all over the world. She left the act with Francis in …
Sharing Lottie Brunn’s Scrapbooks and Photo Albums – Part 3
By David Cain Lottie Brunn (1925–2008) is generally regarded as the fastest female juggler of all time. She and her brother, Francis, were born in Germany and came to the United States in 1948. She performed eight rings at the age of 14 and had a phenomenal career performing all over the world. She left the act with Francis in …
Sharing Lottie Brunn’s Scrapbooks and Photo Albums – Part 2
By David Cain Lottie Brunn (1925–2008) is generally regarded as the fastest female juggler of all time. She and her brother, Francis, were born in Germany and came to the United States in 1948. She performed eight rings at the age of 14 and had a phenomenal career performing all over the world. She left the act with Francis in …